Chapter 33 Liana
LIANA
Ignoring Massimo has been easier than I thought it’d be, and it took me by surprise when he didn’t fight me on staying at my place.
He texted and tried calling me today, but I ignored him, needing to make it to my flight so I can finally put some good distance between the two of us.
When I get to the airport, I park in the private hangar, get my suitcase, and walk over to the plane.
“Hi, Jeff,” I say, greeting my family’s pilot. “How’s your wife and kids?”
“Wife is amazing and the kids are getting big, Miss Liana, thank you for asking,” he says with a smile, taking my suitcase.
Glancing around, I notice Tito’s car isn’t here, which is unlike him. He’s usually a very timely man.
“Has Tito shown up yet?”
Jeff’s smile broadens. “There’s actually been a slight change in plans.”
“A slight change in plans?”
He just smiles and nods for me to board the plane. As I walk up the steps, my heart beats erratically.
Who did Teo send if not Tito?
When I step into the large cabin, I turn the corner and am stunned when I see two men already seated.
“Massimo? Gui?”
“Surprise, mia moglie,” Massimo says, sitting in a seat by the window in the middle of the plane.
I snap my gaze to his brother, who’s sitting toward the front.
“Hey, Liana,” he says with a small wave, then diverts his gaze back down to his phone.
I stomp over to Massimo and glare at him. “What are you doing here? Tito was supposed to come with me to Sicily.”
He smiles at me. “When were you going to tell me you’re going to Sicily?”
I was never planning on telling him, and he obviously knows that.
He scoffs out a laugh. “This seems to be your MO. Running in the opposite direction when things take a turn against what you expected.” He shakes his head. “You didn’t think I was going to let you go to Sicily without me, did you?”
I raise a brow at him. “Let me?”
“Oh, come on, Liana. You’ve been avoiding me, and you know I’m not a man that can be avoided for long.”
“Clearly,” I mutter. “I told you I needed space to think. It’s pretty obnoxious of you to hijack my work trip. How selfish can you be?”
“Selfish? You think I’m the selfish one when all I’m trying to do is get you to come to your senses about the two of us, but you’re too busy running away every chance you get. Do you know how obnoxious it is that you’re so damn stubborn?”
“I am not stubborn.”
“That’s fucking laughable, Liana. You even saying that just proves how stubborn you are. You’re willing to let the best thing that could ever happen to you slip out from between your fingers just because of it.”
“The best thing that could ever happen to me? Wow, you think awfully high of yourself.”
Someone clears their throat from behind me. “If you two are ready, we’ll be taking off now,” Jeff says, gesturing to the seat across from Massimo. “If you could take a seat and buckle in, Monique will be by to get you all some refreshments once we’re in the air.”
Smiling politely at Jeff, I thank him then take the seat across from Massimo.
While the plane takes off, I do my best to ignore him by gazing out the window every chance I get. But I feel his eyes boring into me the entire time, surely trying to get my attention.
I shouldn’t be surprised he figured out I was leaving, but I still can’t believe he’s here with me now.
I was counting on having this space to get the thought of us out of my system, but as he sits across from me, all I can think about is the opposite, no matter what I just said to him.
Fighting him—fighting this thing between us—is becoming too much.
When we’ve finally settled in the air, Monique stops by our seats. “Can I get you both something to eat or drink?”
“I’ll just take an ice water, please.”
“Absolutely,” she says with a sweet smile. “And for you, sir?”
Massimo’s eyes are still on me when he says, “I’ll take the same thing.”
“Sure thing,” she says, then walks away, leaving me and Massimo in what seems to be a staring contest.
“Why’re you looking at me like that?” I finally say.
He puts his elbow on the armrest, sets his chin in his hand, and looks at me curiously. “Like, what?”
“I don’t know … Like that.”
He smirks. “Just imagining,” he says, and I roll my eyes but begrudgingly take the bait.
“Imagining what?”
The grin broadens on his face. “What it’ll be like to fuck that bratty mouth of yours.”
My bottom lip falls open. “Massimo,” I hiss out, looking around to see if Gui or Monique overheard. It seems they’re now occupying each other’s time. She’s giggling while he says something to her.
I bring my attention back to Massimo. “You can’t say stuff like that.”
“Why? Because it scares you how much you enjoy the idea of it?”
“It doesn’t scare me,” I scoff out.
He raises a challenging brow at me. “So if I took you to the private room that’s in the back of this plane right now, that wouldn’t scare you?”
“Why would it?”
“Because clearly I scare you.”
I laugh, shaking my head. “That’s some big head you got, Massimo.
“Isn’t that why you left without saying a word to me after the night we had?”
“I left because I had work to do and I needed space to think.”
“And where have your thoughts landed you?”
“I …” I take a deep breath, not knowing how to answer that.
Massimo remains quiet, the tension heavy in the air. His eyes haven’t moved from me, and when it becomes too much, I unbuckle my seat belt and push myself out of my seat.
“Excuse me,” I say, not bothering to tell him where I’m going. I just need a moment to breathe without having his eyes burn through me.
Opening the door to the bathroom, I lock it and grip the counter. I glance at my reflection in the mirror and take a deep breath.
“Stop letting him get under your skin, Liana. Sure, you might be falling for the husband you never wanted, but you need to remember who he is. What he does. Where he comes from.”
I’m so confused about my feelings. Massimo started out as this cocky asshole who extorted me into marriage. I thought he was going to be controlling, an absolute menace to be married to, but he’s been the opposite.
He followed through with his part of the arrangement and gave up one of his high-rises before he even got me down the aisle.
He’s opening up a sexual side of me I never thought could exist.
He’s calling me on my bullshit as if he knows me better than I know myself.
And now I’m wondering how I’ve fallen for the man I’ve tried so hard to not have feelings for.
Everything about that sentence terrifies me. I know with this life comes a lot of death and destruction if you’re not careful, and it’s not something I ever wanted. I’ve lost a lot of family because of this world, and leaving myself vulnerable, susceptible to more loss, is never something I wanted.
But now, Massimo has wormed his way into my heart in a way I never thought he’d be able to, and that scares the living shit out of me.
I gaze at my reflection in the mirror and take a few deep breaths, trying to steady my racing heart.
Would falling for my husband be so bad? I’m clearly fighting a fight everyone can see through, and I’m just exhausting myself.
I shake my head and run my hands through my hair, pulling at the strands.
“Ugh, get it together, Liana. Just remember what this is. A contract marriage. That’s it.”
After unlocking the door, I push it open. When it closes, my wrist gets grabbed from behind and I’m yanked back into a brick wall of a chest.
“What the hell, Massimo?” I hiss out.
“This isn’t just a contract marriage, and you know it, so stop calling it that. You came on my fingers, mia moglie. We’re way past this bullshit you keep trying to hold onto.”
Before I’m able to respond, he pushes me into the bedroom in the back of the plane. He locks the door, then turns to face me.
“What’re you doing?” I ask, eyeing him cautiously.
“Are you done pretending like this marriage isn’t real?”
I cross my arm over my chest. “You were eavesdropping?”
“I was patiently waiting for you outside of the bathroom. It’s not my fault you speak loudly to yourself.”
I roll my eyes and shake my head but can’t help the smile that breaks out on my face. “This is all so ridiculous.”
“What’s ridiculous is that you’re still calling our marriage a contractual arrangement.”
“I mean, that is technically how it started,” I say with a shrug.
Massimo closes the distance between us. “How it started,” he repeats. “And what about now?”
My throat dries up at that question. Am I actually going to take the step and admit this isn’t just a marriage on paper? I’ve worked so hard to fight against this, but I’m so tired.
He notices my hesitation and puts his arms on my shoulders. “Don’t freeze me out now, mia moglie. Tell me. What does it mean now?”
“I … I don’t know, Massimo. This … You … You’re not what I expected. I thought you were this playboy douchebag who just wanted to control me, but you’ve been nothing but attentive, respectful, and …”
“And?”
“Caring. It’s the complete opposite of what I thought I knew about you. Other than you forcing me to marry you, you haven’t given me much of a reason to hate you the way I thought I was going to throughout this marriage.”
His mouth tugs up into a smile, and he places his hands on my waist. “Well, I tried telling you, but you refused to listen to me.”
“Can you really blame me?” I scoff out humorously.
He tightens his hold around my waist, and I sink into him.
“Imagine where we’d be if you had just let me in years ago,” he says.
I shake my head. “I don’t know … This still doesn’t …”
I stop, not wanting to say the words I’m sure he’s already well aware of.
He lets out a deep sigh. “I know you’ve had to deal with a lot of loss. I’m not saying there’s never going to be a chance that things get scary for us, but I’m asking you to put all of the what-ifs aside and give us a shot.”
“But if I fall for you and something happens, I don’t know if I’ll be able to recover again, Massimo.” My voice cracks.