Chapter Seven
GAbrIELLA-ROSE
NICO AND HUSON HAD left for Detroit early this morning. I could feel there was some tension between all of them as soon as Gino walked into the room. I hoped that they would all sit down and talk when they got back. None of us wanted to hurt each other, but Hudson had definitely been quiet since Friday evening when Gino left.
I had convinced Gino to come on yet another shopping trip with me today. I wanted to get Hudson something for his birthday on Friday, along with arranging everything for the surprise I was giving him. My first stop was my favorite boutique dress shop. I knew they would have the exact dress here that I wanted, and I didn’t want Hudson to know what I had bought. I dragged Gino in there and looked through the dresses on the rails. As soon as I saw the red dress with cutouts in the most revealing places, I knew I had to have it.
I grabbed my size and walked into the fitting room, with a very disgruntled Gino sitting outside waiting for me. I quickly put the dress on and gazed at myself in the mirror. It was perfect. I wanted to get a man’s opinion on it, though, so I walked out of the fitting room and toward where Gino was sitting.
The sales assistant immediately spoke as soon as she saw me. “That looks amazing, Gaby. It appears to have been made for you.”
I chuckled slightly. The assistant knew me by name now with the amount of times I had been in here. An uninterested Gino looked up from his phone, and his face immediately changed to one of shock as he just sat there, frozen to the spot. I saw him try to articulate an answer, but he couldn’t. He got up from his seat, stalked over to me, and whispered in my ear. It was then I realized why he hadn’t said anything out loud.
“You look fucking gorgeous in that dress, and I am having a really hard time stopping myself from ripping it off you. It’s perfect for Friday. I’ve just got to know one thing. What do you have on underneath? Because those cutouts suggest it’s nothing.”
I smiled to myself. Gino was right. I wasn’t wearing anything under the dress. Any form of lingerie would have shown. I was just thankful that the dress had a hidden bra within it. He pulled away and gave me a quizzical look. I just winked at him and walked back into the fitting room, hearing a groan leave his lips from behind me.
I quickly changed and paid for the dress, then headed to my next stop, which was to pick up Hudson’s present. I wasn’t sure how he was going to take what I had bought him, but I really hoped he would wear them.
I had gone to a jeweler and asked them to make me a pair of cufflinks. They had a heart on them with an infinity symbol winding through the heart in gold on a black background, with a diamond on it. There were not that many people that knew the significance of the symbol; luckily, the jeweler wasn’t one of them and just thought it was about my infinite love for Hudson, but it really was the symbol for our polyamorous relationship. On the back, I had asked him to engrave HBS, DV, and GQ with the date May tenth, being the date we first got back together. Luckily, the jeweler thought it was the date of our child’s birthday, and I had chosen not to correct him.
I walked into the shop and explained I was there to collect a gift. As I was speaking, Mr. Richards, the jeweler, walked out from his office.
“Miss Quinn, it’s lovely to see you again. I have your order here, and I must say it is some of my best work. I also managed to finish the extra order you asked me for.”
Of course, he was bound to say that, especially with how much they were costing me. I had also had four rings made – originally, it was only three, but I had contacted him on Saturday to ask for another ring and to add Gino’s initials to the back of the rings. I was going to keep these for the moment. I hoped that in the future we could have a commitment ceremony, celebrating our love for each other. I couldn’t think about that now, though. Not until I knew Vincent was out of my life.
I opened the box containing the cufflinks and gasped. They were perfect. I couldn’t help the tears that started to fall down my face.
“Is everything okay, Miss Quinn? Are you not happy with them?”
I shook my head as I spoke quietly. “No, they are perfect. I’m sorry. These are happy tears, I assure you. Gino, what do you think?”
I hoped I didn’t need to explain anything. I wasn’t sure if he knew what the symbol on the cufflinks meant or not.
A smile appeared on his face. “Hudson will love them, I’m sure. And yes, they are perfect to show him how much he is loved.” Gino gave me a wink, which told me he knew exactly what they represented.
“Thank you so much for these. I will check the other items when I get home, as they are a surprise.”
I gave him a smile, picked up the bag with all the items, and placed it into my large handbag. I didn’t want to be seen walking around the streets of New York with a bag of jewelry, especially when I had paid over ten thousand dollars for it. We walked out of the jewelry shop and onto the busy street.
“So, are you going to tell me what else you bought?”
I had wondered how long it would take Gino to ask.
“Nope, you will have to wait and see. Might be a long time though.”
He stood there and laughed before taking my hand in his. “Come on, let's go get some lunch before we continue your shopping spree.”
WE GOT BACK TO THE apartment around two in the afternoon. I was exhausted, but still had to arrange the surprise party for Hudson. I called up Pleasures and made sure that everything would be in place for Friday evening. They were more than willing to help and even said that, as Hudson was one of the owners of the club, everything would be free. I had tried to pay, but they insisted.
After all of that, I was now relaxing on the couch in the living room checking through all of my emails and making sure that I hadn’t forgotten anything for the weekend. I didn’t hear when Gino walked back into the room, so I jumped when he spoke.
“Do you want me to cook, or should we order takeout? Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you.”
I placed my hand on my chest to calm myself. “It’s fine, Gino. I just didn’t hear you come in. Can we just order takeout? I’ll let you choose what we have.”
He leaned down and pressed a kiss to my cheek. It had been the first time I’d had any form of contact like this, and I nearly turned my head to press my lips against his, but I decided to take things slowly this evening. I understood that he was still getting used to the idea of us all being in a relationship together. Well, at least Gino, Nico, and me. I knew it would take a while, if at all, for Hudson and Gino to have any feelings toward each other, which was one reason why I had arranged the evening at Pleasures. I hoped it would encourage them to be comfortable together.
“I know exactly what we both need. I’ll be right back.”
Gino walked out of the room to order whatever he had decided on, and I went back to checking through my emails. I sent a quick message to Nico to tell him I had arranged everything for Friday and asked how the meeting went. I was surprised when my phone almost immediately started to ring.
“Hey, Nico. Is everything okay?”
I was worried about them both being alone after everything that had happened with Gino on Friday. I was sure they had talked everything through, but both of them had seemed distant toward each other over the weekend. Hearing his voice, though, put my mind completely at rest.
“I miss you, principessa.”
I couldn’t help the giggle that left my lips. He had only been gone a few hours and he already missed me.
“I miss you too, and Hudson as well. However, you have only been gone a few hours and will be back on Wednesday. I’m sure we will both survive.”
A nervous chuckle came from him at the end of the phone.
“Nico, what’s wrong?”
I heard a heavy sigh and then footsteps, as if he was walking to somewhere private where he could talk.
“I just wish you were here. The meeting has gone well, but Hudson is quiet. We have talked a lot the past few days, but you have nearly always been there. I’m not sure how things will be tonight. For the first time, I’m scared I’m going to lose him. That because of what happened, I’m not going to have the same relationship as before, and that terrifies me.”
At that moment, I wished I was there with him. I wanted to hold him and tell him that everything would be alright.
“Nico, Hudson loves you. You just need to give him a bit of time. Remember you went away together for that reason. I’m sure once you are alone in the guesthouse, you won’t be able to keep your hands off each other.”
“But—”
“No buts. Believe me, it will happen. You were meant to be together. I could tell that even before I knew you were a couple. One mistake won’t change that. And if I am wrong, you can punish me when you get back.”
I heard him laugh just before the trademark Nico came through.
“Don’t worry. I’m already imagining all the things I’m going to do to you when I get back.”
I gulped as he spoke. Nico had always been the caring one, but I guessed there was a side to him, a dangerous one that I hadn’t encountered yet. One that he had been hiding away until we had gotten to know each other better. If I had to guess, that time had come.
“And on that note, I have to go, principessa. Hudson is just walking out of the boardroom. Wish me luck for this evening. I love you.”
“I love you too, and you don’t need luck. Just be your charming, sexy self.”
We said goodbye and I ended the call just as Gino was walking back into the room.
“I thought you might be on a call and didn’t hear me. Dinner is here.”
I couldn’t believe how quickly dinner had arrived. I had only been on the phone a few minutes.
I got up from my chair and followed Gino into the kitchen to find the table full of different Italian dishes. He held out a chair for me and pushed it back in as I sat down, and then sat down next to me.
“Buon appetite. Per favore aiutati.” Enjoy your food. Please help yourself.
I smiled at him. Nico must have told him that I spoke Italian, because I had never spoken any words to him.
“Grazie. It all looks amazing.”
We ate in silence for a while, just enjoying the delectable dishes that Gino had chosen. I was mentally making a note of all the dishes to try to get recipes for them to make for everyone one evening. I looked over at Gino, and he seemed to be deep in thought as he ate. I didn’t know him as well as Nico and Hudson, but I could still tell something was bothering him.
“What’s wrong?”
He looked up from his plate and I saw a slight worry in his eyes. I placed my hand over his before I spoke.
“Gino, you know you can tell me anything. Even if this doesn’t work out between all of us, I still want us to be friends. I don’t like seeing any of my guys upset or worried. A problem shared and all that.”
I could see the hesitation in his eyes as he spoke. “I don’t want you to think I’m being silly.”
I squeezed his hand, hoping that he would gain some courage and continue. I didn’t want to say more because whatever he had to say was obviously important to him, no matter how silly it might sound to me.
He gave me a small smile and continued. “I’m worried, that’s all. I am probably just being silly but…shit, how do I put this? I love you and Nico so much, but it’s been years since I have been with anyone. I decided a long time ago if I couldn’t have Nico, then I wasn’t going to have anyone in my life.”
I almost breathed a sigh of relief. If that was all he was worried about, then we could soon rectify that. I got up from my seat and sat down on his lap. He instantly placed his arms around me.
“Gino, not to sound patronizing, but I’m sure it’s like riding a bike. Once you have learned, you never forget. We can do whatever you want tonight or nothing at all, but please do not worry about it.”
I leaned down and pressed my lips to his, tingles starting from the first touch. I ran my tongue over his bottom lip as I moved my hands up into his hair. I felt his hand move up my back and fist into my hair as he opened his mouth and immediately started to kiss me deeper. He positioned my head exactly where he wanted it and continued our slow and sensual kiss. I could feel myself growing wetter by the second as butterflies flew around in my stomach, not helped by him hardening below me and digging into me. He pulled away suddenly, a look of pure desire in his eyes, his breathing labored.
“I want you, tesoro. I need you so badly it hurts.”
My heart skipped a beat as he called me treasure . I got up from his lap and held out my hand.
“You’d better take me to bed, then, because that is exactly what I want and need too.”