Episode 25
Episode 25
Two Peas in a Pod
GIOVANNI
Julianne handed me the contract right as we heard a knock at the door. Then Madam Alana peeked through before she opened it fully and entered.
“I’m sorry I took so long to return. There was a situation I needed to tend to.”
“Everything okay?” Julianne asked, a shaky hand lifting to smooth her hair back into place. It didn’t help. Her luscious, shoulder length, red locks were a tumbled mess. She certainly appeared nowhere near as flawless as she had when she’d showed up for the auction earlier in the evening.
I winced at the memory of how tightly I’d tugged at the roots of her hair, working her over my cock. I closed my eyes and took a long, full breath, letting it out slowly. It helped ease the chaotic thoughts thundering through me.
I’d defiled Julianne after she’d sucked me off so good I saw stars. The woman had a mouth on her I would dream of for years to come. There had been none better. Then again, if I signed on the dotted line, I wouldn’t be dreaming about the things I wanted to do with and to her. I’d be living them for the next three years.
As her husband.
I fisted one of my hands as I stood, thankfully having already put myself back together after I’d made Jules come like a waterfall. What else could I do when I had her curvy body laid out, naked, and fully under my control?
I shivered at the debauched images my mind so helpfully supplied and clutched the contract as I moved to the table. I scanned the document. Again, I had to give her one last out.
“Jules, is this really necessary? I’d happily give you the money you need. And Brenden can’t get away with letting you go without my signature as co-owner. I’ll move back to New York. I’ll go back to FM Enterprises, and we’ll work this out together. You don’t have to marry me in order to keep your job.”
She shook her head and crossed her arms defiantly. “Marrying me and signing that legally binding contract guarantees you can’t go running away when the shit hits the fan again.”
“That’s a low blow, and you know it. I lost everything! Fucking everything! ” I growled as the memories of my parents perishing in that plane crash, Bianca’s betrayal, and my best friend stealing my fiancée and fucking her on the very night before we were to wed paraded through my mind. A tsunami of pain barreling down over me all over again.
She stomped to where I stood and put her hand on my arm. She looked me dead in the eyes, her face a mask of the same pain I was just barely holding back. “So did I,” she breathed, emotion choking her words. Her lips trembled, and her gorgeous blue eyes filled with unshed tears. Jules was not a crier. Even letting me see that much of her true feelings gutted me.
I reached out and cupped her cheek tenderly. “I’m sorry.” I ran my thumb over her now wet cheekbone where a single, stubborn tear had appeared. “We really are two peas in a pod, aren’t we?” My nostrils flared as I huffed and inhaled sharply. I couldn’t get in enough air. The room was stifling with all the things unsaid between us. The many sorrows we did, in fact, share that could, and had, so easily swallowed me whole the past couple months.
Maybe if we worked together, the numbness and anger would eventually fade into something livable. I stared into her beautiful face, so elegant and enchanting. I’d been half in love with the woman since we were children. Brenden made it clear from the day he caught us kissing on the dock that if I so much as laid a finger on his sister ever again, he’d never talk to me. He’d been so angry, he punched me in the face and bloodied my nose. I let him, believing I’d betrayed some cardinal guy code by lusting after my best friend’s baby sister.
Instead, I’d loved Julianne from afar. Dated relentlessly in my teens and twenties to forget all about the one girl that was off limits. Until the morning I woke up with her virgin blood on my cock and flashes of the night before invading my hungover brain. I’d not only been drunk that night, but I’d also tried mushrooms for the first time, after my girlfriend back then had broken up with me. Funny enough, Brenden was the one who’d suggested them. We got high on the ‘shrooms, drank until we were practically falling over, and then he left to go back to his own room.
My girlfriend at the time was a curvy redhead with light eyes. Obviously, I have a type, and that type is Julianne Myers. Somehow, Jules must have shown up. I can only recall bits and pieces, but at the time, I’d thought it was my girlfriend coming to make amends. I was all too happy in my inebriated state to fuck all of our cares away. Only, when I woke up to the worst hangover of my life, I found Julianne asleep in the bed beside me, not my girlfriend. I freaked out. Pretended to be asleep until Jules woke up and rubbed her supple body along mine in greeting. I murmured my girlfriend’s name and, keeping my eyes closed, told her I still loved her. Then faked going back to sleep.
I heard Julianne gasp and choke back a sob. I could practically feel her heartache as she’d scrambled out of the bed and out of my room, then out of my life while she attended college.
She never said a single word about it later that day, or at any time in the many years after. We both acted as if it had never happened.
I’d taken Julianne’s innocence without even knowing it, then responded like a coward instead of facing up to my actions. Worse, I let her walk away from me, and for the next ten years , we never said a word about it. A ghost between us. Neither one of us willing to set aside our pride and share the truth.
It was the most fucked up moment of my entire life.
And as I stared at the devastation, the hope, and salvation brimming in her eyes, I knew this could very well be the path to my redemption. This time I’d stand at her side, help her with her twisted plan, and maybe, just maybe, build something real. What we shared moments ago felt more real for me than anything else had in a very long time.
I turned around, signed my name on the bidder’s line and offered it to Alana. “It’s done.”
Alana nodded. “I’ll have these filed, and the money transferred over as noted in the contract.”
“Transfer the entire thirty million and the commission from my accountant tonight,” I instructed. “No need to break it into payments.”
Alana’s brows rose toward her hairline. “ Pardon? ”
Julianne made a gagging screeching noise. “No! Gio, you don’t have to do that. I can start with the first ten million after the ceremony. It will be enough to get a new business going if that’s what we decide to do.”
“My wife will have what she needs.” I ground my teeth while looking at her in the stunning white dress. She already looked the part of a bride. “We wed tonight. Alana, would you do us the honor of witnessing our marriage?”
Alana’s eyes widened. “I…but of course. Oui. Christophe is waiting in the apartment with Emily. I can have them meet us.”
“Emily?” Julianne queried. “Rhodes daughter? That Emily?”
She nodded. “Rhodes Davenport also picked out a bride tonight.”
“You’re kidding!” Julianne squawked in disbelief. “Now that is news. I thought he’d sworn off women forever after that two-bit hussy Portia took him for ride, and left him to raise their daughter alone.”
“First, it is none of your business as to whom he chooses to share his life with, ma petite fleur . And your mother taught you better than to gossip,” Alana chastised.
Jules snorted. “You and I both know that is an outright lie, marraine .” She called her godmother in French. “My mother was up in everyone’s business.”
Alana’s lips twitched, proving she knew what Julianne claimed as the honest truth. Even I knew Rachel Myers liked to chat about the people she loved. “Be that as it may, she was better at hiding it,” Alana finished.
Julianne shrugged. “Well, I’ve already made an appointment for us to be married at the chapel downstairs. I assumed I’d be marrying someone tonight.”
Alana cringed. “You don’t want to do a small, lovely ceremony at the family estate? I’d be happy to help coordinate it,” she offered.
I reached out and took Julianne’s hand, interlacing our fingers. “I will go along with whatever you prefer,” I said, my gaze entirely on Jules.
She licked those swollen lips, reminding me of what she’d done with that perfect mouth not a half hour ago, as if goading me into imagining her plans for after the ceremony. “I’d rather not wait. Alana and Christophe are here, there’s no one else I need present.” Her eyes shimmered once again, likely thinking about our lost parents and her brother, the bastard.
I squeezed her hand. “Then it’s settled. We marry tonight.” I took in every inch of her features. Oh, how I wanted to kiss her again.
Those blue orbs went from sad to fiery in a second flat.
“I’ll need a little time to freshen up.” I swallowed down the desire obliterating my senses. I needed to retrieve my grandmother’s and grandfather’s wedding rings from the hotel safe. When I received the email explaining the details of The Marriage Auction, I had my assistant secure the family heirlooms from my Manhattan home. They were couriered to me at my lake house before I came here. I didn’t believe at the time that I’d be officially using them, but something had told me to have them on my person.
Just in case.
Now I was glad I had. I wouldn’t marry a woman like Julianne with a wedding ring I picked up at the hotel jeweler. No, she would wear my beloved Nana’s ring. The one she’d worn for sixty years of wedded bliss with my granddad before she took her last breath only three years ago. The engagement ring was ostentatious as fuck and the exact color of Julianne’s eyes. Pride soared through my veins at the thought of placing my grandmother’s ring, an eight-carat blue diamond with triangular-cut diamonds on each side, set in platinum, on Julianne’s long, dainty fingers. Back in the sixties, the ring had sold for just under four million but had recently been appraised at a whopping eighteen million. Julianne deserved nothing less.
Strangely enough, I’d never planned on giving that ring to Bianca. The newsflash was like a punch to the solar plexus. If I had been truly, madly in love with Bianca, why had the idea of presenting her with my grandmother’s ring never entered my mind? Nana’s ring was the first thing I thought of after I’d confirmed my seat at the auction to bid on Julianne’s hand in marriage.
“Hey, you okay?” Julianne put her hand to my chest, directly over my pounding heart.
I nodded. “Just ready to move forward…in all things.”
She wrapped her arm around me and rested her head to my chest. “Me too, Gio. Let’s do this.”
* * * *
I waited at the entrance to the small resort chapel, pacing the hallway like a caged beast. My nerves were shattered. The ring box was burning a hole in my jacket pocket. I’d changed into my best bespoke suit. A pitch-black Brioni tuxedo with a slim satin lapel that complemented my larger frame. Underneath I wore a black fitted dress shirt that had a slight sheen to it and paired that with a satin tie.
“Gio,” I heard my name as Julianne approached.
She was a vision in flowing off-white. Her bountiful curves were sheathed in a breathtaking wedding gown. At first it looked like one piece of see-through fabric that had lace flower bud appliques strategically placed in a cascading pattern. The front of the dress plunged into a deep V, giving an enticing view of tantalizing cleavage that made my mouth water, even though the bulk of her bosom was completely covered. The upper half nipped in at the waist, while the material hugged her generous hips and thighs, flowing all the way to the floor and fanning out. There was another tulle-like fabric attached at the waist that flared, creating the visual of a much larger skirt. Her arms were completely covered in the transparent lace, which allowed her pearly skin to show through. She’d left her titian hair curled and down, brushing against her face, and just touching her shoulders.
“You are breathtaking.” I whispered as she approached.
She smiled so radiantly, I knew I’d never forget the way she was looking at me. I seared that expression of pure joy straight into my memory bank.
Madam Alana had also changed from the dress she’d worn earlier into something softer. A pale pink, satin slip dress that moved like oil and fell to her knees. She was wearing a pair of matching stilettos. Christophe was wearing a grey suit and a pink tie. Walking next to them was an excited looking blonde teenager. She, however, was wearing a black sundress and a pair of Chucks. Her lips were stained the same red as Alana’s. Even their makeup looked almost identical with the black cat eyeliner.
My Julianne was all soft colors, her freckles dusting her nose and cheeks, not hidden behind concealer. For that I was grateful because the woman I adored was also that freckled-face teenager I’d grown up with. Seeing her like this, taking my hand, about to become my wife was surreal.
Jules rose on her toes and kissed my cheek. “You ready to get hitched?” she teased.
“Seeing you in that dress, standing before me and looking like an angel, I can’t imagine anything I’d want to do more than make you mine.”
Mine . Not just my wife because we were entering an agreement, but mine.
She reached out and ran her fingers over the sides of my hair, adjusting the longer layers into place. “You are one handsome man, Giovanni Falco. I think I’m going to enjoy being married to you.” She leaned closer. “I’ve even got a surprise underneath all of this lace.” She winked.
Arousal tore through my body, making me grit my teeth and fist my hands. If I let myself respond the way I wanted, she’d be up against that wall, her knee hiked around my hip, my hand on her juicy ass, and my tongue down her throat, in two seconds flat.
I cleared my throat and swallowed. “I look forward to what awaits.”
“Are we getting this party started or what?” the teenager asked. “Uncle Christo promised me I could pick all the numbers on the roulette wheel after you two got married.”
“Shhh, you weren’t supposed to share that part, ma douce ,” my sweet , he tsked as Alana gave him the side-eye.
Julianne smiled. “I’m ready.”
I extended my elbow, and she looped her arm through it. “Let’s make you Mrs. Julianne Falco.”
“Uh, that would be Julianne Myers-Falco. I was Julianne Myers when you met me, and I’ll be Julianne Myers when you marry me. I’m adding you to my family, not losing my identity. You should think about adding Myers to your name too.”
I chuckled at her ballsy, take-no-shit attitude I knew all too well. “Maybe I will.”
“Let’s gooooooo! I’m dying to experience a Vegas wedding in real life. My friends are going to think this is sooooo cool!” Emily prattled. “Oh! I’ll be your photographer.”
Alana nudged the girl. “ Chéri , you were not asked to do such things. And that is not how you offer your services.”
Emily frowned, her excitement waning. “Um, would you like me to take photos for you guys?” she asked, her spirit lightening up as Julianne smiled and nodded.
“We’d love it. And my new hubby will toss you a hundo or two for a job well done. Right, honey?” She blinked at me grinning and fluttering her long eyelashes playfully.
“Definitely. Just don’t get in the way. I plan to have my eyes on nothing else but this beauty becoming my wife.”
Julianne gave me that look again, and I melted where I stood. The only thing I would have changed about this moment would be having our parents here to witness the unbelievable…Julianne and Giovanni’s wedding.
No one was going to believe it.