Page 153 of Alessio

Giulia giggled under her breath, likely because she wasn’t sure how to handle this situation.

“Would you two give us a few minutes alone? Close your bedroom doors, too, please.”

Giulia looked like she would argue, but Greta pulled her away from Alessio as they slipped past him in the hallway. Once they had left around the corner, and the sounds of a bedroom door slamming shut—they each had their own room, but must have gone into just one—Alessio’s attention came back to Ginevra.

And shit.

She felt that.

“You left,” he said, “and you didn’t even say goodbye. You left … and you haven’t even tried to call, or anything.”

She swallowed hard, and he took one step closer. “Andino called—he said I could come back. My sisters needed me. I figured you and Corrado would understand … I didn’t have a way to contact either of you. I don’t have your phone numbers; neither of you gave me them and I never needed them before now. Who am I supposed to ask to help me? The same people who sent me away, who didn’t give a shit about what happened to me? Who?”

Alessio tipped his head back.

Ginevra held firm.

“You left,” he repeated.

“Where were you?”

“Albania.”

All at once, the air left Ginevra’s lungs.

Right.

The job.

He’d told her the night at the club.

“What about Corrado?” she asked.

Alessio smiled, but damn, it was bitter all over. It made her heart go crazy when he took another step closer to her, leaving only a few feet between them now.

“Corrado is the …” Alessio considered his words, adding lower, “… well, he’s the difficult one here. See me, I’m used to being abandoned, Ginny. I can take it.”

“I didn’t abandon either of you.”

“You left,” he returned, “and when you leave, this is what it feels like when no one explains anything to us, and we’re all just … stuck. Wondering.”

Alessio shrugged. “Corrado … he’s not like me. When something seems like it will hurt, he shuts all the way down. Almost everyone in my life has left me, so I can handle this, but not him. I don’t like to see things hurt him, either.”

“I didn’t leave like that, Les.”

“But he thinks you did. It’s a pride thing for him, Ginny … because that’s who Corrado has always been. Despite how much it pisses me off sometimes, it’s also one part of him I love the most. You can’t fault him for his flaws, just like he didn’t want to fault you for yours, either.”

Ginevra hid her shaking hands at her sides, balling them into tight fists when Alessio took yet another step toward her. Careful. Holding himself back because that’s what he thought she wanted.

He had to know …

She wanted him so fucking close.

“I missed you,” she whispered, “and I miss him. All the time. Every single day. I wasn’t sure what to do, and I’m sorry.”

Alessio dragged in a hard breath. “Yeah, me too.”

“I’m still not sure what to do.”