Dario let me accompany Gio back to their hotel.
Despite how long they’ve been here, this was my first time setting foot in the hotel where they were staying. Gio was always the one causing a ruckus in my house, and I never thought about visiting him. We’ll see what else he thinks of later.
As I approached Gio, who had moved away from me, he spoke. “I’m covered in mud; you might get dirty.”
Gio was still muddy from the event, and it looked like he intended to clean up at the hotel. He was still shirtless, but since we were by the seaside, it seemed alright.
We reached his hotel room in a resort. I wasn’t sure if it was appropriate for me to enter.
“Come in.”
The room was spacious, perhaps the largest in the resort, and since Gio was wealthy, the cost of the hotel was of little concern to him.
“I’ll just clean myself,” he said to me. He had only taken a few steps when he suddenly realized something.
He glanced back at me, and even though he didn’t seem comfortable with what he was about to say, he still managed to voice it.
“I can’t properly wash myself due to my injured hand. If you can help me…” Gio couldn’t continue what he was saying.
My cheeks instantly turned red as I realized what he meant. He wanted me to assist him in bathing. Why did I decide to be helpful and accompany him to the hotel?
“You want me to help you?” There shouldn’t be anything wrong with it, right? I had already touched his body before. He just didn’t know I had any memories.
Gio nodded, even though I could tell he was embarrassed to ask. Why was he so shy? It was kind of cute.
I walked over to him to let him know that I agreed to his request. Since I was already here, I might as well help him.
I was impressed when I entered the bathroom; it had a bathtub. Well, the hotel was really nice. It might be the most famous hotel in town.
As I adjusted the shower, I saw Gio sitting on the edge of the bathtub. I found a showerhead in one of the bathroom cabinets and took it.
I held the showerhead and hesitated to aim it at his body. Gio allowed me to clean him, and I was aware he was watching me, but I tried not to think about it too much to avoid getting distracted.
After I finished cleaning him, I grabbed a towel and dried his hair and hand, and then I focused on tending to his injured hand. While I was doing this, Gio’s free hand touched my cheek. I paused and looked at him. It was only then that I realized how close we were, just inches apart. I was captivated by his intense gaze, his eyes filled with indescribable expressions.
“W-Why did you even participate in that? You didn’t seem used to it!” I pretended to scold him, hoping to divert his attention away from my face.
“I wanted to get the prize,” he replied in a deep but somewhat muffled voice. I felt weak hearing his words.
“Huh? You don’t need the money or the pig! You should have let someone in greater need win it. Look what happened you got injured.”
“You don’t get what I mean, right?”
I looked at him but quickly averted my gaze to avoid the intense eye contact. My mouth went dry, sensing the potential for burning in that exchange.
“I wanted to get your attention. I knew you’d be watching, and if I won, you’d notice me. To have you here with me, alone.”
His words left me speechless. I cleared my throat and remained silent.
His thumb gently grazed my lower lip, and I gasped. It felt like I was struggling to breathe because of Gio.
“I want to kiss you so bad.” He brought his face closer to mine but didn’t connect our lips just yet.
He looked at my lips from my eyes.
“Can you give me permission to kiss you?”
I completely lost my composure when he said that. I nodded slowly in response, and as soon as Gio noticed, he quickly kissed me.
His kisses were slow but intense. I could feel a myriad of emotions in each brush of his lips against mine. Even without words, I understood everything he wanted to convey and tell me.
I closed my eyes and surrendered to the intoxicating sensation of our kisses.
We separated to catch our breath, and we leaned in for more. I had to admit; I was thirsty for him too.
The second time we broke apart, Gio and I locked eyes. Both of us were out of breath, and it seemed like we were out of our senses due to the exchange of kisses.
My phone rang, and I returned to my senses. I stepped back from Gio, startled by what had just transpired.
“Shit.”
“Uh, I’ll just answer that call. I think you can handle yourself now, right?” I didn’t wait for Gio to respond and quickly left the bathroom to retrieve my phone. My eyes widened when I saw Gianna’s name on the screen. Finally, I could talk to her.
“Gian-”
My relief quickly turned to concern as I heard a different greeting from her.
“We got caught,” Gianna said. Her voice was low and sounded like she was hiding.
“What do you mean? Who caught you?” I was baffled. I couldn’t figure out who she was referring to.
“We got caught, Millie.”
My forehead creased. I couldn’t figure out who she meant.
“I couldn’t call you or be in contact because he caught us,” Gianna explained.
I became worried, thinking it might be Marion she was referring to. Maybe they were caught by Marion while Arcel was helping them.
“Gianna?”
“Millie, be careful. Gio… Gio knows everything. He caught us.”
I was taken aback by her words. Marion wasn’t the one she meant; it was Gio.
“Oh my God!” I was shocked when someone suddenly grabbed my phone. I turned to face them, and for a moment, I felt like my soul had left my body.
“Hello, Gianna. Did you suddenly miss your brother, which is why you called? You should have called me directly instead of bothering my wife. How did you even manage to use your phone? I thought I threw it away, right?”
I felt a chill in my stance, compounded by a pair of cold, piercing eyes fixed on me. Everything I’d experienced in the past few weeks with the kind Gio had vanished into thin air. The Gio before me now exuded a dark and vicious aura. This is the real Gio, the man I married. He stared directly at me, indirectly implying that it’s game over for us.
He removed the phone from his ear and smirked-a grin I loathed seeing on him. “Busted. It looks like playtime is over. Checkmate, sweetheart.”
Oh, fuck!