More Than Once by Dominique Wolf

CHAPTER 21:

T

hursday morning I walked into the elevator at the bottom of Giovanni's apartment building, two cups of coffee in hand. After our romantic date over the weekend, he and I were swamped with work and today, I finally had the day off and I just wanted to see him. I wanted to spend every moment I could with him. He had access to the building straight from Mala Mía or through the additional entrance in the basement that I had to utilize when the club was closed. The elevator opened straight into his apartment and I casually strolled in, a murmur of voices spreading throughout.

“Giovanni?” I shouted out.

I placed the coffees and my handbag on his kitchen counter. A moment later a lady I had never met stepped into view with a huge smile on her face.

“You must be Isabella,” she exclaimed, reaching her arms out to me and pulling me in for a hug.

I was taken aback but I embraced her. “Yes I am, nice to meet you.”

“Ah dear, it's so lovely to meet you. Giovanni has told me so much about you,” she said with a thick Spanish accent, “I'm Marcina, Giovanni's mother.”

Looking at her now, I could see a hint of resemblance between them. Giovanni definitely carried more from his father but there was a certain familiarity in their facial structure that made him and his mother look related. She was a short, plump lady with the most wonderful smile. Her face had a youthful glow to it despite the crease lines by her eyes and forehead. Her rich chestnut brown hair was the same as Giovanni's and it hung just above her shoulders. She was smiling at me and I could see the happiness in her eyes. It made me happy to know that he's mentioned me to his mother. There was clearly something worth mentioning about our relationship.

“Mama.”Giovanni strolled into the kitchen.

Every time I saw him, he managed to take my breath away. He was wearing a pair of grey sweatpants that hung nicely on his waist. He pulled a hoodie over his head as he walked in, hiding his naked torso.

“I see you've met Isabella,” he said, stopping next to me.

“Bella, bella, bella...” she said, cupping my face in her hands.

I couldn't help but smile and mirror her happiness. She was so welcoming and had a beautiful energy to her. The complete opposite to his father and I found myself wondering how they could have ever been together.

“Okay, Mama,” Giovanni chuckled. “I think you're scaring her.”

“No, she's not,” I answered quickly and turned to his mother. “You are so lovely.”

“See hijo,” she pulled me in for a hug. “She doesn't mind.”

I giggled and embraced her. I was infected by her energy and already felt welcomed. Giovanni shared the same welcoming spirit and that was one of the many things I already loved about him. The buzzer to his apartment building went off and Marcina pulled away.

“That's papá,” she said to Giovanni. “Let me get going.” The question of whether his parents were still together lingered in mind and she now confirmed that they were still a couple. She pulled Giovanni in for a hug and kissed both of his cheeks. “Te quiero, hijo, take care of her.”

He rolled his eyes and smiled. “Sí, mama.”

She reached for me next and kissed both my cheeks. She couldn't stop smiling. “And you, I've heard so many wonderful things about you. You should join us for lunch sometime.”

“That would be amazing.” I smiled.

The buzzer went off again.

“Okay, I'm going,” she said and walked to the elevator. The doors opened and with one last smile, she was gone.

Giovanni turned to me as we walked back over to his kitchen counter. “I'm sorry about her. She's just very excited.”

“What have you told her about me?”

“Only good things of course,” he said as he pulled me into his arms. This made me smile. He pointed to the coffee cups. “Which one is mine?”

“The left one,” I said and reached for mine as well.

“I've missed you,” he said as he leaned down and gave me a quick kiss. “You should come around more.”

I took a sip of my coffee and placed it on the counter. “I missed you too.”

I had my back against the counter and he placed his arms on either side of me, stepping closer to me. I breathed him in and flicked my eyes to meet his.

“This reminds me of something,” he murmured and lifted me up onto the counter, my legs wrapping around his waist.

He was referring to the morning after our attempt at a one-night stand. I nipped at my bottom lip at the memory.

He leaned closer to my ear and whispered. “Do you remember, Isabella?”

I tightened my legs around him. “How could I forget?”

He brought his lips to meet mine. I flicked my tongue over his, the coffee taste still lingered. It had been a while since I had him the way I wanted him. I ran my fingers through his hair and down the back of his neck. He leaned closer to me and I could feel him come alive beneath me. It thrilled me to feel what I did to him. He ran his hands up and down my thighs, each touch igniting my body. Just as I started to reach out for him, his phone started ringing. He ignored it at first and kept his focus on me.

“Don't you have to get that?” I murmured.

“Probably but I'd much rather take you on this counter.” My eyebrow raised as he piqued my interest. I brought my lips back down to his, intensifying the kiss but his damn phone wouldn't stop ringing.

He pulled away. “Joder.”

“It's okay.” I smiled. “Someone clearly needs to get a hold of you.”

He kissed me quickly before reaching for his phone, finally stopping the insistent ringing. “Si?” he answered. “Que?¿por esta noche?”

He continued the conversation but I couldn't keep up. My Spanish was poor so I jumped off the counter and grabbed my coffee cup before making my way to my favourite spot on his couch. I dropped down and positioned myself comfortably as I waited for him to finish up. He closed off the conversation and hung up. He grabbed his coffee and came to join me. He sat down next to me, placing his hand on my thigh.

“So listen,” he started to say. “There's an event tonight at Mala Mía. We've got a few new DJs coming in but I wanted to warn you that Casey is having her birthday there tonight.” I stopped and flicked my eyes to him. Just the mention of her name made me involuntarily roll my eyes. She's never done anything to me directly but the idea of her with Giovanni drove me crazy. Not to mention the fact she was one of the most beautiful people I'd ever seen and that didn't help my own insecurities one bit.

“Yeah I thought you'd react like that,” he mused. “I wanted to give you a heads up.”

“I'm not even sure I want to tag along tonight,” I admitted. As much as I wanted to spend time with Giovanni, the idea of being at Mala Mía without Reyna made me weary. She was my safety net and if I went tonight, it would be for the sole purpose of being with Giovanni the whole night. I was still toying around with the idea.

He reached for my hand. “Please come.”

“Does Casey know that whatever was going on between the two of you is over now?”

“There's nothing going on between Casey and me.”

“But does she know that?” I asked, lifting an eyebrow. “If you haven't made it clear then sometimes people have no idea.”

He leaned down and kissed my forehead. “I'll make sure I make it clear to her then.”

I was more apprehensive now. This conversation brought up a wave of unwelcomed concern. It was nagging at me and I had to talk to him about it.

“Is there anyone else that you need to make it clear to?”

He placed his empty cup down on the table in front of us and turned to face me. “Make what clear?”

“Make it clear that you're not seeing them anymore,” I said, placing my cup down. “I don't want to be presumptuous about what is happening between you and I but you already know how I feel about all this.”

I was referring to the fact that I refused to be one of his many women. We weren't dating but we were seeing each other and I wanted to be the only one he was seeing. Call it selfish but that was how I felt. I wanted him all to myself. He reached for me and pulled me into his arms.

“Isabella, I don't want to see anyone else,” he breathed. “Just you.” He leaned down and kissed me. I fell into the kiss and wrapped my arms around his neck. Each time he kissed me I could feel something deep inside of me - a constant growing feeling developing into something more. Something that both excited and terrified me. We broke the kiss and he leaned his forehead against mine. All these little things he was doing was making it difficult for me to protect my heart from him - he was slipping through those walls I built.

“Come on,” he said, pulling away. “I've got a few things I need to do so let's get going.” We got up off the couch and I slipped my bag over my shoulder. He grabbed his jacket on the rack by the elevator and pulled it on. He reached for my hand as we stepped in and he didn't let go.

***

After what felt like hours of hopping from one store to the next on the Giovanni shopping spree, we ended up at this quaint little restaurant just down the road from his apartment. It was small and had very few people in it so we found ourselves a little table inside right at the back. The lighting was dim and the overcast day outside really set a romantic mood we couldn't escape. I slid onto the chair, hanging my handbag on the back. Giovanni chose the seat next to me and ordered us a bottle of their house red wine. Our waitress was a young dark-haired woman who was completely taken with Giovanni - so taken that she hardly even noticed my existence. That was something I experienced for the first time today during our shopping trip. Everywhere he went, people took notice of him. He didn't look for attention but he couldn't escape it either and he received a lot of attention from other women. He held my hand while we walked and to the average passerby, we most likely looked like a normal couple but that didn't stop women from flirting with him. He was always very polite and I figured that a lot of his kindness was probably mistaken for flirting.

“Are you tired now?” he mused.

“You are worse than me when it comes to shopping,” I commented. “My feet even hurt from all the up and down.”

He chuckled. “Well, I promise I am done for the day. After lunch, we can head to my place and get ready for tonight.”

A part of me was dreading tonight but I didn't share this with him. He asked me to be there with him and that was what I was going to do. I didn't want to pay attention to the fact that Casey was going to be there and I worked my hardest to push that out of my mind. I just needed to keep my distance from her.

“So, what's good here?” I asked, scanning the menu in front of me.

“Do you eat seafood?”

I nodded.

“Then you should definitely try the Paella de Marisco - it's not as good as the original Paella you get in Valencia but it's a close second.”

The waitress came around and took our order before disappearing to the back again. Giovanni poured us both a glass of red wine. I took my glass from him and he held his out, waiting to make a toast.

“To lunch together,” he said, smiling. We brought our glasses together before bringing the glass to my lips. I took a small sip and was pleasantly surprised by the sweeter taste it seemed to have. I usually found the wine here in Barcelona to be more bitter so my immature palette was enjoying this new one.

“Look at this - our second date,” I mused, lifting my eyebrow at him.

He smiled at me. “Is that what this is?”

“You tell me,” I shrugged playfully. “This could be two friends having an innocent lunch together. No strings attached.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “There's no way you and I could be just friends.”

I flicked my eyes to his and noticed the simmer of desire behind them. The tension between us was always there - we couldn't deny it. We just picked our moments because we couldn't throw ourselves at each other every single time. Even if that was exactly what I wanted to do. Every time I saw him, I had to physically stop myself from giving in to my deepest desires.

“All or nothing then,” I declared.

He was right. I could never be just friends with him - not now. After everything that's happened between us over the last few weeks, I could never go back to not knowing him. There was way too much between us and just being near him was enough to set me alight. If he wasn't in my life this way then he couldn't be at all because it would drive me crazy having him so close yet so far.

“All or nothing,” he repeated. “That's quite the ultimatum.”

“That's where we're at right now.”

The waitress interrupted with our food. She placed it down in front of us and my stomach revealed just how hungry I was. It was a big bowl and I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to finish it but I couldn't wait to dig in. The smell of seafood surrounded us and I reached for my spoon.

“This looks so good,” Giovanni said, rubbing his hands together.

We both tasted our food at the same time and I was sold. It was delicious - the seafood and rice were a combination I didn't think would work and yet it was amazing. It had a lingering spicy twang to it and I was really enjoying it.

“Can I ask you something?”

After he told me about Maya the other day, I had some lingering questions that I really wanted him to answer. The idea of him never being in a relationship reminded me that I could be right to have reservations about where this was headed.

Giovanni nodded while eating. “Of course.”

“Why did you not want to get into a serious relationship? I know you told me about Maya but did you really not want to try at all after her? Was that intentional?”

He stopped for a moment and I could see him trying to put an answer together. I couldn't help it, I had to ask him. I know I said I wasn't interested in labels right now but I had to know that this was going somewhere. I couldn't let myself fall for someone who couldn't reciprocate what I was feeling. He took another bite of his food and then placed his fork down, reaching for his wine.

“Does the fact that I have never been in a serious relationship bother you?” he asked, deflecting from my question.

“It doesn't bother me,” I explained in between bites. “I just don't want what is happening between us to be a lost cause. I'm sure you can understand that I don't want to get hurt again.”

“I would never want to hurt you, Isabella,” he murmured. “Like I've said before, I just had too much fun fucking around. I know that sounds like a terrible thing to say but that's the truth. I'd seen so many relationships around me fall apart and I didn't want that. Especially after Maya. I struggled to trust people. I didn't want to get hurt and I didn't want to be the one to hurt someone else so it was easier to avoid it all.”

I was sure a part of that statement had to do with what happened between his parents as well. What happened with Maya happened way before his father's affair. I couldn't bring it up because he wasn't the one who told me but I was still waiting for that. I wanted him to open up to me but for now I was thankful that I understood him better.

“Just because you never got into a relationship with someone doesn't mean you didn't hurt them though.”

“Yeah, I know that but I didn't have to take responsibility for that because I never made any promises to anyone.”

It made me sad to hear him talk like that. I was pretty sure that there were a number of women out there who probably ended up hooked on Giovanni only to have him move onto the next one.

“I know it sounds so fucked up, Isabella,” he said as he shrugged and I could see he felt bad about his past ways. “I'd never met anyone that I wanted to be with.”

While I was happy to have him open up to me, I could sense a part of me waving the big red flag. Everything he was saying was reminding me that I could still potentially end up hurt by all of this and I didn't want that.

He reached for my hand and took it in his, caressing it with his thumb, “That was until I met you.” My heart skipped a beat. I looked at him and there was a softness to the way he was looking at me. The same way he looked at me that day at the fountain. He was being genuine - I could tell that he meant what he just said. I never expected to find him and to feel this way. He continued to say everything I needed to hear. Just when I was about to let my doubts override my feelings, he swooped in and suddenly my feelings were sitting front row again.

“There is just something about you, Isabella. I just can't seem to get enough.”

“I'd be lying to you if I said this didn't scare me, Giovanni,” I admitted.

“What are you afraid of?”

“What's happening between us. The way I feel for you is scaring me already.” I avoided looking at him. I didn't want to admit that to him but I couldn't stop myself. Losing Giovanni would be a different kind of heartbreak - it would be the worst and I could either take a chance with him and let myself fall or I could run for the hills. Both were terrifying options.

“Don't you think this is scaring me too?” he murmured softly. “This is all so new to me.” His vulnerability was shining through and our concerns mirrored each other. Here we sat, two incredibly weary people in a tangle of feelings that we couldn't escape. All we could do now was take it one step at a time. I leaned across the table and kissed him. He still held my hand in his and brought it up to his lips. My heart yearned for him.

“As long as it's just you and me, Giovanni, I'm happy.” I ran my fingers through his hair and rested my hand against his cheek.

“You and me, mi hermosa.”

A huge smile spread across my face and the happiness consumed me. I didn't care about anything else but this moment here with him. He was perfect. Through every little imperfection, he was still perfect to me. He was so incredibly attractive and with an all-consuming confidence that you couldn't escape. His humour and vulnerability added another level of attractiveness that not a lot of people would get to see. The more time I spent with him, the more I started to realize that I didn't want to spend time without him. He was exactly what I wanted.

“Let's finish up so we can get ready for tonight,” I mused. He smiled and we ate the rest of our meal in comfortable silence.