Gio

by Kenya Wright

  “For what?”

  “She’s being silly just like you. Blaming herself for everything.”

  “She has nothing to feel bad for.”

  “Neither do you. Both of you need to remember that before this shit ruins what you two still have.”

  Sighing, I saw that the driver was taking us on the highway. “Where are we going?”

  “It’s a surprise.”

  “Do I seem like I’m in a surprise mood?”

  Midnight raised his hands. “Hey, this is all her doing. I’m not saying shit. My only job is to deliver you and then I’m hopping on a plane and getting the fuck out of here.”

  I grinned. “You didn’t love Utah?”

  “Hell no. And I’m making sure this case gets dropped. I want you off house arrest and in LA. Simone agreed to come out.”

  “She did?”

  “Yes, right after asking me if I would be her manager. Which, of course, I said hell yes to. She’s been trending all fucking day. The world is in love with her.”

  Unease hit me. That was all I needed, more predatory ass men to come around her. I made a note to get her two personal body guards. No more would I let anyone bother her again.

  “GioKnights are having a ball with this updated new you. And they love that you’re in love. All day the internet has been trying to give you all a name.”

  “A name?”

  “You know? A couple name. Like Kimye for Kanye and Kim. Bee Z for Beyonce and Jay-Z.”

  “Oh God.”

  “So far, Sim G and G-Sim has been growing some buzz.”

  “I’ll be waiting in suspense.” I checked my watch. “Where are we going? We’ve been in here for a while.”

  “You might as well sit back and enjoy the ride. I’m not saying anything, Sim G.”

  “Please, don’t do that.”

  “Or maybe you both should go with G-Mone. The ladies love it, since the name is so close to G moan.”

  “Are you going to talk about this the whole time?”

  He showed his phone to me. “There were even some pictures of you two at the Utah Symphony orchestra.”

  I sighed and looked. “Are you kidding me?”

  One of the orchestra members had clearly snapped a shot because it was taken from the stage. Simone smiled up at me, dressed in that gorgeous gown. I gazed at her, completely in love. And suddenly, my heart soared back to that moment.

  “You two look beautiful together.” Midnight interrupted the moment. “As soon as you both finish the album, we’re going to make an ass of money. You know you must do some duets now. A full video. Something amazing. Even show the day when Ru—”

  “Don’t even think about it.” I glared at him. “We’re not going to capitalize off Simone’s pain.”

  “I’m just saying.”

  “No. I don’t want any memory of this day set to a song or video or anything else.”

  “Fine. Fine.” He held his palms out. “Perhaps, I’m being a bit insensitive.”

  “Perhaps.”

  Midnight smiled at me and opened his arms. “I love you, man.”

  “I’m not hugging you, Midnight. I’ve just been locked away with hundreds of men. The last thing I want to do is cuddle in a limo with you and talk about our feelings.”

  “You make loving you so hard.” He laughed and returned to talking about social media, marveling in the memes and gifs. “The internet is on fire, and everyone is so creative. Look at that.”

  I checked the gif. My face was cut and pasted on some wrestler as he launched in the air and slammed onto another wrestler whose face just happened to have Ru pasted on it. I couldn’t look at anymore. No one had understood how painful that moment had been. It wasn’t something I could joke about.

  “I’m taking a nap.” I relaxed for the first time and closed my eyes. “Wake me up when Simone’s beautiful face is near.”

  “Would you like me to sing you a song?”

  “Hell no, Midnight.”

  He laughed and I slowly drifted asleep.

  It must’ve been two hours later when he woke me up. The sun had begun to set. In front was the restaurant I’d taken her to earlier.

  We’re in Salt Lake City. Did she rent the suite again?

  I got my answer when Midnight handed me a key and told me to take the elevator to the second floor. I rushed away from him, not even saying goodbye. My heart ached for Simone. I wondered if she was okay and couldn’t wait to have her in my arms.

  As I rode the elevator up to the second floor, I twisted the key from side to side in my arms. The doors slid open, revealing the same suite we’d had. But this time, a large box sat in the hallway. I went to it and opened it up.

  Simone. Simone.

  A small pink train sat inside with a heart formed into diamonds on the roof. I picked it up and slid my fingertips along the wheels, watching them spin.

  Midnight must’ve showed her the room or told her about it.

  For some reason, a little embarrassment came over me that she knew I enjoyed playing with toys.

  A sky-blue card lay at the bottom of the box. I picked it up and read the words out loud. “Put the train on the tracks, press the button, and follow it.”

  Tracks?

  And that was when I noticed a long line of tracks behind the box. It was a long line that ran toward the living room and then rounded the corner. I placed the pink train on the tracks and pushed the red button next to it.

  Damn. She’s better at surprises than me.

  The train led me past the living room, around the kitchen, and to the library where a cold beer and my favorite sandwich awaited me. It sat under a silver platter with a note.

  I munched on the sandwich like a starving man and took a swig of the cold beer. Everything was exactly what I wanted if I’d been thinking of myself and not her.

  How did she know my favorite sandwich and beer? Midnight must’ve told her.

  I finished half of the sandwich, too excited to see what was next. Taking the beer along with me, I pressed the button and followed the tracks out to the hallway. The train went right, but I saw that the tracks would be rounding back down the hallway and toward the living room again.

  I’m sorry, Simone. But I must see you now. I can’t wait.

  I let the train go in the other direction and followed all the tracks, dipping back to where the piano was that held a present. I didn’t even open it. My body filled with excitement, knowing Simone was close by. The tracks didn’t go to our bedroom. Instead, they moved toward the steam and rain shower room and didn’t go further. This had to be the last stop. A note hung on the wall asking me to undress.

  I tore off my clothes, ready to take a shower. The last thing I wanted to do was come to her smelling like my jail cell. My clothes fell to the floor. My heart slammed in my chest.

  I opened the door and she screamed.

  I jumped back and drank in the view around me. The room was small. The walls were made of black crystal glass. Warm air filled the space. It was mainly dark besides the soft glows of blue along the ceiling.

  “Gio?” She widened her eyes in shock, looking amazing and seductive under the blue light. “How did you get here so fast? I had five more minutes.”

  “I was too eager.” I drank her in some more. She’d just taken off her robe and lay it down on the solid black bench on the edge of the rain shower. She stood on a circular, silver floor that sat in the center. The ceiling above was covered in holes to let the water drip down once she turned it on. I couldn’t wait to get closer to her.

  There she stood completely naked and utterly beautiful.

  “Simone. Simone,” I whispered.

  She tossed me a wicked grin. “You skipped my gifts?”

  “I wanted you so bad.” I slowly stepped in. The door shut behind me. “I needed to see you.”

  “You have to promise to check them out, when I’m done...cleaning you.”

  I groaned, but tried to maintain the space between us.
Ru had put her through a lot. I knew she might not want to make love yet, and promised myself that I would be patient as she healed. But I wasn’t going to lie, at night I lay in my cell and thought about her naked and in front of me just like this.

  “Come here,” she whispered.

  I stayed where I was, even though my whole body blazed on fire. “Are you okay?”

  She glanced at the floor for a second and then looked at me. “I have nightmares now.”

  “I’ll make sure that ends. I’ll be holding you the whole time.”

  She smiled at me. “All I needed was your arms, and now you’re here.”

  “Thank you for everything you did for me.”

  She shook her head. “No, thank you for everything you did for me.”

  Before I could close the distance between us, she did, wrapping her arms around me. “Oh, Gio. I fucking missed you. I haven’t felt safe without you.”

  I shuddered, pulling her closer and held her tiny body to mine. “Princess, you’re all I thought about. You’re the only reason I maintained in that cell. I kept thinking that I had to be strong and get back to you.”

  “I’m so sorry.” Simone’s voice cracked at the end.

  I lifted her chin and saw that she was crying. “You have nothing to be sorry about.”

  “I should’ve listened—”

  “Fuck that, Simone. You did nothing wrong, and you don’t have to second guess yourself or your past actions.” I kissed her lips. “Do you hear me? You did nothing wrong.”

  “Okay.”

  “I love you.” It had barely been a few weeks, but we’d gone through enough to last a lifetime. “I love you and I never want to be without you, and if anybody comes between us, I’m going to kill them.”

  She blinked and opened her mouth in shock. “You shouldn’t say that.”

  “It’s just you and me.”

  “I’m serious, Gio. I don’t want to lose you.”

  “You won’t.” I lifted her up and pulled her into my arms. It took me a few seconds to turn on the shower that was controlled by several tiny buttons. Simone giggled once I turned the damn water on.

  Warm drops fell all around and on us. Besides the pitter patter of water, silence filled the air between us. She held me as I continued to keep her up and safe in my arms, our bodies slick from the warm water. Steam rose around us. The stink of the jail cell washed off my body and escaped into the drain.

  We kissed, and in some ways, it was different than our kisses before. We’d grown so much without each other. This time, our kissing was more intense, more drenched in passion. It was like we were starving and needed each other’s mouths to survive. That was all we did as I held her in the water. Kiss and lick. Suck and moan against each other.

  I couldn’t get enough, but I didn’t want to push it further.

  She needed time to heal.

  We must take our time. She’s been hurt.

  And then a throaty purr sent a wave of lusty heat across his skin. “Gio.”

  Damn you, Simone. I’m trying to take my time.

  “How are you?” I asked.

  “I need you, Gio.”

  “I’m here, princess.”

  I held her in the shower. It was just enough to have her in my arms. I’d missed her that whole time. After everything she’d been through, she needed time to heal.

  Days passed, shifting into weeks. We remained at our suite. Every now and then the world came by to disrupt us. My lawyers dropped by to tell me that the state had finally dropped my charges. I’d even hired a therapist for Simone, knowing that sometimes she had things to say that she probably didn’t want me to hear. Her best friend, Yvonne came next, filling the place with laughter and quizzing me on my life. We started working on the album around then.

  The whole time, we never made love. Yet, I relished the evenings when I held her in my arms and listened to her soft snoring.

  By the third month, the nightmares left, and we headed to LA. By the fourth month, Midnight threw a listening party for our new song, Heal Me.

  And the end of that night, I took her home, laughing, and joking with her the whole ride.

  We hit the shower, and she caught me by surprise. “Gio,” she whispered as I held her in my arms.

  “Yes, princess?”

  “Make love to me.”

  I had no smart reply. I’d craved her for too long. I was willing to beg for the honor of tasting her again.

  But I held my restraint and asked, “Are you sure?”

  “Yes.” She kissed me. “And don’t make me beg.”

  I groaned.

  We gave up on words and devoured each other instead. Our bodies said the things we couldn’t say out loud; how much we missed each other, how much we would be dedicated to the other from here on out.

  She giggled as I squeezed her ass and smacked one of her cheeks. But the laughter left as soon as she got on my cock and slid down.

  “There you go, princess.”

  “Oh, Gio,” she moaned.

  More of her moans filled the air, rising with the steam and heating us up more than the water.

  She’d changed my life. She’d pointed at the empty space inside my heart and showed me that I needed to fill it. She’d made me realize the world was wider and bigger than I’d ever imagined. All this time I’d walked the earth, thinking I was fine, and she showed me how happy I could truly be.

  And now I knew that regardless of what our souls were made of, we were the same. It didn’t matter who came our way to destroy us. It didn’t matter what buildings crumbled and came crashing down around us. We would not perish.

  Together, we were magic. The perfect melody.

  About the Author

  Kenya Wright wrote her first novel during her third year at UM Law School. She dropped out a month after its release, and never looked back.

  Words are power, and Kenya wants to be the greatest wizard that has ever lived.

  She is multi-published author of thirty novels, and has ranked #1 on the Amazon Interracial Romance Bestseller’s list with each release. Currently, Kenya is pursuing an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction at Seton Hill University.

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