No Strings Attached

Chapter Thirteen

He sighs, frustrated. "So, yeah, you're not the only one with baggage."

The corner of my mouth quirks up without enthusiasm.

Normally, if he were a regular client of mine, I'd tell him exactly why my choice was correct, why his feelings are misplaced for her, the worst kind of woman. I'd be hard, brutally honest.

But unfortunately for me right now, he isn't the usual client.

So, I keep quiet, my stomach flipping uneasily. It's moments like these that make me sure all of this is going to come back to screw me over.

Giovanni begins to sit up after a few seconds, sighing.

"I shouldn't have said it like that. I'm sorry. I just was caught off guard."

"Giovanni, this is the way I do things. This is how I do my job. If you don't like it—" He stands, immediately moving towards me. I back up, holding up my hands. "I want to be serious right now."

He stops a foot away from me. He doesn't even try to cover himself up, completely comfortable in his skin and in the vulnerability that comes from talking candidly this way.

"You are brilliant, Scarlett. You managed to turn something that could have followed me for the rest of my life into the relevance of a click-bait article. I'm lucky to have you... working for me."

"I will make hard calls. Now you know I will do anything, say whatever I have to so that you come out on top. If you ever have a reservation on something, I need you to be open with me."

"I'm trying," is all he says. The two words come out gentler than I'd like them to.

We stand, gazing at one another, a million questions, millions of possibilities hovering between us. I don't know what compels me to open up to him, but before I know it, I'm dropping my arms in defeat.

"My ex-husband showed up at my job yesterday. He was nearly evicted from his apartment. He needed money... It really threw me over."

He stares, absorbing that. "That must have been difficult, with everything going on. I'm sorry."

My throat is closing as if to say stop. Stop now. "It was. He is dangerous."

Giovanni takes one step towards me, his head tilting in suspicion. "Dangerous?"

I nod slowly.

"What do you mean dangerous?"

"I mean, he is a drunk who lost everything, including me. And after I left, he began to follow me... everywhere. He'd call at least twenty times a day. He'd watch me across the street as I got into my car. He'd stand outside this apartment all night. I knew every single night before I went to sleep that I could walk to the window and look out, and he'd be there."

Giovanni's eyes are wide with concern. "You were stalked?"

I struggle to keep it together, remembering the fear of it all. "He broke into here one night. I came in and..." My head shakes. "I called the cops, and they threatened him, so he had to stop. Thankfully, he did. I hadn't seen him in months, and then he showed up yesterday."

"Jesus."

I busy myself with retrieving his clothing off the ground, placing it neatly onto my sitting chair. My fingers tremble and fumble to fold his things, clearly distressed.

"Scarlett."

I chuckle, shaking my head when he tries to touch me. "No, it's okay."

I set down his things, walking around him. I sit on the bed, running my hands through my ridiculously knotted sex hair.