Gio (Steel Demons MC #6)

Chapter 18

Harper

G io had gotten home late last night—home, there was that word again—and he was up early, making breakfast when I walked into the kitchen. “Good morning.” His smile was wide and made it all the way up to his eyes despite the exhaustion behind them.

“Morning yourself,” I grumbled and sniffed the air. “Is that coffee I smell?”

He nodded. “Yep. I’m making breakfast. Hungry?”

“Starved.” He’d been oddly quiet about what he was up to last night but given the hour I suspected it had something to do with the Blood Reapers. I wanted to ask, badly, but I sucked down hot black coffee instead. “Why are you up so early?”

He shrugged his broad, bare shoulders. “Couldn’t sleep.”

That was my opening. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, everything is fine. I think.” He piled a bunch of scrambled eggs, toast, and too many strips of bacon, on two plates and brought them to the table where he motioned for me to join him. “Do you have to go into work today?”

I frowned at his out of the blue question, but I shook my head. “No. I can get things done from here. Why?” My heart rate instantly kicked up and I sat up a little taller. “What’s going on?”

He shook his head and blew out a breath before he stabbed at his eggs. “Some shit went down, and I’d feel better if you were here or at the clubhouse.”

“Okay,” I answered easily. “Can you tell me more than that?”

His gaze locked with mine. “I’d rather not, at least not right now.”

I swallowed the long list of questions I had and nodded instead. “Yeah, okay. Sure. I’ll work from here today.”

His shoulders relaxed and his jaw unclenched. “Okay. Good. Thanks.”

I reached across the table and put my hand on top of his. “Are you sure you’re okay, Gio? Even if you can’t tell me everything, you can tell me how you’re doing.”

His lips kicked up to one side in amusement. “You really are too good to be true, Harp.”

“Nah, I’m just good enough Gio.” My heart pounded at his words and warmth flooded my veins. “So?”

“Nothing,” he said and stabbed angrily at his eggs. “I just can’t stop thinking about the way that asshole came for you at work, and I wasn’t there to protect you. It makes me so fucking angry when I think what could have happened.”

I understood well. I hadn’t shared it with Gio, but I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it either, the nightmares of being kidnapped and tortured came regularly and no amount of orgasms could stop them. “Me too.”

Gio’s nostrils flared. “He’s gonna fucking pay for it.”

I stole a slice of his bacon and made a big show of biting into it. “I’m okay, that’s the main thing.” I tucked into the breakfast like a woman starved and we ate in silence, cleaning up afterwards in a comfortable silence that was foreign to me. I wasn’t used to feeling so at ease with a man and I liked it. A lot. Possibly too much.

“I need to go take care of some things around town. You gonna be all right here alone?”

I nodded, ignoring the way my heart donkey-kicked my chest. “I think so. If not, I know how to reach you.”

He nodded. “You know where the guns are, don’t be afraid to use ‘em Harp.”

“I won’t,” I promised sincerely. As much as I wanted to live in a world that didn’t require me to know where guns were squirreled away around the house, I wouldn’t be na?ve and let my hopes interfere with reality. “I promise.”

He studied me for a long minute, and I let him, meeting his gaze head-on. “Thank you.” Then he pulled me in close and wrapped his arms around me tight, pressing his lips to mine in a slow, soft kiss that quickly turned hot—white hot—and threatened to burn the whole damn house down. When Gio pulled back we were both wide-eyed and panting. “Gotta go.”

“Yeah, and I have work to do.” I flashed a grin and took a step back before pointing a finger at Gio. “You gotta go, remember?”

Gio took a step forward, a teasing glint in his eyes. “I’m sure I could be a few minutes late for the right reasons.”

I tossed my head back and a loud laugh escaped. “Or you can get everything done and we’ll have all night for all the wrong reasons.”

Heat darkened his gaze, and his jaw tightened. “Deal.” He pressed a hard kiss to my lips before he walked to the garage and soon enough the roar of his bike engine was loud, slowly fading as he left to take care of MC business.

***

I spread my work materials across Gio’s coffee table and curled up on the sofa while I juggled planning two events at once. Everything was coming together nicely and every once in a while, Gio’s question came back to me. Could I do this for myself? I shook my head because all the reasons I gave him were still true, and I didn’t want to be a little guppie in the great big ocean. I wanted more than that, which was why I was staying put for now.

The guest lists had been finalized this morning, but any good event planner knew the guest list could change as late as one minute the event began so I made seating charts with room to grow, double-checked with vendors I was uneasy about and went over no less than a dozen different checklists. The devil was in the details, as they say, and when it came to event planning life was all about the details.

I’d been working for a few hours, when a knock sounded on the front door. It was sharp and fast, and it startled the hell out of me. My next breath caught in my throat, and I scanned the living room and then the door as if I could see through it. I stood at the second round of knocking and reached for the gun Gio had hidden underneath the table right beside the front door.

I inhaled deeply and gripped the gun in one hand, unlocking and opening the door with the other. A deep exhale rushed out of me as I stared at three familiar feminine faces. “Oh. Hi.” My heart still raced but it was slowing down as I stepped back and waved them in. “Sorry, I just need a second.”

Peyton frowned, “Shit, sorry. We scared you.”

“It’s okay,” I brushed her off and shook my head. “I’m a little jumpy and I wasn’t expecting you.” My gaze landed on my unexpected visitors, Peyton, Ellie, and Laura, who I only met once before. “What brings you by?”

“You,” Peyton answered. “We’re here to take you to lunch.”

“You are. Why?” I hardly knew these women and they didn’t owe me a thing, so it didn’t make sense. “Gio sent you.”

“Not exactly,” Laura said as she stepped inside last and closed the door behind her. “He said you were working from home today and that you might want a break at some point.”

Dammit, why was he so thoughtful and sweet? “Oh. That’s nice of you.”

“Right?” Peyton’s full lips stretched into a teasing grin. “Come on, we’re going out for food and girl talk. We have a child-free afternoon and we’re gonna make the best of it with cocktails and gossip.”

It was something I hadn’t done in too long and suddenly it sounded like just what I needed. “Okay. One second.” I organized my work materials, shut down my laptop before I changed into casual wide-legged pants and a loose tank top. “Ready.”

Thirty minutes later we were seated inside a cozy booth with whiskey cocktails in front of us while the ladies each told me how they came to be linked to the Steel Demons. “I used to date Nolan,” Peyton admitted. “I only came to Rocky because I’d heard how badass he was, which was true. But he was and is a lot more than that.”

I laughed at each of them as our barbecue platter arrived, loaded up with succent meat, three types of potatoes and more coleslaw than four women could possibly eat. “So they each came to your rescue, and you fell for them.”

“That about sums it up,” Laura added with a smile. “Hawk and I were pretending and somewhere along the way it became real.”

“Wow.” I shook my head. “That’s incredible. Good for you ladies.”

“Right?” Ellie waved a dismissive hand in the air. “What we really want to know is what’s going on with you and Gio.”

“He’s just an old friend,” I answered diplomatically. “We practically grew up together. He and Cole are closer than blood brothers.” This was girl talk and I needed a sounding board, so I took another sip and said what I was thinking. “It’s just sex,” I said, more to myself than the girls.

Peyton laughed first, probably because she had the most insight into Gio as his sister-in-law. “Oh please. Has it been more than three nights?”

My brows tugged into a frown. “It has. Why?”

All three women gave each other knowing glances before Peyton leaned forward as if she had a big secret. “Gio doesn’t do more than three nights with the same woman. Ever.”

I sat back against the plush booth seat with a shocked sigh. “That can’t be right.” Gio was a gorgeous single man so I didn’t think he’d been living the life of a monk before I came to town but that sounded so… callous.

“It is,” they all replied in unison.

“I’m telling you, Harper, this isn’t just sex for Gio. It can’t be. He wouldn’t go after a brother’s sister unless he meant it.”

I shook my head against those words even though they made me feel good and warm inside. “I don’t live here,” I tried weakly.

“Maybe not,” Ellie began, “but that’s easy enough to change for love.”

Love. That word hit me with the force of a Mack truck. This wasn’t love. It couldn’t be. It was too soon. Right? Sure I felt things for Gio, warm and fuzzy things, sexy things, affectionate things. But not love.

“I think we’ve shocked her enough,” Laura said with amusement in her voice. “Let’s talk about something else.”

Conversation moved on but the sentiment and the conversation stayed with me throughout the night and into the next day.