Granted Wishes (The Granted Series Book 1) (22 page)

GRACELYNN WAKES
UP A NEW WOMAN
. She’s in pain but in a blissful way. She never thought she’d meet another man who captured her heart. This man next to her makes her feel alive and more in love than she’s ever been.

She rolls over to face him and he’s smiling. “Good morning, my love.” He leans in to give her a morning kiss, not caring about morning breath and then he rolls them over to get lost in their love once again.

An hour later, he smacks her butt playfully. “Okay, woman. I need food, you sex fiend.”

She laughs, gets up, calls for room service and joins him back in bed.

He leans up on his elbows looking deep in her eyes. “I don’t want you to leave again.” He reaches up, pulling her towards him. “I hate that other people get to see you every day and I’m not there to see you each morning and night. I know there have to be other men who flirt with you and it makes me jealous,” he explains.

She moves away from his embrace and crosses her arms over her chest, angry.

“What about you, Gio? Don’t you have beautiful women working with you and dealing with you daily? You honestly want me to believe you don’t check them out or flirt with them? Or how you deal with Mallory?”

She can’t believe they’re having their first fight. Things were going amazingly and now that she’s showing commitment he’s freaking out with jealously.

She decides a bath in the whirl pool tub should calm her nerves. She stands up, ignoring him, and moves to the bathroom. She fills the bath with the hotel bubble bath, closes her eyes thinking about last night and the months they’ve been together.

There’s a light knock on the bathroom door that interrupts her thoughts. She yells for Gio to open the door and when he does, he looks distraught.

He holds a tray of breakfast with a flower on it and a simple note. She looks at the breakfast tray and is amazed at how romantic he can be; but he needs to know that she wouldn’t cheat on him. It’s obvious that Lizzie did a number on him.

“Gio, thank you for breakfast. That was thoughtful of you. Please take it back into the other room. Let me have a few more minutes alone and I’ll call for you when I’m ready,” she tells him, closing her eyes again. She opens her eyes after hearing the door shut behind him, but notices he left the note on the side of the tub before leaving her alone in the room.

* * *

Gio leaves the room defeated; like his heart has stopped beating. He hopes the small note will make up for his lack of judgment; especially when they just had the most amazing weekend together.

He sits on the bed with his head between his legs. How could he be so stupid to think she would cheat on him? She’s a beautiful lady and knows men will check her out, but if she never acts on it, that’s fine. Why can’t he get over Lizzie and realize Gracelynn would never betray their love?

As he sits on the bed, Gracelynn yells for him from the bathroom. “Gio, I need to speak with you.”

He slowly enters the bathroom and sees her still in the tub, holding his note in between her fingers.

“We need to talk,” she says with a wobbly voice. “I love you. I may have thought one of my co-workers was worthy of dating once, but I wasn’t ready to move on yet.”

He doesn’t like hearing this and scrunches his forehead. She notices his mood and explains.

“The truth is he and I are best friends. We hang out occasionally, read books together and joke about anything and everything. I don’t want or need you to be jealous of him, because he doesn’t have my heart, not like you do.”

This makes his heart swell but he’s still nervous over his insane outburst.

“What we shared last night was amazing. I’ll forever cherish it. I want you to know I would never cheat on you. I’m worried now that you’ve declared your love for me you expect me to cheat on you.”

She runs her hands through her wet hair, making her look like a Victoria Secret model… and he feels damn lucky he has the opportunity to love this beautiful woman.

He gets what she’s trying to say. Mallory at one point was nice, caring and a good friend. So he knows what she means; but he never wanted to pursue her more than friends. He too, never wanted a relationship again until he met Gracelynn.

“I’m the same way. I’ve never wanted a relationship with anyone else since Lizzie. I still have trust issues when it comes to true commitment. I know you’d never cheat on me. My insecurities got the best of me.” He leans towards the tub and takes her ring finger and kisses it. “Please don’t leave me over my stupid insecurities. I’m a stupid man.” He bows his head in defeat and wouldn’t blame her for not wanting a jealous possessive man.

“Please look at me. I forgive you. But don’t let it happen again. I’m in love with you and no one else. When I love, I love with all my heart. Now, get in the tub.” She doesn’t have to tell him twice. He hastily takes off his clothes and joins her in the tub.

They stay in the tub until they look like prunes. They continue to talk and when they’re dried off and back into bed he tells her he would like to possibly move to Layton Hills.

She gasps. “What about your job, Gio?”

“What about my job? I’m CEO and don’t need to be in the office every day. I could work from any location. Fly to and from anywhere. But the question is: do you want me there? I’d have to find a place to stay.”

She whole-heartedly laughs and nudges his arm. “I’m not sure. Let’s give it some more thought, okay? Can we please talk about this in a few more months?”

He sighs. It’s not the answer he was hoping for, but he understands her reservations due to his crazy outburst earlier.

GRACELYNN AND
GIO CONTINUE
their routine of phone calls, Facetimes and meetings two times a month. As this next month starts, Cassie calls Gracelynn into the office unexpectedly.

“You’re glowing these last few days, Gracelynn. I’m so happy you met Gio!” she gushes at her, holding her now-showing belly and smiling at Gracelynn. “I was wondering if you’d like to go to the salon with me tomorrow and have a girl’s day.”

“You mean during work hours?” Gracelynn asks curiously. This is rather unusual behavior for Cassie.

“Yes,” Cassie laughs and her eyes sparkle. “My dear, you’ve been doing a fabulous job with the clients and I want to reward you for a job well done.”

Gracelynn smiles and appreciates Cassie’s kind words. “Sounds great to me. Am I to come into work?” She now wonders if it’s a whole day event and hopes not, since tomorrow is the day she’s to meet up with Gio again.

Cassie grins. “Yes, come into work. We’ll work until noon and head out for an afternoon of pampering.”

Later that night Gio and Gracelynn Facetime and she tells him about her girl time tomorrow with Cassie and how excited she is to spend girl time with her again.

* * *

Gio is thrilled for Gracelynn and happy she gets to spend time with her friend and that she’s being rewarded for her performance.

He tells her that he’s been happy with the two newest employees and that they’re quickly becoming friends. He’s taken Joe and Thomas out to dinner and feels that when he’s ready to get out of the hotel business, he could leave it to one of them.

Gracelynn grins into the phone at him. “I’m so happy that both employees are working out. It’s good to see you happy again about your staff. I’ll still see you tomorrow night at our usual spot, right?”

Gio notices an unusual look on Gracelynn’s face. “Yes, why wouldn’t we? I look forward to our times together. Everyone I know is probably tired of me talking about you,” he says solemnly. “I’ll see you at our normal time, beautiful. See you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow. I love you,” she mumbles at him, not in her normal voice.

He’s worried now. She’s not acting quite right and it’s scaring him. “Doll, what’s going on? Stop biting your lips, darling. You know what that makes me want to do and now that I had a taste of you, I don’t want to stop.”

She inhales.

“Don’t be so surprised, Gracelynn. You know what you do to me. What you’ll always do to me. I love you. See you tomorrow.”

He hangs up and can’t wait to see his beautiful woman again.

* * *

Gracelynn is excited for her trip to the salon with Cassie. They work diligently until noon and as promised Cassie drives them to the salon.

They both decide on a pedicure. Gracelynn chooses hot, red nail polish, where Cassie chooses a subtle pink. As they have their toes done, they chat about their jobs, books, the future and the loves of their lives as they enjoy the spa together, just like old times.

They decide to grab a bite to eat after the pedicure and walk to a local café and then spend some time at the mall. After grabbing a few items at the mall, Gracelynn glances at her watch, realizing its four thirty. They leave the mall and head back to the office for Gracelynn to leave to see Gio.

Cassie thanks her again for a job well done and wishes her an exciting weekend as they hug one more time.

As Gracelynn hops in her car and places her seat belt on her phone goes off. It’s a call from an unknown number.

“Hello,” she grumbles into the phone, hoping it’s not some telemarketer.

“Hello, Gracelynn,” a voice she recognizes purrs back at her. She’s unsure where she knows the voice from though…

“Gracelynn, are you there? It’s Mallory. Gio’s assistant,” the woman grunts into the phone.

Gracelynn’s heart beat accelerates. How could Mallory have her cell number?

“How did you get this number, Mallory?” She grits her teeth as she clasps the phone tightly in her hand.

The silence kills her until Mallory uses her callousing voice again.

“You. Will. Want. To. Meet. Me,” she hastily speaks into the phone.

Gracelynn gets goose bumps. She doesn’t trust Mallory. Not since the moment she met her… she felt something was off about her, even then.

“NO! I will not meet you. I don’t have anything to say to you. Leave me alone.” She spits out the last words, hoping Mallory will hang up.

“NO! You will meet me. You’ll want to know what I’ve found out about your precious Gio! But lucky for you, I’ve travelled over to your town. You’ll meet me in fifteen minutes at Coffee Junction… I’ll be waiting,” she states icily and abruptly hangs up.

Gracelynn is shaking. She doesn’t know what to do. She decides to meet her, but before she leaves, she texts Gio to let him know something came up and that she’ll be late to meet him tonight.

Gracelynn drives over to the coffee shop, her heart beating rapidly in her chest. She notices Mallory outside waiting for her, holding a manila folder, smirking like the cat who just ate the canary.

Gracelynn hops out of her car and is immediately given a fake hello from Mallory.

“So glad you can meet with me, Gracelynn,” Mallory says, her voice laced with sarcasm.

This won’t end well.
They enter the shop, and Gracelynn tries to be polite as they sit down at a small booth.

However, Mallory has other plans. She turns her face toward Gracelynn and grits her teeth together. Gracelynn is petrified: her hands start to shake in her lap.

“I tried to warn you that he wouldn’t be the right one for you, didn’t I? No, you wouldn’t believe me and ended up falling in love with the twerp. I hate to be the one to show you, but here you go.”

Mallory throws a folder at her. She cautiously opens the folder and the top photo shreds her.

The photo is of her car, the car Angelo died in… at the accident scene.

There’s a newspaper clipping suggesting that Lizzie, Gio’s deceased wife and another man, were the reason for her husband’s death.

It states by a private source this was all covered up…. And that’s the real reason Gracelynn Calhoun never knew the real way her deceased husband died….

She feels sick. Did Gio know all of this? Is this why he acted funny sometimes? Did he know from the very beginning that his wife was the reason her husband is now dead? Did he know?

She grips the papers in dire pain. She can’t handle all of this right now…. She sees her husband’s accident scene… and only sees lies…and Mallory…why does she even care?

Are Gio’s wife and the man who was in the car with her the real reason they all died? His parents, his brother, his wife? Tears pour from her face… and then she hears Mallory laughing.

“Bitch, you think this is funny? What’s your agenda here? What is there to gain from seeing my own personal hell and pain? Have you ever loved anyone in your vile life?”

She watches Mallory turn white for a moment, but then continues. “Gio did know, he kept it from you. I found out on my own. I did have some time off… since he put me on leave of absence and knew this time… it would help show you the vile nature of this man. He’s a con and just wanted you to never know and I overheard him telling his fellow staff about it and also about you. One man told him to tell you the truth but Gio refused. He said he loves you and doesn’t want to lose you and wouldn’t tell you, ever.”

Lies! This has to be all lies!
Now she doesn’t know what to believe. Should she believe Mallory or not?

She does remember Gio getting very mad at Mallory but they never continued the entire conversation since it was too hurtful and then they never talked about it again. He must have said it. How could he lie and keep this to himself? His wife is to blame for her pain and he speaks of being honest and truthful; yet he can’t even be so himself.

“Just wait. There’s one more item I think you might want to see,” Mallory tells her as she hands her a photo, looking self-satisfied as she hands it to Gracelynn.

Just then Gracelynn’s heart almost literally jumps out of her chest. The photo is of Mallory in sexy undergarments standing next to Gio.

She wipes the tears from her eyes, gets up and leaves Mallory alone in the coffee shop. Now she’s alone all over again with a broken heart… again from a man. This time he’s not dead; he’s just alive and a liar.

Gracelynn sits in her car and grips the steering wheel as the tears pour down her face. She notices she hasn’t heard from Gio. Noticing the time on her car it’s six pm and she wonders why he hasn’t contacted her; not that she wants to hear his voice right now.

She decides to text him despite her pain and sends him the text:
I won’t be coming this weekend.
She sobs into her steering wheel again, wishing she never met Giovanni Antonetti.

As she starts to wipe her face off, her phone chirps beside her on her passenger seat. And when she reads the text message, she’s shattered.

“We are through. I told you I don’t like cheaters and what you’ve done is beyond hurtful.”
What the hell? She hasn’t done anything wrong; he’s the liar.

She picks up her phone to call him, but as she’s about to dial his number she receives two picture messages. Both pictures show her in what would look like a loving embrace with her best guy friend from the office, whom she told Gio about before. One is at the holiday party at work and another is a group of people from work, including Ben and Cassie having dinner at a local diner.

She immediately calls Gio, but goes straight to voice mail. Real mature of him to put her to voicemail, asshole. She leaves a very detailed message that guts her.

She sobs, clutches her heart and speaks into the phone. “I love you, Gio. I wanted a future with you. You’ve hurt me beyond belief today. I learned your wife was the reason for Angelo and his family’s death! How could you not tell me? I also loved the pictures of you and Mallory at some hotel…. And those pictures you sent me were from work functions. I told you the guy was one of my best friends. You knew about him. I don’t love him. I love you. Until you know what you have in front of your face, don’t contact me again. “

She hangs up and heaves uncontrollably as she screams at the top of her lungs in the car. Rain pours down around her, reflecting her inner mood.

By the time she’s fully composed, it’s late and she drives off home, confused.
Why did this have to happen? Why do the men she falls for always leave her?

Then she realizes something else. Her period is late. She pounds on the steering wheel again and pulls on her hair, this time not caring if it hurts.
Oh my God! How could have I been so stupid?

She realizes she’s been moody, tearful, hungry, tired. She never misses her period and it hits her… she could be pregnant. She cries again for their carelessness and for the second man she’s ever loved who left her, without talking to her about the photos she never knew were taken.