Stefan sighed and took me into his arms.“Francesca, it makes no difference who's behind this.None.”
My arms wrapped tightly around his middle.“It makes all the difference.”I looked up at him, my vision blurry, but I still saw his handsome face.“Thank you.I'm not sure why you did it.But I'm so, so, so grateful you did.The kids will benefit so much.”
Stefan exhaled loudly as his fingers tipped my chin up.He looked into my eyes.And I swear—I freaking swear—I saw his big, beautiful soul shine through.“Francesca.”He touched his lips to mine softly.“They fed you.”His eyes grew wet.“When I couldn't.That alone makes it worthwhile.Because of them—” he kissed my lips, “you didn't go hungry.And that deserves to be rewarded.”
“Stefan,” I choked out.But I was bound and determined to tell him what I had to say.“This is the nicest thing anyone could ever do.I love that you did this.And I love you.So much.Thank you.It always bothered me that I only took and took, and took.For so many years.The guilt—” I had to stop and wipe my eyes and take a few deep breaths.“The guilt of knowing I could never pay them back.Not in a billion years was—soul-crushing.”
Stefan shook his head and kissed me on the forehead.“That's not how those organizations work, Chesca.You don't owe them anything.You needed them.They were there.And now you don't.”He lifted my chin further and smiled at me.“And this is how we say thank you.”
I gave him a huge hug and held on.“Does this mean we have to sell the castle and move back into my apartment?”
Stefan laughed and hugged me right back.“Hopefully not.But if we do,” he kissed my head, “I wouldn't give a fuck.As long as you were there with me.”
11
Francesca
After that—highly—emotional revelation, I realized that Eve had cleaned up the mess I'd made.I felt terrible for dropping the entire plate of meat on the floor like an idiot.But Eve told me over and over again that it was fine.And Carlo went into the fridge and pulled out more meat and some salmon steaks.“We have plenty of food, Francesca.It's okay.See?”
It didn't matter.I still felt bad.
Giselle forced me to sit down and keep her company.She even found the reality show I liked.We chatted and laughed as we watched.But something was bothering me.There was still a palpable tension between Giselle and Stefan since the swimming pool incident.They hadn't worked it out.And I knew that in the coming days, Giselle would need Stefan more than ever.
So—
I decided to risk Giselle getting angry at me.When Nick got up to talk to Carlo outside, I very, very, very quietly said, “After Dani fell in Stefan's pool,” Giselle's head swung to me and the happy expression on her face fell right off.“I found him upstairs in our room.He was on a chair—his head in his hands—” I lowered my voice, “crying.His whole body was frozen, Giselle.I was worried he was in shock.”
Giselle peered over at Stefan while I continued talking softly.“On our way over here that day, he called a contractor to come over and start on a safety fence for the pool.Then he called another company about getting an alarm installed in case that fails.”Her eyes shot back to mine.“Then he called the contractor back and told him to figure out how to put safety gates at the top and bottom of the staircase.”
She looked down at her hands and chewed on her bottom lip for a moment.But she still didn't say a word.
“It's eating him up inside, Giselle.He loves that little girl with his whole heart.He would never do anything to hurt her.”
She finally looked up at me with tear-filled eyes and nodded.“I know.I was just so frightened.”She looked back at Stefan.“And I needed someone to blame.”She swallowed and looked at me.“I wasn't lying when I told you he's the best out of all our men.He really is.And the fact that he's building an entirely new and improved food bank for your community—” She shook her head.“That surprises none of us.Because that's the kind of man Stefan Sovrano is.”Her eyes held mine like she wanted to say more.Instead, she pushed up out of her chair and made her way over to Stefan.
From the look on his face, I could tell he was surprised to see her approach.Giselle wrapped her arms around him.He instantly looked at me—and I smiled.
They talked quietly to each other for a while.I couldn't hear what they were saying.But whatever was being said—it was intense.I kept watching my show so they wouldn't think I was watching them—which I totally was.I was definitely going to have to rewatch this episode again.
Finally, they grinned at each other and hugged for a long moment.
And then—
Stefan and Giselle—
Kissed.
Like, kissed, kissed.
There was definitely tongue action going on there.Neither of them was trying to hide it.Eve was on the other side of the kitchen, making rice.And they both knew I was—right there.
The really, really, really odd thing about watching them kiss—was that it didn't bother me like I thought it would.Not like back when I saw them kissing at the hospital all those months ago.Back then, I thought my heart was going to break.But right now—I felt—fine.
No, not fine.It was a relief to have them friends again.And to know it was because I'd given Giselle a push.
And it wasn't like he was lying her down on the counter and making love to her.This was just a—
Kiss.
