Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 76782 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76782 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
He nods. “When I told you that he had a reputation for being an asshole and a lazy bastard, I wasn’t lying, but I didn’t come clean with everything I knew about him. I wanted to. I would have, Gina, but a few weeks later, Dominick mentioned you two had broken up.”
The gravity of that hits me. “You were trying to save me from making a huge mistake. He wanted us to move in together. If I had agreed to look for a place for us, I would have ended up supporting him financially.”
“I believe so, yes.”
“You took a big risk,” I say, even though he’s well aware of it. “You could have gotten into a lot of trouble. Brogan could have sued you for breach of contract, right? His parents, too.”
He glances at me again before dragging both of our hands to his lips to kiss my knuckles softly. “I’d do it all over again, Gina.”
I stare at his profile. “I had no idea.”
“It’s in the past.” He looks to the road ahead. “I realized that day that I needed to keep moving my life forward. I tried to do that in New York, but leaving for California was the clean break I needed.”
“I thought you left because the memories of your dad were too much.”
“They were.” He nods, keeping his gaze trained in front of him. “Everything felt like too much, so I left and never looked back until I landed in Las Vegas.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Daniel
“At one time, all I wanted was to go to Yale,” Gina whispers. “I’ve never told anyone that.”
My gaze darts from her face to the building we are passing. It’s part of the campus of the Ivy League school. “You’re serious?”
“It seemed like the brass ring back then.”
“It’s a prestigious school,” I glance at her before I train my eyes back on the road in front of me.
New Haven, Connecticut, is teeming with activity on this early fall day.
“It is,” she agrees. “When the career counselor visited my class during my freshman year of high school, he had us fill out a questionnaire that was supposed to help us find a career path.”
“That’s a bit young to make a decision that monumental.” I chuckle. “During freshman year, I struggled to decide what pair of jeans to wear on any given day.”
Her laugh fills the air. “Same.”
I shoot her a glance. “You’ve figured out the wardrobe thing. You always look incredible, Lawton.”
She doesn’t correct me. Instead, her gaze runs over my shirt before settling on my face. “I guess you have, too.”
My brows rise with surprise. “That’s one of the greatest compliments I’ve ever received. I’m doing something right if the Gina Calvetti thinks I’m stylish.”
“Just Gina,” she whispers. “I’m just Gina to you.”
Sensing I hit a sore spot, I steal a second to look at her. “What’s going on?”
She takes one last lingering glance at the Yale campus. “Sometimes I wonder what I’m doing with my life.”
“You’re making bank.”
She laughs again, but this time, there’s no humor there. It’s a hollow sound. “I’ve made enough bank to last me a lifetime.”
I’m not surprised. With her vast number of followers, I imagine each sponsorship deal she scores is worth a great deal.
“Are you considering a career change?” I ask while keeping my eyes on the road.
“I was going to talk to Dominick about it,” she begins before she sighs. “He’s been so busy planning his wedding, and Rocco is a dad now, so I don’t want to steal his time away from his family.”
It’s no secret that Gina has looked to her brother and cousin for advice. Dominick has mentioned it a few times without going into detail about what advice she was seeking.
“I have two ears.” I tug on the lobe of my right ear. “I’ve also been known to give some solid advice to people. I do it for a living.”
“Thanks, but I’m doing great with my finances. I invest most of what I earn. I set up a trust account for Luisa after she was born. I deposited all the rent Bella had paid me when she lived with me.”
My head snaps to the side so I can look at her. “You did that for your niece?”
She glances at me. “I’ll do the same for all of my nieces and nephews. I know my siblings don’t need my help in that way, but I want to do it. It’s important to me.”
“Is someone pregnant?” I don’t want to overstep, but consider myself part of the Calvetti family. “Is it Arietta? Isabella?”
She shrugs. “Not that I know of, but Bella wants more kids. Dominick and Arietta have talked about having a baby.”
I take a second to think about that. Dominick will be a dad one day, maybe soon. It’s hard to picture that, yet at the same time, I can see how deeply he loves his fiancée.