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“You’re right, he wouldn’t,” I say. “You’re a fucking genius, Bruno. We need to arrange the wedding, but she can’t find out.”

“I’ll arrange everything for next week,” he says. “I know an officiant who won’t even make her recite vows.” He chuckles at this. “You don’t even have to show up if you don’t want to.”

“No, we should do something to make it official,” I say. “Plan it. But keep it between us.”

I’m excited now. I’m going to marry this gorgeous woman, make her the mother of my child, and we’re going to have a family. It’s a fucking perfect plan.

I falter slightly as I watch Bruno leave. She’ll be hurt, and I don’t know how I feel about that. Angry mostly, even if I’m the one doing the hurting. I never want to hurt her. Maybe I have time to win her over before the wedding.

I mean, it’s simple really: force her to marry me after winning her over, and we can build a life together. Plus there’s the bonus that her brother will have to step back from retaliating against me.

I get up and go to bed, lying there in the dark with Giovanni asleep next to me. I vow to win Gia over.

I get up early the next morning and go downstairs for breakfast. As I’m pouring a cup of coffee, Maria brings in the food and sets it out.

Gia emerges from the door looking confused, but sexy. She’s in cargo pants, a black vest and black trainers. Her bare shoulders demand kisses from me, but I hold myself back.

“Where are we going?” she asks.

Just as I’m about to answer, Giovanni walks in looking similar to me, in his hiking clothes. I sip my coffee.

“Eat, we’re going out,” I grin.

“Where are we going?” Gia asks again, not sitting down. “What’s happening? I’m not going anywhere with you.”

Giovanni sits down and starts to eat his breakfast.

“I want to take Giovanni to his favorite hiking spot, and he seems to like you a lot. So, you’re coming with us. You can’t be locked up in the house forever. You need to get out.”

She narrows her eyes at me, staring at me for a long moment, but I sit down and eat my eggs and bacon. She finally nods and sits down to eat. She has fruit, toast, and an egg.

Giovanni yawns as he eats, and I chide him, telling him to cover his mouth. He looks suitably embarrassed and agrees to.

After breakfast, Maria hands us each a bottle of water and a hat, and we climb into my Jeep. Gia sits in front with me while Giovanni straps himself in the back in his chair.

I put on some good nineties rock, and we’re off. Gia bops her head to the songs, and Giovanni sings along. I’ve taught my son well when it comes to music. He appreciates all kinds of music. Gia seems surprised when Giovanni knows the lyrics to most of the songs.

It’s a bit of a drive, but once we park and get out, Gia gasps. “It’s beautiful here,” she says.

“It has the best rocks,” Giovanni says. “And the trail is nice. We go through a dog park.”

“Do we?” Gia giggles. “I love dogs.”

I smile. “I know you do. Nature walks and dogs, that’s what you wanted.”

She offers me a small smile and then takes Giovanni’s hand. It sends my heart soaring when she smiles at me like that. This was a good move.

It’s a beautiful day to be out for a walk, but I warn Giovanni we’re not going near the bike bath in Matheson because we’ll get muddy, even if it’s low tide. He seems to accept that, and we set off down the mostly shady path.

“How long is the trail?” Gia asks.

“At a relatively good speed, probably about two hours. Two and a half hours with Giovanni.” I motion for her to walk ahead with Giovanni. “We’ve done it in under three hours every time, including stopping to take photos of rocks.”

“Did you bring your phone?” Giovanni asks.

“You know I did,” I say with a small smile. “If he can’t take the rocks with him,” I explain to Gia, “then he at least wants a photo of them to add to his scrapbook so he can identify them.”

“He should be a geologist, not a marine biologist,” she comments with a giggle.