Page 15 of Angel's Forever
I could already hear her soft snores as she slept soundly against me. I lay there for a while listening to her before I found myself drifting off to sleep with her.
IT WAS WEDNESDAY morning and I was currently heading toward the airport to pick up Nico and Hudson. I had left Antonio, one of my most trusted men, to look after Gabriella at the apartment. With Vincent still on the run, I didn’t want to take any risks.
The past two days with Gabriella had been amazing. We had spent most of yesterday just lazing around the house watching TV and making out on the couch. As for last night, that had been even more memorable than the night before, and I was starting to look forward to spending time with her, Nico, and even Hudson in the bedroom. I had come to the conclusion that if I had to share the people I loved to spend time with them, then I would happily do it.
I just hoped that they had both sorted out their differences. I was worried that I had destroyed their relationship forever. I parked the car and got out to wait for them to come out of the airport. The plane was due to land at any moment, and I knew it wouldn’t take them long to walk through the arrivals lounge. I lit a cigarette while I waited, relishing the hit of nicotine as I inhaled.
As I took the final drag, I looked up to see Hudson and Nico walking out together laughing and smiling. I breathed a sigh of relief as I placed a mint in my mouth to remove the smell. Both the guys knew I smoked, but I always made sure they never smelled too much of it when they were around.
They walked over to me, both still smiling. This had to be a good thing. At least it appeared they had sorted out their differences, which gave me some hope.
“Thanks for picking us up, Gino.” Hudson smiled as he spoke to me.
I was about to tell him it was no problem when Nico walked right up to me and pressed a kiss on my cheek. I looked over at Hudson, expecting him to be annoyed, but his expression did not change.
Nico glanced between me and Hudson. “It’s fine. Hud is cool with it.”
I smiled at them, relieved that things were moving forward with all of us. I knew Hudson might not be totally happy with the situation, but at least he was going to give it a try.
“Come on, let’s get you both home before Gabriella sends out a search party. She has already banned me from the kitchen so she could cook for us all.”
The pair looked at each other with differing expressions on their faces. Hudson had a smirk, and Nico looked horrified. In fact, it actually looked as though Hudson was about to burst into laughter.
“Why are we all standing here? I need to get back to the apartment and make sure that Rosa isn’t destroying the place.”
At that point, neither Hudson nor I could hold back our laughter.
“What?”
Hudson walked over to him and put his arm around him. “If you want to risk your life, then go ahead. But you know what Gaby is like when she has a bee in her bonnet. Better you than me.”
Nico looked over at me, and I just shrugged my shoulders.
“It’s your funeral, Nico, believe me. I was glad I had an excuse to get out of the apartment. Even Antonio wouldn’t go in. He decided just to wait outside for us to come home.”
As soon as Nico heard that, he calmed down a bit. He knew that Antonio could sweet-talk any woman, and if even he wouldn’t deal with Gabriella, then it was safe to say that she should be left alone.
WE ARRIVED BACK AROUND thirty minutes later, and I allowed them to go in to say hello to Gabriella while I fixed us all a drink in the living room. It wasn’t long before they both walked in with solemn faces. I couldn’t help but chuckle as they both sat down like little boys who had been chastised by their mother. I saw this as an opportunity for us to talk without Gabriella about how we were going to deal with our relationship.
“I know it’s a bit of a sore point, but while it’s just the three of us, can we talk about our current situation? Everything was left so up in the air before you left on Monday, and I think as adults and grown men, we need to at least have a conversation about it.”
I knew I was risking opening up old wounds that had only just healed for Hudson, but unless we talked, the chances were, we would make the same mistakes again. I expected Nico to be the first to talk, but was shocked when Hudson started to speak.
“It was a sore point, Gino. But I came to the realization over the past two days that we have enough room in our hearts to let one more person in. Yes, it will be awkward for a while, but we can work around it. And talking like this is the best way to sort things out. You are right about that. None of us should be worried about saying that something isn’t working for us, and that includes Gaby. It’s going to take some time for us to be comfortable with each other, me especially. For so long, it was just me and Nico. Gaby coming along changed the dynamic slightly, but she had always been on my mind for years. For Nico, it’s probably the same with you joining us, but for me, it is a completely new thing. I’m sure we will both make mistakes, but as long as no one gets hurt and we can learn from them, I’m sure we will be okay.”
Hearing Hudson speak that way released a lot of the pressure that I had been feeling about the whole situation. I had been so worried about what he would think and how he would react to me that I hadn’t realized how much it was affecting me. I felt the same as when I had first made my admission to Gabriella about not being with anyone in so long, but realized afterward that I really had nothing to worry about. What Hudson said next completely blew me away.
“So, the past couple of days with Gaby.” It wasn’t so much a question as a statement.
“What about them?”
I really didn’t know what to say. Did he want me to tell him we had slept together? Or just that we had gotten along well? Nico helped me out a little by clarifying his question.
“What I believe Hudson is so delicately trying to say is, what did you two get up to the past couple of days? And he isn’t talking about during the day.” He gave me a wink to say in no uncertain terms what he meant.
I was quite shocked at what they were asking me. Did they really discuss with each other what they did in the bedroom?
It was Hudson who continued. “Before you ask, yes, we do discuss things between us. We all, Gaby included, like to know what the other person likes or dislikes so we know what to try to what not. For instance, both Gaby and I know that Nico likes us to kneel in front of him and suck his cock.”