Sway Me (book 1)

Chapter Forty Three- Caught

43. Caught
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"What in the hell!" I hear Giulia voice ring in my ears immediately sending a shiver down my spine. I have been caught.

I peeled myself away from Giovanni but the situation was much worse than I had imagined. Giulia was present in the room but she was not alone, Matteo and Sebastian was also present and the one person I did not expect, Stefano. 

There was a disappointed look on his face. Stefano said I should say hi, he said he would call you later in the day, he has been busy. We spoke this morning, I am immediately reminded of Matteo's words. Stefano was meant to call, on the phone and not show up here in the flesh.

I have always dreaded this day and now it was finally here and it was just as I predicted, I felt awful and I felt like a betrayer.

"Fuck!" Giulia cursed lowly and exited the room. I immediately ran after her, I will deal with Stefano later but now I have to try to fix things with Giulia.

Giulia was making her way down to the beach and I trailed behind her, too afraid to even utter her name. Maybe Giovanni was right, we should have told her, I should have sat her down and confessed that I had feelings for her brother rather than sneaking behind her back like Laura. Sadly, I have become Laura 2.0 and it hurts to know that I have betrayed my friend.

She stopped abruptly.

"Giulia please, I am sorry " I choked on my words, I was struggling to hold my tears in.

"What are you begging for. Are you sorry you got caught or you are sorry to have played me for a fool. You betrayer!." Her words were like sharp knife and they were meant to hurt me and I deserved it. "You even played Stefano for a fool, and that boy genuinely cared for you. You should have just been upfront about how you felt but of course that wasn't you. You only meant to use people."

"That isn't true," I said as tears descended from my eyes. I have never had anyone in my life call me a user, because I have never been one but now, I had managed to wrap myself in one that has earned me that title.

"Then what is the truth. I told you about what happened with Laura and how I felt when I realized that she had used me to get to my brother and you—you went ahead and do the exact same thing and you acted so innocent doing it. Wow!"

"Giulia, please let me explain," I begged, reaching out to touch her arm, but she flinched away.

"Explain what? That you've been sneaking around behind my back with my own brother? That you used my trust in you to get close to him?" Giulia's voice wavered, and I could see the hurt and betrayal written all over her face, the expression I had been hoping to never see.

I hung my head in shame, unable to meet her gaze. "I never meant to hurt you. I... I have feelings for Giovanni, but I was scared to tell you. I should have been upfront from the beginning."

Giulia let out a humorless laugh. "Scared? That's your excuse? You couldn't even be honest with me, your best friend." She shook her head, wrapping her arms around herself. "I thought I could trust you. I guess I was wrong."

"Please, Giulia, I'm so sorry. I never wanted to betray you like this." I pleaded, tears streaming down my cheeks. "Can't we talk about this? I don't want to lose you as a friend."

Giulia looked at me, her eyes filled with a mix of emotions - hurt, anger, and disappointment. "How long have you been sleeping with him?" She asked, my heart immediately felt like it was being squeezed from the inside

"Giulia—No—I have—" I began

She released a chuckle "Of course, I walked in at the wrong time. I am so sorry for ruining your fun," she gritted "I don't want to see you right now and maybe never," she added , tears streamed down my face, my heart shattered into a million pieces. Then she walked away.

I stood there, watching her retreating figure, the weight of my actions crushing me. I had betrayed the trust of the one person that has always had my best interests at heart most, and now I feared I might have lost her forever.

Slowly, I made my way back to the house, unsure of how to face the others, especially Stefano, who I had also hurt.

Stefano was standing by the front porch of the house. I was deliberately avoiding his gaze.

"Emily," he called out, disappointment glaring from just the mention of my name.

"Stefano, I— I am sorry." I pleaded

His face contorted into a sad expression "The heart choses who it wants," he said, he walked closer to me and held my hand "I understand Emily and I know you are not a bad person," he added, it immediately felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

"You are a wonderful man Stefano and I should have been truthfully to you—"

He chuckled "I am fine. I hope you able to fix your relationship with Giulia and I still hope to have lunch or something with you as friends when we get back to America," he said

I was completely dumbfounded, Stefano must not be human. Whoever raised him did an excellent job.

"Sure," I responded with a small smile.

He smiled back "Take care Millie," he said and he left.

I stepped into the house, Giovanni was the only one in the living room. He was standing at the center, his hand tucked inside his pocket.

"Giovanni!" I breathed.

"She will be fine," he responded.

"I—betrayed her," I choked on my words, holding back the tears that were already threatening to fall.

He walked up to me and pulled me into a hug, as much as it felt incredibly good, it felt wrong at the same time. His closeness reminded me of the pain that I had caused Giulia.

I pulled away "Please find her, make sure that she is okay," I requested.

"Matteo and Sebastian went to look for her," he replied.

"You should as well, she needs you. You are her brother," I insisted

"Millie—" he began but I cut him off.

"Please," I pleaded.

He sighed deeply, placed a kiss on my head and exited the house.

I sat in the sitting room waiting for their return, almost forty minutes had gone by. Then there was a knock on the door. I immediately rushed to open it thinking they were back but I was met with a female stranger.

"Are you Emily?" The woman asked

"Yes," I responded.

She handed me an envelope "This is for you from Giulia, a car would be here in ten minutes," she said and she left immediately.

I was completely confused as I closed the door. From Giulia, why would Giulia send me this, and the car coming in ten minutes. I wondered.

I tore open the envelope. My eyes widens as I saw the content in the envelope.

A plane ticket. She wanted me to leave and she wanted me out of here in ten minutes.

A lone tear cascaded down my cheeks. It was what she wanted and I was willing to give it.