Giovanni De Rege

Chapter 6

Isabella sat on the couch and watched tv to kill time. It was still an hour until Giovanni would pick her up to go shopping but she was already dressed up. Zoned out, she played with her braid while she waited.

Not much later, the loud knocking on the door made her jump up. Opening the door revealed Giovanni's towering figure.

'''Hi, Giovanni.'' she smiled at him.

''Good morning.''

''You're early. Do you want something to drink before we go?'' Isabella shifted from one foot to the other.

''Coffee would be nice,'' he said and entered the house.

While Giovanni seated himself on the couch in the living room, Isabella went to the kitchen to brew the coffee. When she was done, she placed the mug on the oak coffee table.

Giovanni thanked her and took a sip of his coffee.

''Are you alone at home?'' he rested his arm on the armchair.

''My mom and dad are working in the store.'' Isabella sat across him. ''And Sergio is also working now.''

Giovanni's frown vanished when realisation kicked in. ''Of course, he works on cars, right?''

Isabella didn't know what to make of his expression and only nodded at him. He was hiding something.

Giovanni put the empty mug back on the table and rose to his full length. ''Let's go.''

When Isabella saw his car parked outside she was in awe. She had a soft spot for cars just like her brother and father.

''You have a beautiful car.'' Isabella complimented.

''I'm not giving it to you.'' He teased and put his hand on her back.

Isabella giggled and playfully rolled her eyes. At the same time, her heart skipped a beat when she felt his hand against her flesh. She thanked him when he opened the door for her and sat in the passenger seat. On their way to the De Lima mansion, Isabella stole a few glances at him.

''Are you okay?'' Giovanni asked and put his hand on her thigh.

Not trusting her voice, she moved her head to answer. After getting herself to relax, she focused her attention on the pedestrians they passed. Isabella never had someone touch her like this. She wasn't used to it. Her experience in the romance department was very little. She had customers from the store come up to her and flirt with her but that was the extent of it and even then she thought they were just being nice to her. Her brother often mentioned her how naive she was.

Giovanni and Isabella reached the De Lima mansion and picked Luciana up. Luciana got in the back of the car and noticed her cousin's hand on Isabella right away. She didn't comment on it. Instead, a wide grin was plastered on her face.

''Hi, Bella!'' Luciana put her arms around Isabella's neck with the car seat in between them to hug her. ''Hi, Cugino.''

(Cousin)

Giovanni gave a terse nod at her and Isabella greeted her back with the same level of enthusiasm.

''You also look beautiful, Luciana.'' Isabella winked at her through the rear-view mirror.

''You're amazing! I meant Bella as a nickname,'' Luciana said in between laughs. ''But thank you.'' she flicked her brown hair.

While feeling slightly embarrassed, she laughed with Luciana. Isabella noticed Giovanni's lips twitch which made her duck her head a little.