Angela didn't think she'd tell Gael about how her mother left when she was a child. She always thought that part of her was a weakness, and bearing it to the man she was falling for seemed like admitting she had abandonment issues. Which was why sometimes, she stopped herself whenever she noticed she was being too clingy.

He didn't deserve someone who would keep on hanging on to him. He was a powerful man who needed someone just as powerful as him to conquer the world.

And powerful women weren't clingy.

Another memory about her mother popped up in her head. It was about the time her mother gave her her first diary. And even though it was a bittersweet memory, that was one of the things that pushed her to become a writer.

Angela opened her mouth to share that memory with Gael, but his phone rang before she could say anything.

"It's Gio," he said before answering. Giovanni spoke as soon as the call went through, but she didn't hear what he said.

"Go away. I'll call you later," Gael told his uncle while his free hand slid towards her ass and squeezed it. She smiled, trailing kisses on his jaw. She liked distracting Gael while he was on the phone.

"But I'm already here. Come on. Spot me." Giovanni's voice was loud enough for Angela to hear now.

"What does he want?" she asked, barely lifting her lips from kissing Gael's neck. His hand tightened around her ass.

"Is that our Angela?" Giovanni questioned through the receiver.

With gritted teeth, Gael responded, "She's not 'ours'. Not yours. Mine."

"Angie!" Giovanni called, ignoring his nephew. "Let's go to the gym!"

Angela lifted her gaze to the phone. She had been wanting to go for a run but hadn't been able to because they had been cooped up in the apartment since the new year. Blame it on Gael's sexual appetite. Okay, fine. And hers too.

But as much as she was a hermitess, she also missed running. The weather in New York made her muscles all knotted up. The countless sex and orgasms were sort of an exercise—who was she kidding—but she was looking for a different kind of release. Something that involved only her and her alone. Running was that for her.

"Okay!" she answered before noticing Gael's change in expression. He eyed her, his brows creating a crease between them.

"Great! I'm coming up."

"Why did you do that?" Gael questioned when he ended the call, looking disappointed.

"What? I wanna go."

"No."

She pulled back. "No? What do you mean 'no'? I haven't exercised since I came here. Not even yoga."

"You've done plenty of exercises the past four days. Besides, aren't you sore from last night?" He cocked a brow.

Angela clenched her thighs together, though she couldn't fully do that because she was still straddling him. He was right. She was still a little sore. But she already said yes to his uncle and was also looking forward to running. Biting her bottom lip, she responded in a low voice, "I'll take it easy. It's unfair that you still get to do your weights the whole time we're here, and I haven't done any." Gael worked out in the living room while she was asleep during the last four days. Why couldn't she? "I want to run."

Gael begrudgingly agreed. And by begrudgingly, he grunted a response of agreement before getting out of bed.

He kept her to himself—hence the "stay naked all day" in the apartment for days. Angela realized that he'd been making up for lost time and also kept her in his vicinity at all times as his way of keeping an eye on her. You know, before things got messier. And her agreeing to Giovanni meant that his uncle would be taking up her time, which was possibly the least that Gael wanted.

She dated a few possessive or potentially possessive men in the past, Evan included—though he was disgustingly more than that—and she hated them all, feeling suffocated by them. So she ended them fast.

But Gael was different. She didn't mind that he was possessive of her—just as she was possessive of him too.

Angela changed into a long-sleeved dri-fit top, yoga pants, and running shoes before leaving the bedroom. Gael already had two tumblers of what she thought were protein drinks ready. They exchanged glances, but he didn't speak.

"Ready?" Giovanni strolled towards them, a gym bag strapped on his shoulder. "Hey, homeslice." He winked.

She furrowed her brows at him. When will he ever stop calling her that?

Gael disappeared into the bedroom, probably to change, without saying anything.

"What's up in his ass this morning?" Giovanni wondered, and she lifted a shoulder.

Was Gael going to be like this the whole day? Surely he wasn't mad just because she wanted to go to the gym with them. Right? Did she say something wrong?

***

The gym they went to was on the thirtieth floor of the building. Apparently, Giovanni's apartment was just a block away, so it wasn't hard to come over. It wasn't his first time to come here since the gym receptionist greeted the two men as they entered.

Like Angela had planned, she ran on the treadmill after doing stretches with them, alternating between running and walking. She chose the last machine, the closest to the section where the weights were, so she wasn't too far from the boys.

Thirty minutes later, Gael and Giovanni had taken off their shirts, wearing only gym shorts, while sweat dripped down their bodies. Gael had a baseball cap on that he wore backward so that the visor was at the back of his head. He looked younger—hotter, if that were even possible. Their workout was intense as they made sure to make everything a competition—typical men.

Gael's fallen angel tattoo and the other ones he had on the side of his torso and also on his arm were quite eye-catching pieces of art. She thought about having one of her own that would match one that he had on him. On the other hand, Giovanni's tattoo was a menacing dragon tattoo that snaked from his arm, going up to his neck and chest. Both of them sure looked like bad boys that mothers warned their daughters about.

At the moment, Gael and Giovanni stood a meter apart, holding the ends of ropes that were attached to a giant tire—one rope in each hand. They were like an extension of Gael's body, his veins popping, roping like vines in his arms as he gripped the thick ropes. Looking at him right now, Gael was sexy as hell with a determined expression while looking all manly and delicious. He had always been fit and big that whenever he stood next to her, she felt tiny. She bit her bottom lip, thinking about how his strong hands held her every single time.

Angela had to shake her head inwardly to stop thinking about dirty thoughts. She slowed down the speed of her machine and began walking. Her gaze shifted to Giovanni, and she noticed that he was getting bulkier. He was on the leaner side when they first met weeks ago. She learned that he had been intent on gaining weight and regularly working out the past several weeks.

"I knew working out today was a great idea. Look at what we would have missed," said one woman passing behind Angela.

"I wanna lick their sweat off their abs. Mmmm…" said the woman's friend.

Angela threw a glare their way, but they already went to the other side of the room, their eyes still on the De Luca men. She grumbled under her breath as she angrily increased the speed on her machine again.

When she looked in Gael and Giovanni's direction, she noticed that a few more women were ogling them. She huffed. How could she blame them? These men were sinfully attractive, pure Alpha males in tanned skin. Gael being the most attractive one, of course. Broad shoulders and muscles in all the right places. Mmm…

Gael and Giovanni nodded at each other, counting down before they bent to a squatting position. Then they began making tight waves on the ropes with their arms rising up and down alternately like they were drumming. Next, they dropped to the floor like they were about to do push-ups; only to Angela's surprise, they pushed their bodies up in the air, their bodies levitating more than a foot off the ground while slamming the ropes to create a giant wave. They did this twice before squatting again to repeat the routine.

Holy crap. They're like superhumans. No wonder Gael's arms, shoulders, and back were so strong. The sight of him doing the high-intensity workout made her gulp.

"First time seeing you here. I'm Justin," said the man who took the machine to Angela's left, causing her to lift her focus away from the supermen partially.

She didn't like the interruption from her ogling.

Angela slowed down the speed and politely nodded at Justin before looking back at Gael. Justin continued to talk, but she didn't pay attention.

When Giovanni nodded in her direction, Gael lifted his gaze and met hers, his eyes instantly darkening at the man trying to hit on her. They abandoned the ropes, grabbed their towels, and headed towards her.