“Non c’è problema.” He shook his head and leaned forward, instructing his driver to take us there. When we pulled up outside the front door, I told him I’d be only a second, but he still sent one of his bodyguards inside with me. I tried to ignore his looming presence as I approached the front desk and lowered my voice to the man standing behind it.
“Ciao.” I smiled, hating how much my cheeks were burning at just being here again. “I left my necklace at the spa after my… treatment yesterday. Has anything been handed in? It’s a gold chain with a sapphire locket.”
“Please wait a moment,signorina,” he said with a polite smile. He picked up the phone and made a call. I glanced over my shoulder at my father’s security man, who was standing very close behind me, searching for any threats to my life. This all felt so ridiculous. Yesterday, I was free to do as I pleased, so to speak. And now…
“Signorina,” the hotel clerk pulled my attention back to him. He tilted his head, that fake smile still perfectly in place. “My apologies, but the necklace is stored safely somewhere only the hotel owner has access to. He’s currently not on the premises, but if you don’t mind waiting, please take a seat in our restaurant and help yourself to the wine list.”
Shit. “Um, do you know how long he’ll be? I really can’t stay.”
“I do not.”
I groaned, slapping my hand against the marble top and offering a curt smile. “I’ll come back another day. Please, can you pass on a message? Just ask that it stays safe because it’s really sentimental to me.”
“Of course,signorina. Can I have your name and a contact number, which I can pass on so you can arrange a more convenient time to collect it?”
Why hadn’t I thought of that simple solution? Sleep-deprivation. That’s why.
“My name’s Aria. And my number is—”
“I strongly advise against that,signorina,” the deep voice of my father’s bodyguard made me jump, and I peered up at his stoic face that was hiding behind black sunglasses. Right. No personal information, even to a hotel clerk? This was crazy. I sighed.
“Sorry. I’ll call the hotel tomorrow and try then.Grazie.”
“No luck?” My father asked when I climbed back into the car with a huff.
“It was in the safe or something, and they didn’t have access to it. I’ll have to come back another time.”
He tsked and gazed up at the hotel as we drove away. “Wait until I have your security sorted.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but held back. Mypapiwas clearly so stressed and worried about what was happening or about to happen in the city that my necklace should be the least of his concerns. I shouldn’t add to his stress by arguing over my lack of freedom or ability to do or go anywhere on my own at the moment. He was only trying to keep me safe, and I wasn’t a brat, but... that niggling, persistent voice wouldn’t stop reminding me I didn’t ask for any of this.
Un Po’ Pazzo
“She left?”
“Si, Signor Buccini. But she did give me her name.” I waited, my heart doing a strange little dance in anticipation. “Aria.”
Aria.Bellissima.
“Grazie, Mario. Have the security team email me the CCTV footage.”
There was a pause. “Of her asking for the necklace?”
“Si,”I answered without missing a beat. Was it slightly obsessive? Probably, but I didn’t give a fuck. I hadn't been able to stop thinking about her for more than ten seconds. How could I when the sky reminded me of her eyes? Or how she laughed so hard after I made her come with my ABCs that she let out an unfiltered snort that shouldn’t have been the cutest damn thing I'd ever heard. As well as her moans. And because I couldn’t get her out of my damn head, that's how I knew this was the woman I'd been waiting my whole life to meet.
It took a lot to capture my attention and even more to hold it. So I was going to follow my gut with this one and give it everything. Some might say I'mun po' pazzo,but that was nothing new. I owned my craziness, and I’d replayed the video of her hugging her friend in the lobby too many times. It would be nice to have some new content to obsess over.
After hanging up, I pocketed my phone and strolled through my penthouse to the walk-in wardrobe. The black tuxedo I planned to wear that evening was already hung up, tailored, and steamed. I strode past it and into my bathroom, turning on the rainfall shower and letting the room fill with the scent of the citrus-infused water. After undressing, removing her necklace, and hanging it on the door handle, I checked my emails and smirked when I saw the video footage already in my inbox.
Aria strutted through the lobby in pin-striped fitted trousers that hugged her curves perfectly and a slightly creased pink blouse with the top few buttons undone. I paused the video of her mid-walk before she reached the front desk and zoomed in on her face. The image wasn’t crystal clear, so I couldn’t appreciate thestunning blue of her eyes, but the rest of her feminine features were enough to make my dick jolt. Her full lips were darker than when she was in the spa; a deep rose colour that contrasted with her lightly tanned skin. Her blonde hair wasn’t piled on top of her head either, but cascading down her back in natural waves. Fuck me. She was stunning. And this grainy image wasn’t even doing her beauty justice.
I glanced down at my pierced cock, smirking at how excited it was to see her again. I balanced the phone at an angle against the wall so I could keep staring at her while I brushed my teeth and ignored the raging boner that wouldn’t be getting any attention from me. No, this dick belonged to her now and only her.
Aria.La mia bella ribelle.
She looked like an angel, even disguised herself as one to the rest of the world, but I saw the truth when my face was buried between her legs. She was a good girl who wanted bad things. A rebel at heart.
I pressed play on the video, toothbrush hanging out of my mouth. I watched with fascination as she interacted with Mario. I couldn’t hear anything, but I was entranced by every movement of her lips, wondering what that smoky rose lipstick tasted like. It would look perfect smeared all over my cock. I groaned when it agreed with me, jolting and thickening. The temptation to wrap my fist around it and fuck myself with thoughts of those lips on me was nearly unbearable. But I wasn’t a weak man. I’d wait for the real thing.
