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“Welcome to my home, gentlemen. It’s great to see you again,” she confessed, approaching Cesare from his left. “Now, I’d really love to hear what took place in Vegas, but it’s clear to me you’re too tired for that. So, I suggest you go get some sleep. My guest rooms are upstairs and they’re at your disposal.”
“Thank you.” Cesare nodded in appreciation.
“I’ll see you later, then,” I told him, somewhat intrigued by this development. I hated to see those three like that. In spite of this, I liked the fact that we’d be under the same roof for the remainder of the day. We’d get a chance to chat about their mission. I’d finally hear some details about their undertaking and how they’d managed to pull it off.
Better still, Maggie had mentioned an indoor pool, which I hadn’t visited yet. It had crossed my mind to do so more than once. However, I didn’t. It just felt wrong of me to indulge in something like that, while knowing that Cesare, Matteo and Leo were in grave danger. They would be engaging a bunch of gangsters, and I would be taking a swim? No. There was no way I would do that. I’d feel guilty before even dipping my foot into the water.
Hours later, I was in the basement of that enormous mansion. A double-sided door separated that pool from the rest of the basement. I pushed it open, the view up ahead bringing a smile to my face.
The calm surface of the pool seemed so appealing in the romantic illumination. Soft light from the four appliqués on the walls was washing across that surface. It illuminated some parts of the water, while keeping others in the dark. In particular, the corners were fairly lit, and the space in between them was not.
I looked at myself in the glass façade across from me and took off my pink bathrobe. Halting just inches from the edge, I kept my legs together. I tucked in my chin and put my arms in position over my head. Rocking my forward, I glided in, my head crashing through the surface. Liquid coolness engulfing my entire figure, I kicked back to reach the other side of the pool. I lifted my head up and reemerged, before pushing my hair back from my face. I held on to the edge, my toes nudging the wall as I looked into the glass façade once more. Just then, a tall, masculine figure came through the wide door.
His sculpted body was in plain view.
In just a pair of black shorts, Matteo shuffled towards the pool, wearing a smile of contentment. I took a moment to marvel at his athletic figure. A figure I hadn’t seen free of clothes so far. Frankly? I had been wondering what he had been hiding under those tight shirts.
Well, not anymore.
His complexion was just as dark as Cesare’s. His upper and lower abs were so cut that I could count them. His chest muscles were heavily defined. In the dim illumination, his large shoulder muscles cast shadows down his arms.
“I thought I might find you here,” he said, his voice putting an end to my visual feast.
“Hey, you,” I smiled, extending my arms along the edge of the pool behind me. “Did you get any rest?”
He gave a quick chuckle. “Too much. I slept like a log. So, how have you been this past week?”
I giggled and shook my head in amusement. “Working as usual but feeling like a queen in this huge mansion.Ishould be askingyou. How was it back there? Were you scared?”
“Everybody was—including me,” he admitted. “We hadn’t done anything similar, Piper,” he added, his toes hanging over the edge of the pool. He hopped off, his massive body falling into the pool with a splash. Drops of water reaching my cheeks, I watched his head break through the surface, his black hair sticking to his forehead. Pushing it back, his eyes focused back on me. “I’ve been thinking about you.”
“Really?” I cocked an eyebrow.
“Yeah,” he confirmed with a nod. “How you were caught in this. How they went after you for no reason. It just wasn’t fair, you know?”
“Just that?” I asked, my smile staying on. “Because I seem to recall a certain man fitting your description trying to seduce me in the men’s room of a café.”
“Aren’t you being a bit too flirty?” he answered with a question of his own. “For a woman who’s slept with both of my friends?”
“It was a simple question, Matteo,” I said, a touch of disappointment in my tone. “You want to answer it? Good. As for your buddies? I liked them and I have no regret over sleeping with them. It’s not my fault they didn’t pursue me afterwards.”
“I wouldn’t ignore you like they did,” he claimed, his gaze dipping down to my cleavage for a moment, before returning to my eyes. “I would have stayed in touch. You asked me a question earlier. You still want an answer?”
“Yes.”
“On our way back, I kept thinking how much I wanted to finish that kiss,” he stated, sending waves of excitement down my spine.
“What about the code?” I asked, remembering how he had freaked out on me.
“Screw the code,” he said, his answer sharp. “I should have taken you back to my apartment that day. I’ve been regretting my decision ever since.”
“To be honest, I’ve been thinking about you, too.”
It was my turn for a confession.
“You decided to put your life on the line for me,” I continued, stepping away from the edge. “That’s the noblest thing anyone’s ever done for me. You didn’t have to, but…”
“I wanted to,” he interrupted, shuffling closer. “That’s why I did it.”
