AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“No take backs,” I husked.
A few silent moments stretched between us and I squinted my eyes open to see her staring at me with her chin resting on her knees.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
I opened my eyes properly and held her gaze, the exhilarating tension between us building quickly. “You shouldn’t thank me. It was my fault.”
“You didn’t order him to do that, did you?”
I sighed, “No. But I shouldn’t have left you handcuffed to a bed where you couldn’t defend yourself either.”
She stayed quiet for a moment and my heart fluttered again. The look of sadness on her face caused me pain. As if I could feel all her suffering myself.
“He said my brother retaliated. That he did something bad this morning. That’s why they were filming it,” she whispered, avoiding my gaze.
Using the side of the tub to haul my body weight to a sitting position, I splashed my face with water. “That’s true. Giovanni stole my best drug dealer and a huge shipment that was meant for me.”
Her beautiful eyes flickered up to mine, “So he doesn’t care what happens to me?”
I rubbed my face and looked into her eyes. “He gave up Venice for you. I don’t know why he did this though.”
She sucked in her lip.
“He would have known what could have happened to me if he pissed your family off.”
“Si.”
“But he still did it,” she whispered. “It wasn’t your fault. It was his.”
Tears brimmed in her eyes and her lip trembled causing that tightening in my chest again. I reached forward and searched for her hand in the water. “Come here.”
She let me pull her to me and turned in the water so her back was against my chest. I wrapped my arms around her body and kissed her shoulder as she exhaled a shaky breath.
“What happened today will never happen again. I won’t let anyone hurt you, I swear.”
“Until the next time Gio fights back,” she whispered.
“Not even then. I mean it, Elle. I won’t let you out of my sight and no one is going to touch you,” I said with confidence, knowing I would die before I let something like today happen again.
“I believe you,” she leaned back into me and I rested back against the tub. I had never done this before. Been this intimate with a woman. But just feeling her skin against mine and having her in my arms was soothing the darkness that had followed me all day. “But why?”
“Why what?”
“You are supposed to hate me. You aren’t supposed to care about me, Alessio. Why did you protect me?”
I leaned my neck against the side of the bath and looked up at the ceiling.
“When I figure that out myself, I’ll let you know Princess.”
Sex, Pasta and Wine
“I’m going crinkly. I’m getting out,” I announced as I held up my fingers for him to see the wrinkle lines from spending far too long in this bath. I still couldn’t believe that I invited him to join me. The inner teenage Elle was cheering inside at my boldness, but I hadn’t really thought it all through. The logistics for example. People bathe naked. Therefore, I got an eyeful of Alessio in his full glory and let’s just say, he has nothing to be shy about. Cristo, the man was sex on legs. I had quickly forced myself to glance away and give him some privacy as he climbed into the tub, not that I think he would have cared if I hadn’t. He didn’t strike me as the kind of man who had any confidence issues in that department. But now the bubbles were dissolving, allowing more and more of our bodies to reveal themselves. And there was the matter of having to climb out of this bath, gracefully and sexily entirely naked in front of this man. No thank you.
“Close your eyes,” I ordered, checking over my shoulder to find him smirking.
“I have seen you pretty much naked on several occasions now, Princess. You don’t have to be embarrassed,” he replied, tilting his head to the side with that goofy grin.
“No. You have seen me wearing underwear. Close your eyes!” I hissed and he looked to the heavens before reluctantly closing them. I scrutinised him for a few seconds to check he was keeping them firmly shut before I quickly stood up and climbed out of the bath, reaching for a fluffy towel to wrap around my body.
