Secret Pleasure (14 page)

Walking in, she looked around for Dante. Then she heard a noise behind her and turned. He was leaning against the wall looking very handsome in a dark suit. His hair had been cut and he was freshly shaved. The left leg of his pants had been cut to just above where his injury was. The rest of his leg was left exposed.

He had his crutch under his good arm and he was holding a bouquet of white roses.

“You look beautiful,” he said as she reached up and took the flowers from him, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to walk and carry them.

“Thank you. This is all so wonderful.” She motioned to the room.

“I figured I
could
make it downstairs for dinner.” He smiled and motioned for her to take a seat. He followed her slowly and when he tried to pull out her chair for her, she had to catch his crutch to keep it from hitting the floor.

“Sorry.” He smiled as she took a seat, then watched as he took his seat and picked up a small bell.

Airlea laughed when Damiano walked into the room in a black suit, carrying two dishes.

“He’s our waiter tonight.” Damiano set the two plates down and after bowing, exited while walking backwards. Dante laughed at his father. “I think he is having too much fun playing his role.”

“Would you like some champagne?” He took a bottle from the ice bucket sitting next to the table.

“Yes, please. You went all out, didn’t you?”

“It wasn’t that hard. I did have some trouble moving the table.”

Her smile faltered and she had a reprimand on the tip of her tongue. He shouldn’t be moving anything.

“I’m kidding. My father had some guys help him set it all up. I sat over in the corner like a good patient.”

She smiled at him again. “Good, I’d hate to have to punish you.”

She watched his eyes heat at the tease. Then she looked down at her plate and noticed a small silk box sitting next to it.

“Well? Are you going to open it?”

She looked up at him with a frown. Reaching up with one hand, she ran her finger over the soft case.

“What’s this?”

“Open it.” He leaned forward in his chair.

Reaching up, she flipped the lid back and saw an elegant silver ball on a delicate silver chain.

“It opens.”

She picked it up and opened the ball. One side flipped down to expose a feminine pearl watch face with black hands. She looked up at Dante, her heart beating too fast for her to count.

“Dante, I can’t accept this. It looks old, like it belongs to your family.”

He smiled at her, “It was my Nonna’s. I wanted to give you something to show you how much I appreciate all that you’ve done for me.”

“It’s my job, you’re my job. I can’t take this.” She set it back down in the box and closed the lid. She was so tempted to keep it, to try it on, but she couldn’t. Just couldn’t. She’d told him the truth. She wasn’t ready for a relationship. She’d enjoyed sharing their pleasures together. But this…. She looked back down at the box. This was crossing that line they had both agreed they wouldn’t cross.

Looking around the room again, she saw everything for what it was, what he was doing. He was trying to court her. To date her. She couldn’t do that. She wasn’t ready for it.

“Dante,” she said, pushing the box towards him, “you need to save this for someone special. I appreciate the gesture, but I’m not that someone.”

His eyes were dark and she could see the anger and hurt. She’d expected it. What she hadn’t expected was to see him smile again.

“Okay, it’s okay. I understand. Shall we eat?”

She was afraid that there would be an awkward silence for the rest of the meal, but instead he surprised her with funny stories about his youth. He kept her entertained through the entire meal. By the time they walked over and sat in front of the fire, she was totally relaxed again and had almost forgotten the silk box that still sat on the table.

“So, what are our plans for the next few days? Do you have some more torture you’ve planned to put me through?”

She laughed. “No, actually, I had planned on us taking Friday off.”

“Really?”

“Yes, and don’t ask why.” She held up her glass and realized it was her fourth glass of champagne. Her nose tingled, a true sign she was on her way to becoming drunk.

“Why not? Are we going on another walk?” He leaned closer and played with her hair. She’d taken the time to curl it in tight little ringlets that scattered around her face. When he played with them, running her hair through his hands, she felt like purring.

She leaned closer to him, “Don’t ask.” It was a whisper and when he leaned in to kiss her, her eyes slid closed to enjoy the feel of his lips on hers. He tasted as good as he smelled. She couldn’t stop from running her hands over his smooth face, enjoying the angles.

“Dante, we should go upstairs.”

“No, don’t worry, no one will bother us here.”

Her dress was short and when she felt his hands on her thigh, she moaned as he rubbed his hands over her sensitive skin. Running his hand up her leg on the outside, he cupped her butt. Then she moved to straddle him, making sure she was careful with his hurt leg, never removing her lips from his.

“Mmm, you taste so good,” she said as she ran her hands over his shoulders, pulling his jacket off, then got to work on the small buttons on his white shirt.

“My god, I can’t seem to stop wanting you.” He ran his hands up her thighs and when he found her, just her, underneath, he smiled. “Do you ever wear anything underneath?”

“Sometimes.”

“I find that so damn sexy.” He took her mouth again as he hiked up her skirt further and grabbed her butt, again.

She ran her hands over his chest and arms, enjoying the play of muscles and the light covering of dark hair. She ran her mouth down his neck and enjoyed feeling him shiver as she licked up his throat.

Reaching down, she pulled him free from his pants.

“Here, let me.” He pulled out a condom from his back pocket.

She continued to kiss his neck and then she almost came right then when she slid down on him fully.

He threw his head back and groaned with pleasure. “My god, I could get used to this.”

She leaned forward and took his mouth again. She didn’t want to think about getting used to him, or to anything at this point. All she wanted was to focus on their pleasure and hers was building fast. His hands were on her hips, pulling and holding her down.

“Airlea, come with me.” He rained kisses over her face and neck causing everything to tingle. She almost saw sparks behind her eyelids as she threw her head back and exploded around him as he moaned her name.

When she relaxed down and rested her head on his shoulder, she closed her mind to the pure pleasure she’d just enjoyed. She’d been trying to fool herself that it had been like this before. But the truth was, she knew it had never been like this. Never.

She couldn’t afford to get emotionally involved with him. She’d told herself that it was only for pleasure. Her mind whirled and she wanted to be alone with her thoughts. If she could just figure out what her next step was, she’d feel more levelheaded.

How could she have fallen for him so quickly? She’d only known him a little over a month. Her mind flashed to Angelo’s face and she stiffened, mentally and physically. She couldn’t afford to chance trusting like that again. Sitting up slowly, she smiled down at him.

“Dante?” She watched his eyes flutter opened. “I think we need to get you back up to your own room.”

He smiled at her and she felt him grow inside her again.

“Mmm, in a minute.” Then he leaned down and took her nipple into his mouth through the light silk she wore, and she lost all thoughts about moving. Except for rocking with his sweet motion.

D
ante didn’t know why she was avoiding staying with him. She still slept in her own room every night, even when they spent hours after dinner pleasing each other. It was Friday morning and he was waiting in the kitchen for her to come down for breakfast.

Rosa looked at him funny, and he could have sworn she was happy for him. But when Airlea walked in, the smile disappeared.

“Miss Rossi, everything is ready for today,” Rosa said and then walked out of the room.

“What’s ready for today?” Dante asked Airlea as she sat down to eat her breakfast.

“That’s for me to know and you to find out.” She smiled, then stuck out her tongue at him and laughed.

“Oh, I see, keeping secrets?”

“Only this one,” she said with her eyes on her food.

“That’s fine. I assume it has something to do with today?”

She sat and ate her food without looking up at him or answering.

“Oh, now I get the silent treatment.” He reached over and took her slice of bacon.

“Hey!” She reached for it.

“Oh no. You don’t get your pig meat back until I get at least one answer.”

“Fine.” She crossed her arms. “Yes.” Then she held out her hand for her bacon.

“Yes, what?”

“Yes, it has to do with what we are doing today.”

He leaned closer. “Fine, but you have to pay a toll.” He pointed to his mouth and smiled when she leaned in and placed a quick kiss and grabbed her bacon from his fingers.

“So when does this surprise take place?”

“After breakfast. You’ll need to change.” She looked down at the gym shorts and t-shirt that he usually wore. They were easy to get on over his leg.

“Dressed how?”

“The gray pants we cut up for you and a button up shirt should be fine. I know it’s colder today, but I won’t have you outside for too long.” They had taken several of his pants and had cut off the left leg so he could easily get into more clothes. It left his whole left leg exposed, but he didn’t care. He wasn’t one to easily chill. Plus, the weather had been mild this fall.

An hour later he was not only excited, he was downright happy. He sat in her small sedan and watched her as she reversed out the driveway.

“I’m glad your father had my car brought up here finally. Did I tell you it wouldn’t make it up the driveway because of the mud?”

“There have been plenty of times where I’ve had to walk the drive. I mostly just drove the truck all year long. Now that the ground is a little harder because of the colder weather, you shouldn’t have too many problems getting up and down the driveway.”

“Well, it’s the first time I’ve left since I arrived. I can’t wait to get into town. I’ve been too busy to realize that I hadn’t left since arriving.”

He smiled. “I’ve been cooped up almost as long as you, minus the short drive to have my staples removed. But that didn’t really count since it wasn’t really an outing. So, where are we going?” He asked as she maneuvered down the bumpy drive.

“Oh no. You can rest assures that you are in good hands, but I am not going to tell you. You will just have to wait until we get there.” They had just made it past the old tree that sat halfway down the drive and were heading towards the small bridge that covered the deep creek, when she squealed.

“What?” He looked around.

“My brakes aren’t working!” She frantically pumped the pedal. Her small car was picking up speed, since this part of the drive was sloped downhill toward the creek bed. Then he remembered that there was a slight turn right before the bridge; at this speed, they wouldn’t make it.

“Try the hand brake.” He reached for his cell phone and punched auto dial for his dad’s number.

“It’s not working either.” She was panicking and holding onto the steering wheel tightly.

“Dad, we’re at the creek, the brakes are out!” he yelled into the phone, then threw it down on the seat.

“Dante! What do I do?” She was holding on tightly.

“Turn now!” He grabbed the wheel and they aimed the small car for the field to the right. He looked over at her just before they hit the ditch separating the road and the field.

Her head hurt, but other than that she was okay. She stood leaning on her car next to Dante, who was still seated in his seat. She watched Damiano fly down the drive in his truck. She waved at him, trying to assure him that everything was okay, that they were okay.

“What happened?” he asked, and she could see the love from father and son as Damiano jumped from the truck and rushed to his son’s side. “Are you okay?” He knelt by his son’s side, checking him over.

“Yeah, I think I just jolted my shoulder trying to help turn the wheel. Airlea hit her head.” He looked up at her. She held a tissue to her forehead and when she realized the bleeding hadn’t stopped yet, she put it back on the small cut. She figured she’d have a nice bump and bruise soon.

Damiano turned and looked at her. “Are you all right?”

“Yes, I don’t know what happened. I had my car inspected right before I left Greece.” She looked at her sedan. Its once shiny hood was folded up and destroyed as it sat front down in a small ditch. If it hadn’t been for the rock and dirt in the ditch, they probably wouldn’t have stopped so smoothly.

“Well, it looks like it’s not too bad. I know a guy in town who can fix it up. We can have it towed. Do you think either of you need to go to the hospital?”

Both of them shook their heads no. “It really was a somewhat soft landing. The dirt and rocks cushioned it. I think most of the damage is from hitting the ditch. Really, you would have gotten worse in a bumper car at the carnival.” She was trying to reassure herself. The fact that her hands were still shaking didn’t go unnoticed by either of the men.

Dante leaned up and grabbed his crutch from the back seat, then stood. “Come on, let’s get back to the house. I’m sorry that our day is ruined. You’ll probably want to call your insurance company.”

She nodded and walked around to her side of the car and reached in the open door to grab her purse, then locked her door, making it to the truck just as Dante did.

On the ride back, she kept playing back everything that had happened to her since arriving there, over and over in her head. The potted plant, the attack in the shed, and now her car. Then her mind flashed to the day that Florentina had threatened her in the closet and she felt a shiver run up her spine. She didn’t think that the woman would stoop to the level of almost killing her. Besides, she had left two days ago with Kathleen.

Maybe Airlea had damaged her breaks on the trip here? The only time she’d had a rough drive was the day she’d arrived and had tried to make it up the driveway. Could something have happened when they towed her car up the driveway?

Then she started thinking about what could have happened had the brakes failed in town. By the time they made it back to the house, her forehead had stopped bleeding and she could feel a headache building. Her neck and shoulders were tense and she wished for an aspirin and maybe a hot bath to relax.

“I’m sorry our day was ruined,” she said, helping Dante out of the truck.

“Don’t worry about it. Although I’m curious what the plan was for the day.”

“We were meeting your sister Katie and Jason downtown.”

“Katie? You know my sister?”

“Yes. Surprisingly we met in Greece when I found Jason running in front of the hospital, carrying her. They had just escaped the kidnappers.”

“Really?”

She handed him his crutch out of the back of the truck. “Katie called here the other day and your mother told her I was working here. Katie and I had talked that night at the hospital, once Jason was checked in. I really liked her.” She smiled a little remembering the conversations they had that night. “I’ll just have to call her and explain what happened.”

“I’m sure she’ll understand. It would have been nice to visit with her when I wasn’t all drugged.”

They walked into the kitchen and Rosa stood there, wringing her hands on her apron. The older woman looked worried and concerned.

“Oh, Cucciola mia! I’m so happy that you are both all right. Come, I’ll make some tea and cakes.” She motioned for them to sit.

“Please, first I should call your sister.” Airlea pulled out her phone and dialed.

Two hours later, Dante’s sister walked in the front door, followed by her new husband Jason. He watched his father hug her and motion for her to enter. Then he turned and shook Jason’s hand.

“I hear you’ve had an exciting day.” Katie walked in, smiling at him. She hugged Airlea. “It’s so wonderful to see you again. What a small world this is. I can’t believe you’re in charge of helping Dante recover.”

Katie sat next him, almost bouncing on the couch, and he couldn’t help but smile at her. She was just so full of life. He didn’t know what she has been like before, but marriage suited her. He could tell she was happy and that was very important to him. Her eyes were almost identical to his, as were her chin and ears. He couldn’t get over having someone look so much like him. Sure, he looked a lot like his father, but looking into Katie’s face was something different. Here was a sister he’d never known he had. He’d found out about his half-brother Ric almost five years ago. But until last year when his mother had come clean, he’d had no idea he had a sister.