Secret Pleasure (4 page)

“Mr. Cardone, if you did everything yourself, what would I do? Now, sit back. and please let me do my job.”

He looked at her and she could see his wheels turning. Finally, he caved and leaned back slightly. She sat on the bed next to him and started checking and cleaning his wounds.

When she was done with his shoulder, she started to pull the towel aside to work on his leg. He flinched and held the towel tight against him. She smiled.

“I think it’s a little late for modesty, don’t you?”

“You may think this is funny, but I don’t,” he growled out.

“Fine, how about we get you into the shorts first, then I can have a look at your leg.”

She stood and held the sweat shorts by his feet. He moved his right foot into them easily, but had a harder time lifting his left leg into the hole. She bent down and held his leg up and guided it into the opening. “We’ll have to work on your mobility soon.” She started to pull the shorts up, but he swatted her hands aside and quickly pulled them up under the large towel and over the metal bar holding the pins. He tossed the towel aside and it landed on the floor in a wet heap. She walked over and picked it up, shaking her head.

“You would think that you’d take better care with this rug. Did you know that it’s most likely a late 1800’s antique Persian Kermanshah Rug? It’s probably worth more than I made last year.” She folded the towel and walked into the restroom.

Coming back into the room, she watched as he tried to pull his leg up onto the bed. She walked over and took it in her hands, setting it softly on the bed and placing two pillows under his knee to keep it elevated.

“Here, let me have a look at your leg now.” Since he was sitting on the edge of the bed closest to the bathroom, she had to actually crawl across the wide bed to get to his left leg. He leaned his head against the headboard and closed his eyes. His arms were crossed over his bare chest, since she’d forgotten to help him put on his shirt.

Taking her time, she moved his shorts up until she could remove the large, wet bandage that covered his leg. The wound was nasty looking. She could see where they’d made a small incision just above his knee, and there were four pins sticking out of his flesh which were attached to a small, metal bar.

“Is this where they had the drain?” she asked, touching the staples lightly with her fingers.

He opened his eyes and looked at her, then nodded and closed them again.

She’d forgotten her gauze on the night stand and leaned over him to reach for it. His eyes flew open quickly. She was less than an inch from his face and he stared at her intently.

“I’m sorry, did I hurt you?” She sat back up.

He shook his head no.

She finished cleaning and dressing the wound, wrapping the gauze tightly around his knee and thigh and making sure to cover the lower incisions where they had inserted a drain for all the fluids that built up after surgery.

“I assume you will have this bar on for around five months?”

He nodded his head again and she could swear he was trying to breathe through the pain.

She got up and stood in front of his bed, looking at him. He still had his eyes closed and his head was leaning back against the soft headboard.

“You must be exhausted. It will take a while for your strength to come back. We’ll start on the therapy tomorrow. I’ll bring up your dinner shortly.” She turned and walked out of the room, knowing he watched her hips sway as she walked out.

When she got to her room, she saw that all the dresser drawers were open, some of her clothes were on the floor, and her laptop was open. She knew that whoever had been in her room wouldn’t have gotten through her password. Looking around, she didn’t see that anything was missing and she began to pick everything up and put it all away. She wondered if one of the young maids had been looking for something to steal. She felt bad because she liked them and decided not to tell Kathleen since nothing was missing.

Florentina also watched her walk out of his room, and she didn’t like that the girl was here. Oh, she had promised her brother that she wouldn’t raise a fuss, but seeing the attraction between the pair, she knew it was only a matter of time before Dante started acting like himself again and he tended to fall for the prettiest girl in the room. She’d already broken up several of his relationships in the past, this one would be no different. After all, she knew how to scare young women off.

Oh, she didn’t mind him flirting with the help; after all, he was a man. What she didn’t like was how the young woman had looked at him in return. She would just have to keep a close eye on them and make sure the girl didn’t get the wrong idea into her head. She was the help around here, and nothing more.

D
ante felt like he’d just run a hundred miles, and he didn’t think it had anything to do with exerting himself in the shower. His damn medicine was playing havoc with his system. If he wasn’t bent over in pain, he was drowned in a haze.

He was feeling a little lightheaded and knew that he had just exerted himself more in the last hour than he had in the last two weeks. How could his body betray him so quickly?

He had thought that being trapped in the hospital had been bad, but being locked in this room wasn’t any better. He craved getting back to work and having his normal body back. He wanted to get back to his office in the States. Hell, at this point, he’d settle for their main office in Rome.

Taking a large breath, he remembered the feeling of Airlea’s fingers on his skin.

It had been pure torture not grabbing her and taking her on his bed. His medicines were affecting him in so many ways, but they didn’t seem to be getting in the way of his desires. Was she trying to kill him? She had to know what she was doing to him. The soft smell of her and the feel of her hands on his naked skin had been pure
hell
.

Maybe it wouldn’t be such a hardship being locked in this house for a while if he had her to play with.

By the next day, he was trying his hardest to get the woman out of his house. He couldn’t stand it, he couldn’t stand her. Did she honestly believe he was a child? She’d walked into his room that morning and talked to him like he was ten instead of
twenty-eight. His mother and aunt had been no help, either. They had just left the room and he could have sworn he saw a smile on his mother’s face.

“If you don’t move your butt, how can you expect to
get any better?” she was saying behind his back.

He was standing for only the second time since his accident, and he wasn’t happy about it. He knew it was only a matter of time before his right leg gave out. Pain was shooting up his left leg and he swore he could feel the two pins they had inserted. The blood had all pooled in his foot and he could see it starting to swell by the second. His leg was still very swollen and wrapped tightly in gauze. He’d seen the damage to his leg and knew the scar would be large. He couldn’t remember much from his first few days at the hospital, but he did remember one doctor telling him he would have to walk with a cane and would probably have a limp for the rest of his life, to which Dante had replied, “The hell I will.”

He was determined not to have any side effects from this whole ordeal, and he knew that Airlea was the key. He just didn’t want her to know that he thought that, yet.

“You are pushing me too hard. I’m going to end up either on my ass or on top of you.” He leaned a little more on her tiny frame, knowing he could have tolerated a little more, but not wanting her to see it.

“You will not; we only need to get back to your room.” She shifted her weight, taking a little less of his, a sign that she knew he was not in as much trouble as he wanted her to think he was.

They had walked the entire length of the upstairs balcony, something he could remember doing a million times before the accident. But this time, it had seemed an impossible feat. Looking down at the length of it, he wondered why his father had to built the damn thing so big in the first place.

“See, there, we are just a few steps away.”

“Oh, yippee.” The sarcasm rolled off his tongue and gave him little satisfaction. Finally they reached the doors to his room. His aunt stood by his bed, a stern look on her face.

“You are pushing him too hard.”

“Mr. Cardone can handle what I’ve planned for him. I’ve looked over his medical charts and know his limits. But thank you for voicing your concerns.”

He watched in amusement as she dismissed his aunt with a look, something he’d never learned how to do.

She helped him walk into the restroom and shut the door behind them.

“I thought you would like to shave today.” He noticed there was a chair sitting in front of the sink and mirror. His shaving items sat on a fresh towel on the counter. She walked him to the chair where he sat down without a word.

“I’ll leave you to it.” She walked out without a word, gaining more of his respect. Halfway through shaving, he heard loud voices from the next room. He tried to listen, but the thick door didn’t allow much sound through.

Less than ten minutes later, Airlea walked back in the room looking a little dazed, but holding her head high.

“What was that all about?” he asked before she could cross the room.

She stopped in her tracks and looked at him. “Your aunt was just voicing some of her concerns. I’ve managed to answer some of her questions.” She continued towards him and helped him stand again.

He’d taken his time shaving, and felt almost human again. He wished he could wear some normal clothes, instead of his cut-off sweats and the extra-large t-shirt. He also wished he could get back to work. So far, his mother hadn’t even brought him his laptop. She had told him the first day home that he would get it when she felt he was up to working remotely, and no sooner.

He thought that she was trying to make up for all the time she’d lost raising him. She was being overly protective, more so than he was used to with his aunt.

“I’m sorry my aunt yelled at you. She can be a little overbearing.”

Her perfect eyebrows shot up and she looked at him. “Oh, your aunt wasn’t yelling at me. I was the one scolding her.” If she hadn’t been holding onto his waist, he was sure he would have fallen on his ass.

“What?”

“I’ve been put in charge of your health and recovery. I don’t expect anyone to interfere with my duties. Your aunt was wrong to question my authority. I was simply explaining this to her.” She started moving towards the door again.

He couldn’t hide his smile. How could he not respect a woman who stood up to his aunt?

Airlea was shaking. She couldn’t stop and she knew it had nothing to do with the fact that she’d been reprimanded by Dante’s aunt. She could hold her own and the shaking had nothing to do with what had transpired in the next room. No, what was causing her to shake was the smile on Dante’s face. Seeing it, she knew she was in trouble. His perfect, white teeth weren’t the issue, nor were his yummy looking lips. It was the pure sparkle in his eyes and the deep dimples on either side of his perfect mouth that gave her stomach a little flutter and had her hands trembling.

Grabbing onto his waist again, she tried to rush him back to his bed, so she could disappear for a while and recover. After she deposited him on the side of his bed, she quickly helped him move his injured leg up to a comfortable place on top of the pillows.

“Any chance you could bring me my laptop? It’s in the office, just down the hallway.” He looked at her, and she saw a pleading look in his eyes.

“Yes, I’ll be right back.” As she started to walk out, he called out to her.

“Oh, make sure to bring the cable and the mouse sitting beside it.”

Walking down the hall, she peaked into every room until she finally found what looked like a large office. It faced the front of the house and she could see a large wood desk with the laptop sitting on it.

It took some doing, balancing the laptop, the cable, and the mouse, but she managed to get everything back down the hallway. Then she had to find a plug and ended up crawling on the floor behind his night stand to plug it in for him. When he asked for a hard surface to use the mouse on, she handed him a book. He set it on the bed and happily went to work on his laptop.

With their work done and Dante occupied with his computer, she felt like she could take some time for herself. Lunch was an hour away and she didn’t think she’d be missed if she took a brisk walk. Stopping by her room, she changed into her tennis shoes and grabbed a light sweater, since the weather called for rain later that day. She took the wide stairs past Dante’s doors and walked down the rock path past the large garage. She could hear someone banging around in there, but didn’t stop.

Taking a path she’d seen earlier, she walked through the large fields towards a small cluster of olive trees. The path looked worn and she could tell it was well traveled. When she reached the first row of smaller trees, she noticed a few larger trees near the middle. She picked up a few olives that had dropped, and ran them through her fingers. They were still very hard and bright green. She had heard that harvest was just a few weeks away, and she was very interested in seeing it for herself. Looking around the empty orchard, she wondered what the process was and wished she would be here long enough to witness it herself.

Dropping the olives to the soft ground, she continued her walk up the hill towards a small building. Here the ground was rockier and steeper. She enjoyed taking brisk walks and saw the climb as a challenge. She always tried to take walks back at home, even on days she was busy at the hospital. Thinking about her job caused her steps to falter. She was glad to get away from Greece. Losing her job had been a big disappointment, and knowing it was all Angelo’s fault really upset her.

Stopping, she closed her eyes and took a few cleansing breaths. She didn’t want to think about Angelo or the loss of her livelihood. Every time she did, her head and heart hurt. She’d cried all the tears she could over them both. She was done feeling self-pity. In her line of work, she was used to dealing with people who pitied themselves. She refused to be one of them.

Stretching her arms over her head, she looked across the field. She was halfway up to the top of the hill and could see for miles. There were a few other houses and buildings within sight, but the Cardone’s place was by far the biggest building around. Its red tiled roof stood out like a beacon in the sea of green. The stone walls reminded her of an old fort she’d seen once in eastern Greece as a child.

Damiano and Kathleen Cardone were nothing like the people she’d heard about on the news. She’d heard the whole story about what had transpired last year. She’d even had the pleasure of meeting their daughter, Dante’s sister Katie, earlier last month. Of course she hadn’t know it was Katie Derby at the time or that Katie had a sexy older brother. She’d only seen a woman in trouble and in love.

She’d been impressed with the man, Jason, who had carried the unconscious Katie into the hospital. She’d enjoyed talking to Katie later that evening as she’d made her rounds. She’d purposely changed shifts so she could see how the couple was getting along. The man had a nasty concussion and had slept for most of the night. Katie, however, had sat up and talked to Airlea for a few hours.