"Your clothes. They bother me. 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐨𝐟𝐟."
~
Marriage was not for love -it was for business. It was a strategic move that one had to make wisely. For the Lombardis and the Morettis, this marriage was the most calculated, showstopping...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Italy was just as she remembered it.
Bright sun and cobblestone; street vendors and laughing children. She spent her summers here when she was young and this part of Sicily was unforgettable. Her family's house here was a few miles away but she would be staying in the Moretti's massive villa with Roman.
She knew Roman would be busy for their time here and wouldn't have much time to spare and she was okay with it. She loved wandering alone and getting to explore with no one waiting for her. The plane ride was quiet and unawkward; Roman worked most of the time and she either slept or read her book. They were finally making progress after last night even if it was slow.
Vince and a detail came with them and she wondered why that was since there would be plenty of security in Italy since it was the home base of all operations. She didn't mind it and actually preferred Vince and her own detail was here since she was familiar with them. They had barely been here for two hours and Roman was already whisked away into the city as she took a self-guided tour through the villa.
Roman's bedroom and her bedroom were in the same section of the mansion, albeit a few halls away from each other. They wouldn't see each other much except at dinner and a part of her was grateful for the fact; baby steps.
She still didn't know how long she was planning to stay here. The unhinged part of her wanted to stay the entire three months just to get more familiar with Roman and be on good terms but the logical part knew that she had to work and get back to the city soon. So she compromised and packed enough for sixteen days. After moving so many times in her youth, she was an expert packer.
She finished her self-guided tour of the mansion, heading back to her bedroom when she realized that she hadn't seen the dozen and a half cousins Roman had. She hadn't seen one random uncle or teenager through her adventure and she wondered where everyone was. She met them all at the wedding and had all names and occupations memorized but she had a strong feeling she'd see at least a few of them at the Villa.
Her brows knotted but she excused her curiosity when she felt a rough, big palm slide around her bare waist from her sweater that had ridden up and pulled her against a towering, herculean body that smelled of winter and spice. A second hand gripped her hip, pushing the band of her sweatpants down and letting him feel more skin.
Her stomach jumped, heat coating her cheeks as she bit her bottom lip, taking in their position. One of his hands was up her shirt, holding her thin waist, while the other was down the side of her pants, gripping her hip.
"Aren't you hot in these clothes?" his deep, low voice rumbled, his hand that was down her pants finding the waistband of her thong and tugging at it. She almost choked on her breath, heat racking her body. Why was he so touchy all of a sudden?
"Uhm...a little, I guess," she said slowly, taking a deep breath to compose herself. His hand that was fisted around the band of her thong tugged harder, pushing it down as his other hand traced the edge of her bra from that hand that was up her shirt. Slowly, his hand wandered down to join the other underneath her sweats, pushing it down so that it hung low on her hips.
