A/N: I really, really want to thank everyone for their reviews. Every chapter, you leave me such wonderful comments, and I read them and re-read them and feel all warm and mushy inside. Your continued support is amazing. For those of you who are reading this story, I'm so honored you're taking the time to do that. I'd also like to wish you a Happy New Year. I'd tell you how I saw in the new year, but it was really lame, and I'm too embarrassed.
One slightly violent thought in this chapter, and loads of dialogue. It's the longest chapter I've written, and I might have been a bit ambitious, but live and learn right?
Chapter 6
Elena picked up the travel brochure in the plane. She scanned over the information but quickly put it back when she came across the phrase; 'Italy - Place of Love'. What a joke, she thought. She should have said no. She should have told him that she wanted to go home, but she'd agreed to go to Italy with him for some absurd reason.
"Will Rose be joining us when we arrive?" she asked him.
"She'll arrive tomorrow. Why?"
"I suppose the honeymoon is officially over then?" She tried to keep her voice civil when for some strange reason she felt like snapping at him.
"I suppose it is," he said with a wry smile.
"So, will I be entertaining myself for the next few days?" she asked now.
"I hope not," he told her. "I'm hoping to wrap this up in a couple of days, and then I can show you around a bit. There are some amazing sights to see, not to mention some of the most mouth watering food you'll ever experience."
They weren't here to sight-see. They were here so he could fix a work related problem. Just because she'd agreed to accompany him to Italy didn't mean all was forgiven and everything was hunky-dory. It just meant she was sympathetic enough to understand he didn't want to fly back to America and then out to Italy. From what little he'd told her, it sounded urgent.
"Don't worry about me. I'll keep myself entertained. You focus on your work."
Damon looked at her and raised an eyebrow.
"Are you telling me you don't want to spend time with me?"
"I just want to get home as soon as possible."
"Very well," he said, returning his attention back to the paper he was reading. "If that's what you want."
Within forty-eight hours Elena realized she'd made a mistake by telling Damon to concentrate solely on work. For a start, she missed him. They'd spent the last three days in Tahiti together, and now she felt as if she was going through withdrawals because she hadn't seen much of him for the past two days. She should have been trying to get her head together, to keep her defenses intact; but she found herself wandering around the house aimlessly, counting the hours until he returned home. She felt...pitiful.
Antonietta was Damon's housekeeper and cook. She was lovely, but didn't speak much English. She frequently told Elena go out for a walk. "Too pale," Antonietta would tell her; "need sun." She'd gone for a brief walk yesterday, but u had been a mistake too. There were couples everywhere and she didn't need to see people in love; it reminded her of what she'd never have.
If none of that was bad enough, her attraction to her unloving husband seemed to be increasing. She couldn't stop thinking about him. Last night she'd dreamed about him. Her physical attraction to him was so strong that she'd come to a decision.
Elena rummaged through her suitcase, but couldn't find what she was after. Antonietta had unpacked most of her things away in the dresser, and she didn't know where it was. She zipped up her suitcase and dumped it unceremoniously on the floor, before marching over to the dresser to search through the drawers again. Finally she found it in the top drawer, buried under all of her undergarments. This would help her with her mission.
