In The Name Of Thy Father ~ A Borgia AU

Chapter Eleven

"Make sure every last dish is clean, Cesare." Lucrezia let out a small giggle as she put another dirty plate in the sink filled with sudsy water. She was enjoying her victory, albeit a small one, over her brother. It was not often she won any bets like this against Cesare or Juan so she was going to celebrate this to the fullest. Even if it meant that her dear sweet brother had to suffer.

"You're lucky I love you." Cesare grumbled as he stood in front of the sink elbows deep in the steamy sudsy water. His hair was tousled and he had his shirt off due to the heated temperature in the kitchen. Next to the sink were the dishes Lucrezia used to make them dinner that evening.

Wrapping her arms around his waist from behind, Lucrezia laid her cheek against his back. "Yes, I know I'm very lucky to have you to love me." She giggled again. "But a bet is a bet. Now why you finish these dishes I'm going to go read my book on the beach as I wait for you to finish. Then we can take our nightly walk on the beach."

"This shouldn't take me too long. I just have to rinse them off to put them in the dishwasher." Cesare told her.

"Cesare you don't have to wash them before you put them in the dishwasher. Just rinse them off." She pointed to the sudsy water.

"I'm doing this my way. I lost that stupid bet, so let me do this." He playfully bumped her with his hip with had her giggling again.

"Fine fine, I'm going." Lucrezia gave him a kiss on the cheek before she bounced her way out of the kitchen.

Cesare shook his head and turned back to the dirty dishes. Back when they were young if they got in trouble they were assigned the dishes as chores. But that had been a long time ago. Now the only mess he had to clean up was usually blood. A lot different than mashed potatoes and roast, a lot different. Looking out the kitchen window he saw his sister sitting in a beach chair reading her book on the beach. Grabbing a sponge he got to work.

* * *

Coming down the stairs to the beach, Cesare saw Lucrezia talking to a strange man. Instantly his guards were up and he hurried down the rest of the stairs. He jogged the rest of the way over to where his sister and the man were. Closer up, he could see the man looked to be around his sister's age. Lucrezia was laughing and the man was smiling. Cesare walked over to where they were standing and slid an arm around Lucrezia's body as he pulled her close. "Love, who is this?"

Turning to look at Cesare, Lucrezia smiled as she answered him. "C-uh Frank! You're all finished! This is Paolo. He is from the local village. He was fishing from his boat when he saw me reading."

Giving Paolo a tight smile, Cesare nodded his head. "Nice to meet you. You do know that this is a private beach and private waters?"

"Hey!" Lucrezia nudged him with her elbow. "Be nice."

"I am being nice my love." he smiled at her.

"I am sorry Sir. My boat drifted away from my fishing waters. The village is just over those dunes over there, not far away." Paolo pointed towards the west.

"Oh I forgot my shawl upstairs. Be good while I go get it." Lucrezia said playfully before kissing Cesare on the cheek. She turned and bound up the stairs to the house to go get it.

Once Lucrezia was gone, Cesare turned to Paolo with a fierce look on his face. "As I said, this is private property. There is no strangers allowed here and definitely no fishing allowed, understand?"

"I understand Sir. I was just talking to your-your-" Paolo stuttered.

"My wife?" The word flew out of Cesare's mouth before he could stop it. All the thought of was protecting Lucrezia and especially protecting her from strangers. As far as he knew Sforza could have sent spies. Everyone was suspicious.

"I'm sorry Sir. I didn't mean to bother your wife. Please forgive me Sir." Paolo's eyes went wide.

"I'll forgive you. You didn't know. But get back in your boat and go back to your village." Cesare commanded. "I don't want to see you on this property again.

"Yes Sir." Paolo nodded as he quickly headed to his boat which was grounded on the beach. He pushed it back into the sea and got inside. He started the motor and headed in the direction of the village.

Cesare watched him until he was gone. He let out a sigh as he ran his fingers through his hair. What had possessed him to call Lucrezia his wife? Was he jealous? All he knew was all her life she belonged to him. To see her look at that man the same way she always looked at him felt...it just felt wrong.

"Where is Paolo?" Lucrezia's voice came from behind him.

"I sent him home." Cesare turned around to face her.

"But why?" She looked at him with narrow eyes. "He seemed to be a sweet man. He didn't seem as if he could cause any harm to anyone. What did you say to him, Cesare?"

"We don't know anything about him, Lucrezia. For all we know he could be a spy for Sforza." He pointed out.

She put her hands on her hips and glared at him. "For your information, while I was talking to him I found out that he's an orphan. He lives on the money he makes on the fishes he catches and by doing odd jobs for the hardware store in the village. As for being a spy for Sforza, I doubt it since he can't read or write. I tried to tell him about the book I was reading and he told me he can't read it."

"Do you actually like him?" Cesare asked incredulously. He could not believe his sister would like this stranger. The feeling he was feeling right now was one of possessiveness and could it be jealousy?

"Yes, I think I might. He is sweet and kind. Why? What did you say to him?" She asked him again.

"I told him...you were off limits." He responded hesitantly. "My job is to protect you and I take that job very seriously."

Her face softened as she put her hands on his chest. "Sweet Chez, you're going to have to let me go sometime."

Cesare responded by pulling her closer. "Never." He growled.

Letting out a small laugh, she laid her head upon his chest. "I'm going to have to get married sometime."

"Over my dead body if I can help it." He grunted.

"Please let me see him again Cesare?" Lucrezia begged as she bat her lashes.

Cesare wanted to say no immediately. He wanted that man nowhere near his sister. The whole point of bringing her here was to keep her isolated. But Lucrezia asked so very little of him that he could never say no to her. He sighed and nodded his head. "I will go into the village and talk to him. It's up to him however if he wants to see you again."

"What DID you say to him?" she took a step back. "You didn't threaten to kill him did you?" she frowned.

"No yet." he answered honestly.

"Cesare!" She pushed at his chest.

"What? You asked." He smirked. "Don't you worry my love. I will fix this. I swear I will go to the village tomorrow and talk to him."

Listening to Cesare, Lucrezia felt better. She threw her arms around him and gave him a huge kiss on the cheek. "You're the best ever, you know that?"

He gave her a half smile as he hugged her back. He suddenly did not feel like the best ever. A part of him felt as if he were losing his Lucrezia. He would do anything to keep her, anything.