Gabriele’s POV
The dress she wore was as provocating as her face. Her curves called to me and I felt my groin tighten as I watched her descend the stairs. If she had permitted me to sleep with her already, she wouldn’t have been able to escape tonight.
The thought of missing the opportunity to touch her made my hands itch. She was mine, yet being with her was so difficult.
“You will sleep in my room tonight,” I blurted out.
Yes, I wouldn’t be able to fuck her brains out, but I could at least share some of her body heat.
Her face turned pale and I expected her to say something sharp and rude as usual. But surprisingly she smiled and said something unexpected that sent my cock twitching with hope.
“If that’s what you want, then consider it done,” she said and picked up her fork to begin eating.
Just as she was about to place the morsel of chicken in her mouth, she paused and raised her alluring eyes to mine.
“But I am not sleeping with you,” she said in a low polite voice that I never thought she could possess. “Right?”
I swallowed hard as I tried to find a smart answer to give to her. She seemed to be calmer, who knew maybe what I had done to her in the office earlier today had set her body in the right mood.
As I opened my mouth to reply, Basilio joined us and his greetings interrupted me.
“Good evening Fratello,” he said and turned to Arianna with a smile, “You look amazing tonight. Are you both going out?” he asked turning to me.
“No,” I said simply.
“Oh, but why?” he asked and I frowned.
Basilio never knew when to give up.
“Because we are not!” I hissed.
He raised his hands in surrender as he saw the frown on my face and turned his attention to Arianna who seemed to be enjoying the exchange between us.
“You should wear this dress every day,” he said and placed two of his fingers on his lips and blew her a kiss.
She smiled politely and resumed eating her food.
Basilio also ate completely ignoring the hot glares I was sending at him. Sometimes I wondered how we had become close. The guy was a real thorn in my life sometimes.
Dinner went on quietly for me but not for the both of them who kept, chatting happily amongst themselves.
I hated how she was free with Basilio and always defensive when she was talking to me. Why couldn’t she laugh the way she did when I was talking to her? I thought as I glared at her laughing at something Basilio had said.
I couldn’t continue sitting there and listening to them enjoy themselves why I sulked over my food. It was disrespectful.
I was going to deal with Basilio later and as for Arianna, she would spend the night in my room, whether she wanted it or not.
“Basilio, meet me in my office,” I said as I got off the table.
“Right now?” he asked with amusement dancing in his eyes.
I saw right through his cover and my scowl deepened. He had been doing it purposefully to rile me up and he won. But I would show him.
“I didn’t mince my words. Don’t make me repeat myself,” I growled and walked out of the dining hall.
I went to my office and loosened my tie as I sat down waiting for Basilio. He came shortly afterward and joined me on the couch without an invitation.
“Did I make you jealous, brother?” he asked and I scoffed.
The anger I was feeling suddenly melted as I felt like he had peeled off the word I had been trying hard to cover up.
“Why would I be jealous? She belongs to me and you are smart enough not to touch her,” I said and tried to find another conversation to talk on so he wouldn’t confirm his claims.
“Ah, I see…” he trailed trying to hide his snickers.
“How is the search going for Demyan?” I asked instead.
Basilio adjusted his shirt and sat straighter as he became serious. “Your godfather sent words that he has found him and he claimed to be innocent in this,” he said and kept a straight face even though my insides refused to believe him.
“He says he wants you to grant him access to come see you. I was waiting till you were done with dinner to ask you about that,” Basilio added.
“He wants to come here?” I asked in a calm voice but we both knew my insides were anything but calm at that moment.
I hadn’t set my eyes on Demyan for years now. Ever since that horrible incident happened, he stopped coming. They all left me to bare the pain alone. Now he wanted to come back?
“I know what you are thinking Gabriele. But maybe we can get some information from him. We can even big his car or something. Surely he must know where Gianni is…” Basilio said.
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. Basilio was right. Demyan was the only connection we had to Gianni. Maybe inviting him over wasn’t such a bad idea.
“Fine, he can come. But make sure his car gets bugged. We need every piece of information we can get our hands on. I don’t want any more surprises,” I said and let my head rest on the couch.
At least that was one problem sorted out already. Demyan was a step closer to Gianni. Besides, I could finally tell who exactly Sara was communicating with.
Silence filled the room as we both became lost in our thoughts.
“Fratello, why can’t you just tell Arianna who sold her?” he suddenly asked and I turned a cold glare at him.
He spread his arms in surrender before I could speak, “I am not saying you should do it. I just don’t see why you are hiding it from her and making the whole thing mysterious,” he said.
“It is for her own good,” I simply said.
“How would you have felt if someone hide the fact that your father had somehow betrayed you?” he asked and I froze.
“I mean, you both have similar stories in a way. She is a wild one, I think telling her who sold her will make living here easy for her,” he added.
Basilio didn’t know how restless my heart felt when I saw her crying earlier today. I couldn’t bring myself to tell her who sold her out because it would break her more than the idea of being a slave.
“Did she say she wasn’t finding it easy living here?” I asked.
“Can it be easy living as a slave?” Basilio asked rhetorically and I rolled my eyes at him.
“I still feel ignorance will make it a lot easier for her,” I insisted.
“Fratello, she needs to know that her parents abandoned her when she needed them the most. She needs to know that no one is coming to get her because Stephano paid them handsomely from the deal. I feel she has the right to know. If it breaks her, she is strong she will get over it.”
“Basilio!” I growled. He stopped speaking and stared at me quietly. “When did you become her mouthpiece?”
Basilio got off the couch and said, “I just feel… it will become a lot easier if she knew that.”
“I should go arrange Demyan now. See you later, boss!” he said and I waved at him to go on and do his business.
I was left with my thoughts. I knew deep down that if I told Arianna that her parents were the ones responsible for her predicament she would break down. I couldn’t bring myself to watch her cry.
She should never find out about that. I was traumatized every day by the fact that my own father had abandoned me. I wouldn’t wish such an ordeal for her.
I stayed in the office till it was late, trying to clear my head. Whenever I spent too much time thinking about my father, the nightmares returned and sleep became a nightmare.
Finally able to free my mind, I got up and headed to my room. I had completely forgotten that I told Arianna to join me tonight. I jumped slightly when I opened the door and found her sitting on the couch with her hands folded.
“Hey,” she said as she watched me with those alluring blue eyes of hers.
“I thought I would have to threaten Sofia to bring you here,” I teased and she smiled.
“Sometimes, violence isn’t always the answer,” she said with a small smile.
I joined her on the couch and pulled the strand of hair brushing against her face away. A peaceful feeling filled my heart as I sat close to her and I felt relaxed. Her smile and her voice were so soothing I found myself wanting to listen to her all night.
“Tell, me, how was it growing up in America?”