Marcello
After talking to Dr. Lorenzo on the phone, I head back to my office. It’s quite strange that he would call when the patient’s daughter is in the same room. This has given me a cringe aura. I don’t want Elsa to know anything about this yet. Robert’s condition is still very critical and we can’t predict anything yet but this should only be known by me as of now. Dr. Lorenzo is the best doctor I have had working on him. He has been in this coma for over three months now, but his vitals are showing a slow recovery. I am planning to hire another doctor from India that Lorenzo himself has recommended. He is very expensive but Roberto’s life is much more dear than the millions of dollars he would want.
I find Elsa still on the phone. I wonder how stray their conversation has gone. I don’t have to worry about anything because my phone automatically records all calls. My office cameras also record sounds. There is nothing to hide here.
She gets off the phone almost immediately. The conversation that had begun in tears has ended with high-pitched girly giggles.
“Thank you,” she says, handing me the phone.
“For once you sound sincerely grateful,” I say, putting the phone on the desk.
“Because I am. I needed that,” she says, rubbing her hands together.
“Are you cold?” I catch myself asking.
“No, I am just_” she looks up at me, her eyes a bit swollen and her cheeks blush pink. She has been seriously crying. “I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?” It’s not cold at all. Maybe because I have been too busy to notice, or maybe because she is in a sleeveless dress. Her hands have some noticeable amount of soil too. I was told of how she had been on the farm the whole day today.
She pulls her lower lip between her teeth and continues to scrutinize my face down to my chest.
Okay, Madonna. I won’t stop you.
I haven’t seen her with this kind of atmosphere around her. This Shy responsive kind. She is always aggressive and works hard to
prove how much she hates my guts to the dot.
I am compelled to get closer to her.
“Did you enjoy touring the estate?” I ask, pushing my hands into my pants pockets to stop myself from tucking back the stray hair strands behind her ear and pulling that lip from her teeth so that I can chew it.
She nods.
Whoa…
Is she doing this on purpose? What has happened to our smart mouth Elsa De Luca, daughter of a gangster, who is going to fight me till she escapes my prison mansion?
Is this some gimmick she has come up with her friend on the phone, to play nice and then stab me in the back?
“I liked it. Especially the farm. Can I go there every day other than being looked up in this house, fantasizing about the characters in the novels who are too perfect to find?”
Oh, that’s particularly specific but I don’t have the reason to deny her. She can be anywhere in the estate and I can be sure that she is safe, as long as my staff is watching her every move. There is no chance that she will escape through the farm. It is too big and the furthest she can reach on her feet is the river.
“Okay, you can go to the far whenever you wish,” I say. Her face lights up like a Christmas tree. For a second I get myself thinking I have done her good today, and her smile is rewarding.
“Thank you,” she says again.
My head is spinning.
Is this what it takes to get her this happy and appreciative? I saved her life and she hated me for it. I am trying to keep her safe here but she hates that more. I am sure she would kill me if she learned about her father.
This woman is maddening! I am sure I am already a gone case because I have that burn to make her happy.
“Wow! I have seen the side of you that you have been trying to hide away from me, baby. It is beautiful,” I say. Her face falls sullen.
Oh no.
My hand cups her chin so I can tilt her face and ensure she looks me straight in the eyes.
“I am serious, Bella,”
“Call me, Elsa,” she says.
What?
“Men always call women” Bella” as an excuse because they can’t remember their names,” she explains.
Here she is back again.
I can’t stop myself from laughing.
“You think I would forget your name?”
“That’s what I keep thinking every time you call me that.”
“Where did you get that from?”
“Mamma. She told me that when I was still very little,” she responds.
“Very keen woman. I am compelled to think that you get your witty personality from her.”
She grins.
Her grin is infectious.
“I can assure you I will keep calling you whatever I deem fit at any moment. That’s not going to stop me,” I say. She looks down.
“Why did you call me to your office?” she inquires.
“You are asking that now?”
God! This woman is very surprising.
“I want to know. I thought you had something very important you needed to tell me in your office.”
“Something like what?” Is there something she was expecting?
“I don’t know. Businesses,” she shrugs.
“Is there something you want to talk to me about?”
Her eyes meet mine once again.
“Marcello, I have to start working. I need to push my father’s businesses forward. They were left in my hands. I can’t be here, Marcello,” she says.
Here we are again.
“I understand what you are talking about, but I have told you this before. It is unsafe for you to be out there. Don’t make me repeat that.”
“Till when shall I keep hiding here under your wings? I will have to face this beast at any time anyway. As long as Federico is still alive, he will still want to kill me. There is no assurance that I will be safe after I get out of here. The only absolute solution is killing him.”
“You want to kill Federico?”
“Yes, why not, Marcello? That murderer killed Papa. He attempted to kill me. I would kill him if I got a chance to even if it meant loading my life in the course. God knows what he is up to now. He won’t rest until he finishes my entire bloodline. He thinks he will become king of Italy if he finishes the De Luca clan and takes over everything it owns.” She sucks in a breath, her expression somber.
She looks sexy as fuck when she is aggressive.
“You don’t know how precious your life is dolcezza. Killing Federico will take a lot. You have to be very determined to die with him. I know you are that determined but look at your life from a different perspective Your father had a lot of hope in you. I feel so certain that Roberto sees much better things in you than avenging his death. Frederick is a very violent man. Leave him to me. I will take of Federico. You should only worry about yourself and ensure that you are healthy and alive because this will all be for nothing if you get killed too,” I tell her.
There is a grave silence in the room. Elsa sucks in a gust of breath.
My hands trace out her lower lip. Wheels are turning in my head. God damn it I want to kiss her.
I wrap my hand around the small of her back pulling her closer to me so that her front is pressing flatly against mine. She doesn’t fight or fuse, so I take that as a green flag.
I couldn’t resist. I lean down and take her mouth, needing to sample her lips. They are warm and soft, and I thrust my tongue inside, eager to taste every bit of her at this moment. I want her sighs and moans, her adoration, and her tears. I want to own her, body and soul.
My hands find her hips and I let my fingers rest on her ass, her breasts pushing against my chest. When she rises on her toes to get closer, I cup her ass with both hands and lift her. Long legs wrapped around my hips and I rest her against the desk as I continue to eat at her mouth. Fuck, she tastes so good, like wine and olives. Salty and sweet, exactly like I thought she would. I angle my head, trying to get deeper, sweeping my tongue over hers.
I was already hard, my body primed for her the instant our mouths touched. It would be so easy to drag her dress up, pull her panties aside, and sink inside her body. Fuck, I want that. Could I make her beg for my cock and have her not regret it yet?
No, not yet. Patience, Marcello! Soon.
Her arms twin around my neck, her little whimpers driving me crazy. She is the hottest, most responsive woman to kiss-and we hadn’t even fucked yet. I swear, she is going to kill me.