Chapter 12
The day seemed to crawl by. Not usually a coffee drinker, I found it was my lifeline today. I struggled to keep my eyes open, forcing myself not to stay still for too long at risk of falling asleep at the staff counter. Then at around 3pm Giuseppe showed up for his regular meeting with the old gentlemen retirees. He greeted me with a smile before joining them at a cluster of armchairs beneath the bay window.
"Giuseppe have you seen the financial news today?"
He was handed a newspaper that I was sure I'd seen him reading this morning while the house staff prepared his breakfast, and slipped right into conversation. An hour or so later and the group disbanded and Giuseppe hopped onto a PC terminal until closing as was his routine. Then finally, after an agonising eternity, 5pm came around and I closed up. Giuseppe met me by the door as I made final checks and flicked off the lights.
"Do you need a lift home, Lizbeth?"
I shook my head, catching a glance at the clock. "Alessandro said he would pick me up."
"Of course," Giuseppe said with a grin. "I forgot he was staying in the mountains today. His meeting must have been a long one. I haven't seen him all afternoon. Ah, I miss those days."
"Oh?" I said, ducking under Giuseppe's arm as he held the door open for me. "You miss being stuck in business meetings?"
He chuckled and waited while I locked up. "Not so much that, but the challenge of running a business empire is what I miss. Oftentimes it was akin to putting together pieces to a growing puzzle. Kept the mind active." He pointed to his head. "It's one thing Alessandro and I do have in common. Our minds need to be active to stay sane. It is why you are good for him, cara. You stimulate his mind... as well as other parts."
"Giuseppe!" I gasped and gave his arm a whack. He laughed and I felt myself blush. Oh lordy, the thoughts he must have of us.
"Are you making my Lizzie blush?"
We both glanced at the bottom of the ramp where Alessandro had since appeared, I hadn't even heard his car pull up. Then I noticed him tucking his phone away in his pocket and realised he'd probably been doing business while he waited for me. Now he stood, eyes silently appraising me as I walked arm in arm with his father. He still wore his suit except his tie had since been discarded. We reached the bottom of the ramp and Giuseppe relinquished me into his like a father of the bride handing over his daughter at the altar.
"Have fun kids." He clapped his son on the shoulder before making his way to his waiting car. I was sure in his mind he was already naming our kids.
Alessandro didn't even bother to wait for Giuseppe's car to leave before he planted a lingering kiss on my lips. "I've been waiting to do that all day," he confessed.
I smiled. "Me too."
He helped me into the car, then taking up his seat reached for my hand and drew it into a kiss. "Dinner? Where would you like to eat? Out or at home?"
I heaved a sigh and leaned my head back on the rest. As happy as I was to see him, eating out didn't actually appeal. I guess I'd been doing too much of that since he'd arrived.
"Home," I said.
He started the engine.
"Wait." I placed a hand on his arm, the idea dawning on me. "Can I cook tonight? As much as I love the chef's cooking, I'm in the mood for something... simpler."
Alessandro nodded. "Of course. Anything for you, Lizzie."
I loved the way he said my name. There was sophistication in the way he spoke and in his mannerisms that made me want to sit up a little straighter, hold my head a little higher, be a little more graceful. Alessandro held my hand while he drove, a smirk tugging at his lips as he became aware that I was watching him instead of the scenery outside.
"Penny for your thoughts," he finally said as we pulled into Giuseppe's mountain top neighbourhood.
I blushed and glanced away, unable to hide the shy smile. "I was just thinking how gorgeous you look in this car."
He smirked. "Grazie."
"How do you say gorgeous in Italian?"
He hummed. "Bello, I suppose."
"Beautiful?"
"Beautiful, yes but in a masculine sense so English speakers would say handsome."
"Oh, right," I said. "Masculine and feminine rules."
He nodded.
Guh, so much to learn. "I did learn a little bit of French when I was travelling abroad, but I hardly remember it now," I said. "How similar is Italian to French?"
"So-so." Alessandro waved the hand that held mine. "Similar, but in my opinion, it would be easier to learn each language separately and then see the similarities for yourself."
"Do you speak French too?"
"Un peu." A little. Except his accent made it sound like he was saying it in Italian.
I smirked. One of the similarities. "Tu as de beaux yeux," I said. You have beautiful eyes.
"Merci, Mademoiselle, je vous trouve absolument charmante."
Aw. He found me absolutely charming.
We flirted with languages all the way to the kitchen, giggling and having fun with random pickup lines. Giuseppe's chef was already preparing his dinner and understandably didn't want to be disturbed. She watched us with pressed lips as we raided the pantry and ran off with a handful of ingredients to take to Alessandro's guest house kitchen. When Giuseppe had said 'guest house' I imagined something akin to a granny flat. You know just some little, out of the way box to store your guests. What I got, however, was a fully self-contained two storey house equipped with its own mountain views and hot tub sitting off the up-stairs balcony.
"Nice digs!" I whistled as I stepped into Alessandro's own private space, taking in high ceilings and open plan living similar to the main house.
He showed me to the kitchen which was visibly unused and I placed my ingredients down on the bench. Alessandro meanwhile, headed for the wine rack and popped open a bottle of red.
"Do you have everything you need?" He asked, handing me a glass.
"I think so." I took a sip of wine. Holy cow it was amazing! "Ready to create a culinary masterpiece with me?"
Alessandro rolled up his sleeves. "I am at your disposal. Do with me as you wish."
"Oh! Just one more thing!" I made a quick dash for my handbag which I'd brought in with me and pulled out my ipod. Then setting it up on Alessandro's speaker tower, I fondled with it for a moment and hit play. Seconds later 'Lizzie's kitchen mix' filled the house. Alessandro threw his head back and laughed, watching on with obvious amusement as I moved about his kitchen with a sway in my hip. I mouthed the lyrics and got them wrong as I piled the vegetables onto the cutting board, and bobbed my head as I grabbed a pot and a pan.
"Do you dance, Alessandro?" I asked from across the kitchen. So far he hadn't lifted a finger except to drink from his wineglass. Some cooking assistant he was.
"Not if I can help it," he said. He was leaning on the bench with a lazy smile. "But don't let that stop you. I'm happy to just admire you from here."
I prepared dinner which was Italian green beans and a simple potato and mushroom stew. Both much loved recipes handed down to me from my Nonna. Often considered as a 'poor man's' meal in Italy, Alessandro didn't seem to have any objections as we ate on his balcony under the stars. Then, contented and full, we chose to spend the remainder of the evening reclining by the pool. We shared one of the oversized pool lounges. Alessandro lay on his back with one hand behind his head while the other flicked through business emails on his tablet. I cuddled up beside him, resting my head on his chest, inhaling his scent and listening to his heartbeat as I made every attempt to read the same paperback romance I'd started the day we met. I hadn't picked it up since I missed my stop on the train that day and found myself musing on how much had happened in my life since then. Who would have thought I'd end up embarking on my own billionaire romantic journey? It truly blew my mind.
The hero was in the process of ravishing the heroine's mouth with a fierce kiss when a sudden awareness came over me. A quick glance up and I noticed Alessandro wasn't holding his tablet anymore. Instead, his eyes were riveted the heated make out session.
"What are you reading?" His voice rumbled through his chest.
"A...um... paperback romance..."
He gently plucked the book from my fingers and I felt my face burn as he took a moment to inspect the cover. The title 'The Billionaire's Blackmail Bargain' blared back at him in bold print. He then proceeded to flick through the pages up until the point I had read to which he had bookmarked with a finger.
"I..." I licked suddenly dry lips. "I like them because of... reasons."
"Oh...?"
He reached his makeshift bookmark and skimmed the page.
"Rafe coerced Laura into a marriage of convenience," I explained. Things were heating up for them on their wedding night, the sexual tension between them reaching snapping point. There was only one way to go from here. I watched on as the grin slowly spread its way across Alessandro's face.
"Sensual," he said and then proceeded to read the scene out loud.
I burst into a giggle that bordered on hysterical. Oh god... his accent. It was perfection. Unhindered, Alessandro kept on reading, providing a perfect voice for Rafe right down to the endearments he whispered to Laura in Italian.
"Carissma, relax for me," said Rafe/Alessandro as he lay Laura gently on the bed. She was quivering in his arms. So ready but so afraid...
"Oh, she's a virgin," piped Alessandro, putting a momentary pause on the dialogue.
I was impressed. He'd figured this out before Rafe did. In fact, it wasn't until Rafe entered her exquisite body and she cried out that he finally connected the dots. Alessandro kept reading, his tone changing with the scene as the lovemaking moved from hot and frenzied to slow and sensual. Rafe assured her with his words as much as he did with his touch, seductive Italian sliding off his... Alessandro's... tongue like fine silk. His kisses lingered on her body and I closed my eyes, imagining every single one in vivid detail. Rafe's image morphed into Alessandro. It was his lips on my body. His voice whispering in my ear. I felt Alessandro's heartbeat thrumming through my head and his breathing quickened under the unconscious stroke of my fingertips upon his chest.
"Mi amore," his voice rasped as Rafe continued to make love to Laura. "You feel amazing."
The heated moan escaped my lips before I had a chance to stop it and Alessandro paused with a chuckle.
"You ok there?" he asked.
Suddenly mortified, my eyes shot open and I buried my head into his chest. "Oh god, you weren't supposed to hear that."
His chuckle vibrated through his chest and I felt the gentle pat of his hand on the back of my head. His fingers stroked through my loose hair and I heard his inhale as he took in the scent of my shampoo. I lifted my head and rested my chin on his chest, gazing up at his lovely smirk and his beautiful, blue eyes that watched me with visible curiosity.
"Amore," he rasped. "Voglio baciarti."
Without taking his gaze off me he set the book aside and altered his position on the lounge so that we were facing each other eye to eye, body to body. His irises were so dark that I could see myself in them. My head fell into the cup of his hand and he pulled me in close for a kiss so sensual that I melted into him.
"My Lizzie. Mia bella, perfetta, Lizzie."
His hand moved to my hip where he guided me underneath him and I swallowed down the groan of aching need as his erection pressed into that special place between my thighs.
"Alessandro, oh god."
His kisses journeyed from my mouth to my chin and down my neck, each one as slow and sensual as the last. I rose to press a breast into his hand as his thumb ran tantalising circles around my nipple through the material of my dress. His hand continued its journey south, torturing me with his every touch until he reached the hem of my dress and slipped underneath it. I heaved a moan, raking my hands through his hair, feeling every caressing stroke of his fingers as they toyed with the fabric of my undies, feeling the dampness... the heat. I desperately wanted to touch him, to stroke my fingers down his length just as he stroked me. I didn't care that we were in a public part of the house. That anyone could at any moment step out and catch us. All I could see was Alessandro. All I could perceive was how much I wanted him. How much he wanted me.
I reached down and touched him through his trousers, running my fingers up and down his solid length. Alessandro sucked in a sharp breath like I'd taken him by surprise. Oh lordy, was it as glorious as it felt? He moaned, low and throaty as I continued to pleasure him, his own strokes on my undies becoming fiercer by the second before, with a growl, he grabbed my hand and pinning it above my head, he straddled me at the waist.
"Amore. Not here. Not now," he hissed through gritted teeth.
"Alessandro," I rasped but with a finger to my lips he shushed me.
"Soon. I promise." He replaced his finger with a kiss so delicate it was like I was being touched by the petals of a rose. The molten need of a moment ago churned with the fluttering in my stomach and I realised right then the simple truth. Alessandro Zingaro was going to be the death of me.