Chapter 13

Alessandro.

To Alessandro, Lizzie Green was a complete enigma. He was used to having women throw themselves at him. It came with the territory of owning a billion dollar empire. And when he actually did feel the inclination to catch one, unfortunately more often than not they lost his interest before the end of the night. Oh he'd humour them a while, for he was no brute. He'd entertain them and then send them on their way, but it seemed to him the women that most commonly stalked his social sphere were putting too much emphasis on the wrong assets and this tended to leave a bitter taste in his mouth.

What he wasn't used to however, was Lizzie.

She was a woman who, for all intents and purposes, seemed to have attached herself to his father. And little had Alessandro realised right then that it was possible for his father to have a relationship with a woman that was completely platonic. Not only this, but a relationship based on interests that landed outside the realm of his grand fortune. But then again, the idea of relationships (platonic or otherwise) was something Alessandro hadn't even entertained for himself let alone his father since inheriting Giuseppe's million dollar company.

Years ago the older tycoon had retired, opting to hand over complete control of his company to his only son. This was under the condition that Alessandro first spent several years learning how to run it successfully. And learn he did. Not only this but he excelled, even exceeding his father's expectations by bringing in an extraordinary profit within his first year at the helm. And every year thereafter. Pretty soon Giuseppe's million dollar company became Alessandro's billion dollar empire, and between that and helping his father get back to good health, time had passed quickly. Suddenly he was twenty-seven with nothing to show for in the relationship spectrum. Though knowing Alessandro he would have likely made it well into his 30s before he woke up and realised he'd done little more with a woman than buttered her up and sent her home with a pretty new trinket like a necklace or something. Sometimes a car if he liked her enough. That wasn't to say that Alessandro's libido was lacking in any shape or form. It was just that when learning how to run his empire occupied most of his time, just the basic things like eating healthy and sleeping tended to be forgotten until someone reminded him. So when it came to sex and relationships, these were made more difficult by the simple fact that Alessandro's turn-ons tended to reside more in the realms of what was between a woman's ears. That wasn't to say he didn't appreciate a lovely body, but what was considered beauty these days seemed to be changing by the minute and it was something Alessandro just didn't have the time or inclination to keep up with. Couple that with the fact that he was adamant on not becoming a womanising rake like his father and it just seemed easier to indulge in the occasional liaison whenever the need arose. In the time between, exercise had become his substitute. Strength training and boxing in particular. And like everything else Alessandro put his mind to, he excelled at it. Soon his body went from its soft spend-all-day-sitting-in-an-office-chair look to something that better resembled the physique he supported now. And women seemed to love that, Lizzie being no exception.

Her attraction to him was evident the moment she set eyes on him, and while that alone could have been enough to merit his immediate disinterest, he actually found he couldn't blame her since he happened to be supporting a similar reaction at seeing her. It was those eyes. A level of quick intelligence sparked in them that had him immediately intrigued, even as she had gaped up at him like a dumbstruck deer in the headlights. By the time she'd dined with he and his father at the Wintergarden, all he could think of was taking her to his side and peeling back the layers of that intriguing mind, before kissing those adorably pouting lips and making the most intense love to her until they were both spent and unable to move for days. These feelings only seemed to intensify the more he got to know her. And, needless to say, this made the often in control, keep-his-head-about-him tycoon very uncomfortable. Alessandro detested the idea of not being in control. He blamed everything on it from his own lack of mental discipline to even accusing Lizzie of seduction and witchcraft. Nothing worked and eventually he found himself giving into the inevitability that he was actually falling in love. And now, here he was, still out of control and fighting this desperate need to secure her to his side and claim her as his forever, even before he'd had a chance to finish checking off his mental list of requirements necessary to make a woman his queen.

Amore.

It was a full blooded-Italian man's vice. This drive... nay this infernal need to make the sweetest love to beautiful things. Fortunately for him, Alessandro wasn't a full blooded Italian, so most of the time he was able to keep his head about him. To keep the same cool, calm rationale his dear mother had possessed. But that didn't mean he was immune to the effects of amore. He was still at least half-Italian after all, and when amore did strike, it sent him into the same wild, passionate frenzy that haunted every other Italian male.

Alessandro did briefly entertain the notion of just this once giving into his baser urges and bedding Lizzie. To get her out of his system and at least grant himself some sort of semblance of control back in his life. But he found the idea distasteful. Perhaps it was because she was a woman in a class of her own. Any man with any level of respect would realise she had evolved beyond the one night stand culture; this only becoming more apparent when she'd turned down his offer to be pleasured by his own hand the other night... literally. She respected him. And while that may not mean much to a woman when put up against things like love and devotion, for a man, holding the unfaltering respect of a woman was akin to finding nirvana. It was the bliss point. Paramount. And once Lizzie had uttered those words, 'I respect you,' it took every ounce of Alessandro's will not to just propose to her on the spot. Lizzie was every part her own woman; intelligent with a sure side of sexiness and zest that sent his pulse racing, but seeing in her eyes the way she offered him her trust before it was even due... well that was what filled him with this overwhelming need to protect her at any cost. Even from himself.

The sigh that escaped Lizzie's lips snapped him from his thoughts. A quick glance downwards and he found her lying curled up against him with her head on his chest. She was asleep. His fingers that he had been mindlessly twirling through her chocolate brown hair were now curled up in knots with it. He silently cursed as he fought not to tug on her hair too hard as he unravelled them. God she smelled good. Like cherry blossoms on a spring day. His Lizzie. He could easily lie there with her all night, but he knew she had work in the morning and he had meetings in Sydney. He was in the process of securing a purchase deal of a hotel that had been bleeding money since it opened. It was a risky move, but he already had plans in place for what he wanted to do with it. A makeover, new branding and better management and he would be making money off it within a year... maybe two at the most. A quick check of his watch and he realised it was already past midnight. He needed to get Lizzie to bed and get some sleep himself. He did briefly contemplate taking her to his bed, but realised sleep would most definitely escape him then. Hell, just having her lying beside him here was agony. He'd been rock hard since... well since he met her.

He carefully slid out from under her, making sure not to wake her. By the looks of it she was a fairly sound sleeper. Then scooping his arms under her, he lifted her.

Porca vacca! She was heavier than she looked. Must be the weight training.

He grunted and shifted her body into a comfortable hold before carrying her inside and up to her room. Thankfully one of the staff was still on hand to open her door for him and he gently lay her down on her bed. Ensuring she was comfortable, he pulled the blankets to her neck. Sleeping in a dress was probably less than ideal but he wasn't game enough to tempt fate by undressing her. When he turned to leave however, he noticed her damn cat quickly shoot through the door.

"Cazzo!" Alessandro hissed before leaping into a bolt after it.

Unfortunately, his run only proved to spook the cat and she took off down the stairs, through the house and straight out the back door that had been left open by Alessandro himself. By now a string of curses was leaving his mouth and he stepped outside, eyes searching the moonlit dark for the little creature. This was why he wasn't an animal person. The cat was black. How in the world was he actually going to find her? Still though he had to at least try.

"Kitty," he said in his Italian drawl. "Come here. Your mamma needs you."

But it was to no avail.

Another string of curses and he took to checking the hedges that surrounded the pool. A pair of yellow eyes caught his attention and he spotted the little black streak make a run for it across the lawn toward the edge of the cliff top. Alessandro was on it in seconds, making a blind dash in the darkness after her. He staggered over the spongy grass in his socks, stepping on every stone and twig in the process and all the while damming the cat to every level of hell and purgatory there was. Kitty continued to evade him.

Verging on giving up, Alessandro hurled his final damnation and spun to head back inside but it was the second set of golden eyes that grabbed him. These ones were different. Non-feline eyes. A dog perhaps the size of a German Shepherd was watching him. Since when did his father keep dogs? There was something different about this dog however. For a start he could tell it was no German Shepherd. In fact it looked more like... Was that a wild dog? What did the Australians call those? Dingos? Alessandro's heart sank. What were the chances it wasn't just out for a stroll? Were they dangerous? This one didn't look particularly dangerous. In fact it seemed more curious than anything. Curious or out for a quick meal? Was cat on the menu? Cazzo! He needed to find that damn cat!

"Sciò!" He shooed the dog and at the same time frantically searched the underbrush for Kitty.

The dingo trotted off to the edge of the lawn where it stood and watched him search. Quiet eyes simply observing. If Alessandro wasn't otherwise occupied he would have noted it was a very beautiful dog with fur of honey gold (though in the dark it just looked grey) and a white underside. Its colouring was akin to a fox yet it was almost jackal-like in its appearance.

By the time Alessandro located the cat sitting huddled in a tree, he wasn't sure if minutes had passed or hours and the dingo was long gone. He grabbed the cat by the scruff, not even caring at this point that she clawed at his arms. He was muttering at her in Italian and patting her on the head in some sort of attempt to calm her meowing. At this rate, she was going to wake up the whole house and he really didn't want to disturb Lizzie with a screaming cat. Once inside, however, she'd shut up and he managed to stuff her through Lizzie's bedroom door before closing it shut behind him. Alessandro glimpsed the time with a wide yawn. 3am. Merda! He needed to be up in a couple of hours. He trudged his way back to the guest house and not even bothering to wash up after his outdoor adventures, he fell into bed.