Chapter Thirty
Chiara
We hear a knock on the door. I giggle and glance up at him as I bury myself under the covers of the bed. But Misha groans, and calls out, “What!”
“Dinner is at seven thirty,” Beso replies, through the door.
I close my eyes, and frown, as I throw my head back onto the pillow. I’d been resting my cheek on his pecs. Down is much softer but not as comfortable as his skin. “I have no clothes in this room, and all you sent me here with were school clothes. I have nothing to wear for dinner.”
Misha tries not to laugh at me. “And somehow, when I entered the suite, you were wearing a bathing suit.” He grumbles, and rolls over to face me. He looks like he’s trying to be stern, and with the blond stubble on his cheeks I’m sure he could be rather intimidating. But, I know he’s just a soft, cuddly teddy bear on the inside. “A sexy, hot pink bikini, bathing suit,” he says between fake leers and stolen kisses. “How did you even get a bikini in a hotel?”
“Beso,” I answer, as I move my head to the side to allow him to trail his soft, warm lips over the sensitive skin of my neck.
“Who the fuck is Beso, and why is he bringing you sexy bikinis?” he growls. I look up into his eyes, and find them filled with jealousy. I like it. I want him to be possessive, jealous, and all the other things that I always thought were cave man-ish.
“Beso is Dimitri’s valet.” I say it to make it sound even more pretentious than it usually would. “And don’t worry, he’s like every other man.” I shrug my shoulders, and he decides at that moment to sink his teeth into the delicate skin there. I cry out, “Owww!” and try to pull away.
“That’s what I’m worried about, that he’s like other men,” he chastises.
I scoff loudly, even though I’m enjoying his emotional outburst. “Meaning, when one of my sisters is in the room, I might as well be invisible.” I try to sound all pouty, to get sympathy.
He simply chuckles, the sound reverberating against my ear and causing goose bumps to appear. “I guess it would serve Nico Rossi right to have two daughters married to Russians.”
I groan, loudly, and counter, “If I don’t neuter him. And you,” I add, before I quickly slide off the bed and head straight to the shower in the attached bathroom.
*****
We’re sitting around the dinner table. All of us, except for Beso, who is hovering so close to my sister’s chair he might start cutting her steak for her. I’ve sent him several dirty looks, but he’s ignored them all.
“What happens now?” I ask, trying to take my mind off Beso’s shameless flirting.
Oh, God, he’s actually cutting her steak! She glances up at him, giving him her brightest smile. “Thank you, Beso,” she says sweetly.
“You’re welcome, Miss Guilia,” he replies, before he moves away. But that’s just to grab a bottle of her favorite soda to refill her glass.
I grab my knife, but Misha takes my hand and shakes his head. Gently, he answers, “Now, we’re free to do whatever we want. Let’s get married before you have to go back to work.”
My eyes grow wide at the thought. Could we, really, just do it? Run off and elope, then return to our lives like nothing had changed?
And what about Guilia? My gaze strays to my beautiful, sweet sister, and then to the man who is obviously infatuated with her.
“Guilia is under my protection, and will remain there until you feel it is safe for her to return to New York,” Dimitri informs me, with his thick accent and his rough voice.
“No, that is not…” I begin.
“Dimitri is married, so you don’t have to worry about him liking me, Chi,” Guilia argues. Just the simple fact that she believes that proves to me that she must be protected.
“I will not let anyone touch your sister,” he says, but his eyes are on Beso. “You have my word.” When he speaks, his valet’s dark eyes fall to the floor, and he silently moves away.
“I want to stay! I love it here. I love my room, and the pool. But most of all, I like Beso bringing me whatever I ask for.” No one sitting around the table is surprised at what she says.
“I will change his assignment, if you would feel more comfortable,” Dimitri offers.
Guilia sits her fork on her plate, and speaks softly. “I know you don’t want me to have a boyfriend, but I’m an adult and I can make my own decisions. I will decide when I become a woman, and no one else.” With that she stands up, and walks off.
Has the whole world simply turned on its ear? Isn’t that the same logic I used when I decided to seduce Mikhail Ivanovich? She can’t use my own arguments against me, can she? Am I actually thinking of leaving her here, in Dimitri’s hotel, with two hot Russian men?
“Only for a few days,” I blurt out. “Only until we’re married, and we return to the city.”
Misha grins at me, and exclaims, “Let’s do it.”
I sigh loudly. The good girl in me, the one who has done everything for her family says no. I should share my wedding day with my parents and grandparents. At least with my sister.
No. This should be just me and Misha, because we will start our lives alone. This is just one more thrilling experience that I can share with him. This is a first that we can have together.
“You’ve never been married, have you?” I ask, because I realize as I look at him that there’s still so much I don’t know about him.
“You’ll be the first,” he answers me with a shy grin.
“At least I can be your first something.” I start out speaking firmly, because it hurts a little that we couldn’t share losing our virginity together. But as I think about what I’m saying, my voice gets quieter. Maybe I shouldn’t be saying that in front of Dimitri.
But he reaches out and touches my cheek lightly. “You’re my first everything, treasure. You’re the first woman I’ve loved, and I swear you’ll be the last.”
“Okay. Let’s get married.”
“You’re getting married!” Guilia exclaims, from just outside the doorway.
“I’ll arrange everything,” Beso says, as he enters the dining room from the kitchen.
“Nope! We’re doing this together, just the two of us.” I wrap my fingers into Misha’s, and he smiles as he leans forward to kiss my cheek.
“Just us,” he agrees.
We’ll have to face the Italians and the Russians sooner than later. But we’ll do that together, too.