Emma
“Have a good evening,” Calisto said quietly when the elevator dinged.
Emma stood unmoving, even with the sight of her penthouse apartment opening up before her. She was unsteady on her feet and unsure in her heart. A part of her wanted to ask Calisto if he would come in and have a coffee with her, talk, or … something. When the man was open and not being an asshole, he was enigmatic to her, drawing Emma in like a magnet. The other part of her, the rational one, kept her quiet and demanded she get out of the elevator.
“The elevator only stays open for so long, Emmy,” Calisto added.
Her nickname coming out of his mouth sounded a lot more affectionate than she was willing to admit. He spoke it soft enough to make her think that maybe he cared. Emma couldn’t get mixed up in that trap.
Whatever it was.
The elevator dinged and the door started to close. She still hadn’t moved. Calisto reached out and stuck his hand over the sensor. He didn’t drop his arm, so the elevator door wouldn’t close until he did.
“You all right?” he asked.
“Thank you for the poker game,” Emma said.
Calisto offered her a smile. “Don’t thank me for that. I beat you, after all.”
“But you gave me the distraction I needed. Losing the money was worth it.”
“Well, then I guess you’re welcome.”
“You didn’t need to come up with me, you know.”
Calisto chuckled. “You said that already. And I know that I didn’t, but I’m ready to call it a night as well.”
It took Emma far too long to catch onto what Calisto meant.
“You have a suite in the hotel?”
“I have to keep an eye on you, don’t I?”
Emma glanced away to hide her frown. “Sure, but this elevator is used for the expensive suites, not the regular ones.”
Calisto nodded toward the other side of the elevator. “Once the door closes to your penthouse, I just have to swipe my card and the other side of the elevator will open to the penthouse apartment that was rented for me to use this month. Affonso wanted me to be as close as possible to you, instead of a few floors down like I was first situated.”
“Oh.”
“It also makes it easier on me with the hotel security,” Calisto added. “They simply call through to my room to let me know the sensors are showing activity in your apartment in the mornings. It gives me a chance to get up and downstairs to meet you. I’m usually already up, but there have been a couple mornings when I slept in.”
Her heart clenched painfully. A fast rush of anger followed right behind. Emma wasn’t exactly surprised that Calisto had been situated directly across from her penthouse for the duration of his stay, but the security thing was new information.
She had no privacy.
The security in her penthouse apartment was meant for break-ins or other kinds of trouble. If there was unusual activity, she would get a call to ask if she was all right or needed help.
“They’ve been using my security system to alert you when I start to get ready in the mornings?” Emma asked.
Calisto’s expression remained a blank slate. “Yes.”
“Oh, my God. That’s … fucking ridiculous. It’s my private space.”
“No one expects you to like it, Emmy. That’s probably why you weren’t let in on the secret. Nonetheless, it’s what Affonso wanted. He demanded someone have eyes on you as much as possible. I couldn’t keep watch if I didn’t know something as simple as when you were leaving the penthouse in the mornings.”
It didn’t matter how Calisto tried to spin it, Emma still didn’t like it. It left a bad taste in her mouth, not to mention she felt violated in a way.
“I haven’t done anything wrong,” Emma said, trying to keep her tone level and hide the anger flooding her heart. “I’ve followed the rules, stayed quiet, and did whatever that asshole wanted. Doesn’t he trust me at all?”
Calisto cleared his throat. “You’re a woman, Emmy.”
“What does that have to do with it?”
“Affonso doesn’t trust any woman.”
Well, then.
Fuck him.
“Is this what my whole life is going to be like now?” she asked.
The sharp, rugged lines of Calisto’s face softened when he smiled crookedly. Despite his small grin, sympathy flashed in his midnight-gaze.
“Without a doubt. It may seem like you’re alone, but you never will be. I explained this to you once. Did you think I was lying?”
“No, but …”
“Hmm?”
“I thought he would give me a bit of leg room to breathe. If all Affonso wanted to do was put me in a locked box, he might as well have just dragged me to New York when he left instead of leaving me here.”
“Leg room?” Calisto asked. “For what, to let you run?”
Emma’s fingernails bit into her palm when she squeezed her fists tight. “I never suggested I might run.”
“I didn’t say you would, either. Affonso thinks differently.”
“I’m really just a child to him, aren’t I?”
“You’re something else he can control, if that’s what you mean.”
Emma swallowed the painful lump in her throat. “Once I’m in New York, I’ll still have a babysitter.”
“You already know this.”
“It won’t be you, though.”
Calisto tilted his head to the side slightly before saying, “No, it’ll be whoever Affonso decides is the best to watch you. I have a job to do back home. And it doesn’t include keeping an eye on you, ragazza.”
But did he want it to?
That was the better question.
Emma didn’t ask.
Steeling her spine and refusing to give away her inner turmoil, Emma smiled. What in the hell else could she do? “Thank you again, Cal.”
Calisto nodded. “No problem.”
“Goodnight.”
Emma stepped out of the elevator and into her penthouse. Calisto dropped the hand covering the sensor the moment she was gone.
“Goodnight, Emmy.”
She didn’t look back at him when the elevator door closed.
Sleep didn’t find Emma. She tried everything to clear her mind enough that she could forget about the day and rest, but nothing worked. Frustrated, she tossed and turned until she was on her back, and staring blankly up at the ceiling.
Emma didn’t know how long she stayed like that. An hour, maybe more. The darkness of the bedroom would usually soothe her, but tonight it almost felt like it was taunting her. Staring at the ceiling helped to slow her racing thoughts enough that she could think.
In just a few days, she would be on a plane to New York.
A married woman.
Her life irrevocably changed.
Emma had done her best to ignore what was happening around her by staying out of things and keeping quiet. She couldn’t do that anymore. The changes were staring her right in the face, about to take over, whether she was ready for it or not.
Slowly, Emma’s thoughts began to drift in another direction. Calisto’s handsome features filled her mind. She was still angry after what she learned earlier, but only because no one had thought to tell her sooner. What made her more confused, was how she was angry with Calisto for not telling her.
Calisto owed Emma nothing.
He was nothing to her.
And yet, she was still angry with him.
Thinking about Calisto while Emma was in bed was not a good thing. It was bad enough that her strange attraction to Calisto wouldn’t let up no matter how much she wished it would. Being alone with thoughts filled with only him left her with an ache between her thighs that she couldn’t settle or soothe. She shouldn’t let a man that she couldn’t even have affect her.
Calisto wasn’t hers.
Simple as that.
Annoyed and unsettled, Emma shoved the blankets away and pushed out of the bed. Her bare feet hit the cold hardwood, and a chill filled her to the brim. Padding out of the bedroom, Emma made her way to the kitchen. She made a peppermint tea, hoping it would calm her nerves and let her sleep. As the tea steeped, she went in search of something chocolatey and sweet.
Indulging a craving seemed fitting.
Her mother would have a fit if she knew Emma kept a secret stash of sweets hidden in the pantry of her penthouse. Heaven forbid Emma eat a cookie and gain five pounds.
Pressing on the slightly indented panel on the wall, the hidden doorway swung open under Emma’s hand. The pantry was a five-foot by eight-foot section of the kitchen that Emma rarely used, as she didn’t need the extra storage. Usually, she went out to eat more often than she cooked for herself.
Emma flicked on the pantry light, illuminating the space. She snatched the package of cream-stuffed chocolate cookies on the top shelf and turned to leave. The gray, metal door on the other side of the pantry caught her eye, stopping her from closing the pantry door.
It was the second exit to the penthouse. Fire code demanded that every suite in the casino which used a private elevator access have a second emergency exit, in case of fire or something else. The door led to a staircase that went up to a rooftop fire exit, or down to the ground floor where the underground garage was situated. Each fire exit locked from the inside and couldn’t be accessed from the outside unless the master key was used.
Emma never thought about hers. She hadn’t needed to use the door before. Her heart raced again, but she didn’t want to allow herself to consider what using the door might mean.
Security would know she skipped out.
Wouldn’t they?
Emma shook her wayward thoughts off. They were crazy, after all. She couldn’t indulge errant ideas that would probably only get her into trouble. As she flicked off the light and closed the pantry door, Emma was still watching the metal fire door.
Stop it, she told herself. It won’t work. It’s pointless.
Emma hadn’t even gotten back to her tea before the penthouse phone rang. She looked to the decorative clock hanging on the kitchen wall, noting it was well after midnight. No one should be calling her at this time. She made it to the phone on the third ring.
“Hello?” Emma asked into the receiver.
“Miss Sorrento, it’s Mark from security downstairs. We noticed your sensors were showing activity and wanted to make sure everything was fine.”
Emma blew out a breath and pinched her nose. She should have known. It wasn’t like she wandered the halls of her penthouse every night, but that didn’t help her agitation.
“Didn’t you notice the sensors started to show movement from my bedroom?” Emma asked.
“Well, yes, but—”
“You must have known I entered the apartment earlier, went directly from my bathroom to the bedroom, and never opened the elevator to let anyone in,” Emma interrupted.
Her anger bubbled up even faster than before. She knew it wasn’t the security’s fault. They were just following orders. She was still pissed off like nothing else.
“Yes, we did notice that no one had entered,” the man said quietly.
“Then you had to know it was just me walking around in my own goddamn apartment.”
“Yes, miss, we did.”
“And yet you still called me,” Emma muttered.
Mark spluttered for a response before lamely saying, “I apologize.”
Emma gritted her teeth, again reminding herself that it wasn’t this man’s fault. Her anger didn’t necessarily need to be directed at him. “Please let Calisto Donati know that I’m just wandering my halls and not trying to sneak out. I know you either have to call him, or already did. No need to make the man jump out of bed and get dressed for nothing.”
“I’ll do that right now,” Mark said on the other end of the call.
“Thank you.”
Emma hung up the phone, leaned against the wall, and willed her annoyance to go away. When that didn’t work, Emma grabbed the phone and pressed three digits. The call rang through to security, and the same man who had called earlier picked up.
“Miss Sorrento, hello. I apologize again for earlier. What can I do for you?”
“Put me through to Calisto Donati’s penthouse suite.”
“Uh … well, we don’t really do that, Miss.”
Emma scoffed. “I’m not sure that should make a difference to me, considering you give him a call every time I move from one room to another. You already told me you would call him. He must be awake. Unless he’s got a visitor and I’m interrupting him, I want you to put my call through to his suite. Now.”
“Yes, miss. Hold for a moment.”
A click resounded in Emma’s ear a second before the call began to ring again. On the fourth ring, Calisto picked up.
“Donati speaking,” he said.
Emma ignored the way Calisto’s timber deepened even more over the phone. She hated how her body wanted to react to this man like he might be able to satisfy her if she just gave into the urges thrumming through her blood.
“Calisto, it’s Emma. I just wanted to let you know I was wandering my place and decided to grab a snack because I couldn’t sleep. I’m sorry if the security woke you up over nothing.”
Calisto laughed. “It’s fine, Emmy. I wasn’t sleeping, anyway.”
Damn.
Emma had asked the security if Calisto had a guest and the man didn’t answer. Was that why Calisto wasn’t sleeping? A ball of jealousy burst in Emma’s gut. She refused to pay it any mind.
“I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“You’re not,” Calisto replied quickly. “I couldn’t sleep, either. After watching the shadows on the wall, I jumped into a cold shower to see if that would help.”
A cold shower?
Weren’t those only good for when a person needed to wake up or if a man needed to get his … Emma shook her head, wanting to get as far away from those thoughts as possible.
Emma cleared her throat. “Oh. Well, I just wanted to let you know.”
“No problem,” Calisto replied easily.
“I’ll let you get back to whatever. Good night, Calisto.”
“Wait a second.”
Emma held the phone tighter. She wanted to end the call instead of talking more. Adding to the little issue that she was attracted to Calisto, and curious about him, was not a good idea.
“Yeah?” she asked.
“Since we’re both up with nothing to do, and I have a movie starting, do you want to come over and watch it? It’s action, not some chick flick.”
Yes.
Emma clamped her mouth shut to keep from shouting the word.
“It’s just a movie,” Calisto added when Emma stayed quiet. “You won’t get in too much trouble for a movie, I promise. Let’s just say the security of this hotel are a bit more partial to me than my uncle. I’m the one paying them the most for information, if you get my drift.”
“Just a movie?”
“Sure. Car bombs, a bit of blood, and lots of guns. Unless that’s not your thing and you prefer a sappy romance. If that’s the case, I rescind my invitation.”
“I like action movies,” she said quietly.
“Do you have popcorn?”
“Who doesn’t?”
“Bring it,” Calisto said. “Press five-oh-four into the elevator. I’ll let you in.”
Before Emma could respond, Calisto hung up. Emma stared at the phone in her hand for longer than she wanted to admit. Putting the phone back on the hook, she wasn’t sure what to do. A single night of innocent movie watching wasn’t wrong. She wasn’t doing anything bad.
Calisto offered, not her.
Emma grabbed her cookies, a bag of popcorn out of the cupboard, and her peppermint tea. Once she was inside the elevator, she pushed the numbers Calisto had told her, and waited. The elevator didn’t move, confirming what Emma already knew. Calisto’s penthouse was in fact situated directly across from hers.
The elevator door opened to a suite that matched Emma’s in layout, but not in design. The earthy colors on the walls and the leather benches in the short entry hallway gave off a warm feeling while hers was white, bright, and sterile looking.
“Down here,” Calisto yelled.
Emma followed his voice. Each step she took helped to take away what hesitance remained. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to spend time with Calisto.
She did.
That was the problem.
Spending time with him might feed her interest. It could lead her into something she couldn’t handle. It might make something come of nothing, and then where would she be?
Fucked.
That’s where.
Emma kept walking until she was in a black and white designed kitchen with stainless steel appliances. Calisto stood leaning against the island with a phone pressed to his ear, a coffee in his one hand, and nothing but sleep pants hanging low on his hips.
Her gaze couldn’t be stopped as she took inventory of a bare-footed, naked-chested Calisto Donati. A light dusting of dark hair was sprinkled across his muscular chest. His railroad path of abs led straight down to the hard cut V of his groin. The sleep pants Calisto wore hugged his hips, but still rested low enough to showcase the trail of dark hair that traveled from below his navel and disappeared below cotton. Not only was the man tall, dark, and handsome, but he had a body that looked as if it had been chiselled from stone.
Emma’s mouth went dry.
Jesus.
This was a bad idea.
“Yes, obviously I know she’s left the penthouse. She’s in my fucking suite,” Calisto barked into the phone. “Seems you’re really dropping the ball tonight if you can’t even figure out the girl is just walking from one room to the next.”
Calisto hung up the phone and put it on the counter. Then, he flashed Emma a sinful smile that was enough to make her gut clench and her cheeks get hot.
Bad all over.
“Ready for a movie?” he asked.
Emma was going to ask him if he would put some clothes on. She knew it was the right thing to do. Hugging her peppermint tea close to her chest, and grabbing the cookies and popcorn tighter, she decided not to say a thing. As long as she didn’t act on her thoughts, she was doing nothing wrong.
“Yeah, sure.”