Sasha sat in the luxurious plane, watching her husband speak to someone in Spanish. She didn’t understand that language, felt she’d accomplished a great deal just by learning Greek! But she was going to learn Spanish and French because he spoke both of those languages as well. She was jealous of all of his accomplishments, but knew that he was about eleven years older than she was. She had time, she told herself. She would observe him carefully so that she could learn from the master.
Damon ended the call and looked at his wife. She was looking especially beautiful in a yellow suit. It was one that he’d selected for her among several others. This one was a bit more flattering to her figure. “You need yellow diamonds for that outfit,” he commented.
Sasha’s hand flew to her neck which was bare. “I don’t,” she protested, starting to tell him that she didn’t have yellow diamonds. But then she squared her shoulders and straightened in her seat. “I’m fine without any jewels.” His habit was to buy jewels for his mistresses and she wanted to be considered in a different capacity, separate from that part of his life. She didn’t like what jewels represented in his mind.
His only response was a slight lifting of the corners of his mouth. “So tell me about what you’ve done so far with regards to your investing.”
Her eyes flew up to his, wondering if he was patronizing her or if he genuinely wanted to know. In the end, she accepted that he had to understand what she’d been doing in order for him to advise her on how to do things better, so she relented and started talking, explaining her strategy. For the next hour, they went through her stocks, the reasons why she chose certain companies, why she didn’t choose others and numerous other questions. He was thorough in his interrogation and she had to work hard to keep up with him.
When the plane landed in Rome, he held her hand as they descended the stairway. Sasha walked next to him, wishing she could figure him out. But he was a closed book most of the time.
“We’ll dine at the Roma Palazzo,” he told her.
She smothered her surprise at that announcement, not sure what to say. She’d read about the restaurant, had always wanted to try the food there but she’d never thought to have the opportunity. Sasha tried very hard to suppress her excitement as the limousine drove through the city. Her eyes were alight with fascination at all of the amazing scenes, the bustling city, the people moving about on the sidewalks, into and out of the stores and all of the beautiful architecture.
“You like traveling,” he said, not asking. The evidence was written all over her lovely features.
“Oh yes!” she sighed, still trying to hide her enthusiasm. She didn’t want to be perceived as naïve or silly by Damon. She was trying very hard to appear sophisticated. “I always wanted to travel but…” she shrugged her shoulders, trying to appear casual.
“Why didn’t you travel during breaks in school?”
She rolled her eyes. “Not everyone is wealthy enough to travel on a whim, Damon.”
He shook his head, not accepting her excuse. “Not everyone needs to travel in style like I demand. There are ways to travel that don’t require a great deal of money.”
Sasha thought back to her sometimes heartrending school days, her mother’s illness and all of the sadness, the desperation she’d felt in wanting to ease her mother’s pain as much as possible. Staring out the window, she smiled sadly. “I had to work during my school breaks,” was all she said.
Damon was quiet, sensing that there was a great deal more to the issue than she was letting him know about. But how to get her to open up? He had no idea. She was a closed book in some areas. She might come alive when he touched her, but other times, she kept her thoughts close to herself.
The limousine pulled up outside of the famous restaurant and he stepped out, turning and offering his hand to help her out as well. “You look lovely, by the way,” he told her. He saw her slight smile before she was able to suppress it and tucked her hand onto his arm as he led her into the restaurant.
Sasha tried very hard to appear sophisticated and blasé about this whole experience. There were so many people that were milling around the beautifully decorated restaurant, all of them seeming so elegant and casual about the night ahead, as if they took this kind of experience for granted. But to Sasha, who had been cooped up in a small village for the past six years and helping an ailing parent for several years before then, this was a breathtaking, sensational, amazing event and she was going to savor every moment. When Damon pulled the chair out for her, she heard his chuckle before he came around and sat down across from her.
Lowering her lashes, she took several deep breaths. “Am I that obvious?” she asked.
“Yes. But possibly only to me. And don’t worry. I like it,” he told her. He watched as she looked over the menu, her excitement palpable. She was adorable, he thought. He remembered the last time he’d dined here. It had been with his mother and father. It was the last time he remembered them being together. They’d divorced the following year. Even during that meal, they’d barely spoken, neither to him nor to each other. They were too busy looking around, seeing who else might be at the famous restaurant. He realized now that they’d been competing with each other over who knew the most people or the most important person. His presence there had been completely incidental.
Damon would focus on Sasha tonight. He’d forgotten that memory until this moment. Until he’d seen her excitement. She glanced around the restaurant and sighed happily.
“What are you going to order?” he asked her.
She smiled over at him and he relaxed. He hadn’t even realized that he was so tense until she’d looked back at him instead of surveying the other patrons in the restaurant. He should have known that Sasha would be different from both of his parents. Nothing about this woman was similar. Hell, she wasn’t even like the other women in his life, almost a completely different species, he thought as he surveyed her beautiful, fresh face and excited eyes.
She wiggled slightly in her seat. “I have no idea,” she replied. “You’ve obviously been here before, what do you recommend?”
For the rest of the meal, Damon continued to be astounded by his young wife’s intelligence and charm, neither of which he’d even suspected before. And her whole focus was on him, their conversation and the delicious food, of course. She was a delightful dinner companion. A startling change from his last experience here.
Sasha loved the way Damon talked to her throughout the meal. It was like they were a real couple. Gone was the patronizing smile he used to bestow upon her during each of his obligatory visits to the villa over the years. He looked at her now as if she were someone…stronger! More worthy of his attention. And the invigorating conversation was more stimulating than anything she’d ever experienced. Talking with Damon was like conversing with an encyclopedia. He knew everything! And boy did she enjoy challenging him! Even better, she liked it when his eyes crinkled with humor. He rarely laughed, she realized. And even worse, the man didn’t really relax. It was as if he were a bear, ready to defend his territory, always testing the air, ready to rear up and attack at the first hint of danger.