Where You Belong: Chapter 11

Ma and Mia are walking back onto the deck with huge smiles on their faces as they giggle.

‘What’s so funny?’ I ask them suspiciously.

Mia shrugs her shoulders. ‘Nothing. Oh, by the way, we just snuck upstairs to Alexis’s room. Ma convinced her to join us for dinner. She should be down soon.’

I try to swallow past the lump forming in my throat. The thought of being around Alexis with my family here is a bit nerve-racking.

‘She’s very beautiful,’ Ma chimes in.

I attempt to feign indifference to her looks. Like I haven’t noticed her supple lips and imagined them on my dick one too many times. Or watched her bend over to get something while picturing what it would feel like to slide my dick inside her from behind.

‘How are you feeling, Ma? Are you sure you’re okay to be out and about today?’ I ask, hoping to change the subject from how hot my nanny is.

Ma rolls her eyes at me. ‘I’m doing fine, honey. You don’t need to worry so much about me. So, tell me about Alexis. She seems so lovely.’

Before I can respond, Alexis makes her way outside. Just the sight of her makes my heart begin to race, but the sight of her looking so naturally beautiful in a dress has a shiver running through my body.

‘Hi, everyone.’ She waves awkwardly at my family, and I can’t help but smile at how damn endearing she is.

‘Hi, Alex! Nice to see you again. I see you survived a month with my grumpy pants brother over here,’ Marcus says as he has the balls to get up and give her a hug.

She seems a bit taken aback by his friendliness. Meanwhile, I’m over here mentally cataloging all the ways I’m going to kill him.

‘Come sit next to me,’ Mia says, motioning for Alexis to take the seat to her right.

Great, so my entire family is going to monopolize Alexis’s time tonight. Why does that bother me?

‘Alexis, you’ve met my sister Mia, as well as Lucas and Marcus. And I guess my mother barged in on you, so you know her. This man over here is my pa, Joe.’

‘Nice to meet you, pretty lady.’ Pa smiles mischievously.

‘Joseph Giannelli, you better leave the young lady alone,’ Ma warns him.

I roll my eyes while Marcus and Lucas laugh. That’s Pa for ya. The man is a classic Italian flirt, and he doesn’t even notice that he does it.

Alexis chuckles. ‘It’s so nice to meet you, Joe. I think the real beauty over here is Sienna.’

Sienna hears her name and looks up from coloring on Lucas’ lap to smile, clearly no clue what was actually said.

‘Well, I will have to agree with you there. There’s no one more beautiful than my Sienna. Bellissima!’ Pa agrees.

‘Alex, you’re here!’ Sienna screams as she jumps off Lucas’ lap and runs over to Alexis.

‘What am I, chopped liver?’ Lucas jokes.

I watch Sienna snuggle into Alexis. The two of them look so comfortable and familiar with each other. What is Sienna going to do when Alexis leaves us in a month? I honestly didn’t expect them to get along this well.

‘So, Alexis, tell us about yourself. What brings you to Cleveland?’ Pa asks Alexis.

‘Oh, this position, actually. My friend’s father recommended me to Gabriel. I’m from Columbus.’

‘Do you plan on staying here after the summer?’ Ma questions.

That question has me on the edge of my seat, waiting to hear her answer. I’m not sure why it matters. I have no intention of seeing her again after the summer is over… right?

‘I’m not sure, honestly. I do love it here so far, and my best friend is here,’ she tells everyone, much to my relief.

‘Okay, let’s eat some food.’ Lucas stands up and heads for the pizza sitting on the kitchen counter.

When he walks back out, he’s carrying food up to his eyeballs. Pa and I stand up quickly to help him before he trips and spills it all. Marcus, of course, just sits there laughing at him.

‘Marcus, you help your brother!’ Ma scolds him.

‘Come on, Ma. We don’t all need to stand up and cater to him. He’s got it,’ Marcus defends himself.

‘Do you think you got enough food, Lucas?’ Mia asks sarcastically.

As I open the containers of food, I’m realizing she’s right. There’s red and white focaccia pizza, cavatelli, meatballs, chicken cutlets, and salads. I don’t know what the hell all of this is for.

‘Shut up! I’m not used to being the one buying the food. I didn’t want to run out. I believe what you guys were trying to say was thank you!’ Lucas says.

Alexis giggles and I look over at her to see her and Mia laughing together. I’m not sure how I feel about her getting along with my family.

‘Oh my gosh, this food looks and smells amazing!’ Alexis groans out as she takes in the display.

‘So, what’s your last name, dear? Tell us about yourself.’ Ma plates food for Sienna and Alexis before sitting back down herself.

She’s not going to let up on this, but I don’t understand why she wants to get to know Alexis so much. It’s not like she’s going to be around for long.

‘My last name is Moretti. I just graduated from Ohio State with a major in finance.’

‘Oh, did you hear that, Joe? She’s Italian!’ Ma grows excited. ‘You know, Marcus is our youngest. He’s a fine young man. Maybe he could take you out one night to show you around. With you hardly knowing anyone here, it could get lonely. We don’t want you to miss out on all the city has to offer.’

Marcus winks at me as Ma goes on and on about him. I throw my pizza down on the plate, suddenly losing my appetite. I pick up the glass of wine and take a big sip. For the first time ever, the wine has no taste to me. At the moment, nothing else matters but the thought of Marcus touching Alexis. I’m so fucking angry at the thought, I can’t even hear anything besides my own heartbeat pounding in my chest.

Why does she think Marcus should be the one to show her around? Just because he’s the youngest son? Okay, so he might be twenty-eight to my thirty-five, but Marcus would never know how to soak up every ounce of woman that Alexis is.

The rest of the evening is ruined. After Ma insisted that Marcus give Alexis his number, I sat there in silence until it was Sienna’s bedtime. Even taking her to bed to escape the evening was hijacked by Mia asking to take her.

Once my family is finally out the door, I take aggressive steps into my cellar and pick out my favorite Cabernet Sauvignon to match my mood. Cabernets have tons of tannins which come mostly from the skin of the grapes left in during fermentation, but it offers a powerful kick to the wine. I generally drink this wine when my meal needs a taste to match in both power and strength or when my mood calls for it—like the present moment.

I get out a glass, and then I decide to take the full bottle and head to my study. I don’t even bother turning on the lights.

Sitting in my large leather chair behind my wooden desk, I look around the room. There’s an entire wall full of books that I’ve collected, a ton of them I used in my process of studying wine. There’s a couch in front of the large window that Sienna likes to lie on while I’m working on the weekends.

I’m not sure how many glasses of this bottle I’ve had, but my body is starting to feel numb. When I look down at my empty glass I reach for the bottle on my desk. I pour the remainder of its contents, realizing I’ve been here long enough to polish off the entire bottle.

When I close my eyes, I picture Alexis in her bra and underwear the other day. Instead of walking out or being with Sienna, I see myself walking into her bedroom as I grab her by the waist and slam my mouth to hers. Fuck, I bet she tastes incredible. I would want to taste her pussy next. Fall to my knees, and pull down her lace panties as I demand her eyes hold mine the entire time I make her come on my tongue.

I try to adjust myself in my shorts, my erection full, making it uncomfortable. Maybe I should just take care of myself right here. Just as I’m about to unbutton my shorts, I hear a noise outside my study. When I turn the chair, Alexis is standing there in white pajama shorts and a white tank top.

What the hell did I do to deserve this sort of torture?

‘Can I help you?’ I bite out.

‘Um, I was just checking on you. You seemed off during dinner. I’m sorry if you didn’t want me to be there. I didn’t want to disappoint your mother,’ she says nervously outside my study.

Leaning back in my chair, I take a deep breath. My head falls back on the chair as I close my eyes, and as everything starts to spin, I realize I shouldn’t finish this glass.

I sigh. ‘It’s fine, Alexis. I’m not mad about that.’

‘But you are mad about something?’ she asks.

I hear footsteps and think she’s left, my foul mood not too pleasing to be around. But when I open my eyes, she’s standing next to me.

‘I hope it’s nothing I did,’ she whispers.

Her voice is so soft, it’s soothing to hear, but it also reminds me of exactly what I was thinking about before she interrupted me. When I look down, I realize my dick is still kind of hard. Does she notice?

I ignore her question. ‘Are you going to call Marcus?’

‘What?’ she asks, sounding confused.

‘You heard me. Are you going to call Marcus? It’s not a hard question to answer, Alexis.’

‘No, I wasn’t planning on it.’

‘Good.’

‘Why does it matter?’ she asks, sounding a little frustrated.

Why the fuck does it matter? Does she have any idea what she’s doing to me over here? Me drinking by myself in my study like this because my brain is consumed by her?

I look up at her, my eyes drinking her in as they roam down her body until they land on those long, slender legs of hers. I reach out and start to run my fingers up her thigh. Her skin is silky soft.

She sucked in a shuttered breath.

‘It matters, Alexis.’

When my fingers reach the top of her leg, I run them back down. On their ascent back up, I move further in between her legs. I’m not sure whose breath is taking up the sound in the room, but the energy is intense. We don’t take our eyes off each other as I continue to play this game. Will I move them to a forbidden spot that I shouldn’t be anywhere near?

Fuck, my dick is begging to be touched.

‘Why?’ she cracks out.

‘Don’t ask questions you’re not ready to hear the answer to,’ I demand.

With that, she takes a long inhale and steps away. The loss of her hits me in the chest. We’re only separated by a couple feet, but it feels like miles.

She’s biting her lip, clearly aroused by our interaction, but there’s something else there. It seems like fear. Do I scare her? Before I can ask, she turns around and bolts out of the room.