Chapter 16

ELEONORA

The sun had just begun to rise when Eleonora entered the den. It was dark except for a candle burning. She could only see the shadow of the person sitting in the overstuffed leather chair.

“I’m leaving now. Luca warned me that I better be gone before he woke. Can you not do something?”

“What do you think I can do?” the shadow snapped.

“Talk to him. Get him to let me stay,” she cried out.

“He won’t listen to me, you should know that by now. I did what I could, from putting that grease on the step to placing the spider in her bed, not to mention locking her in that room.

“If you had played your part in the plan better, it would be the girl leaving and not you.”

“I did everything I could to get the bastard into bed. He was able to convince her it was all my doing,” she said, raising her voice.

“But did you have to say what you did to her about Luca paying for her and for calling her a whore? If you had kept your mouth shut, you would still be allowed to stay here, so this plan is out.”

Eleonora hung her head, knowing she had gone too far. But hell, getting that slap pissed her off, and she’d lashed out without thinking. “So what do we do now?”

“Plan B.”

“Plan B. Shit, that could take months, years even,” she growled through gritted teeth.

“Be patient, Eleonora. So it will take longer than we hoped. With luck, in a year from now, this will be all ours.”

“What? So I have to sit around in my dingy apartment waiting while you still live here in the lap of luxury. What happens if Plan B doesn’t work?

“What if Luca doesn’t want a child right away or she’s on the pill? Or maybe she will be unable to bear a child?”

“Luca is a man. He will want an heir to pass his wealth down to. If she is on the pill, I will switch them to something else, and Robin is young. I see no reason why she can’t get pregnant.”

“If this plan of yours works, will you still go through with all of it?”

“Yes. Now you best be going before Luca wakes up. I’ll call and keep you up to date on how everything is going.”

“I’m going, but in the meantime, keep trying to get rid of her. The wedding is in a few days, and I don’t want to wait a year.” Eleonora walked out, her body shaking with anger.

ROBIN

Robin lay on her side, watching Luca as he slept. She liked looking at him, his arms strong and muscular chest so hard and toned.

It boggled her mind that a man so wealthy and handsome wanted her, much less to marry her. He had kicked the covers off, and her eyes traveled down to the black briefs he wore.

She stared at the bulge that was covered by the material of his briefs and wondered what it looked like; she knew how it felt from when he had laid on top of her and it pressed against her.

It was hard, and she could have sworn it moved.

LUCA

“Morning,” he said and smiled when he saw where she was looking.

A small gasp slipped through her lips when she realized he caught her staring at his crotch. So lying on her back, she stared up at the ceiling, her face turning a crimson red. “Morning,” she answered timidly.

“You do not have to be embarrassed by checking me out.”

Robin’s pulse started racing; she felt sweat forming on her forehead, her gaze still fixed on the ceiling.

“Do you want to touch it?”

She was horrified at that very thought. “No.”

Taking her hand, he placed it on his crotch, over the material, and when she tried to pull away, he clamped his hand over hers.

“Can you feel that? See how it grows and becomes hard by your touch. This is the effect you have on me. Would you like to see it?”

She pulled her hand away forcefully. “Stop, you’re being crude,” she cried out.

“You have to see it at some point.”

Seeing her bottom lip quiver, he knew she was nervous. “I do not understand you. You have been wanting me to make love to you, but you refuse to look at my manhood.”

“I’m—I’m just not ready.”

“Okay, my little bird, but soon, when I am your husband, you will look at me, all of me.”

Turning her face, he kissed her lightly on the lips.

“I’m sorry about last night, Luca. I will try harder to be more of a lady.”

“It is I that needs to apologize to you. I should have known Eleonora provoked you, and I should not have treated you the way I did in front of our guests.”

Pulling her into his arms, he traced her lips with his finger. “I hope you can forgive me.”

When he smiled at her in that special way he had, she could never refuse him anything. “Yes, Luca.”

He replaced his finger with his lips; she tasted so good, no trace of morning breath.

Her soft lips moved with his, and she ran her hands along the back of his neck and through his hair.

Laying her flat on her back, he climbed on top, his kiss deepening as one hand cupped her breast through the material of her nightgown.

Her nipples grew hard and erect. Wanting to taste them, he slid the strap down over her shoulder.

His mouth moved down her neck, leaving wet kisses in its path as he made his way down her collarbone. When he reached her breast, he flicked his tongue over the nipple before wrapping his mouth around it.

He stroked her leg as he moved his hand up her gown and between her thighs.

“Oh, Luca,” she moaned, arching her back as he sucked and licked the nipple and his fingers moved inside her.

ROBIN

She could feel his hardness pressing into her, and she felt a prickle of anticipation, so sure he was going to take her virginity now.

She cried out when he moved to the other breast, and she felt the pool of wetness flowing when she had an orgasm.

“Make love to me, Luca.”

“Soon, my little bird, be patient.”

LUCA

Getting up, he stood there looking down at Robin, her cheeks flushed and chest moving rapidly. As much as he wanted to be inside her, it still gave him great pleasure to see how she reacted to having an orgasm.

“Shower and change. I will take you to an outdoor café in the city for lunch, an early lunch since we missed breakfast.”

ROBIN

Irritated that he once again refused to make love to her, she grunted and threw a pillow at his back when he turned to leave.

Showering, she wished she had someone to talk to about how to seduce a man, knowing Grazia was the last person she could go to.

***

Luca drove them into the city, stopping at a quaint little café and asking for a table outside. He took her hand, knowing she was still angry with him, and he kissed her fingers, one at a time.

“Do not be angry, little bird. On our wedding night, I will make the wait worth your while.”

When she still wouldn’t talk, he dropped her hand.

“Do you think it is easy for me to stop when all I want to do is take you, to fill you with my manhood, and hear you scream my name?”

“I’m sorry, Luca. It’s just that I’ve never felt this way before. I’m insecure and worried you may not want me after sex if you find me to be boring and I can’t satisfy you.”

“I don’t see that happening. I can already tell how you will be, and just seeing you cum while I play inside you is very satisfying.”

After eating, they took their dessert with them and went to the waterside. Sitting down on a blanket he bought as they walked through the market, they chowed down on the Boston Cream pie using the plastic forks.

“Tell me more about your life before I found you.”

“There’s nothing to tell,” she said, avoiding his eyes that were watching her intensely.

“Tell me about the abuse. Your cousins, did they also hurt you?”

“No, they never laid a hand on me, but they also never tried to stop their father when he dragged me outside and left me chained to the fence overnight.”

She stopped talking when she saw the horrified look on his face, knowing she had said too much.

“My god, why did he do that?” he asked. His face turned red, and his eyebrows drew together.

“I dared to say no to him. He was teaching me a lesson.”

Tears fell when she thought back to that night of horror. It was dark and raining. She could hear the coyotes close by and feared they’d come down from the mountain and kill her.

From that night on, she never talked back, didn’t talk at all. “They say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, but I don’t believe that. Sometimes I felt so weak and wanted to give up. I still do.”

Cupping her head, he pulled her close. “Never say that, Robin. You are the strongest woman I know, so full of spunk and life. Thanks for sharing that with me.”

“I don’t want your pity, Luca,” she said when she saw it in his eyes.

LUCA

Seeing the fire in her eyes, he knew she meant it, so pulling her closer, he kissed her. He only stopped when they both needed to breathe.

“Let’s take a walk through the square. They have everything from baked goods to clothing.” Taking her hand, they walked back to where all the vendors had their booths set up.

His heart went out to her; she was so young, and yet she had been through so much. He decided to make it his mission to help her forget the past and to see that her future was bright and happy.

It was then that he decided he would be a good and faithful husband to her, knowing her heart was fragile and could easily be broken.

Again he had to wonder why he felt this way for her, was it a sense of loyalty or was it possible he was falling in love with her just as Filippo had said?

They walked through the square, stopping to check out the goods and tasting samples of the baked goods that were offered. He was happy to see her smiling—her face lit up, and her eyes sparkled.

She kept her hand in his, squeezing it when she saw something that excited her. Later they dined at a little restaurant, and for the first time, she tried lobster but refused to eat the caviar.

It was late when they returned home, and he gave her a kiss goodnight at her door, telling her there would be no more sleeping together until they were married.

He didn’t want to risk spoiling their wedding night by making love to her before then.