by Shayne Ford
Eventually, I realize that staying here, paralyzed, pretending that I haven’t heard that they have a guest, makes me look suspicious, so I push the chair back and rise to my feet, clearing my throat and running my hand down my dress.
Filled with jitters, I walk to the foyer.
My eyes find Tiago’s in a second as I take steps toward them. He fashions the suit pictured in his photo. The fact that his eyes connect with mine makes James and Rain turn to me.
“Look who’s here,” Rain says, swiveling her head to me, still grappling with surprise.
Seemingly, she didn’t have the slightest idea that he’d show up. James seems surprised, too, but much less than his wife.
Tiago spends a second searching my eyes before he shifts his focus to his brother and sister-in-law.
“You arrived just on time,” James says, curling his hand around Tiago’s shoulder and motioning him to the dining room.
I notice the staff carrying in his suitcases, taking them to the other side of the mansion, where I have my room.
We all go back to the table and get seated when servers bring in more food.
Fresh out the oven, more cheese puffs, a bowl of onion soup for Tiago and grilled fish, salad, wine, coffee, and dessert for all of us.
James and I settle for crepes with fresh fruit and whipped cream while Rain opts for a slice of French apple tart.
“Well... I’m glad you’ve got here before we left,” James says. “I wasn’t sure you were going to make it.”
“I’m happy to find you all here, too,” Tiago says, brushing his lips with a napkin while flashing a mysterious smile.
“Now that you’re here, I’d like to make an announcement,” James says, looking at his brother, and then at us.
I pin my eyes on Tiago’s face, yet he avoids to connect his gaze with mine.
Rain looks at James, munching on a madeleine she picked up from a platter while I eat a piece of strawberry rolled in whipped cream.
A moment of silence precedes James’ words.
“Tiago and I struck a business deal. He will take over Red’s operations for the next few months or so.”
My mouth falls open while Rain stops munching on her food.
Tiago looks at Rain, avoiding my stare.
He doesn’t need to see my face to know exactly what goes through my mind. He knew about this––him coming here, working for his brother, taking over Red’s. And somehow, he forgot to tell me about it.
But how would he do all that, anyway?
He’d never ran a club or worked in this capacity.
“Seriously?” Rain chimes in, just as surprised.
“Yes,” Tiago says.
“He’ll stay with us for a few days before he finds a place of his own,” James says.
The blood draws for my body.
Tiago and I will be living under the same roof for the next week or so?
“I hope that’s okay with you,” James says, looking at me.
“Um... Yes, of course,” I say, shaking inside. “Why wouldn’t it be?”
“This way, you won’t feel alone while we’re gone. You two can go look at places together,” he says. “Do you mind?”
I have a hard time to open my mouth and speak.
“Yes. Sure. Of course. I’ll be more than happy to...”I mutter, my voice trailing off, but no one pays attention to me as Rain is busy soaking in the news, and James shifts his focus to his brother while I play scenarios in my head that make me a trembling mess inside.
11
EVE
“What were you thinking by not telling me?” I push through my clenched teeth.
Kneeled by his bed, I shake his shoulder, jolting him awake.
“What?”
He pushes upright, catches sight of me and crashes back into his pillow, his eyes shut.
“What are you doing here, baby?”
“Don’t ‘baby’ me, Mister.”
He pulls the covers up just in case I didn’t get the message that he’d rather sleep than talk to me at three o’clock in the morning.
Clad in soft flannel pajamas, and comfy slippers I look around the room. His bedroom is barely lit by the pale moonlight licking the windows.
Should anyone walk in on us, I’d say I was looking for a bathroom.
Other than mine, of course.
Several rooms separate our bedrooms, and it took me a good half an hour to locate him and make sure that I’m not stumbling onto someone else.
“Tiago? I asked you something,” I toss at him, demandingly.
I push up on my knees to see his face.
Eyes closed, he smiles.
“You’re a troublemaker, you know?” he says.
“I am? You are. What were you thinking when you planned on living with me under your brother’s roof for almost a week. Someone will catch us.”
“And you avoid that how? Sneaking into my bedroom?”
“I tried to call you.”
“In the middle of the night?”
“I couldn’t sleep.”
He lifts his head and looks at me before he crashes back, laughing.
“What’s so funny?”
“You.”
I look at him, brimming with frustration.
“If you were so concerned with getting caught, why didn’t you stay in your room?”
“Ugh.”
I push up and start spinning around, simmering with fury, when he wraps his arm around my waist, sweeps me off my feet and crashes me on top of him, my back against his chest.
I start laughing and fighting him when he rolls with me, spoons me, and covers my mouth with his hand.
“You’re mine now,” he says, his breath hot on my neck, his arms and legs locking me in place.
“You’re going to sleep with me,” he murmurs in my ear as he tears his hand away from my mouth.
“No.”
“Yes.”
I turn to face him.
He pushes up and props his head against his hand while I lie on my back.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I ask, my smile withering away.
“I wanted to be a surprise.”
“This is big, Tiago. When you said surprise, I thought that you’d send me flowers and perhaps show up for Valentine’s Day for a nice weekend in Aspen. When did you talk to James?”
“A while ago.”
I cock an eyebrow at him.
“He showed me Red’s when I was here last time. He showed me everything... The Casino, his firm, and then he asked me.”
“He asked you?”
He laughs softly.
“Mmm-hmm. Why are you so surprised?”
“Um...”
I push up as well and prop my head against the headboard.
I don’t know how to say this.
“You think I won’t be able to do it?” he asks.
“No. That’s not what I had in mind.”
“But?”
“From everything you’ve told me about you and your life, I can’t see you being interested in doing this. You said yourself. You’re not a fan of corporate environments. How did the topic come up, anyway?”
“Ed Preston ran it for the past couple of years, but he wants to spend more time with his family. James oversees the Casino’ operations, and David Moore, the international branch of the company, so he asked me if I’d be interested in giving it a try. He started running it when he was eighteen, and he’s convinced that I can do it provided that I’m interested enough, and I am. I want to be here.”
“Does ‘being here’ have anything to do with me?”
“Not a damn thing,” he says, grinning teasingly. “It’s pure coincidence.”
“But you’re going to spend a lot of time at Red’s.”
“Yeah... It seems so.”
With hot women dressed like pharaonic goddesses and dancers dangling from the ceiling before hugging strip poles with their thighs.
“As much as you’ll spend at your job.�
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“It’s not the same thing.”
“No?”
He seems amused.
“Do you know what Red’s is?”
“A Gentleman’s Club.”
“Mmm-hmm,” I croak.
“So, it’s not going to be boring.”
He’s still focused on the funny part of it while I choke on frustration.
“Plus. We’re going to be close to each other and meet in the office.”
“You’ve never worked in an office.”
Exasperation stream through my voice.
“Exactly. So it’s something new, but if James Sexton can do it, I can sure give it a try.”
I look at him, my mind going over a few problematic scenarios.
For one, our affair won’t be a secret for long.
And then, if Tiago gets frustrated with his new endeavor, not only that he’s going to hate his job, but he’s going to resent me as well. Then, he might quit and go back to New York, leaving me behind and disappointing James.
“You can’t trust me, can you?” he says, no longer smiling.
“I am trusting you.”
It’s just that I have little faith in life. It usually fucks up things without the slightest warning.
He brings his hand to my face.
“What are you afraid of, Eve?”
“Everything,” I say, genuine concern lining my voice. “Aren’t you?”
He ponders for a moment.
“I’ve never done this before, but I want to give it a try, and I don’t want to disappoint James. If it works out, you and I won’t be a secret anymore.”
He pauses.
“Okay,” I murmur.
“And then, it’s a good opportunity to make business connections, learn stuff from James, and prove myself to him. Be there for him.”
He sounds enthusiastic about the idea, and the last thing I want is to neg him and rain on his parade. Everything he says makes sense, indeed. He clearly has a more optimistic outlook than me.
“He could hire an outsider, but–– as he did in your case, he wants someone he can trust. Someone close to him.”
My lips part in surprise.
“So you say, it was entirely his idea.”
“Mmm-hmm... He discussed it with me that Monday morning when we went to the auction. That’s why I flew here with him.”
“What about sports events?”
“I’ll still do it.”
“How?”
“I’ll train here, and fly to New York or wherever I need to be.”
“Europe?”
“Maybe. If I need to.”
I slacken against my pillow.
“You can come with me,” he says.
“I can’t leave whenever I want to.”
“It’s going to be on the weekends.”
“You’re talking about a distant future when you and I–– if everything goes well, will be an official couple.”
“Mmm-hmm,” he says, not noticing or perhaps, ignoring the shred of irony in my tone.
I look at him in slight awe.
“What?”
“I’m amazed by you.”
He laughs entertained.
“Had I asked you to come with me before James’ party, I doubt you would’ve said yes.”
“You’re probably right.”
“You’re not even trying to lie to me.”
“Why would I?”
The dimple at the corner of his lips makes me stare foolishly at it for a few moments.
“You know that stakes are higher now,” I say.
“Yeah... But so is the gain.”
I tip my head to the side and arch an eyebrow, smiling faintly at him.
“What kind of gain do you have in mind?”
He purses his lips for a moment and bites the inside of his cheeks as he weighs me with his eyes.
“Let’s say the first few months are a trial period. We’ll see how it works.”
“We?”
“James and I.”
“Uh-huh.”
“If I complete the trial period successfully, I’ll be at the helm of the club till the end of the year or maybe more. The more I stay, the more I’d be financially rewarded. And if it all goes well...”
“Yes?”
“The club will be mine.”
My eyebrows lift, my eyes widening in surprise.
“No way. He’s really serious about it.”
“What about me?”
“You too... Of course, you are,” I say, still in a bit of shock.
My gaze goes vacant for a moment before I shift my eyes to him.
“We can’t mess things up now,” I say, tense, a bit panicked.
I push upright.
“I need to go,” I blurt.
“Wait,” he says as I start to crawl out of bed.
He stops me.
“You can’t leave now.”
“I can’t stay either, and for sure I can’t do anything with you. The thought that we’re in his home kills it for me.”
He pulls me back to him.
“You don’t have to do anything. Just sleep with me.”
I tilt my head to the side, raising an eyebrow.
“Literally, sleep here.”
“I can’t. Someone might see me in the morning.”
“Nobody walks into my room.”
“Well, someone could walk into mine, looking for me.”
“I doubt.”
“Then someone might see me walk out of your room tomorrow morning.”
“Have you seen this house? There’s no traffic on this floor.”
I slump again.
“What if it happens?”
“We’ll tell them that you had a nightmare, and couldn’t sleep alone.”
“Oh, my God. You’re so bad at coming up with explanations.”
“You didn’t know that?” he asks, amused.
“It crossed my mind,” I say, leaning back against the pillow.
He yanks the covers to the side and tucks me in next to him before he pulls them over us.
“Or better yet,” he says as he lets me prop my head against his arm and locks me in the warmth of his body. “You can tell them that you found me irresistible and couldn’t stay away from me.”
I laugh quietly.
“You have a high opinion about yourself, Mister Rossi,” I say, flirtatiously.
“It’s based on hard facts.”
“Is it now?”
“Mmm-hmm. You know it,” he says as he slowly strokes my face.
Gently, he runs his hand down my body, igniting a storm across my skin, in spite of the layer of fabric between us.
“You said, you wanted me to sleep in the same bed as you.”
“That’s not what I said.”
A grin flashes through his voice.
“But I’ll let this one go... You will sleep,” he continues as he slips his hand inside my pants and starts brushing my sex with his fingertips.
I drip wet beneath his touch.
“And before you drift off to sleep, you’ll think about me, and how nice it will be when I’ll fuck you tomorrow night and the next day, and the next, until you’re not going to be able to walk.”
“You’re stirring me up now.”
“That’s the whole idea,” he says, running two fingers through my folds and stroking my clit.
I could come right now, but frankly, I’m hoping that he’d change his mind and do more with me than sleep.
“What about you? You must be hard.”
I drive my hand between us and cup his groin.
I feel him up through his boxer shorts. He’s full and hard.
“Of course I am,” he says, tearing his hand away from me, and swatting mine away from his erection.
“That’s it for tonight. Now, go to sleep,” he says, shifting his position and turning his back to me.
“That’s it?” I ask, utterly disappointed.
“Mmm-hmm,” he sa
ys, smiling.
I shift too and spoon him, trying to touch him. He locks my hand. Without a choice, I wrap my arms around his torso and press my face against the warm skin of his back.
“How are you going to sleep if you’re hard?”
“The same way I slept these past weeks when you were away from me.”
Silence falls on his words while it dawns on me that this is one of the most beautiful things he’d ever said to me.
I drift off to sleep way after he falls asleep, the scent of his skin lodging in my nostrils as I dream about him, and the days of summer.
12
EVE
“Mr. Rossi?”
I hear the words distinctly in my ear or rather my brain as I’m barely stepping into awareness.
A knock on the door follows.
Leisurely, I shift in my bed... Wait. His bed??
It finally hits me as I jolt out of sleep and push upright, a rush of adrenaline barreling through me.
“Mr. Rossi? Are you in there?”
“Tiago?” I wheeze behind his back, jerking his shoulder. “Wake up. There are people at the door.”
He mumbles something when I hear James voice on the hallway, and then the door cracks open. In one swift stunt-like motion, I roll off the bed and fall right under, my heart about to pop out of my chest when I hear James’ voice resonating across the room.
“Hey, man. Are you okay?”
Tiago’s answer comes after a moment.
“Yeah. What time is it?”
“It’s almost ten.”
“That late?” Tiago asks, his voice shifting as if he moves his head and looks around, searching for me.
Oh, God. It’s way past breakfast time. What if Rain looked for me in my room as well?
“We’re leaving in a couple of hours, so we can still spend some time together. Maybe you’d like something to eat.”
“Okay. I’ll be downstairs in a few minutes.”
“All right.”
I hear the rustle of the sheets as Tiago pushes off the mattress and then the door opening and closing as James walks out.
“You can get out,” Tiago says.
For a moment, I press my forehead against my hand and my palm against the floor.
It takes a second before he lowers himself and looks under the bed.
“What are you doing down there?” he asks, amused.
“Living dangerously.”