“Liliana,” he says, and then shoves his hands inside his pockets and half-grins at the floor. “Sorry, I wasn’t… following you. Well, not exactly.”
“Not exactly?” I ask, raising my eyebrow and crossing my arms. I can’t help myself. I seem to be teasing him. God, where did I get the courage to do a thing like that? “What does that mean? Should I be calling security?”
Nico laughs, a little bashfully. It’s the first time I’ve seen him be anything but utterly composed. It makes him a little more human, and a lot more lovable. I feel something splinter inside my heart, like a tiny piece of it, just broke off and is going to live in this moment forever.
“I was coming over to say hello when you got up,” he says. “I ended up chasing you halfway across the restaurant.”
“You didn’t want to speak to my Dad?” I ask, raising an eyebrow. “You could have just sat with him and waited for me to get back.”
“Oh.” He turns and looks out at the restaurant, partially hidden from our view by the carved screen. “Yes, I suppose I could have. It, ah. Didn’t occur to me.”
I bite my lip to hide a pleased smile. So, he doesn’t want to talk to my dad. He wants to talk to me, is that right?
“Well, I was actually just on my way inside,” I say, gesturing to the bathroom door. “Maybe it would be a little more civilized if we were to talk when I get back out?”
I don’t want to leave him, or this conversation, but the truth is that I do really need to go. I was waiting for the waiter to serve us so I could finally come and relieve myself, and I don’t think I can wait much longer. When he chuckles and nods his agreement, I can’t help but hope that he will actually be here when I get back. I turn and dash inside, wanting to get back to him as soon as possible.
As expected, it turns out to be a beautiful space inside. Marble sinks are surrounded by gorgeous floral displays, all of them fresh. I take one of the individual cubicles and do what I need to do, marveling all the while at how clean and airy it is inside here. It's not like what I would expect back home, but then again, it's not like I go to restaurants with this kind of price point all the time. This is just one treat, something for me and Dad to enjoy as part of our special vacation.
I finish up and head out into the open space, with my eyes still on the floor as I step out. But what I see makes me stop still.
A man’s shoes.
My first thought is that somehow, Nico has come inside the bathroom, followed me so that we can talk privately. But why would he come into the ladies’ bathroom? That doesn’t make any sense when we could just find each other outside.
And then my eyes travel up, racing up a stained and dirty trouser leg, up a half-untucked shirt, and to a face that I don’t recognize at all.
It’s a man, staring at me with bleary eyes in a face that is reddened with alcohol. He sways just slightly as he stares at me, making me freeze in shock. He shouldn’t be in here. What’s he doing in here?
“You,” he says, his voice just slightly slurred. “You’re a pros- a pros- a lady of the night.”
“What?” I gasp, shaking my head rapidly. “No, I’m not.”
“Saw you out there. With that older man at your table. And then you met another one, that businessman. You are, aren’t you? What do you cost? I’ll have you now.”
“I…” I step back, trying to remain within the relative safety of the cubicle. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Tell me what it costs,” he mumbles, drawing out a fat wallet and waving it at me. “I’ll pay.”
“No,” I tell him, about to deny again that I am what he somehow thinks I am.
“You’ve got to do what I say,” he slurs, tossing the wallet onto the counter near the sink. “If I pay you afterward, you’ve got to do whatever I want.”
And he lunges at me, making me scream as I dart back into the stall – too late to slam the door before his body is inside the space with me.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Nico
The sound of her scream sends a chill like ice down my spine.
Within moments of hearing it, I rush out of the men’s bathroom and head next door, without even thinking. I don’t care if I’m not supposed to be in there. It sounds like Liliana is hurt, or scared, or in some other kind of trouble, and I don’t care about the rules.
I know from experience that these rooms are very isolated. You can’t even hear the music from the main restaurant in here. Which means that no one out there will have heard her scream, either. I have to be the one to see what’s happening. And it’s just as well because I wouldn’t trust this to anyone else.
From the moment that I dash inside, I see a man's back facing me. I know he's not supposed to be in here either, so I know that he must be the source of her scream. I don't hesitate for even a moment. I grab hold of his shirt and pull, using all of my strength to haul him bodily back. As soon as he is out of the way, I can see her - Liliana. Cowering inside the cubicle, watching him with wide eyes and a terrified look on her face.
It's not as though I need any further information. I wheel on the guy, taking him in furiously.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I demand, my voice an angry growl.
“She’s… gotta do what I pay for,” he mumbles, half-incoherent with alcohol. Lovely. And from the state of him, I don’t think he’s actually one of the customers of this restaurant. No, it looks more like he somehow wandered in from outside. I’ll have to have a word with the servers about paying closer attention to who’s coming in.
I grab him again, by the shirt at the back of his neck, and swing him around towards the door. It’s not hard. He’s so drunk, he comes easily, stumbling and doing his hardest just to stay upright. I force him out of the bathroom, then march him down the side of the room, trying to take a route that will attract as little attention as possible.
It's only when I reach the doors that I realize it was a shame I didn't hit him already. Now I've missed my chance. For scaring Liliana, the least he should get in return is one of my fists. But instead, I hand him over to the maître-d' with a stern look.
“I found this in the toilets, trying to assault one of your female customers,” I tell him through gritted teeth. “Deal with it.”
“Oh – oh, my gosh,” he stammers, signaling discretely to a couple of other members of staff. “I’m so sorry about that, sir. I’ll take care of this, right away. Should we call the police?”
“Yes,” I tell him. “But you give them my details. I don’t want her bothered, alright? Oh – and I believe his ID is still in the women’s bathroom. You might want to send a female member of staff to get it.”
“Yes, sir,” the man tells me, trying to partly restrain and partly hold up the drunk man as he aims a wayward fist in my direction, falling awkwardly short and nearly tipping himself over. I straighten my tie, giving him a severe look that seems to wither him in place, and then turn back.
I rush back to the bathroom, checking as I go that no one else seems to have been disturbed by what happened. A couple of people at tables close to the door are looking at the maître-d’, but none of them are watching me go or putting two and two together about where I came from. That’s good. The last thing that I want is for Liliana to be at the center of some scandal right now. She must have been terrified.
Instead of barging right in this time, I knock on the door quietly. “Liliana?” I call, hoping that no one else has gone in since I left.
But my fears turn out to be unfounded. Liliana herself opens the door, stepping out of the bathroom. She’s pale and shaking, and without even thinking I slip an arm around her shoulders, drawing her close.
“Is he gone?” she asks.
“Yes,” I tell her. I lead her to the side a little, making sure to stay behind the screen but stepping out of the way of the doors so we don’t block anyone else’s way. “Are you alright?”
I can feel her shaking against my side, and I know she isn’t – b
ut I have to ask.
“I thought he was going to…” she stops herself and covers her mouth with her hand, her eyes brimming with tears.
“Hey, it’s alright,” I tell her soothingly. That look on her face is like an arrow to my chest. I don’t want her to look like that. Not ever. “He won’t be coming back. You’re safe now.”
“Thank you so much,” she says, blinking back the tears. “If you weren’t there, I don’t know what might have happened.”
“I was there,” I tell her, reaching out to smooth back her hair from her face, tucking it behind her ear. It’s soft under my fingers, and her skin is so warm. “Don’t let him scare you. It’s alright now.”
I lead her back to the table where her father is still waiting, completely unaware that anything has happened. That's when I realize how this whole thing must look my arm around her as I bring her back from the bathroom. Not exactly the best look for two people who've only just met, especially in front of her father.
Reluctantly, I let her go as we approach the table, although I still make sure to guide her into her chair. Once I know that she’s settled, I turn to Frank to let him know what happened.
“She had a bit of a scare,” I explain, which is perhaps the understatement of the year. “There was an… undesirable element stalking the bathrooms. I’ve taken care of it – he’s been removed.”
“What about the police?” Liliana says suddenly, clearly having only just thought of it. “He shouldn’t get away with…”
“Like I said, I’ve taken care of it,” I smile, nodding reassuringly. “He won’t be bothering anyone again. I promise you that.”
“Thank you,” Frank says, looking taken aback by it all. “I didn’t think that such a thing would happen here.”
“In Monaco? It’s rare,” I tell him. “But we have people coming in for work on a daily basis, across the borders. They aren’t always… well, sometimes you find someone who is not the right fit for this place. But we have a hard-working police force who makes sure to keep us all safe.”
“It’s a good thing you were there,” Frank says seriously, reaching across the table for his daughter’s shaking hand. “If I wasn’t, I’m glad she had the next best thing – someone around her father’s age to look out for her.”
I grit my teeth as I hear his comment on my age. Yes, I’m older than her. We both know it. Does he have to keep bringing it up? If he keeps saying it, I’m afraid that she won’t ever see me as anything more than an older man, too.
And I want her to see me as more – much more.
But when I look to her face to try and assess what she’s thinking, what I see there shocks me entirely – and leaves me at a loss for words.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Liliana
When Dad makes his comment about Nico's age, I'm almost taken aback. Yes, I know that he's older than me. We've even discussed that he's about Dad’s age already. But at that moment, when he was looking after me, it didn't feel that way. It felt like I was being treated like a lady by a real gentleman, not someone so much older than me but rather someone a bit more contemporary.
And that's when it hits me full force. His age doesn't mean anything to me at all. It's not even a factor. I still want him. I still feel a flush of desire run through me when I look at him. I'm looking at him now, remembering the way his arm slid around my shoulders and pulled me tight against him, and that flush of desire is stronger than ever.
I think it must be written all over my face because when he looks at me he simply blinks and stares for a moment as if he saw something he didn’t expect. I don't try to hide it or look away. I want him to see. I want him to know.
I want him.
It's then that I know I have to say something else. If we leave this place and go home, and I never see him again, then I will be no worse off than I was when I started. But on the other hand, I could leave here much richer than I was. I could leave here more experienced, more a woman of the world. I could leave here with his memory in my head.
And even though the fantasy of him is so very sweet, I have no doubt that the reality would be a hundred times better.
But there’s one big problem. I’m here with my dad. I don’t have the luxury to go and pursue some mysterious local, no matter how hot he might be. In fact, his hotness is part of the problem. I don’t think dad would appreciate it if I was to abandon him to spend some time with this stranger.
I need to think of some way of getting him alone, without dad knowing about it. Some way I can pretend. But if he leaves us here now, I won’t be able to track him down again. He’s just one man in this whole place – and chances are that I won’t get the chance to see him again if he walks away.
I can’t make him stay with us for the whole week. That would be inconvenient for both of us.
I need to be able to contact him – somehow after he leaves us here today.
“You must let us know your address,” I tell him, thinking on my feet. “I would like to send you something when we get home. A token of thanks. You’ve helped us out so much, and I’d love to send you something that will remind you of your time in Philly.”
I make sure to keep eye contact while I’m speaking to him. I can’t say it outright in front of my dad, but I think that Nico will know what I’m saying.
If I have his address, then sooner or later I can distract dad and sneak away. I can tell him that I’m going somewhere boring for the afternoon or the evening, and leave him in a bar or back in the hotel, doing his own thing.
I can sneak away and find Nico.
“Well,” Nico says, looking at me very closely. “That’s nice of you. But, really, I don’t need any reward.”
I stare at him, my mouth dropping open just slightly. Wow. So, he’s going to reject me, just like that?
He did catch my meaning, right? I should have just come out and said it. I’m not good at doing subtlety. I usually just say what I mean – I don’t have the practice.
“But,” he says, turning and looking at dad with a charming smile. My heart skips a beat. “I do feel a certain responsibility for your stay here in Monaco. After all, you’ve already been lost once and now attacked – I want to make sure that you will have someone who can help you out if you need it again. Someone who can speak French, maybe?”
Dad laughs at the joke, somewhat in spite of himself. He’s always had a good sense of humor about his own failings. “That’s a generous offer,” he says. “You know, I would normally say I don’t want to put you out. But, you’re right. Just in case. And since we keep bumping into one another, maybe something in the universe wants us to stay in contact.”
I smile at that thought. The universe wanting us to stay in contact. Yes. Maybe Nico feels the same because when he reads out his number for my dad to put into his phone, he looks sideways at me the whole time.
And that’s how I know. He’s giving me his number, not dad. He’s just doing it in a way that won’t stir up any suspicion. He read my message, loud and clear, and now he’s giving me one of his own. We’ll meet up again. We’ll meet up without my dad, and maybe something can happen between us then.
And I know the first chance I get, I’m copying that number and giving him a call.
CHAPTER NINE
Nico
I get home late after the meeting, falling exhausted into bed after managing to take off my clothes and at least hang them neatly. I haven’t been this tired in a while. It must be the emotional toll of the day, as well as the physical and mental one.
I try to settle myself against my silk sheets, waiting for sleep to take me. Nothing seems to come. Instead, the moment I close my eyes, I see her face. Not just her face, either. Liliana’s body, her hips, her breasts, all of it flashes before my eyes. I find myself imagining what she would look like beneath that white dress.
I picture her coming here, calling me secretly, and meeting me outside. I would bring her in here, undress her in front of the bed. Admire and worship her bo
dy. Run my hands all over her. Taste her lips, her nipples, every part of her skin. I would make her shiver, moan and scream my name. I would make her beg me to let her come.
And that would only be the start.
I picture us sweating and rutting like animals all night long, my hands in her hair, her nails raking over my skin. I would taste every inch of her. I feel myself getting hard as I think about running my hands over her ass, sitting her down on my lap to ride me. The way her thighs and breasts would jiggle and bounce with the motion as she slid up and down me. I would take her breasts into my hands, roll her nipples between my fingers, lap the sweet taste of her wetness, and make her cry out my name.
We wouldn't stop until the morning rose, and then we would jump into the shower together to wash it off. Another round would be sure to follow. Hell, I would take the whole week off work.
If I had her in my bed, I don't think there would ever be a reason for me to let her go.
She would know she was mine, irrevocably. I would mark her in every possible way. Claim her in a way that no man ever could again.
Damn it, what is going on with me? This isn't my nature. I'm not like this. I don't get worked up over women. Sure, I like them. I like their bodies, the scent of their hair, the idea of having some fun. But I've dedicated my life to business until now, and there has never been any room for this kind of dalliance.
I've never found a woman before who tempted me enough to distract me. Women don't affect me the way that she does. Even though I'm sometimes tempted to find myself in a relationship, it always seems like far too much hassle. I'm set in my ways by now. I like the single life. Being my own man, no one having any claim to my time. That's part of why I've been so successful in business - no distractions at home to make me take my eye off the ball.
Meet Me In Monaco: A Steamy Standalone Instalove Romance Page 3