Page 16 of Isle of Seduction

I go out silently and walk to the living room for a black coffee before heading to my desk, leaving the door to my office open. I want to hear Giulia wake up and curse me when she realises I’ve been inside her bedroom. The light will wake her up since I’ve purposefully let the curtains open.

When I get to my computer, the agenda app reminds me that the first fundraiser for my campaign is happening in ten days. We have so much to do before then. We need to get the rumour mill started if I want to introduce her as my wife then. That doesn’t leave a lot of space for Giulia and I to act like lovebirds.

I don’t do love though. If love truly existed, my father wouldn’t be dead. The people I love most wouldn’t have been hurt, or worse.

Giulia intrigues me, and pulls me close like a magnet. No one has ever had that type of effect on me. She tries her hardest to push me away and that makes me want to close in on her even more. No one ever pushed me away, I usually am the one doing that.

It won’t be too difficult to convince everyone it’s love. Scorn is the other side of the coin after all, and she hates me with the force of a hurricane.

Three hours later, I stand to prepare Giulia’s coffee, two shots with a dash of soy milk and three brown sugar cubes, then come back behind my desk. Like clockwork, the booming voice of the little warrior resonates through the house.

“You motherfucker!”

A smile peaks at the corner of my mouth, but I school my features to innocence.

She storms in, her eyes wild and cheeks pink with fury, looking like a red-haired goddess of battle. “Stay out of my room, you fucking creep!”

I hand her the coffee I prepared and she takes it, so I guess she has priorities. I hope she won’t throw it at my face.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, guerrieritta.”

“I know I closed the curtains last night, O baullo. Don’t come in when I’m asleep.”

“Don’t come in when you’re naked, don’t come in when you’re asleep. That’s a lot of rules to remember, sweetheart. Anything else I should know not to do in my own house?”

I’m goading her, but the fire in her green irises sets my soul aflame. It reminds me of the forest that borders my property, all lush and mysterious. She turns even redder, the colour spreading to her chest, barely covered by the simple cotton tee-shirt she wears with the shortest sleep shorts I’ve ever seen.

Fucking hell.

I swipe a hand over my face. Our arrangement needs to remain purely professional and I intend to keep it that way, but the thick thighs look smooth. I have half a mind to drop to my knees and beg her to smother me with them.

“It’s not your house anymore, it’s ours.” I love the sound of that, way too much. “If I’m your wife, you’ll let me have my space here.”

Oh, she loves to play dirty.

But I play dirtier.

I take a deep inhale to calm my raging heartbeat and close the space between us. She doesn’t budge from where she stands, but her eyes widen and she takes a sharp inhale.

“But see, sweetheart, you’re not my wife in truth, right?” I lift my hand and let a single finger caress her cheek to slowly trace the curve of her jaw and neck.

We’re a breath away from each other despite her using the cup of coffee in-between us as a shield. I can smell her hair and see the crease of the pillow on her temple. Without the armour of makeup and clothes, she looks exhausted and wary.

As much as I enjoy our back and forth, she won’t trust me or help me willingly if I keep pushing so I take a step back and change the subject.

“Before you storm out of here, and don’t deny it, because I know you will do both, I need to ask you something.”

“What is it?”

“We have a reservation at Luigi tonight. It’s this new hot spot in the centre of West Hill. Wear something ravishing.”

She clicks her tongue before answering. “That’s not a question, and I always do.”

Don’t I fucking know it. Even in her skimpy pyjamas, she looks like the most beautiful and deadly woman I’ve ever seen. She might not be my wife for real, but our union will achieve what I have set out to do, I’m sure of it.

She storms out, giving me the best view I’ve had all morning, her lush ass swaying side to side as she slams the door of her bedroom close.

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