“Fine,” Rori replies with a long-suffering sigh. “But just so you know, you’re killing my mood. He’s just so fun to mess with.” She winks at Alonzo, whose glare only intensifies.
Alessio ignores her, and then leans down to kiss me. “I’ll see you soon, coniglietto,” he murmurs.
“Bye,” I whisper back.
“Stay out of trouble,” he adds, then he turns and follows Nico and Dante out.
“Girl, you got it bad,” Rori chuckles. “And I hope you know I want all the details. Like now. I think after everything we’ve been through, we need to relax. So where’s the best spot to do that around here?”
“The pool,” Gia says with a smile. “I for one would like a swim.”
“Are you trying to have your husband kill me?” Alonzo asks her drily.
“He won’t kill you,” she assures him. “I’ll make sure to wear a full piece suit. You just stand there with your back turned and you’ll be just fine.” He doesn’t look the least bit convinced, but with a resigned sigh, he follows us out of the office and down to the pool room. Sofia decides to tag along, though I can see she’s a bit undecided.
“You deserve some time to relax yourself,” I tell her softly as Gia and Rori chatter away ahead of us.
“Maybe, but I have a lot of things I should be seeing to,” Sofia tells me briskly. “Namely getting this place back to rights and making sure the staff are doing their jobs.” She stops, which makes Alonzo stop too. “I’m going to check on things; I’ll meet you there.”
“Sofia,” Alonzo says warningly.
“Don’t even start, Alonzo,” Sofia snaps at him. “I’m perfectly fine on my own, and they’re the ones you need to watch.” She nods towards me, Gia, and Rori, who have stopped too, looking back at us. “I’ll meet up with you later.” Then she’s gone, walking down the hall with purpose.
Alonzo stares after her, concern clear on his face. Then he turns back and gestures for us to keep going. When we reach the pool, I’m surprised to find Mario there waiting, but he just moves to stand guard outside the door. “No one in or out but Sofia, Nico, Alessio, or Dante,” Alonzo orders him, earning a sharp nod before his attention goes straight ahead.
We go through the door, and I’m surprised to find marble stairs leading down, though I can already smell the chlorine. I gape when we reach the bottom and take in the indoor pool. It’s huge, surrounded by matching gothic pillars and architecture. Surrounding it are lounge chairs and even a couple of tables. It’s only lit by low light, giving it a dramatic, almost spooky feel. “Damn,” Rori gasps. “This is amazing. Do you think Nico will care if I bring Hades in here?”
“Of course not,” Gia says confidently, though I give her a yeah-right look when she glances my way. No way will Nico want a dog in his pool, but when it comes to his wife, I get the feeling that whatever she says, mostly, will go. “We could go get him and bring him down to swim now if you want,” Gia offers.
Rori shakes her head. “No, he already had a bath, and he needs a break or he’s going to have a hard time settling later. But maybe tomorrow when he’s done with his daily training.”
“Okay. There should be some suits and things over here I think,” she says as she leads us over to a corner of the room on the other side of the stairs, opening a door to reveal a room full of towels, an arrangement of suits, and even a couple of changing rooms. “Help yourselves,” she says with a smile.
Before long, and after much debate on my part about what to wear, we’re all lounging in the pool, with Gia having found a couple of pool loungers that we’re all using. “Mmmm, I could get used to this,” I groan. “Alonzo, I’m just sorry that you can’t enjoy it,” I call out.
“He’d probably try and drown me if he got in here,” Rori snorts. I look over at her and arch a brow. I think she purposely picked that bathing suit to drive the poor man insane, and from the heated looks he keeps shooting her way—mixed with an equal amount of anger—it appears she has succeeded. It’s a tiny snow-white bikini, and leaves little to the imagination.
“I’m fine, Sienna,” Alonzo replies from his spot near the door. He’s in the shadows and I can barely make out his hulking frame, but I know that he’s keeping a careful eye. The only time there’s any indication that he’s there is when his phone screen glows, or he speaks. Which, admittedly, isn’t much. “I’ll take a dip later.”
“Sienna, what’s the deal with you and Alessio?” Rori asks me, drawing my attention with her blunt question. She grins at me. “Other than the two of you screwing each other’s brains out earlier, of course.”
“I’m going to kick your ass for that. You interrupted when things were just getting good, too.”
“Consider it payback for the time in college that you burst into my room when Juan was eating me out like a champ,” Rori retorts. “I mean, I was so damn close to an orgasm and this one comes bursting in like her ass was on fire. Totally ruined it.”
“Excuse me, but the building was literally on fire and you were going to let him fuck you while you burned to death,” I cry in exasperation.
“Bitch, if you knew what that guy could do with his tongue, you’d let the building burn around you too,” Rori scoffs. She looks at a wide-eyed Gia. “I’ll tell you about it some time, but yeah, God-like tongue. No man has ever come close again, trust me.”
I roll my eyes. “I don’t care about his pussy eating capabilities, nutso. My point being, we’re even now, and next time, knock.”
“Fine, fine,” Rori sniffs. “Now, you and Alessio. What’s the deal? You going to marry him and put him out of his misery? Or do I have to hold you underwater until you see the light?”
I kick water at her, making her laugh. “No, thank you. There’s not going to be any marrying right now, especially not with all this shit going on, but after today I realized it’s stupid to keep running and trying to fight him on it. And, you know, almost dying puts a lot of things into perspective.”
“Yeah, it really does,” Gia agrees, her tone serious. “I mean, I get what you mean about fighting it. I fought it with Nico, because how do you love someone who kidnaps you? But sometimes, love doesn’t have to make sense.”
“Besides, you’ve always had a thing for bad boys,” Rori adds with a grin. “And he is the ultimate. Not to mention, he’s hot, rich, and looks at you like he you’re the last drop of water on the planet. Few can say they’ve ever had that.”