Page 42 of Bound to You

“Goodnight Caio,” she says, bolting out the doors before I could say it back. The doors close, leaving me and the puddle of water she left behind to ride to my floor in silence.

chapter sixteen

CAIO

People chataround me as I mindlessly wander through the ballroom. There are beautiful flower arrangements on top of every table, brightening up the room. The tables are left bare, the wood giving a rustic look to the room tonight. Stefan did an exceptional job with the decorations as I knew he would, and people seem to be having a good time talking and mingling. My eyes sweep the room and I notice a few people from out of town that I visited last month in preparation for tonight’s event, and I smile at my success in getting them here. The more people at these events the better, and every year is a bigger success than the last.

“Ciao, Caio!” A hand claps on my back as Leonardo Romano comes into view in front of me.

“Leo,” I shake his hand.

“What’s with the formalities?” He says before pulling me into a hug, chuckling as he slaps a hand on my back.

If I’m honest I wasn’t sure that he would show tonight. Leo runs a high-level security company, and I haven’t seen the guy in years. I decided to send an email to him about tonight’s eventjust in case he’d be interested, but I didn’t know if he would show.

Leo’s parents used to live in Ruby Cove, so he pretty much grew up here. He moved away to start his firm, and before it really took off, he would come back and forth quite a bit, but once his company got busier and well known we stopped seeing him as much, and then his parents moved to Tuscany after buying a vineyard, meaning that Leo didn’t have much reason to come back.

Rafael and I have spent many late nights with him at the bar. He was a huge part of my support system when I first landed here, so it’s good to see his face after so long.

“I didn’t expect to see you here,” I admit.

“Of course I’m here, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see you again.” He’s got a warm smile on his face. The guy is like a hard candy, soft on the inside when you know him personally, but he has a hard shell. He’s a cheeky bastard at heart, but you don’t want to get on his bad side. He takes his work incredibly seriously, leaving no room for error, and he runs one of the top security firms in the country, looking after some of Italy’s elite.

“I haven’t visited enough since Mamma passed, so when I got your email, I thought it was the perfect opportunity.”

“Well, you’re definitely a sight for sore eyes.” I smile before my eyes search the room once more, but nothing catches my eye, more like no one. I’m waiting for a certain brunette to walk through those doors.

Isla said she’d come with May and Marina tonight as they’d all get ready together. Marina decided to bring May as her plus one, so I’m not sure how much time I’ll get alone with Isla tonight. I haven’t seen her since she whizzed out of the lift the other night so I don’t know what to expect when it comes to how she will act around me tonight.

“Leo?” Rafael’s surprised voice brings me back to the present as he wraps Leo in a hug. “Who let you in here? I thought you were banned from town events after your last incident.”

The incident he’s referring to would be the last time we were all together like this. It was the Ruby Cove anniversary gala and Leo got kicked out of the event after he drank a bit too much and threw a punch to a guy who was getting a bit too pushy with the woman next to him at the bar.

“As if that was going to stop me from being here tonight. Besides, no one remembers that, anyway.”

“Everyone remembers that,” Rafael and I echo in response.

The guy in question turned out to be a married man and when Leo exposed him for being a bit too pushy with a stranger it turned into the biggest scandal this town had seen in years. I’m surprised it wasn’t in the local papers.

Leo’s attention fades from whatever Rafael is saying as his gaze snags somewhere behind me, and I don’t need to turn around to know what has caught his eye as he lets out a low whistle, causing Rafael to follow his gaze. I can feel Isla’s energy in the room before I even see her.

“That one’s taken,” Rafael says, throwing an arm over Leo’s shoulder, and I turn around to see the girls coming through the door before they spot us and head in our direction.

Any conversation the others are having sounds galaxies away as all of my focus draws to one spot, to one woman.

I think everyone’s attention does.

She has the ability to captivate the whole room without even saying a word.

She’s magic.

The world around me fades away as Isla walks towards us. She’s wearing a silky dark pink dress that hugs her waist, before the flowy fabric falls around her legs. Her silky hair is pinned up at the base of her neck with a few careless waves framingher face. My eyes take their time drinking her in, top to bottom. When my eyes trail back up her chocolate brown gaze is holding mine. She smiles a little, and I mirror her, except I can’t stop my own smile from taking over my entire face.

“Oh, he’s pussy whipped, isn’t he?” Leo says from beside me.

“He hasn’t had any pussy to be whipped to yet,” Rafael fills him in from my other side. “But the boy can dream, can’t he?” He lays a hand on my shoulder as he chuckles to himself. I shrug him off as my feet begin walking towards Isla.

I hold out a hand to her as I get near, and she reaches for it without hesitation. I raise our hands high, prompting her to spin and she does just that. Giving me an extra moment to admire her and notice the very low back on her dress. She smiles up at me when she comes back to face me.

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