Page 76 of Deception

“Yes…I mean, mostly it’s a freelance position,” she shrugs.

“Photography, I remember. Freelance. So youcouldwork from anywhere?”

“I mean, I could.” She’s avoiding my gaze.

“Would it be too much of an imposition if we tagged along with you back to Rome? We’ll likely head there before returning to New York.

Her eyes light up at this, a nugget of information that I never shared.

“I'd love that. Always better to travel together.” She smiles, finishing her lunch, clearly avoiding the elephant in the room.

“Good. We may be leaving as early as next week.” I stand clearing our dishes. It’s too easy to leave the room and not say a damn thing about it either.

That our time is coming to an end.

We’ll go our separate ways and probably never see one another again. After leaving the dishes in the sink, I head straight to my office, slumping into my chair across from Adriano working on his laptop. He glances up, tonguing his front tooth.

“What?” I ask.

“Nothing.”

“No, out with it.”

“You can’t tell her. Or ask her.”

“Ask her what?” Playing a fool never worked on Adriano. He frowns, raising one eyebrow.

“She’s an outsider. You can't put that on her, dragging her into our lifestyle.”

“I knew the risks when I let her stay. I accept the consequences.”

“I’m sorry that it has to be this way.”

Does it, though?I want to ask.

Isabella has shown total acceptance of me so far. She’s open minded. Tenacious. She’s adaptable.

But asking her into my life would be like offering her poison. Even if she knew the risks, she would still be in danger.

There's no way for any normal person to truly understand how deadly and dangerous it really is.

“You'll be doing her a favor sending her away, Aless.”

Those words haunt me the rest of the day as I occupy myself in any way I can to avoid talking to her, spilling my guts, and bearing my soul to her.

The truth tries its hardest to surface, the reality that I can’t bear to be without her. The idea that I could corrupt her to have what I want. That I could save her if I don’t.

Even so, we brush fingertips as we pass each other in the hall, stealing kisses here and there. After the past week, how can we not?

That night Adriano split a couple of bottles of wine, chatting in my office. I’m feeling a rich, heady buzz when he staggers out to go to bed. He never had the legs for drinking like I did. That and he’s pissed I still haven’t gotten around to ending things with Isabella, or making it clear that we cannot continue after this.

I’m staring up at the ceiling when I hear the door creak open.

Isabella’s leaning in the doorway, wearing her nightgown, holding her own glass of wine.

“Are you coming to bed tonight?” Her voice is low, sultry.

We hadn’t really discussed that either. How we would behave once Adriano and the staff came back.

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