Page 56 of Blinded By The Sun
King
Getting off the plane and holding Ciro’s hand makes me feel giddy. I can’t stop smiling. I feel a pinch on my arm, and I look. Matteo rolls his eyes at me. “Can you stop smiling so hard, your entire jaw will hurt,” he says.
Ciro snickers. “And we don’t want that, now do we, Kingsley?” He teases.
I can’t help it as I blush. I try to not have Matteo catch me, but he does. He makes a gagging sound but then smiles at me. He winks. “Can you walk with me instead?” He asks and gives me the biggest puppy dog eyes I’ve ever seen.
I pout. “Okay.” I say. I let go of Ciro’s hand and Matteo takes a hold of me and we walk away. I turn back to see Ciro smiling at me. He blows me a kiss and I giggle turning back around.
“You really love my uncle, don’t you?” Matteo asks.
I nod. “Yes. I don’t think I’ve ever loved someone like that in my life.”
“What do you mean?” He asks.
“I mean that he’s shown me how to love myself without even trying. I didn’t know I hated myself. Never really thought much about how my life would go from working for my uncle, but when I met Ciro, my life turned around. At first, I genuinely wondered what kind of shit I got into because he’s such an intense man but now, I wouldn’t change him for the world. You want to know a secret?”
Matteo leans in and gives me his ear. “Tell me. I love secrets.”
I laugh and then whisper in his ear. “Your uncle loves me,” I say.
Matteo stands straight. “What?” He realizes that he’s yelling and then lowers his voice. “He told you?”
I nod. “Yes.”
“Aww. See, at first I was mad he took my girl but now, this is perfect. You are exactly what he needs. A woman who looks like the world could stop today and she’d try to make it spin again all to get to my uncle. Thank you for loving him and for him to fall in love with you, too. I don’t know how you did it, but I am forever grateful. Now, can you get someone to fall in love with my grumpy ass father, so he’d leave me alone and stop worrying about me?” Matteo teases.
I laugh, but my laughter stops short when I see a gorgeous specimen standing in front of one of the SUVs parked. I know for damn sure that’s not a limo driver. I lean into Matteo, “Who’s that?” I ask.
I can’t even take my eyes off him. He looks like the description of Greek gods. “That’s UncleAlex, Uncle Ciro’s friend.”
“Wow.” Is all I can say.
“He gets it all the time. Trust me, you’re not the only one to fawn over him, but uncle Ciro will probably side-eye you the rest of the day.” Matteo reminds me.
I want to look away, but I can’t. His dirty-blonde hair is pulled back into a high bun and I can see the shaved sides. He’s dressed impeccably from head to toe. His short sleeve dress shirt hugs his body just right and not like those other ones ready to pop out of theirs. His distressed jeans make him look like the bad boy that those TV mothers tell you to stay away from, and his boots compliment his entire style. I have never seen someone pull off something simple but still look like he could kill you eloquently. Another person comes around from another SUV. “There’s two of them?” I ask. Astonished by the uncanny resemblance.
Matteo chuckles. “No, that’s his son, Paris. They look alike, don’t they? Like spitting images of each other?”
“Yeah, they do. The son is young though, right?”
“Yeah, I think he’s maybe 20 or 21 now. I haven’t seen him in a while. He’s a model,” Matteo adds.
“Sheesh. I can tell. He stands like one. He’s a professional model, huh?”
“Yeah.”
I can’t ask another question because I’m looking up, all the way up at his beautiful face. Alex smiles at me. “Hi, I’m Alexander of Troy, you must be, Kingsley. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Alexander of Troy?” I repeat. It’s like my brain knows what’s going on, but then it doesn’t want to register it. “Like the Trojan war, Alexander of Troy?”
He smirks. “Seems like you know a little somethin’ somethin’. This is my son, Paris Troy.”
“Hi, excuse the old man, he’s had it rough lately. Back aching, knees wobbling, and shit.” He jokes.
Matteo shakes his head, and I chuckle. “He doesn’t look old,” I say.
“Yeah, thanks, doll. Comes with the territory,” Alex answers.
