Page 49 of Caruso
I’m grateful nobody sees us as he holds out the chair and I groan as I take my seat, ruining the cream silk fabric, embarrassed that it will forever be a reminder of what happened here tonight. The seat of my shame or the birth of my supremacy. Only time will tell on that.
My mouth waters when I note the trio of desserts lined up on the plate with a ball of slightly melting ice cream on the side.
Once again, Matteo pours the wine—a different one this time, and as he holds it to my lips, he whispers, “Dessert wine. It’s sweeter.”
“It’s still disgusting.”
I shiver as the alien flavor rips through my mouth, and he grins. “You’ll get used to it.”
“I understand now.”
“What do you understand?”
I lean my elbows on the table and balance my chin in my hands and stare at him with an adoration that causes him to blink in surprise.
“Even the things that horrify the most can become the most exquisite pleasure if experienced with an open mind and acceptance.”
He nods. “What else?”
“That fear blinds you to achieving the ultimatepleasure, and if you push it aside, you discover a different world that only the brave get to enjoy.”
“You’re learning.”
He nods toward the food. “Feed me.”
This time I cut into the soft warm brownie and hold it to his lips, his tongue reaching out and wrapping around it, his eyes holding mine as he savors the dish.
He spears my food and does the same for me, and as we feed one another from our plates, it creates an intimacy I never expected with him. We are among the ruins of our souls that lie broken around us, indulging in a simple pleasure that connects our minds as well as our bodies. This is the painting I would hang over my bed. The moment when we are equals, an understanding reached.
I would entitle this ‘The beginning of forever’ because that is exactly how I feel right now. I never want to leave him. He completes me, and he was right; he does own me now, and I also own him. It’s obvious from the slightly longing gaze that lingers and the passion that flares in his eyes when he catches mine. I doubt anything I experience in life will ever top this moment—as it turns out, I was wrong.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Giorgio
Iam going slowly mad. Taylor has been living here for seven days already, and most of the time Matteo has kept her locked in his fucking bedroom. I’m antsy as hell, and even fucking half of the customers hasn’t dulled my lust for one woman.
However, today Matteo has business in another state and has decided to take pity on me.
I meet him for breakfast while Taylor takes a shower, and he groans.
“I’m trusting you to take care of her today.”
“You know what that means.”
His knuckles tense. “Just don’t hurt her.”
We had an agreement, and my brother never backs out of one between brothers despite the fact he will be hating every second of this. He likes her. More than likes her, and that makes three of us.
Tommaso still won’t admit it, but his gaze lingers on her when she is otherwise occupied. He has also beenbanging the women I pass by, and between us we have ruined half of the women who checked into The Artemis.
What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, and I’m guessing they will be back sooner rather than later in the hope of a repeat performance. They never get one, and if my brother is anything to go by, they may never get a chance again because, surprisingly, he is now a one-woman man, and nobody is more surprised by that than me.
“The guy, Jason. Is this about him?”
I refer to Taylor’s mysterious stranger from her past, and Matteo nods, a grim set to his jaw.
“I had word of a fighter tearing through every contender in Cincinnati. He fights under the protection of Jarvis Brooks. I’m paying him a visit. This could be our man.”
