Page 56 of Christmas with the Mafia
It’s only when I turn that I notice the decadence of his bathroom, and I stare in shock.
“How is this even thought of?” I gasp as I note the porcelain floor, with a huge soft rug sitting proudly in the center. There is a vanity unit stretching along one wall and what appears to be a shower room through an archway. Cupboards hug the wall, filled with towels, lotion and oils, and the shower itself stretches the width of the room. There’s a dressing table set beside a double sink unit, and mirrors and subtle wall lighting create an intimate and welcoming atmosphere.
“Why don’t you live here?”
I shake my head in amazement, and his reply is abrupt. “Because my father does.”
“Don’t you get on?”
I’m concerned for him, and as he flicks a remote and the shower bursts into life—from all angles of the wall—he shrugs. “We are more like business associates than father and son. He speaks, we listen and act on his orders.”
“Wow, he should lighten up a bit. I mean, look at this place; surely he should take his foot off the gas and enjoy it.”
I shake my head, and Nico grins. “I’ll leave you to tell him that.”
“Do you think I should?”
Perhaps Nico wants me to help lighten the load a little, but he chuckles softly. “It’s probably in your best interest to keep quiet around him. He’s not one for being told what to do or criticized in any way.”
“Wow, and he built this empire with those qualities. It must have worked out well for him.”
“It did.”
Nico drags me into the shower with him, and quite frankly, I could get used to this. He applies soap to every part of my body, instructing me to do the same to him as he washes my hair. It’s as if I have a personal slave, and I’m not going to lie, I’m loving every minute of his hot attention.
Once I am wrapped in a warm fluffy robe, my hair in a warm towel, he leads me across the heated floor toward yet another door at the other end.
“Now you’re just showing off.”
I gaze in wonder at his dressing room that positively screams masculine alpha because this place reeks of him.
It’s dark, subdued and impossibly chic. There are hidden corners housed in dark shadows, subdued lighting highlighting rails of tailored suits and shirts. His shoes are in two blocks at the end, and there are drawers and shelves that are carefully arranged with accessories and underwear, etc.
It’s like the finest men’s clothing store laid out for decadence, and once again a sparkling chandelier takes pride of place on the ceiling.
“This is too much, Nico. I’m drowning in envious astonishment right now.”
He merely shrugs. “You’ll get used to it.”
“Will I though? If I didn’t appreciate a place like this, I would have failed at life.”
“In what way?”
He rummages in a drawer as he speaks, and I heave a deep sigh. “Because then I would have lost my soul, the part of me that values the simple things in life. To own so muchmust take away the part of the soul that makes you human.”
He stands and turns slowly, catching my eye in the floor-length mirror. There is sadness in his expression that causes my breath to hitch, and his voice is husky as he speaks. “When this is all you know, humanity never played a role at all. I am the result of a lifetime of planned decisions, my mere conception being one of them.”
He surprises me by reaching for my hand and tugging me down onto a padded bench, and as I sit on his lap, his arms wrap around me like he’s holding a baby.
My head curls onto his slightly damp chest, and he whispers, “There is no love in my parent’s marriage, merely affection. My father married for power and influence, and my mother was the chosen one. Her family ruled an empire that my father wanted a piece of, and so he sacrificed both their happiness for a business deal.”
“That’s so tragic.”
I stroke his chest, loving the dark hair covering it that sends a shiver down my spine, and he adds, “My father has kept a mistress for my entire life. My mother was never allowed that privilege.”
“A mistress?” I pull back and stare at him in shock, but he merely shrugs it off.
“He visits her a lot, disregarding my mom’s feelings on that. Everyone knows about her, but nothing is ever said because he has decided it’s acceptable. My mother was expected to bear his heirs to the empire and has played her part well. Four sons, no less, plenty to choose from, and she was even denied the pleasure of trying for a daughter. So, that is why I asked you here. My fate is mapped out as asimilar one. The woman who will arrive tomorrow was chosen by my father and for exactly the same reasons.”
