Undressed: 1 (The Manhattanites)

by Aster, Avery

  The stench on Vincent’s breath, a bitter Campari, overwhelmed him.

  Massimo questioned how Lex waltzed with such a drunk and yet held up her dignity. Indeed Lex carried herself as a lady.

  “Ciao, Vinnie.” Massimo issued him a fake smile, as best as his tense jaw afforded him. Then drew his hands wide and showed him the spectators coming near. Leave bella alone.

  Vincent addressed Lex, his face flashing to an artificial grin matching Massimo’s, and said, “An honor to meet you, Signorina Easton. We’ll continue this conversation tomorrow.” He kissed her hand.

  At once, Lex withdrew her hands to her side. “My apologies for my initial call. I’m staying with Girasoli.”

  “We’ll see.” He shook his head in disapproval, vanishing into the crowd.

  Massimo reached for Lex and continued the Verdi dance. He moved her away from the onlookers.

  “Impressive composure, Massimo,” Lex complimented, putting her arms around his neck. “Grazie.” The embrace soothed his nerves and hers as well. “It is how one reacts to things, bella. Vinnie is drunk. You have to ignore people when they carry themselves in toxic environments. No one will win.” He pulled her in closer. “Though I am surprised you humored him. It is not your nature.” I love the way she smells.

  “No, it’s not. But Vincent’s conversation didn’t become unbearable ’til he slammed Girasoli.”

  “My company is your concern?” He brought his jaw to her cheek.

  Her eyelashes fluttered on his skin.

  He waited for her reply.

  “I want to see us both succeed and will do whatever I can to help Girasoli as long as you continue to supply Easton with the fabrics.” She moved her face, resting her cheek on his shoulder. Her devotion touched him. And he knew she’d help in more ways than one.

  * * * * *

  Their dinner sat on the table getting cold. Massimo didn’t care. An appetite for food didn’t consume him. Lex did. With only a few couples left on the dance floor, the music wound down. The room was quiet and his desire for her increased.

  “Bella, promise me one thing.” He leaned in as if he might kiss her on the cheek.

  “What, my prince?” Lex moved her ear to listen to his request.

  “You will respect our new friendship this week and be mine—and no one else’s.” He didn’t offer her eternity or even his bed. But he hoped this week he’d try at a—friendship.

  Lex pulled back.

  Her eyes captivated him.

  She tried to find words.

  He moved her around the ballroom floor, realizing he’d never asked for an exclusive with anyone. Even if for a few days and there was no sexual intent. He’d never wanted to have one woman all to himself. Many dances ago his heart was broken.

  “You’re not making any sense. What do you mean?”

  “I do not think it is wise for you to speak with our competitors or a man, Vincent to be more specific, while in Milano.” He tried to step forward with the dance, but she kept her feet in one place and raised her voice.

  “Ridiculous! You’re my fabric supplier. Earlier today, I was so into this. With you and Donatella both coming at me and knocking me off, I’m about to explode. And there’s no our. Easton is not owned by Girasoli.”

  “Not yet—”

  Releasing her arms from around his shoulders, she raged, “You’re giving Easton the fabrics regardless. I’m helping you with your useless designs.”

  “Really?” Cold air shot up his nostrils upon her words.

  Lex pushed his chest to step back. “I can and will do business with whomever I chose.”

  Anna Wintour stood still and stared at Massimo.

  Move it along, Anna! “Lower your voice, Lex. Do not make people stare.” Massimo pulled her back in to him.

  The surrounding dancers cocked their heads in question. A few women put their hands over their mouths and leaned in to their partner’s ears.

  “Girasoli is no better than Donatella. You’re both knockin’ Easton off all whilst waving your dicks in my face.”

  Ahhh—Ahhh— Ahhh— Ahhh! A loud gasp erupted from the gawkers around them.

  Karl Lagerfeld and his Chanel group around him gasped. Mr. Lagerfeld lowered his opaque sunglasses to his nose’s tip in disapproval.

  Caroline, Princess of Hanover, muttered disapproval for New Yorkers while standing next to him.

  Massimo reached for Lex’s arm and steered her away to an empty corridor behind the cocktail lounge. Tittoni’s royal guards followed behind them, leaving them in the room as they closed the paneled doors, giving them privacy.

  * * * * *

  Alone in the candlelit room, a purple cast illuminated the interior. Sterling silverware chimed against the bone china. People talked just outside the room in various tongues—Italian, Japanese, French and English—creating a white noise in the background.

  “I don’t get you. You’re all over me one minute.” She slipped off her right heel and wiggled her toes. He speculated how she managed in those shoes. “You stick your hands up my dress proclaiming you want to fuck me, you freeze up and then you freak out.”

  “Sì.” He didn’t want to get his heart smashed again.

  Removing her left stiletto, she rested her manicured feet on the cement floor. He admired her toes. He didn’t remember having a foot fetish until tonight.

  “I asked you to do me one itzy favor. Be my fuck buddy for the week.” She divested herself from an earring and began to rub her lobe. She gripped the jewels in her palm.

  “Having casual sex with you is no small favorire.” Massimo put his right hand up to his chest and tapped on his heart.

  Lex squinted her eyes at his heartbeat gesture. “And you refused my advances. Tonight you’re storming because I chatted with Vincent. Whoopie Doo.” She relieved the other lobe from the hanging ice and placed both ornaments in her purse.

  “Want me to rip your Valentino off you?” he teased.

  Riled up and uncomfortable in her formal attire, she said, “Yes, there is an airbrushed body under here waiting for your attention. I assumed we’d have fun. I’m never free from Easton, my mom or Manhattan. Today was a vacation for me. One I don’t do often. I want to enjoy myself in Milan.” She struck a seductive pose to lighten his mood. Lex tried to make him laugh even though she was upset.

  “You are beautiful tonight.” He realized she’d worked herself twenty four seven since her father’s death. And here he was giving her a hard time about work related issues tonight when all she wanted to do was celebrate. He wasn’t being fair.

  “I’m uncomfortable. I never dress formal. Let’s not change the subject. I can talk to whomever I chose. You have no say in my business. I buy fabrics from you—period.”

  “Is that so?” I want to have a say in your personal business but I cannot, bella.

  “Your cock’s declaration became clear this afternoon. I didn’t care for the crap spewing from your mouth, but I get it. And up until a few hours ago, I didn’t think I’d even get my shipment at all.”

  Bella, bella, bella. “Damn you, woman,” he murmured under his breath. “Do I have to spell it out for you?” He grabbed her shoulders wanting to kiss her. But didn’t. I will not.

  She leaned her face closer to his, challenging him. Her eyes filled with hurt and rejection. He felt horrible for turning her away. She was better than this. Lex stroked his arm, bringing her jaw to his, and said, “I don’t understand. Please tell—”

  “I want you.” He’d wanted her all along but didn’t admit it to himself, let alone her.

  “You do?” Her lips parted in surprise.

  I am not blind. “You are worth much more than anything casual. I want to be with you. ” His lips drew closer to hers.

  “Really?”

  “Sì, you are angelic when you want to be, ravishing in red. Bright when you open your mouth. The more I get to know you, the more alluring you become—on the inside and out.”

  “Prince—�
�

  Massimo covered her lips with his fingertips, and his eyes met with hers to say, let me finish, bella. “As if being even more Lex perfect was possible.” He exhaled, trying to alleviate the sharp pain building in his chest. It didn’t help. Putting his back to her, he placed his hands against the wall, frustrated. It was a challenge to stare at her and talk at the same time, which became evident as his eyes refocused.

  Speaking to his backside, she lowered her voice. “Why are you holding back?”

  “I must. I cannot risk any commitments.”

  “We’re on this again? I told you I can do this and not fall for you.” She put her arms around him “You’re not all that and a bag of chips, ya know.” A faint chuckle followed.

  He wanted to hold her. Massimo didn’t understand what chips she spoke about. Poker chips? Those didn’t come in bags. Turning to face her, he defended, “It is not about you, it is about me.”

  “Tell me what it is,” she demanded.

  “I cannot. It’s been years.”

  She hugged him closer. “Why don’t you try?”

  His shoulders felt tense, as if someone dumped a brick load on them. He sat on the white leather sofa under the large open stained glass window.

  Through the window, the moon cast an icy-blue aura. It felt creepy to talk about it again, in here with her.

  He owed it to Lex and to himself to discuss his past, one last time. Massimo’s courage took his gaze up to Lex’s patient face to meet her eyes, and he started, “The summer I turned sixteen I fell in love with a girl on the isola—Marcella. At nineteen, we grew close and my feelings for her increased.”

  “A girl, this is about a girlfriend?”

  “Wait—let me explain. One weekend we camped out on the beach. Drank wine, baked lobsters and made love all night. I loved her. Our nights together felt tender. And I thought she loved me. I was wrong.” I hate this.

  “This is over a first love, I never would’ve imagined. It’s beautiful, Massimo.” Lex sat beside him and put her hand in his lap. He appreciated her trying to understand.

  “Beautiful is not how I would describe it. What Marcella and I shared was special, at first.”

  Lex’s eyes widened with curiosity. “At first?”

  “We packed up our things and hiked back to the palace. Proud to tell my padre we agreed to marry. I assumed he’d approve. For once I’d have his support. When we arrived home, it became obvious Marcella was in conversations with my padre.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Padre and Marcella laughed going into the study as old chums. Come to find out padre retained her all along.”

  Lex’s hand shot up to her mouth and she covered her horror and shock. “He paid her to sleep with you?”

  “Marcella was the daughter from his hires appointed to seduce me. Show me the ways to sleeping with a woman.”

  She shook her head. “I’ve never heard—why would Marcella do such a thing?”

  “For tuition money to study at Sapienza Università di Roma. Her ambition isn’t what bothered me.”

  “I’m sorry, Massimo.” She leaned into him, soothing him to continue, turning her face to his.

  “After Marcella left the palazzo with her money, my padre rubbed my face in it. Padre slept with her. For at least a year since she turned eighteen—he screwed her. He boasted his orchestration to teach me a lesson. I was never to let my emotions get in the way as a royal. The Tittoni throne courted and married for political or financial power, never for love. Marcella was, in his eyes, sex only, not marriage.”

  “Why would your father do such a thing?” Lex’s chest rose up and down.

  “My parents’ marriage was arranged by my grandfather. My madre, princess from the Royal House of Oro, brought the Tittonis noble esteem.” Massimo hoped Lex would see what he’d missed out on. “Don’t you want a man who will love you for you? Not for your money? Not for your fame or your family? Someone who is with you because they refuse to imagine being without you.”

  She took a long pause and then revealed, “The week my father killed himself, he remained plagued with regrets from years past. One, his open relationship with mom, he wished I would not end up as they did.”

  He squeezed her hand tight. “Then why do you ask me to have casual sex with you? Do you not see—you deserve an opportunity for a real relationship?”

  “Massimo, I haven’t been with anyone in forever. I know it’s not an excuse. I get lonely. I miss being touched, being hugged, being loved. Sounds desperate, but I can’t help it.”

  Me too, bella. Me too. “I want those things for you. I did not have such opportunity. I never will be able to give myself to a woman again, with sincerity.” He clenched his jaw, not wishing his words to be true. Time proved otherwise.

  Massimo stood and reached for her shoes to collect their belongings. “Let us join the others.” Massimo was all talked out. I need a drink.

  “Thank you for sharing your past with me. It doesn’t change my desire to have fun with you.” A wicked smile crossed her lips. “But I’ll try to respect your wishes.”

  It wasn’t her self-restraint that worried him. It was his own.

  “Bellinis? They make everything better.”

  “We can have as many as peach cravings as you desire.”

  He extended his hand to help her up. “A delizioso ristorante is around the corner. They have a private room we may dine in and be left alone.”

  “Sounds perfect.” She turned to grab her purse.

  “Don’t forget.” Massimo handed her jeweled stilettos.

  “These are Austrian crystals, right?” She held the shoes up to the moonlight. A sparkle christened her face and illuminated her eyes.

  “No.”

  “White sapphires?” Her eyes squinted closer to examine the gems.

  “The footwear is from the House of Ivea, a gift from their family. It’s from the Tittoni estate. You are the first to wear them. The shoes belonged to my mother. And they are diamonds.”

  Shocked, she brought her hand around her neck, unable to comprehend his response and mocked a choke before speaking again. “With my luck I’ll snap the heel and break ’em. I’m gonna leave here barefoot.”

  “Don’t be assurdo. Put them on.” He wrapped his arm around her.

  Chapter Eleven

  Footloose & Bellini Smashed

  I love having her on my arm. Massimo was proud to show Lex off in public.

  “Lex! Lex! Lex!” The paparazzi shouted the minute they stepped outside from The Fashion Ball.

  “Are you guys dating?” shouted a gossip columnist attempting to get in their face.

  “Scusi, scusi.” Massimo realized Lex wasn’t comfortable with the spotlight, and he shielded her from the photographers approaching. Why is she camera shy?

  Tittoni’s royal security blocked the reporter from coming closer.

  “This is crazy, such a privacy invasion. How do you manage?” she asked.

  “The Tittoni’s don’t have privacy, Lex.”

  Once they made it clear they wanted to be left alone, his royal protection guards kept the photographers in the distance.

  Da Vittorio was two blocks from The Fashion Ball. Massimo asked for a private dining room in the back.

  “Per favore.” He held Lex’s chair out, inhaling the kiwi smell from her hair when he leaned in to push the chair to the edge.

  “Thank you.” She placed her purse on the empty seat next to them.

  “Prego.” He sat across from her. His feet shuffled with hers. Massimo kept his hand on her knee and didn’t take a menu. He’d much rather gaze at her. “Pasta al dente?” He ordered his favorite dish for them to share.

  The waiter brought a Bellini pitcher over then poured them both a glass.

  Massimo handed her a flute, raising his glass for a toast. “To being friends.”

  Her right eyebrow arched when the word “friend” was spoken. She clanged her crystal and replied “with benefits.” L
ex sipped and gave him a wink with a shoulder roll.

  Bella, you come at me one hundred miles an hour driving my Lamborghini toward my heart. I drive cars fast but I love women slow. You have to let me lead, Bella. “How is it?” He noticed her lips twist up into smile after the first swallow.

  Nodding to confirm, she said, “Mmm, yum, the Bellini is sweet. I crave sugary things.” Her lower lip caught the rim’s glass. She raised her head back and gulped. Lex reached for the pitcher and poured herself another glass.

  “Bella, slow down, we have all night.” He felt a slight kick to his chair. What do we have here? Lifting the white tablecloth, he blinked.

  Two bare feet tailgated his cock.

  “Bella?”

  “My toes hurt,” she pouted. Lex blinked with her innocent looking green eyes and licked her round full lips before she begged, “Will you please massage them? I’ve not waltzed since my coming out parties.”

  “Sì,” he agreed and held both feet under the table between his legs. Massimo rested her heels on his chair’s seat. Bella, you are relentless. Inspired, he held her feet and applied slight pressure.

  A facial expression extending gratification highlighted her features. Her pleasurable grin made him reflect on the day’s earlier enjoyments—eating her pussy.

  God, your cunt was wet. Your pussy lips tight. I loved tasting your sweet peach juice. Watching you squirm and wiggle under my body. You wanted my cock inside you. I loved my fingers in your ass. I loved stabbing your clit with my tongue. Struggling not to make his own arousal known, he kept his stare upon her as soft as his caresses felt to her feet. The urge to reach over and kiss her became tempting. He let his mind go wherever it wanted. He wasn’t going to act.

  Her foot arched, rubbing up against his slacks, kneading his balls and stroking his dick. “Stop!” He swatted her toes. I’m fucking precuming again. Jesus, bella.

  Again, she hard pressed her foot against his tuxedo pants rubbing his dick.

  With his cock swelling, he reached under the table and unbuttoned his waist’s button allowing his dick’s head to—pop. Oh mio Dio. Biting his inside cheek to maintain composure, he massaged her foot harder and sat back in his chair.