Sophia stopped laughing and her eyes met Sienna’s.
“It is so refreshing to see someone challenge Gabriel. Women always fall at his feet and he has never had to hunt or chase after anyone.”
“I am sorry to tell you, Princess, he is very arrogant and … and too … dictatorial! He thoroughly annoys me!”
“Please, call me Sophia. I get the impression something happened I am not privy to. Care to tell me about it?”
Sienna blushed and shook her head.
“I’d rather not. I’d like to see the library so that I can start working, if you don’t mind.”
Sophia sighed and took Sienna to the library.
Chapter Four
Gabriel found the two women in the library much later - a brooding look on his face. The phone call he received during breakfast took all of two hours. He owned an Investment Company that was listed as one of the top ten companies in the world. He was not involved with the day to day running of the company as he had a very competent team in place, but he kept appraised of all investments and spent a lot of time researching and developing strategies. He also preferred to deal with new and big projects personally, and they have just stumbled on a potentially huge investment. It meant that he had to go to Rome to set up the project.
“Gabe! What took you so long?”
“Business, what else? I have to go to Rome for a few weeks.”
“No, Gabriel! How long?”
“Probably two or three weeks. I need to go and do some research during this time in Florence as well.”
He grinned when he noticed the relieved look on Sienna’s face. Then a thought occurred to him and he smiled at her.
“Obviously it would be extremely rude of us to leave you here alone so soon after your arrival, so I have made arrangements for you to join me.”
Her face fell and she sighed heavily.
“I need to start doing proper research, … ehm … King Gabriel, and with all the books in this library I would get a lot more done than tottering after you and sitting in a room and only do research on the internet.”
“Really, Sienna. Please call him Gabriel.”
“Yes, Red, please do. I am sure I could find you a proper library in Rome where you would find similar books for your research.”
“Then I might just as well stay here. Look, be reasonable, it makes no sense for me to be going with you. I am sure I will only be in your way and I will get a lot more done right here.”
“I am sorry to say, Gabe, but Sienna is right. I am sure you could do without Benito this once.”
“No please! Take him with! I do not need someone to look over my shoulder the whole day!”
“Hmm … very well, but then I want a full report on what you have achieved in the time I was gone. And Benito stays.”
It was a big enough victory to withstand the staunch butler’s presence and Sienna smiled. He held out his hand to her and asked for her cell phone.
“Why?”
He sighed. “I want to make sure you are able to reach me in case of an emergency.”
She handed him her cell phone reluctantly and watched him punch in a number and press dial. His own phone rang and he quickly saved the numbers on both their phones. Their fingers touched briefly when he handed it back to her and their eyes met. His had a heated promise in them that she refused to even try and decipher.
“I have to leave immediately, but will keep in touch every day. I don’t want you to become too complacent without me here.”
The look in his eyes clearly relayed the message that he was still going to collect on what she owed him.
“I am going to pack, but I will come and say goodbye before I go.”
“Oh, wait, Gabe. I am on my way as it is, so let’s just say our goodbyes now.”
He kissed her on her cheek and hugged her and chuckled at something she said to him in Italian. His response was also in Italian, but the brief glance he speared in her direction was a clear indication who was under discussion.
“Sono d'accordo. Lei è squisita.”
He disappeared through the door to go and pack for his trip. Sophia picked up her handbag from the chair and turned to Sienna with a smile.
“It was really a pleasure meeting you, Sienna. I can’t wait to see what you’re going to find! My aunt Viola can’t wait to meet you. Gabe will have to take you to her once he is back from his trip. It was her that suggested we trace our family tree. I’ll suggest a weekend trip, then we can also go and you can meet my hubby as well.”
“I am sure I will have made some headway by then. Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Offering me the opportunity. It is the type of research I enjoy doing.”
“Well, good luck, and we’ll talk soon.” She kissed Sienna on both cheeks and breezed out of the room.
Sienna stood looking around the library. It was a historian’s dream library. There were tons of old books, first editions, age old manuscripts and she could not wait to start. She noticed a section of books at the mezzanine level that looked even older and her inquisitive mind carried her up the stairs and soon she was entrenched in exploring the books that detailed the Kingdom of Savoy and Seravalle as far back as the 1300!
Gabriel came looking for her thirty minutes later and nearly missed her where she sat on the floor at the mezzanine level. He took the stairs quietly and walked up softly behind her. He went down on his haunches behind her, his knees on either side of her body. He reached out and pulled her hair out of the way and she startled, starting to rise, but he kept her seated on the floor by tightening his knees against her arms.
“Easy, Red … it’s only me.”
She looked back and up towards him and he took a deep breath at the beautiful picture she made. He covered her neck with his one hand and the other curled around her to close around her arm.
He lifted her chin towards his and kept her eyes hostage as he lowered his head until his lips covered hers. Every time their lips met there were instant passion and this time was no different. He opened her lips to the demand of his by a simple flick of his tongue. She was defenseless and felt like she was drowning in a sea of desire that immediately sizzled down her body the moment his hands touched her.
He leaned closer into her and his knees lowered to the floor beside her. He badly needed to touch more of her. He twisted and the next moment she was lying on her back with him slowly covering her body, without breaking the kiss. He stroked over her arms and felt his heart hammer in his chest when her hands caressed over his shoulders to settle in the nape of his neck. Her one hand tangled in his hair and the other followed the curve of his back.
He trailed his palm over the slope of her chest and closed over her nipple, squeezing and pinching when they shriveled into tight nubs. He left her mouth to kiss and lick his way down her neck to settle on the pulse in the curve of her neck.
He caressed her hip, down her leg and pulled the dress slowly up until it was bundled at her waist. She moaned when his warm hand met her quivering belly. Her breath froze in her lungs when he stroked his way over the flat plane of her tummy to settle on her mound. Her core pulsed and she mewled when his mouth closed over her nipple through the material of her dress.
He stroked down the inside of her thighs and back up to steal lazily beneath her panties to find the heat of her core. She nearly combusted when he found her clit and stroked and circled it slowly.
“No …”
“Yes … I need another memory to take with me. God, Red … you are so hot … and così umidi … so wet!”
His groan and hers combined when he pressed a finger inside her sheath and immediately another, stretching her. He twisted his hand and stroked her clit with his thumb while pumping inside her with his fingers. His other hand closed over her nipple and pinched and rolled mercilessly, driving her passion even higher.
He looked at her and growled at the strength of his own arousal he knew he would not take release for. He needed
a lot more time with her, not just a quick release on the library floor. When he made her his, he was going to need a whole night to appease his hunger for her. Her uncontrolled responses to his caresses excited him to no end and he knew sex with her would be explosive.
Her hips lifted and reached for his hand, and he pumped harder and faster.
“Red … look at me, Tesoro. You know what I want, amore. Look at me and come for me!”
Sienna felt the pressure build inside her with each plunge of his fingers, with each ruthless stroke of his thumb against her clit and every pinch of her nipple. She burned up inside and clasped her hands around his forearms, groaning as she felt the pleasure pain start to quiver low in her core. She panted and her eyes pleaded with his.
He smiled and increased the pressure on her clit.
“Now, Red … come for me … venire amore … venire adesso … come now!”
He repeated the command he gave her the first time and she exploded again on his command. He growled when her inner walls tightened around his fingers so hard he grunted as his shaft jumped in regret at not being inside her. He kept swirling and pressing on her clit, thrusting his fingers and watched her lose her breath. Her back arched and her head pressed into the carpet, her nails cutting into his arm. He was relentless and kept feeding her orgasm, wanting, needing to hear her begging him once again.
Her eyes met his and he noticed the panic – she could not catch her breath, her climax was just too intense. He slowly brought her down and the moment she took a breath, continued as before. The quivers that started to lessen inside her tightened hard and this time she screamed as another totally unexpected second climax immediately ripped through her. Stealing her breath from her again.
This time he kept her orgasm going until she panted and cried desperately before he relented.
“Oh Lord … please stop … I can’t … bre … athe!”
His mouth closed over hers and he slowly breathed some air into her lungs, still stroking and plunging into her hot, wet and weeping sheath. The way she gripped his fingers inside was more than he has ever experienced and could not stop. He wanted to keep going and he did until a third climax ripped through her and another scream echoed through the library.
“Gabriel! Aagghhh … no more! Please!”
He brought her down very slowly, taking pleasure in the quivering of her inner walls all the time.
He looked into her eyes that were smoky and glittering as the purest amethyst gem. He kissed her softly and whispered in her ear.
“God, Red … mai prima … never before have I seen a woman have such beautiful orgasms as you do. I could do this all day and night just to watch you come.”
She blushed and watched as he rose and stood over her looking down at her sprawled in front of him. He drank in her wide spread thighs, her dress bundled over her waist, her beautiful face still hazy with pleasure. The picture burned in his mind. With a smile he took his phone out and took a picture before she realized what he was doing. When she did she shrieked and sat up to cover herself.
“You can’t do that! Delete that picture! What if someone saw it?”
He took her hands and pulled her up and against him, his smile wide and boyish.
“Someone will … me! Every day until I am back.” He kissed her hard and passionately. His gaze was direct, hot and promising when he said, “That is four you owe me now, Baby. When I am back … I will collect!”
“You … I …”
He laughed and rapped her on her nose. He turned and ran down the stairs. At the door he turned and looked up at her.
“Behave yourself, Red. I will phone you every day.”
And he was gone.
Sienna wrapped her arms around her waist and dropped her chin on her chest. This has to stop! She could not allow him to do this to her again. He was going to drive her crazy, but every time he touched her, her whole body caught fire and she became his helpless slave!
She groaned; her insides still quivered from the amazing fact that she just had multiple climaxes, one after the other! Orgasms that literally took her breath away and ripped through her whole body. She shivered, but could not help but wonder what it would be like if he really made love to her. Him inside her with his amazing and thrilling shaft she has only felt through clothing. Her hands itched to touch him as intimately as he had her. She moaned loudly.
Stop it, Sienna Thorne! You are daydreaming about sex with a Prince … a King for heavens’ sake! It is not possible! Snap out of it! All you will ever be to someone like him will be sexual gratification … something I am not prepared to be … not even to a King!
Gabriel got into the helicopter and greeted the pilot with a smile and settled in the back seat. He shifted on the seat, cursing his full erection that just would not ease. He should have stuck with the intended kiss when he kneeled behind her in the library. Now all he could think of was how hot and tight she was around his fingers. How hard she gripped and milked his fingers inside her when she climaxed.
He pulled his hands through his hair and rested his head on the seat behind him. The three weeks were going to be very long. One thing was for sure. The day he got back, she was going to pay her debt!
He took his notes out and worked through them drawing up an outline for the project plan. If they had to work eighteen hours straight so be it. He needed to get back to Li Galli Island a hell of a lot sooner than three weeks!
He instructed the pilot to drop him at his office block and he rushed to his office on the tenth floor, trusting his senior team to already be at work with the project plan he mailed to them from the helicopter.
The moment he walked in the murmuring of voices came to a stop and they stared at him. His eyebrows rose and he returned their stares. His CEO cleared his voice and greeted him in his usual gruff voice.
“King Gabriel, good to see you.”
“Is it? You all seem to stare at me as if I’m an alien.”
“Well, we did not expect to see you today already, let alone start on the project immediately.”
Gabriel looked at his team around the table – all of them looking at him curiously and he shook his head. The frown marring his forehead bode ill for them and they looked at each other.
“I assume everyone in this room have been briefed on the opportunity you stumbled on, Leonardo?”
“Of course, Gabriel.”
“Then I find the laidback attitude somewhat confusing and to say the least – disappointing. Who of you have started with the opposition analysis?”
Everyone dropped their heads on their chests and Gabriel sat down at the head of the table.
“It seems I need to take more time to be involved with the business again. So, let’s get going. I am going to cover the brief with you quickly. Real Deal Stores, Incorporated is an Italian multinational retail corporation that runs chains of large discount department and warehouse stores. I am sure you are all aware their direct opposition is Walmart Stores in the States. Walmart is the world's largest public corporation. So before we can go full steam ahead we need to understand the opposition and why Real Deal Stores are in trouble and looking for investors.”
Everyone were making notes and paying attention as he ran through the slideshow Leonardo prepared.
“Walmart is the biggest private employer in the world with over two million employees, and also the largest retailer in the world and remains a family-owned business. The company is controlled by the Walton family, who own over 50 percent of Walmart. The company was founded by Sam Walton in 1962, incorporated on October 31, 1969, and publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange in 1972. It is headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas. Walmart is also the largest grocery retailer in the United States. In 2009, it generated fifty one percent of its 258 billion US dollar sales in the United States from grocery business.”
He waited to ensure everyone took all the information in before he continued.
“Real Deal Stores became a force to reckon with to
Walmart four years ago when they went Global. They are not as big as Walmart yet but were quickly on their way. Up until a year ago they showed an eighty percent growth year on year. Suddenly last year they stopped developing new regions and withdrew from the grocery business. That resulted in a drop to their revenue stream of over 50 billion Euros.”
Now everyone was talking at the same time and iPads and laptops were thrown open.
“I want to know why. I want background on each and every investor, the majority being the Realtor Group, headed up by the Realtor family. Something does not sit right with me and I want you to dig until you find it. We are not going to go into this blind. Someone is very keen to get us to throw money in immediately and I want to know why.”
“What are our intentions, King? Are we only buying shares or taking over?”
“It is a hell of a business opportunity and has meant and could mean a lot for the Italian economy, if managed correctly. Not as it has been over the past eighteen months. If we do this, we go in guns blazing.”
Everyone nodded. King Gabriel Costa was known for doing hard and straight deals. If there were any inconsistencies or shady dealings in a potential investment, he did not think twice to walk away. That was why they all enjoyed working for him. His honesty, business morals and integrity were what made him the man he was. The King they knew he could be.
They spent another two hours discussing the project plan and issued responsibilities to the various teams. It was already late afternoon by the time they all filtered out of his office and he could relax.
Leonardo peeped around the door on his way home awhile later and shook his head when he saw Gabriel hard at work behind his desk.
“You should not be here at this time of night anymore. Is your car here or can I drop you at the Villa?”
Gabriel owned a Villa in the Park Villa Glori in the north of Rome. He bought part of the park and built the Villa there specifically for the peacefulness it offered. The park was built for the soldiers that died for the country and the twenty five hectare park was planted with olive and pine trees.
You Owe Me, Baby Page 4
