by Alyse Zaftig
Table of Contents
Epilogue
Esplanade
Trust
Reveal
Clubbing
Very Sick
Mother’s Phone Call
Flying to New York
Meeting Mother
Running Away
Vegas Wedding
Almost Abdication
From the Author
Secret Italian Prince’s Baby
Alyse Zaftig
Contents
1. Esplanade
2. Trust
3. Reveal
4. Clubbing
5. Very Sick
6. Mother’s Phone Call
7. Flying to New York
8. Meeting Mother
9. Running Away
10. Vegas Wedding
11. Almost Abdication
Epilogue
From the Author
Esplanade
"Can I sit here?"
The man writing in a leather-bound journal at the other end of the table looked up at me. He was wearing mirrored aviator sunglasses.
"Yes, of course," he said with a light accent. It sounded Italian to me. I settled into the opposite side of the table, as far away from him as I could get. As I got out my laptop, I realized that there were bird droppings or something in front of me, but they were purple. I scooched over to get a cleaner spot.
I opened up my laptop and starting reviewing my task list. Immediately, I felt an ant crawl on my arm. Gross! I squished it and flicked the dead body away from me.
Then a second one crawled on my laptop. It was different and had green markings. I squished it, too. Poisonous everything tended to be marked with bright colors. Here in Australia, everything wanted to kill you. I hoped that the ant's poison hadn't been released all over my laptop when I killed it. I wasn't squeamish normally, but having poisonous ants crawl on me wasn't really my idea of fun.
I dug in my backpack for the bug spray that I'd bought for my trip to the Daintree Rainforest, not far from Cairns. I sprayed it on my bare arms and on the wood around my laptop.
It had almost zero effect. An ant immediately crawled on the bug sprayed area. I resolved to just ignore the ants, because the number was just too high. My heart rate was a little higher than usual.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the Italian doing the same thing, quietly crushing ants as they crawled on him and his notebook. I could see that he had an iPod and red Beats headphones laid out in front of him. A half-full bottle of water and apple sat on his right side.
"Do you want to use my bug spray?" I asked.
He looked at me and flashed a very white grin.
"No, I'm good, thanks."
"Okay," I said, stowing my spray. It wasn't a brand that existed back home, but I thought that the composition was somewhat similar to Deep Woods OFF.
He was watching me put the spray in my backpack. "Where are you from?"
"Italy." When he smiled, dimples formed on each side of his tan face.
"Where in Italy?" I fought the urge to fan myself. Cairns was really warm, even during the Australian winter. It was easily 82 degrees Fahrenheit out here with high humidity. The weather was definitely the reason why I was feeling so hot.
"Milan, but my parents are from Calabria."
I nodded as if I knew where Calabria was. I had a vague sense that Cantabria was in Spain, but they were obviously different places in different countries. I cursed the American education system for never teaching me very much about Italy and its geography.
"And you?" he asked me.
"The United States. Florida." My shoulders tensed up a little bit. I had dark hair and dark eyes, which meant that I didn't seem American at first glance. My accent was what clued people in.
"Ah, Florida! I have never been, but I heard that it's beautiful."
"It's a nice place to be." I nod. "It's very similar to here. Cairns is a tourist town. So is the city where I live."
"Where do you live?"
"Siesta Key." I squirmed a little. I doubted that the average guy from Milan would have heard of Siesta Key.
"Is it nice?"
"It's where people from Florida go on vacation, so I guess so."
"Oh, that sounds perfect."
"It's a gorgeous place," I said. I rubbed the back of my neck. "What are you doing in Australia?"
"A little business," he said. "You?"
"I'm here for the reef, but I stayed because it reminded me of home. The humidity feels familiar." I smiled weakly at him and pantomimed wiping off my forehead. I might have been joking about it, but every inch of my skin was sticky.
"In Milan, it's not like this," he said, waving his hand around. "Not so hot."
"I can imagine," I said. "But I've never been to Italy."
"You must go," he told me.
"I always planned to. I took Latin for a few years, so I learned about Roman history. I've been to Roman ruins in Spain and France, but of course Italy has the most." Somehow, the geography of Italy hadn't been included in my education, even though I'd memorized the first seven emperors of Rome and learned about their empire-building.
"Yes," he said, inclining his head. "It's true."
I laughed a little. "My sister said that when she went to Italy and told people she knew Latin, everyone quizzed her. Please don't quiz me," I begged. "It's been a long time."
"I won't," the Italian said.
"I'm Celestine," I said, extending my hand. He shook it.
"Massimo. Mas."
"That's a very easy name to remember." I smiled. "You can't get more Italian than that."
"You'd be surprised," he replied, running a gigantic tan hand through his wavy brown hair. "Australians seem to have a lot of trouble with it. They think my name is Max."
"I promise I'll remember your name," I swore solemnly.
"Celestine from Florida," Massimo said. "I think I'll remember, too."
My heart skipped a beat when he smiled at me again. He had such a wide smile that it was impossible not to smile back. Tyra Banks had nothing on him. Even though he was wearing aviators, he smiled with his eyes with such good humor that the day seemed a little brighter, a little sunnier. After he ran his hand through his brown hair, it fell in sexy disarray. When I ran my hand through my hair, it turned into an utter mess.
"Can anybody use these?"
Both of us turned to see two teenage boys with a bag of groceries next to us.
"Yeah, of course," I said. "No worries." I'd picked up a little bit of Australian slang in the short time I'd been in Cairns.
The two teenage boys sat in the area that I'd avoided due to unidentifiable splotches. They started pulling out two boxes of cereal, bananas, spoons, milk, and bowls. I thought about warning them about the huge number of ants, but they started talking loudly about where they'd go drinking that night. I turned back to Massimo. He took one look at them and asked, "Do you want to go for a walk?"
"I'd love to," I said with a sigh of relief. The two boys had shouted at a third boy and now the conversation was about their current hangovers.
"Give me a moment, please. I need to put away these things."
"No worries," I said. "I'm not in a hurry." I put my laptop back into my backpack and made sure that all the little compartments were zipped.
He took his apple, water, iPod, headphones, journal, etc. and shoved them into a bag that I hadn't noticed sitting next to him. Then he walked into a parked car only a few feet away and shut the door. The windows of the car were tinted darker than was legal in the United States, but Australia probably had different laws. I looked over my shoulder at the hungover teenagers and shook my head. Australia's legal drinking age wa
s 18, which I still wasn't used to yet. The three of them were staring at me and my cleavage.
I felt my cheeks heat and turned back to look at Massimo's car. I tugged at the hem of my dress to make sure it wasn't caught in my leggings. Leggings protected my legs from a lot of things, such as brightly colored poisonous ants. The trade-off was that I was boiling in the Cairns heat.
I looked at the farmer's market that was next to me. There was a live band playing incredible music. They were alternating covers of stuff like the Beatles with their own original songs. The lawn in front of them was filled with people sun-bathing, or as they said here in Cairns, sun-baking. A lot of women in bikinis were stretched out in groups and talking to each other.
I felt a very gentle touch on my shoulder and jumped about a foot in the air.
"Sorry about that," Massimo said. I didn't know if it was for startling me or for going into the car. "I'm ready now."
"Great," I said, adjusting the straps of my backpack. "I have to warn you, I have plantar fasciitis. I'll walk pretty slowly." I turned to face him.
Then I lost the power of speech. When we first met, he was sitting down. I could tell he was a pretty big guy, although I had to admit that when I'd covertly checked him out, I was looking at the definition of his beautifully tanned and defined upper arms.
Now that he was standing right next to me, I had to tilt my head back to look at his face. I was about five feet tall. He was comfortable over six foot three, but I didn't know if I should ask how tall he was. I couldn't easily mentally convert five feet into centimeters. Strike two of the day for the American education system.
"No worries," he told me. "I'm not in a hurry." I smiled at the way that he echoed my own words back at me.
"Good," I said. We started walking north on the Esplanade, away from the market. We were heading towards a playground. There were two guys on skateboards zooming past us and a little girl on a scooter with a helmet. We were passed by sweaty joggers who weren't wearing much clothing.
"What kind of business brought you to Cairns?"
"I'm not actually staying in Cairns," he said. "I'm in Townsville."
"Interesting," I said. "I've never been there. I've heard it called Brownsville."
He shook his head. "It's different, that's for sure."
"Why are you in Cairns, if you're staying in Townsville?"
"I wanted to get out, get some sunshine...get away from my responsibilities for a little bit." A little bit of cloud passed over his face. "And I wanted to see the ocean."
"Those are all good reasons to sit at the Esplanade."
"Where do you live?"
"Parramatta Park," I said. "I used to live next to the Botanic Gardens, but I've moved a little closer to the CBD, what we call downtown in America."
"Yes," Massimo said. "That sounds good."
He moved to the side to let two kids on roller blades through. Then he came back and smiled down at me. Even though I was sweaty and sticky from the humidity, the warmth of his smile melted me inside.
“Why did you come here from Italy? You’re a long way from home.” I wiped my forehead.
“There are opportunities in Australia that are prohibitively difficult in Italy. Australia is rich in natural resources.”
“So you’re interested in the mines? I’ve been told that the boom is over.”
He shrugged. “Maybe for some things.” He sounded very polite, which meant that I was probably sounding like an idiot.
“What are you here for, specifically?”
He looked down. “I’m taking over the family business.” He cleared his throat. “How would you feel about taking this somewhere private?”
Trust
I didn’t know why. I knew better than to step into vans where strangers offered candy. But there was something about Massimo which made it less sketchy to get into his car with him.
We were quiet as we drove to the Doubletree Hilton in Cairns. We were quiet as we made his way into his suite, which was pretty huge. The two of us were on a couch that overlooked the Esplanade. He talked for the first time since we’d decided to go to the hotel. He looked at his hands. "My father is very sick."
"I'm sorry to hear that. My dad recovered from his prostate cancer and is okay now. I know that your father will pull through."
He swallowed hard. "I hope so. Or I will inherit far more responsibility that I am ready for."
"Massimo, you're thirty. Surely you're old enough to handle what you need to. You’re some kind of executive and have an MBA, right?"
I could see the flicker of a smile. "Yes."
"So if you have to take over the family business, you'll be okay."
"My father doesn't approve of my decisions."
"If he's dead, he doesn't really get a say."
"That's true," he said. "That's comforting. But what if I run the business into the ground?"
"You won't," I said confidently. "You know what you're doing."
"The legacy..." he responded.
"The only thing that you're responsible for is doing the best you can. You can't control the future."
"Come here." I could see heat in his eyes. I moved closer to him on the couch. He moved me so that I was stretched out under him.
"You have a pureness, a simplicity, that I love." He kissed my cheek and bit the top of my ear then nibbled on my earlobe. "You're so easy to talk to. You make all of it sound so easy."
"It can be as easy or hard as you make it." I bit his jawline.
He began attack the side of my neck with the ferocity of a shark. My hands clenched into fists as I panted beneath him.
"I have to taste you," Massimo said. He flipped the bottom of my dress up and yanked my underwear down my legs. His face was buried between my thighs as I bucked upwards. His nose was rubbing my clit as his expert tongue lit me on fire. I had a strangled half groan that died in my throat.
"Come for me, cara."
I screamed as he picked up the pace and made my body shake. I could feel him picking me up. He had me stand next to the arm of the couch. My legs were too shaky to hold up. One arm was pulling me against his body.
"Your ass is fantastic," he said, giving me a light slap. "So firm. Round." He bit my shoulder before letting go. I could hear him pulling off his belt because his buckle clinked. Then he put the belt around my front. He pushed me down so I was bent over the arm of the couch. I could feel the head of his cock pushing into my body. When he was fully seated inside of me, I learned what the belt was for. He lifted me so I was a little closer to him every time he thrust inside of me.
I was already wet from my first orgasm, so the glide in and out was smooth. I was on my tiptoes as he moved the couch with each thrust. I could feel my muscles tightening around him, beginning to flutter.
"Ah," he said. As soon as I felt his seed spurting inside of me, I let go and my body clenched around him. He kept pounding inside of me as I gasped for air.
When he finally let go of me, I fell down on the arm of the couch.
"I don't think I can move," I said. "For at least a century."
"It was good for me, too, tesoro."
He picked me up and cradled me in his arms. I looked into his eyes. His hair was in a slight disarray from banging me so hard.
"I'll take you to a bed now," he said. "And we will repeat this experience."
His hands slid down my sides and laced together in the small of my back. "I want you again.”
I looked up at him. He had the face of a fallen angel. I was ready to whisper, "Yes."
He held my hand as we moved through the room. A few moments later, he was bring us into his bedroom. During the short walk, his hand never left mine. If I weren’t enchanted by his eyes, maybe this wouldn't be happening. But for some reason, I was absolutely fine with the fire that I could see in his eyes.
He pulled me into his bedroom. Then he peeled my remaining clothes off as easily as shucking shrimp. I was naked and beneath him as his warm mouth descende
d on mine, his tongue exploring my mouth. He rocked his erection against my softness. I whimpered as the tip of it explored the outside of my core.
"Last chance to say no," he groaned. "I won't be able to stop in a minute."
"Yes, Massimo," I said.
The intrusion of his cock made me scream. It felt incredible as his body invaded mine and claimed it as his own. His hands came down to pin my wrists against the mattress as his hips picked up steam. I looked into his eyes and felt his all-consuming focus on this moment. Just two people in a bed. Nothing else in the world.
When I fluttered around him, he withdrew and let go of my wrists. I immediately protested, trying to grab his hips and bring him back into me.
"So impatient," he said, a smile in his voice. The darkness of his hotel room meant that I only caught a ghost of a smile.
"Come back," I growled. I moved him so that I could sit in his lap, straddling him. I tilted my head back so that I could kiss his mouth, his jaw, and his ear. "You smell good," I told him.
"You smell even better, bella," he whispered before he bit the top of my ear.
I guided his body back into mine. He didn't protest as I sank down on him, letting him fill me in places I didn't know I was empty. He was burning hot inside of me in the nicest way. I felt like I'd spontaneously combust in about ten seconds. I began to move up and down, grinding against him and rocking a little. His gigantic hands were on my hips, pulling me close for each downward thrust.
In no time at all, it was hard to breathe. The force of my climax hit me like a bus that was running behind schedule. I cried out and felt him begin to shoot inside of me. He crushed my body close to his as I fell apart. He said words to me that were meaningless. I didn't know if they were Italian or English. My ears didn't work.
When I opened my eyes, he was gazing tenderly at my face. He dropped a small kiss on my nose. "Hello."
