“If you’d like anything special for dinner, let me know now,” he tells me.
“Surprise me,” I say.
And just like that he’s gone.
Disheartened, I attack my pushups with renewed vigor.
17
Massimo
Ialmost lost control again when I was in Angela’s room. She doesn’t know how close I came. I’m getting better at restraining myself, I think. It helps that we had sex earlier, but still I feel I can’t get enough of her.
It doesn’t make sense. No woman has ever done this to me before. Even eight years ago, before what happened with her father, I never felt like this. Sure, I was obsessed with her, but not to this extent. Not where I go crazy, wanting her every single moment of the day. How does the saying go? Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
I still don’t know what I’m going to do with her, and constantly seeing that naked body of hers in my mind—lying on her back before me and begging me to make her cum—makes it hard to think. The only distraction I’ve had all day is when she tried to run away, and that barely lasted until we returned to the house.
I’ve been staying away, doing my best to keep my mind off her. Like her, this involves mostly working out. It’s kind of unfair that I have an entire gym to myself, and when I saw her doing push-ups I almost wanted to invite her here so she could have better equipment, but I’d probably end up fucking her underneath the bench press or something. I can’t help the sudden boner I have as I imagine her giving me head while I’m doing my set.
Finally, evening arrives. It’s dinner time, but the online auction is taking place at this very moment, and I can’t eat, not while people are bidding on Angela. I try not to think about giving her up to the winning bidder, because whenever I imagine someone else’s hands on her, let alone their dick, it only sends me into a fury and I break things. I already punched a hole in one of the reflective mylar mirrors in the weight room. Those are cheap, so it’s no big deal, but it could have been worse.
At seven o’clock I go to the media room for our scheduled teleconference. I’m dreading every step I take toward the place, just dreading. I should be happy, in a celebratory mood. But I’m not.
When I arrive, I find Luciano already waiting there. He’s sipping a glass of Cristal.
“You’re early,” I manage.
“Of course,” he says. “I’ve been looking forward to this all day. It’s good to finally see the fruits of our labor, if you know what I mean?”
I force a smile and take a seat on one of the sectionals.
“You’ve been waiting for revenge for what, eight years now?” Luciano presses. “Finally, it’s yours.”
“Not yet,” I say. “We don’t even know how the bidding turned out.”
“I do,” Luciano says. “But I’ll let Stefano break the news.”
Stefano, Roberto and Enrico connect shortly. Stefano wears his poker face, while Roberto and Enrico can’t hide their eagerness.
“Good morning you beautiful bastards,” Roberto says.
“Fuck the greetings,” Enrico asks. “How did the auction go? Don’t keep us in suspense.”
Stefano’s expression becomes somber, and for a moment I’m hopeful that something went wrong.
“Well, I hate to tell you guys this, but—“ Suddenly Stefano smiles widely. “The top bid is five million Euros! Giovanni Amato came in second, with four million, so we stand to make a grand total of nine million Euros if we can pull this off!”
The hope I felt a moment before shatters.
“Everything is going according to plan,” Luciano says. “We’ll pull it off.”
“Who was the winning bidder?” Roberto asks.
“That honor goes to the Rizzos,” Stefano replies.
I’m barely listening. All eyes are on me, but I can’t bring myself to speak.
Stefano frowns. “What’s up, Massimo? You don’t seem too happy. I thought you of all people would be thrilled.”
