“She wasn’t very talkative. I only got her name when Alfie appeared and greeted her. The name Grace did not fit her personality.”
“No one knows much about what Emilio does in his free time. I just assumed he didn’t have any.”
Natasha giggled, “How Emilio can be terrifying just as he is handsome is a mystery to me.”
“Maybe that’s the thrill of it,” I replied, biting my lip as my mind went to last night.
“A man that screams danger is a thrill, Bethany Ann DeCarlo. I don’t think your mother would approve,” Natasha laughed.
“No, she wouldn’t,” I laugh with her. She wouldn’t approve of my behavior last night, either.
“You always enjoyed a bit of trouble,” there was ruffling on the phone, “I gotta go but call Tiff. Let her know you guys are on good terms.”
As we got off the phone, I headed toward the bathroom to undress myself and take a long hot shower. There were a few errands I wanted to run today, but given the horrible weather, I opted to stay in and binge-watch Netflix.
As I walk out of the shower in a towel, I hear my phone buzz and see a few messages from Molly. She and Aria were looking to the area, reminding meof Luca’s voicemail. I never called him back. When I did, I couldn’t reach him.
Walking toward the living room to get my charger, I jumped out of my skin when I saw who was standing there.
“Bethany.” Emilio stood there, his hands in his pockets and suit jacket unbuttoned.
Chapter 13
“What are you doing here?” I asked, although my first question should be how he got in here.
“Your brother was trying to reach you; I told him I would see where you were. You didn’t answer the door, so I let myself in to make sure nothing was wrong.”
Without moving further, I stood there clenching onto my towel in fear that if I caught a whiff of his scent, I would drop my towel on purpose. Emilio usually wore a nice clip with his suits, but today, there was no tie, and the top few buttons were undone. I liked this look on him, but I knew if I kept looking at him—I would misbehave.
Barely making eye contact, I replied, “You could have called or texted.”
I could feel his eyes on me, “I thought we could talk. I prefer face-to-face.”
My heart started pounding out my chest. I thought it was going to rip through my skin. “About last night?”
“It was a mistake. This time, poor judgment on my end.”
Looking in his direction, I felt a pang of hurt by his words. No female wants to hear they are a regret.
“I wanted it,” I replied.
“You understand that can’t happen again.”
I nod my head. He began walking towards me but not to me, clearly heading toward the door. This wasn’t fair. Luca was going to marry meoff without my consent—was I not allowed any happiness? Last night wouldn’t happen again, and it tore me up inside so much that I made the boldest move. Instead of allowing him to walk past me, I slide over just in time. Emilio stopped short; the smell of mint and eucalyptus invaded my nose. We were face to face, and my line of vision was at his chin. Slowly, I lift my lids to look into his eyes.
“Just because I understand it can’t happen again doesn’t mean I don’t want it to.”
“Bethany. There are plenty of reasons why it shouldn’t.” The expression on his face told me he was angry with his furrowed brows and tightened mouth.
“You can lecture me on all those reasons. Repeat them as many times as you need to. But you haven’t said that you don’t want it to happen again.”
“Don’t push this.”
“I’m not asking you to marry me, Emilio. I’m just asking you to fuck me.”
“I get it,” Emilio’s voice was stern, “Sheltered princess gets off on having something she can’t have. I don’t need to be that guy.”
“Are you saying that because you’re afraid Luca will find out or because you aren’t attracted to me?”
