“Come here, baby.”
He circles around me, and I pull him onto my lap. I kiss his cute little nose, his forehead, and his pouty lips, softly, tenderly.
“How’s your head?” He brushes away the hair at my temple.
“Much better, thank you. Talk to me now, sweetheart. Tell me how you’re feeling.”
“I’m sad about you leaving. A week feels like a very long time, and I want to tell you I’ll be fine, but I never really know.”
“You’ll do your best for me?”
“I will.”
“That’s all that I ask. I’ll finish up with business this afternoon. And tonight, I’ll take you apart slowly, every piece of you until you’re crying and cursing and begging me for more. How does that sound?”
He nods and hugs me, buries his face in my neck. “You’ll come back to me, though, won’t you?”
“Always, Giovanni. Just seven days, I promise.”
We reviewhis schedule the next morning. I’ve brought him breakfast in bed because his ass is still sore from being used the night before and besides that, I want to spoil him. I’ve made some additions to his schedule to include music time in the evenings and a stroll through town with Anthony in the afternoons.
“But we take our walks on Sundays after church,” he says.
“I want you to get out more, see new people, perhaps even… make a friend?”
“Are the demands of this boy becoming too great for his Sir to manage?” he says with an indignant sniff.
“Giovanni,” I admonish. “You are my pretty baby and my beautiful boy. I love you too much for words. And I love spending time with you. This is so you have someone closer to your age to share your very deep thoughts with and spread the gospel of my sexual prowess.”
“I thought you were my uncle,” he says grumpily.
“Your uncle’s half-brother and not a blood relation,” I remind. He chews on his lower lip, and I tug gently to free it from the ravages of his teeth. “You will try, princess? Try for your Sir?”
“Fine,” he huffs.
He rides with Anthony and me to the ferry, and I hug him tightly on the docks. “I’m going to miss you,” I whisper into his hair. I want so badly to kiss his broody mouth, but there are too many people around.
“I’ll miss you too, Sir.”
“Be a good boy while I’m gone. And when I get back, Sir will have a very special surprise for you.”
“Your dick in my mouth, while always welcome, is seldom a surprise.”
I make the kissy noise to make him smile, then kiss the top of his head and squeeze his hand one more time. I watch him as the ferry slowly chugs away from the dock. His eyes sparkle in the distance, wet with tears.
My business tripis not smooth or easy. The ornery supplier isn’t any more reasonable in person, doesn’t believe the sample we brought him is truly his own, nor is he happy about my desire to terminate the contract when he proves unwilling to bend. He threatens me with everything from a lawsuit to bodily harm, and I threaten him with a detailed report of his inferior product to the Ministry of Rural Development and another to fellow distributors if he continues to vex me.
He tells me in Greek to go shit on my mother, and I consider that to be the end of it.
The next few days are a whirlwind of touring olive groves and mills, observing their refinement process, sampling their product, and deciding on a couple other suppliers to contract with for a probationary period. I am convinced by the end of the trip that we need to source the oil locally and tell my team as much. As soon as we return home, we’ll begin scouting Italian suppliers.
Every night I chat with Giovanni by video, and we each share what happened in our day, but despite my best efforts, I feel him withdrawing. When I tell him my trip will be extended by three days, he stops answering my calls. Thankfully, I still have Anthony, who gives me a full report and has agreed to watch over Giovanni 24/7 to make sure he’s safe until I return.
It is Anthony, not Giovanni, whom I speak with while I wait to board the ferry that will transport me back to the island. Two more hours and I’ll be home. Giovanni has turned off his phone, Anthony informs me, which is why I am also unable to geo-locate him.
“Where is he?” I ask.
“You’re not gonna like it, Boss.”
