My Italian Heart

Chapter Seven

The next morning, when David turned up at the office, everything seemed different. There was no longer a need to distance myself from him and, in turn, he had less reason to push me. He simply walked into the room and dropped a kiss on my lips, as though it were the most natural thing in the world. "Morning, beautiful."

"Morning. I thought we agreed to behave here?" Despite my objections, I couldn't quite hide that radiant smile of all fresh romances. The sort where just one message from them or them walking into the room is enough to send you to cloud nine.

"That was me behaving. If you would like, I can demonstrate misbehaving?" He didn't need to demonstrate it. The second he said the words, my mind was imagining every type of scenario that his naughty side could conjure up.

"No, it is quite alright." The last thing we needed was to get caught. I might have agreed to stop fighting the connection, but we still had to keep it all to ourselves. The fallout from us being together in any way would be disastrous. It wouldn't even just be Emily baying for our blood. I couldn't imagine Pops or Luca would take the age gap very well. The fact that he was married wouldn't be missed by Mamma, either. The only person I could imagine being on my side in all the drama would be Rylie. I hoped she, at least, would understand. It wasn't like there weren't enough people telling her that Luca was a bad choice.

"I'm only here for a few hours today. I need to head over to the flat and unpack."

"Absolutely not. As your boss, I refuse to release you for such frivolous matters."

"I was also going to cook for your first visit, but you're the boss."

"Good job I'm only playing then, isn't it?"

"It is. I would cook once you get there, but I know the second you are in the door, I'm going to struggle to rip my lips from yours."

"Shhh." I raised my eyebrows at him, but I still couldn't shift the girlish smile. I felt rather ridiculous, but I didn't even care. I knew right then and there that the whole day would drag. The universe would slow down just to make me wait longer to see him.

He grabbed my hand out of nowhere and pulled me towards him, instantly dancing me around the office as if there was soft jazz engulfing us. Spinning me around effortlessly. As he pulled me back, I hit hard against his chest. The hardness of him making me murmur slightly. There was something incredibly sexy knowing that beneath his professional exterior was a naughty Adonis.

Not only was our fling completely hidden from the world, but I felt like the real him was only for me too. No one else even got a glimpse of that side of him. The slightest touch of his skin against mine brought back the memories of our night in the pool, which was enough to send my desire sky high.

I pulled myself out of his arms and took a few tentative steps backward, nearly falling onto the desk in the process. "You need to stop touching me."

"Oh, really."

"David, I'm serious. I can't keep up the facade unless you keep your hands to yourself." The smile on his face told me he was taking it as a win.

"It's nice to know the effect I have on you. The slightest touch and you can't trust yourself not to jump me."

"David, please." The feeling was so intense I felt like I was going to end up rocking back and forth in the corner. I had been so distracted by him that I hadn't heard the footsteps approaching. Thanking God that I had backed up when I had as Emily came through the door.

"I'm so excited for Rylie to get back. Have you got an ETA?"

"Her papi is picking them both up at eleven, so they should be back by about noon." I replied quickly, hoping it was the only reason she had come upstairs. Knowing the faster I got rid of her, the less likely she was to notice the redness in my cheeks.

"Dad, I hope you are behaving yourself." She seemed distracted thankfully and didn't seem to be really looking at either of us. David looked right at me as he replied to her question. The question alone made my cheeks redden at least another couple of shades as my dirty mind inferred the question completely differently.

"Always, angel." He was so full of it. I wasn't convinced he knew how to behave at all. His naughtiness was so close to the surface that I struggled to understand how no one else spotted it. His dirty minded fuckery seemed to bubble beneath the surface constantly.

"I'm leaving early today, anyway. I want to be back at the house when they get back. So, I best get on if I'm going to manage it." I walked around my desk and sat down, hoping Emily would take the hint and leave. I felt awful. She was my friend and was going through an awful time. Instead of trying to get rid of her, I should have been comforting her.

"I'll leave you to it and see you at lunch, then." I relaxed as soon as she was out of the door, but it didn't last long. David was behind me before she was even down the stairs. Kissing the side of my neck and sending me into overdrive again.

"You need to stop or I won't have time to do anything, including you."

"Alright, I'll go and check on the orders waiting to go out. I probably won't see you again before I leave. I'll email you the address. See you at eight." He flashed me a grin that told me exactly what we would be doing once he got me back to his den of iniquity.

"I'm looking forward to it." Which was a mild way of telling him I was gagging for it. Having no idea what had gotten into me. I loved s*x, but I had never been quite so controlled by it before. I turned to the computer and pulled up the accounting documents. Hoping to lose myself in something boring. Normally I would have given anything not to have to deal with the books. I just hoped they were boring enough to cool me down.

It worked as successfully as an icy shower and as I walked down the black metal steps from my office, I felt much more my usual self. Mamma and Emily were laid out on loungers as I approached, and I took the one beside Emily. Laying my head back and closing my eyes. The glorious sunshine beating down on the three of us. It felt like forever since I had just had time to lie out in the sunshine.

We were still laid there when we heard the vehicle approaching. I recognised it from when I had visited Rylie at the olive grove. Just squinting enough to be able to see her car drive up the lane. "They're here." It was redundant. Everyone had looked towards the noise. It wasn't like we got a lot of cars heading up to the house.

I stayed back and let Emily and mamma take the lead. It was pointless fighting with the pair of them. They both made a beeline for the baby, leaving me able to pull Rylie into a deep hug. I felt so guilty knowing that I had led Amelia right to her. I knew Luca blamed me too, even if he hadn't voiced it. He had warned me to stay away from the grove. I just thought he was being paranoid. The need to see Rylie seemed more urgent. I hated the idea other being so for from her family and worrying about Luca. Which was even more stupid because she was literally in her ancestral home with her family all around, but to me, they weren't her family. We were.

I pulled myself back and tried to pull myself away from the thoughts that had been torturing me since the incident. "Come on, let's get you inside."

"I'll grab the bags later on." Luca gave me a sideways look as he spoke, and I knew he was in a mood with me. Rylie must have noticed it too, because she elbowed him in the side as he moved between me and her to help her inside. I was sure they must have had a conversation about it all. I even knew how the conversation would have gone. Luca would have been fuming about my actions and Rylie would have told him how hard he was being on me. That we all make mistakes and that he should be nicer to his little sister. I had no doubt whatsoever that she would have stuck up for me the moment Luca started, and I loved her for her loyalty. I just didn't feel like I deserved it.

I knew straight away from his attitude that we would be having a very one sided conversation about it too. Luca wasn't able to leave things unsaid, not when it was someone else's f**k up, anyway. Although, he had spent his entire life ignoring his own shortcomings.

I watched on as he helped Rylie get comfortable on the couch. He dropped a kiss on her forehead and left her to be fawned over by the others. Luca grabbed my elbow and lowered his voice to a menacing whisper. "Outside. We need to talk." I did as he said. I knew there was no point in arguing with him and it wasn't something I wanted to get into in front of the others.

"I know what you're going to say. You can't hate me anymore than I hate myself."

"I don't hate you. I couldn't. It's just that I can't understand what the f**k you were thinking. I told you not to risk going to the grove." He was pacing, and all I wanted to do was run. I looked up at Luca, even if it didn't always seem like it. I envied him and his strength. He had never shied away from telling our parents what he thought, which is all I seemed to do. He never allowed himself to be pushed into the expected thing, either. Seeing the disappointment flashing in his eyes as he looked down at me made my insides twist into knots that I didn't think would ever be undone.

"I wasn't thinking. Not about Amelia, anyway. I thought you were going to ..." The tears flowed and made me feel more stupid. His arm came around my shoulders with brotherly affection and awkwardness. "I went thinking she needed the support, but it wasn't for her but for me. Mamma was in a real state. Pops was in the hospital and you had bled half your veins all over the carpet. I needed to not be alone. It's no excuse. I never should have gone. I don't know what I would have done if anything more serious had happened to her. Or if Isabella had been with her."

"The baby is fine, and Rylie will be. It isn't just on you. I never should have sent her away. I never should have let Amelia get near me. It was my job to protect them and I failed. "

"We all failed, but we won't make that mistake again." I probably should have told him that he didn't fail Rylie, but he wouldn't believe even if I did. He knew he had been taken in by Amelia when the rest of us had seen straight through her and he had a right to feel guilty about that. Hiding away from what happened and our parts in it would only make the guilty fester for longer.

"Just remember, I'm here and nothing will stop me from being your big brother. Not even death. We're a team and always will be."

"I'm going to head to work. If l go in there looking like this, then you will be in the doghouse with Rylie."

"The vineyard really is your safe place, isn't it?"

"It is."

We parted ways, but instead of heading to the office, I jumped in the car. I felt better, almost like Luca and I had come to an understanding. It was great to have it out of the way. For him to have been able to say his piece and me mine. I wasn't sure I could cope with seeing Luca every day and knowing he was angry with me. Instead, it felt like he at least understood why I screwed up.