Claudine smiles. “Cesare is strict about his coffee. He has espresso, I make it on the stove with a pot. It’s an old-fashioned way that I must tell you makes all the difference in the world.”
I shrug. “I’m not usually into straight shots. I mainly drink it for the buzz. I prefer cream and sugar, more sugar than a normal person should probably have.” I’m not going to apologize for the way I like my coffee. I’m also not going to be able to hide it with her here.
“No worries. I can make it more of a drink than just the espresso. Why don’t you have a seat and let me prepare breakfast, and you tell me what you think when I’m done?”
“Sounds good to me. Thanks.”
Grover is treating me as if I’ve forgotten him. After many belly rubs and some kisses, he trots off to my room. Sooner than I would have thought Claudine is letting me know breakfast is ready. I wash my hands in the kitchen before going to sit down at the table. The eggs are fluffy on a plate with the toast cut into triangles, and there is butter on the table. As I tuck into the eggs I try not to be a pig, but holy crap these eggs are good. Claudine sets down a cup of coffee I’m relieved to see is almost blonde with the amount of cream and sugar. I take a small sip, then let out a little sigh. “This is so good. I love it.”
“Really?”
I nod. “Oh, yeah. I would never lie about coffee.”
She laughs. “You sound like Cesare.”
Blushing, I shrug. “Speaking of Cesare. I need your input. What kind of dinners does he prefer? I’m going to be making him and his brothers dinner. Do you have some recipes I can make use of?”
Claudine smiles. “I’ll get those together today. Let me know what you need me to buy.”
“Well, actually I was going to make dinner at the apartment above the office. I kind of planned on doing the shopping on my way back to the office.”
Her eyes widen. “Oh no, dear, there is no need for you to go shopping. I’ll put some menus together and buy for the week as well as make sure there are some staples you can work with in the freezer and cupboards. A word of warning, the kitchen isn’t quite as equipped as this one. It’s a beautiful kitchen but slightly smaller, without all the gadgets this one has.”
“Thank you, I really appreciate it.”
A phone rings from the kitchen. I’m surprised at the phone I had missed on the wall. “That will be the front desk calling to let you know your driver is here. You have a good day, dear.”
“Thanks, you too.”
***
Cesare
When I get into the office a package is already waiting from Diego Valdez. Dante hadn’t been too drunk to make the call. I open it then read through the report. I’m swearing fast and furious. Kelsey Kane, really? Kelsey is going to be a pain in my ass as she no doubt is in her father’s. I’m trying not to think too hard on how Valdez has uncovered that Kelsey has already told two different people she didn’t destroy the only copy of the voice recording of Bethany admitting she drove drunk, and is waiting to use it to get more money. Valdez had managed to corrupt the file found on her laptop computer hard drive, but there’s no way of knowing if it’s the only file. A search of the files on Kelsey’s cell phone hasn’t uncovered another file, in texts or applications accessed on her phone.
Valdez advises he is still digging into Kelsey to find something bigger that can be used to make her drop her next attempt to blackmail Bethany. The file is pretty damn complete; it has me worried there might not be anything else. I’d pay a million to make this bitch go away, but the problem with women like this is once they find a well, they keep at it until it runs dry. Her father is interesting; his name sounds familiar only I can’t say from where. I shoot Valdez an email thanking him for what he has so far and telling him to dig into the father for me. Almost immediately I receive a response telling me he found something interesting enough—while looking into Kelsey he was already on it. I turn to work, reassured by having Valdez on the matter.
Only my emails don’t hold my attention for long. I’m wondering when Alicia will be here. I hated leaving her in bed but she needed the sleep. I’d been a greedy bastard and woken her up to take her again. Hell, if it hadn’t been for the bruise on her breast stopping me, I would have taken her again this morning. Except damn, the bruise had looked large—I hated the sight of it on her body. Never mind that not once had Alicia complained about the way I handled her, I couldn’t for the life of me figure out when I had given her the bruise. I’m going to need to be more careful with her. It isn’t going to be easy. I had been sure having her in my bed would take the edge off my hunger, only it hasn’t eased. Instead it became more intense on a visceral level to hear her moans, to feel her body shiver and quake against me, to taste her mouth and lick her sweet pussy as she flooded my mouth with the proof of her desire.
Christ, I move to lessen the pressure on my thickening cock. Tonight can’t come soon enough.
***
Alicia
The day goes by fast. Dante is excited about working with a new client looking for mixed commercial and residential real estate. I spend the day putting together a selection of properties with estimates of earnings on a quarterly and yearly basis. At lunch, I order in from the local deli then take my lunch and Cesare’s into his office with a request to Hannah not to put through anything that isn’t time sensitive. With a smile, she assures me she won’t.
I knock on his door. There’s a hesitation as I know he’s wondering who it is before he says to come in. “Hi, it’s now one o’clock and time for lunch.” Carrying the bag to the small sitting area, I sit on the couch and begin opening up boxes. “I got you the chicken parmesan sandwich because Hannah said it was your favorite with olives and peppers. Come on.” He gives me a look as if he’s trying to figure out how to turn me down. “I’m not above bribery. If you stop working for forty-five minutes and relax and have lunch with me, then I’ll—” God, how can I blush even thinking of the words? “I’ll suck your cock.”
Cesare laughs. I consider throwing his sandwich at him. Asshole. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t laughing at you. I wasn’t.” He’s coming toward me, I’m still wanting to throw the sandwich. “I wasn’t laughing, I promise. You just said what I’ve been wanting you to come in here and say since I left you this morning.”
He takes the container and sets it on the table, before yanking me against him. “I’ve been hard all fucking day for you. It was a silly daydream that I was sure wasn’t going to happen. And I’ll take you up on, later tonight. I’m going to draw the line and attempt to keep it together enough not to fuck you in my office like the greedy bastard I am.”
I pull him down to me, kissing him with all the pent-up need I’ve been feeling myself. The kiss goes from hot to burning us both up in seconds. When Cesare ends the kiss, we’re both moaning. “I’m trying, Alicia, help me,” he whispers into my mouth. It doesn’t help when he kisses me again. Not fair.
Then my stomach growls, dang it. It isn’t easy but I manage to untangle myself from him. “I am pretty hungry.”
“Me too, you have perfect timing.” With a last lick of my lips he lets me go.