“Raphael, we need to talk—”
“No, what you and I need is sleep. Hours and hours of it. We’ll only wake up when you’re not sore and I can be inside you again. Until then, sleep, tesoro.”
And just like that, Pia fell asleep.
* * *
The loud peal of Raphael’s cell phone startled Pia awake. It took her a few seconds to orient herself but the soreness between her legs brought back awareness of the previous night.
She felt Raphael’s kiss against her shoulder, and then his groan as the phone started again. The sheet held tightly with her fingers, she turned around to face him. Sleep mussed, he was even more gorgeous in the morning sunlight.
With a gentleness that stole her breath, he pressed his thumb against her lower lip. “You are good?”
She nodded, unable to find words that could sum up the glorious feeling in her chest. And then, because she knew he couldn’t ignore whoever it was indefinitely, and because she didn’t know when she’d get a chance again, she pressed a kiss at the hollow of his throat and licked his skin.
He groaned, kissed her hard, and then picked up the phone.
Within seconds, the gentle lover disappeared.
With two rapid-fire sentences he finished the call, whipped out of the bed and padded, utterly naked, into the bathroom.
Hearing the shower run, she quickly pulled his T-shirt on and sneaked down the corridor into the other bedroom. She’d barely finished her shower and pulled on another of his shirts when he walked in, a scowl on his face.
His jet-black hair was wet and dripping. Undone shorts hung low on his hips. Pia swallowed the jolt of lust that hit her low in her pelvis.
Before she could blink, he picked her up in his arms and dropped her on the bed in his own room. “I told you we’re going to sleep around the clock.”
Pia laughed and pushed her wet hair out of her face. She didn’t know whether to be mad or glad about his possessiveness. “I just… I’ve never been in a relationship like this before and with you everything’s muddied.” She smiled when he joined her on the bed and sat up with her tucked between his legs. “I didn’t want to assume.”
“This is not an affair, si? What it is, we’ll figure out later.”
Turning in his arms, she kissed his mouth full on. It was a good minute before she let him go and by then they were both breathing hard.
“Raphael, who was that on the phone?”
“My lawyer. He’s heard from Allegra now that she’s out of the clinic.”
“Your ex is out? How is she?”
“Apparently, she worked through the entire program, is certified to be drug-free and has her addictions under control, no boyfriends in tow, and is desperate to see Alyssa.”
Pia wanted to ask for more information, dying to know about the woman who had once worn his ring. She rubbed her finger, and then dropped it when she realized what she was doing. “I heard your mother say she was extremely beautiful.”
She cringed the moment the words were out but Raphael barely seemed to note the wistful tone in her voice.
“She’s extremely beautiful, the life of every party,” he replied with a faraway gaze, “and every man she knew wanted to possess her. I had the biggest bank account among the fools who pursued her and so she chose me.”
“You can’t believe she chose you just for that,” she said, shocked by the depth of his cynicism. “You’re a very—” He arched his brow and she flushed. “You know your appeal, Raphael. Modesty doesn’t suit you.”
“It was my pocket and my power that attracted Allegra. Not that my looks didn’t help. Actions speak louder than words however much she professed to love me. All her behavior, that I was too besotted to see then, proved how much she cared for the status of being Raphael Mastrantino’s wife and not at all for me and our marriage.”
“So you have no culpability at all for its failure?”
“Not everyone wants to shoulder blame when it’s not theirs. Frank took advantage of you. It’s not your fault.”
“But you loved her, didn’t you? When they think I can’t hear them, or maybe because they want me to hear it, people dissect your marriage. They talk about how you pursued Allegra for three years. They call it the match of the decade.”