“Bathroom?”
I nod to one of my guards, Flavio, to take her.
Juliet stands and follows him out of the kitchen. There’s no way she’s getting out of that tiny bathroom window. She’s way too short to reach it and it comes out onto a balcony. Not a slick move on her part, should she try it.
I watch her hips sway under the thin minidress as she walks away. The windows are open, letting in the cool night air, so I send a guard to my room to find a light sweater for her to wear.
Tonight will be interesting. Good thing there will be a guard outside her bedroom. I can’t sit a foot away from her without my cock straining against my linen pants. It’s so hard, one would think it was a flag in a stiff wind. No doubt I’ll have blue balls later.
I throw out the question that’s been turning in my mind to Riccardo. “Do we call Conti? I think we need to send him pictures. You can tell she looks similar to his sons. They all have the same dark hair and complexion. I bet her mother is Sicilian.”
“Maybe. And that makes sense. Lots of times they marry into rival families to keep the peace,” Riccardo downs his wine and refills both our glasses.
“I thought of that too, and it’s not as outdated a practice as you’d think. I have two brothers who are both eligible bachelors.”
“Well, that’s convenient,” he laughs, and he can’t help but smile.
“Yes, it is,” I state, while reaching into my pants to adjust my throbbing cock.
“You’re a sorry sight. She’s hot, I can see the affect she has on you.”
“Shut the fuck up, Riccardo. No woman has anything on me. I use them and leave them. She’d be no different, but she deserves to be kept well and treated well because she’s worth more that way.”
Riccardo takes another gulp of wine, “That we can agree on.”
I nod. I’m glad he sees it my way.
I’m beginning to wonder what’s taking Juliet so long in the bathroom and ask Flavio to check on her.
I hear him tapping on the door and she responds, although I can’t make out the words. He gives me the thumbs up that all is fine.
“Just tell me what you need, Dante.” Riccardo is the only one who calls me by my Christian name most of the time. It depends on his mood and who’s with us.
“What do you need at your end?” I need to know his logistics.
“DNA results tomorrow. And we need to take some pictures of Juliet to send as well.”
“Do you have the birth certificate?”
“Oh course, it’s the first official document I copied.”
I reach for my wine glass and look towards the bathroom hallway waiting for our guest of honor to return. I didn’t peg her as one of those high maintenance women who spend fifteen minutes in the bathroom to piss and wash her face.
“I think we need to arrange for a shopping day for our guest tomorrow,” I announce while pushing my chair back and putting my plate in the sink.
“Are you fucking kidding me?”
“Hear me out. One, she’s going to be a handful cooped up here, and two, we don’t want her to look like a pauper when we send pictures. It might do us all good. I’ll go, in case she has any ideas to ruin our plans. And if she meets anyone she knows, I can run interference.”
“Well, I don’t like it, but you’re calling the shots. I’ll arrange a detail to go with us.”
This is when I suddenly wish I knew where Alessia shopped. Juliet’s personality and figure wouldn’t be able to pull off the same clothing, but I’d better find out what stores to take her to. I’d hate to fail at impressing her on our first outing.
Impressing her? Did I just think of it that way? I don’t have to impress anyone. She’s our captive, I’m just trying to make it less traumatic for her.
But deep inside my heart, I know I’m trying to get a foothold on her without it resulting in the mutually assured destruction of both of us. She has to bend to my will, I’m the Don for fuck’s sake. I make the rules.
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