Tearing my eyes away, I steadfastly ignored the heat curling in my stomach. I was lucky, I suppose, that despite my marriage being arranged, at least I felt some attraction to my husband-to-be.
“There’s a party tonight at the Romano’s. His son just graduated and he’s back in town. I’d like you to accompany me.”
I sat upright. “Tonight? I don’t have anything to wear.”
He glanced at me. “You’re a small, correct?”
“Yes,” I said, unsure why I felt embarrassed.
“Then the things I picked for you should work.”
“Oh…alright,” I said, unsure how I felt about him choosing my clothes.
We drove in silence the rest of the way to the Esposito mansion. It was a massive, beautiful house that sat on the edge of the water on the other side of the city. I’d been here once a long time ago for a social event, but it still amazed me with its opulence like I was seeing it for the first time.
We pulled up the circular drive and Lucien parked at the bottom of the stairs. He opened my door and went around to get my suitcases as I got to my feet and stared up at the house. This was my new home.
I watched Lucien climb the stairs with my suitcases and I wondered why he hadn’t sent someone else to pick me up or why he didn’t have a servant carry my bags. He was a strange kind of underboss.
I caught my breath as we stepped into the entrance way, the hall stretching out before us in a dizzying array of colors. The floor beneath us was marbled cream with gold tiles and the walls were off-white with gold trim and overhead hung a series of heavy, crystal chandeliers.
“Yes, it’s quite something,” he said. “The man who built it was obsessed with Versailles, if you couldn’t tell. Sometimes I think I should have it redone to modernize it, make it less…loud.”
“It’s beautiful,” I said. “You should leave it how it is.”
It was beautiful. A few hundred years out of date and more appropriate for royalty, but it was breathtaking. It would be a shame to change anything.
“I’m glad you like it,” he said, heading toward the spiral staircase at the end of the hall.
I followed him upstairs to the second floor. There was a hallway with hardwood flooring and brass furnishings. Lucien strode all the way to the end and turned right, leading even further into this maze of a house.
Finally he stopped outside a door near the middle and pushed it ajar and stood aside. I ducked past him and stepped into a bedroom…or at least, this house’s opulent version of a bedroom. The floor was a sky blue carpet and the walls were a tasteful cream and blue pattern. There was a row of windows that looked out over the water and a four poster bed with thick, velvet drapes hanging around it. The furniture was clearly antique, restored to perfection, and probably worth thousands of dollars.
“It’s amazing,” I whispered.
“It reminded me of your garden,” he said. “And the view is quite pleasant in the morning.”
He put down my suitcases and straightened his shirt, impassive and detached as ever. I walked to the center of the room, spinning around to take everything in.
“Well, I have business,” he said. “I’ll be back around six to pick you up. If you need anything, call the number taped to the dial phone in the bathroom. The housekeeper will pick up and she can help you with whatever you need.”
“Oh…alright, thank you,” I murmured.
He backed out of the door and closed it and I was left alone in my new bedroom. I went to the window and took a deep breath, a sense of peace settling over me. Whatever lay ahead, at least I was free of my parents.
In the distance, I heard a door shut and I saw Lucien’s dark figure appear below, cutting across the driveway and getting back into his car. He was all business, striding with purpose; I doubted he had given me a second thought.
Chapter Three
Lucien
I wanted to fuck her on that fifty-thousand dollar antique bed until it broke into pieces. My fingers dug into the steering wheel as I pulled out of the driveway and got up to speed. Images flashed through my mind as trees and houses sped by. The curve of her throat, the flash of her dark eyes, the way her full mouth pressed against the lid of her coffee.
Why did she have to look like that? This would be far easier if she’d been boring or unpleasant. But no, she was beautiful and she set every nerve in my body on fire and made the front of my pants uncomfortably tight.
The first moment I’d seen her up close, my throat constricted and I almost choked on my words. She was a little too thin, but her body still turned me rock hard. Full breasts, a slender waist, and a rounded ass. Her eyes were dark, bruised and beaten down.
Her mouth was full and she looked like she tasted like heaven, like ecstasy. Her nose had caught my attention, the thin bridge, the slightly curved nostrils, and the pointed tip. I wanted to run my fingers down it and trace her soft mouth. Push my fingers past her lips, feel her hot tongue curl around them as she sucked them into her mouth.