Chapter 23 Aliénor
ALIéNOR
When I woke up the next morning, he wasn’t there.
The primary suite was devoid of his commanding presence. His phone wasn’t there either, so I decided to text him. Everything okay? I wasn’t sure if he had to take care of work or some other urgent matter.
His answer was instant. Gym. There were no more dots.
I assumed he had his own facility in the building, and the idea of watching him lift heavy weights and doing whatever else he did to look like that was extremely intriguing. I threw something on and went in search of this gym. I asked Andre where I could find it and then quietly let myself inside.
It was a gym made for hundreds of people to use, and one of the walls had a floor-to-ceiling mirror.
That was exactly where Luca stood, holding a bar stacked with weights, shirtless in just running shorts and workout shoes.
He had headphones that hooked over his ears, and he stared at himself as he curled his arms over and over, muscles straining and veins popping with every rep.
He didn’t seem to notice me, so I took a seat on one of the workout machines and just watched. Tried to figure out how much weight was stacked on the bar, but it was too hard to count.
He racked the bar on a chest press and did that next, pushing this heavy mass above his body over and over without a spotter. He did five sets of ten, grunting every time he pushed up, sweat all over his skin.
I wished I had a bowl of popcorn.
He finished that then sat up, taking a second to catch his breath before he reached for a container that appeared to be a protein shake. He took a big drink of that before he capped the lid and then worked on his shoulders and his deltoids, doing exercises that targeted specific muscles.
I couldn’t think of a better way to spend my morning.
For a cooldown, he went to a treadmill and seemed to run for a couple of miles.
What kind of fucking cooldown was that?
He finally slowed to a walk and pulled out his phone.
My phone vibrated with a text. What do you want for breakfast?
You.
He smirked. I could see it in the mirror. Then what am I going to eat?
Me.
I’ll have that for dessert. I’ll have Andre bring something up.
Works for me.
He typed a message then ended his workout, grabbed his shake, and headed for the door. When he found me sitting on one of the chest press machines, he didn’t look surprised or unnerved. Just stared at me as he popped the cap of his bottle and took a drink.
I looked him up and down, six-foot-something of pure steel coated with sweat.
“Work out with me tomorrow.”
“I’d rather just watch.”
A slight smirk moved over his lips, and he headed for the door.
I followed him out and walked at his side, a mountain next to a valley, a peak over the lake. “You work out every day?”
“Every day.”
“Never miss a workout?”
“Only if it’s absolutely necessary.”
We returned to his bedroom, and he left his tumbler on the dining table for Andre to take away.
“When is it necessary?”
“When I work over twenty-four hours straight.”
“Does that happen a lot?”
“Not a lot,” he said. “But sometimes.” He headed into the bathroom and started the shower.
I almost walked in so I could watch that, but I realized I was probably giving creeper vibes. I went to the couch and pulled out my phone, seeing a text from Dominic. So, where did you end up?
I got a place in the 6th.
Wow, how did you manage that?
With this fine ass.
He sent some laughing emojis.
I actually got a new job at Diamant. Fashion merchandiser.
I don’t even know what that is.
Neither did I, but I figured it out. How’s Septime?
Not the same without you. Real boring.
It was boring even when I was there. Maybe you should find something else.
I have a feeling fashion merchandiser opportunities don’t grow on trees.
I wanted to encourage him to pursue something else, but the truth was, this job literally fell into my lap…because I was sleeping with a man who made shit happen.
We should get together and catch up.
Sounds good to me.
Luca came out of the shower in just his sweatpants, looking hot as hell, eyes dark as midnight. My eyes were enjoying the feast before me when Andre lightly knocked on the door.
“It’s open,” Luca said without raising his voice.
Andre entered and rolled his cart to the dining table, careful not to look at us.
Luca sat in the armchair and pulled out his phone, firing off text messages even though it was a Saturday.
Andre set the table and left without a word, like he understood that his client hated small talk or engagement of any kind.
Luca continued to type on his phone, so I walked to the table, seeing the breakfast feast sitting there, waffles with fresh berries and whipped cream on top. Scrambled eggs with cheese and a side of potatoes and bacon were also served.
Luca’s breakfast was different, an egg white omelet with veggies and a side of bacon. No pancakes for him.
“Why does your breakfast look so sad?”
Luca finished up with his phone and joined me at the table. “I can’t eat whatever I want all the time.”
I looked him over. “Actually, I’m pretty sure you can.”
He dropped his linen into his lap and took a bite of his bacon with a slight smirk. “What do you want to do today?”
“What do you mean?”
“Somewhere you want to go? Something you want to do? I’ve never had a weekend guest before.” Arms on the table, he dug into his food with insatiable hunger.
Watching him work out and shower was obviously hot, but there was something about watching him clear a plate that was sexy too. “Well, I definitely don’t want to go anywhere. And I definitely don’t want to do anything but you.”
That slight smirk was there, expertly contained. He took another bite and masked it. “Fine with me.”
The day passed in the blink of an eye, and it was dark outside the windows. We started off on the couch and ended up in bed. Sheets scalding hot from the heat generated by his fat muscles, he was a personal furnace everywhere we went.
He was a great lover, doing all the work while I lay there and enjoyed it. But this was a two-way street, and the best way to a man’s heart was not through his stomach, but his dick. My hand cupped his cheek, and my fingers lightly touched his jawline. “Fuck me in the ass.”
There was a slight reaction in his eyes at my words, a surprise he could barely contain. It remained there for a second or two before his countenance hardened in a way I’d never seen before. Not like he was aroused, but something else. “Are you into that?”
“I am if you are.”
His stare remained, and then it deepened, as if he was trying to solve a complicated problem in his mind.
This was not the reaction I’d expected from Luca. I had a good sense of men, and he seemed like someone who was game for anything. Like he’d be into taboo stuff. Like he’d choke a girl out if she asked. But now, his eyes were veiled in suspicion, like something I said had set something off.
I waited for him to accept my invitation, but he left it hanging. “That’s not what I want with you.”
The rejection stung, but then I wondered if it was a rejection at all, perhaps a sign of respect…or affection…or something instead.
He rolled on top of me, and his lips found my neck, kissing my throat and my jawline until his mouth drifted to mine. He kissed me hard then soft before he folded me underneath him, taking me the same way he’d already taken me twice that day, face-to-face.
We had dinner together at Robert et Louise and then walked down the road until we arrived at a courtyard with several businesses, people sitting outside cafés and enjoying their drinks and cigarettes. RE?S was there, a gelateria that I’d visited before. “Ooh, can we stop here?”
“Sure.”
I absent-mindedly circled his arm with mine as we walked inside, as if he’d offered it to me.
He didn’t pull away or look uncomfortable at the touch.
“The Indian Wedding sounds good.”
He waited in line with me, and when we got to the front, he ordered for me. “Medium Indian Wedding.” He paid in cash.
“You aren’t going to get anything?”
He ignored the question.
They handed me the gelato, and we found a seat outside, the night surprisingly warm, spring almost arrived.
He pulled a cigar from somewhere and lit up at the table, preferring smoke to sugar. He took a long drag and let it sit in his mouth as he stared across the crowd, his mind seeming to be elsewhere as he let the smoke absorb on his tongue. Then he let it out slowly, like a morning London fog.
He rarely smoked around me.
“Thank you for dinner. And this too.”
He lounged in the chair, arms crossed with his cigar hanging between his lips.
To someone else, he might seem annoyed or uncooperative, but I knew that was just how he was.
He didn’t need conversation to feel fulfilled, and he enjoyed the silence as much as the conversation.
He didn’t quite seem like an introvert, just someone who didn’t need communication, unlike me.
I enjoyed my gelato, but he seemed to enjoy his cigar a lot more. Took his time with it, let it burn and burn, the tip glowing closer to his mouth.
“My father used to smoke cigars. Whenever I smell them, I think of him.”
He stared at me.
“Mom always hated them.”
He pulled it out of his mouth for the first time. “I can put it out if it bothers you.”
“No, no, no,” I said quickly. “It’s a happy memory.” I continued to eat my gelato until there was nothing left, just some liquid that had melted before I could reach it with my spoon. “Like this is a happy memory.”
His eyes focused on mine. “The present can’t be a memory.”
“Yeah, but it will be.” The odds of this working out and lasting forever were low.
Luca was more than I’d thought he would be, but there was no way I would be so lucky to have him forever.
It would just be for a time, until a deeper commitment became too much, until he realized monogamy wasn’t that fulfilling.
I wouldn’t let the fear of the end ruin the joy of the beginning, so I didn’t put much time into it.
But he continued to stare at me.
“This has been the best weekend of my life in almost ten years.” The last time life was this good was when I had a family. When we were home together over the Christmas holidays, my sister playing piano in the main room while my father smoked in front of the fire.
He let smoke release from his mouth.
I loved my new job and should be excited to go to work, but I didn’t want tomorrow to come and go.
Didn’t want the new week to start. Didn’t want to go five days without looking at this gorgeous man in front of me.
When he was asleep or focused on his phone, I snapped a photo of him.
Something to look at when I was up late in bed, unable to sleep.
Something to remind myself that this was all real, not some fantasy I conjured.
His phone must have vibrated in his pocket many times because he dug it out, glanced at the name on the screen with a quiet sigh of irritation, and answered fast. He didn’t say a word, but it was clear that whoever called knew Luca was there.
Luca listened, eyes hard. “How did they find out?”
I couldn’t hear the person on the other line.
“Alright, I’ll handle it.” He hung up then fired off a text. “Come on.”
I left my seat and tossed my cup in the trash.
He walked to the road, and a moment later, his driver pulled up in the SUV. “I’ll see you later.”
“Later?” I asked.
“I have to take care of this.” He opened the back door for me.
“Oh.” Our wonderful weekend had been cut short. I tried to hide my disappointment because being so attached wasn’t a good look. “Okay, I’ll grab my things and head home.”
“I didn’t ask you to leave.”
“Well, I want to get out of your hair—”
“I didn’t ask you to leave.”
I stilled at the power in his voice, the way he could change the intensity without changing his volume.
“I don’t know when I’ll be home. Tomorrow morning at the latest.”
“Okay.”
He nodded for me to get into the back seat.
Before I climbed in, he gave me a quick kiss goodbye.
Then he shut the door behind me, like his driver would take me home, while he’d figure out another way to get where he needed to go.
The SUV pulled away from the curb, and I turned in my seat to see him immediately head the opposite way and raise his hand to hail a cab.