Chapter 38
Thirty-Eight
“I’m taking today off,” I tell Natasha.
She eyes my running shorts and t-shirt with some interest but gives her head a little shake. “Keiran—”
I frown. “Lord Grayrose.”
“Can I come in? Talking out here in the hallway seems rather gauche.”
Giving her a hard look, I purse my lips.
I intentionally fill up the whole doorway, leaning there so she doesn’t get any ideas.
“I told you already. I am taking the day off. There is really no discussion that needs to happen between us. Just cancel whatever you had planned for me. Take the day off, go sightseeing.”
She flushes, flustered. “Lord Grayrose, you told me to set up meetings for this whole morning. I told the Italian executives that you needed to meet with them urgently.”
She glances around me, sensing activity. I stretch out my arm, grabbing the doorknob.
“I’ll see you when I see you, Natasha.”
“Ella, come on! We’re going to be late!” Isla shouts.
Natasha opens her mouth to say something, but I firmly close the door in her face. I catch her angry look just before I close it. But honestly? I don’t really care.
Natasha could use a day off anyway. Or maybe a few months. She’s been especially irritating on this trip… and I generally don’t deal well with irritants.
I turn to find Isla banging on Ella’s door.
“Ella!”
Ella has been hiding in her room for most of the morning. Still angry about last night, I guess. But for the life of me, I can’t figure out why.
“Ella! I’m going to take a bath and you had better be ready to go when I get out!” she calls again.
Ella’s door opens and she sticks her head out. “I’ll be ready, Isla. I promise.”
She flicks her gaze at me, narrows her eyes, and disappears into her room once more. Isla nods to herself and heads into her room.
Once Isla’s door closes, I creep over to Ella’s door. Knocking very lightly, I turn the knob and open the door. Ella glares at me, poised with a hairbrush in her hand.
“I could’ve been naked!” she hisses.
“It wouldn’t be anything I haven’t seen before,” I quip.
The glare that Ella gives me would’ve killed me if she had the power. I hold my hands up in surrender and close the door behind me part of the way.
“It was a bad joke. I love seeing you naked.”
She turns around and goes back to brushing her long, raven hair. “I’m still mad at you. You don’t just get to come in here being sweet to me.”
Stepping closer to Ella, I catch her wrist and gently turn her around. Her expression is sullen but I very slowly tug her toward my body.
“Why are you so angry with me?” I ask.
She rolls her eyes as I slide my hand around her waist and press her against me.
“You should have told me right away that you had dirt on Wendy. But you didn’t. A sex tape leaking makes the man look like he made a bad decision. But the woman? She’s usually branded as a trashy whore.”
“Oh.” I screw up my face. “I never really thought about it that way.”
“That’s my point. You never thought about anyone other than yourself. Even though the tape affected me as much as you.”
“I’m sorry you felt that way.”
Ella raises a finger at me. “That’s not an apology. And you were dismissive about my concerns when I mentioned them last night!”
It’s hard for me not to roll my eyes. “Honestly, I haven’t worried about anyone’s tender little feelings in a long time.”
She goes rigid, moving to push me away. I catch her hands, holding her close.
“Wait, wait. You didn’t let me finish.”
Ella gives me a sour look. “I don’t have to.”
“But you should. You should let me say that I am sorry. I am. I can’t promise to be boyfriend material. Hell, I can’t even swear that I’m a good guy. But I’ll try to consider your tender little feelings in the future.”
I kiss her knuckles, locking gazes with her. She stares at me for a second. Then she softens.
“Okay,” she says.
“Yes?”
She nods. “Yeah. You’re forgiven.”
Pulling her hips against mine, I kiss her on the lips. She tastes divine, like honeyed ambrosia. I growl against her lips, cupping her ass.
“If I thought that I could be fast, I would take you right here, right now. But I’m never fast with you. I’m too damned greedy. I want to taste every part of you, make you call out my name—”
The door swings open with a creak. I tense up, thinking immediately of Isla. But when I swing around, releasing Ella guiltily, it’s only Natasha that stares at us, aghast.
I roll my eyes, my heart racing.
“Oh. Natasha. It’s only you.”
She frowns. “I came to ask you if I can go with you all today. I decided I want to sightsee. Isla mentioned that you all were going to see some ruins.”
Stepping away from Ella, I clear my throat. “We’re doing whatever Isla wants…”
“Great,” Natasha replies. She’s returned to her normal deadpan tone, so I can’t really tell if she means it or not. “I’ll go grab my stuff.”
I turn and look at Ella, who is red as a beet right now. “What?”
She bites her lip. Hesitates for a second, then shakes her head. “Nothing. I just kind of don’t want her energy around me today.”
Isla appears in the doorway, ending the conversation. “I’m ready!” she yells. She does a half turn, showing off her backpack. “I brought sunblock!”
It’s an awkward little group, that’s for sure. Isla is literally just yammering on and on, fact after fact about the ruins.
“Did you know that men used to fight each other at the Colosseum? The men are called gladiators and they fought in front of an audience of up to eight thousand!”
“I think the guidebook actually said eighty thousand, darling,” I tell her.
“Oh, yeah. Eighty thousand. That’s a lot! Isn’t that a lot of people, Ella?”
Ella nods, but she doesn’t take her eyes off of Natasha for a second. “It is, Isla.”
Natasha has given Ella the occasional smirk, but otherwise says absolutely nothing.
Isla prattles on, none the wiser. I’m honestly sort of relieved when we get to the Colosseum itself.
It’s gigantic, easily half a football field high and a full field wide.
Its walls are visibly crumbled in some spots, these areas clearly marked with yellow caution tape.
Isla is so excited about everything, especially the guide I booked to give us a private tour.
He walks us around the site, trying to go through a rehearsed speech. But he is interrupted approximately every two minutes by the ever-inquisitive Isla.
Meanwhile, I’m watching the simmering tension between Ella and Natasha. I’m not sure what’s been said or done, but something is definitely going on with the pair of them.
As the day wears on, the sun starts to get hot. When we climb to the top of the ruins, our tour guide suggests a break in the shade. I try to pull Ella aside, letting the others wander as they will. But Ella is quick to snap at me.
“You can’t leave Isla alone in a place like this. She could get hurt!” she says. But the second she says it, her gaze returns to Natasha.
“Is there something that you want to tell me about my assistant? Or do you just have the world’s largest stick up your ass right now?”
Her face contorts. “Ask Saffron about it. It’s really not my story to tell.”
She walks away, standing right beside Isla, looking around like she expects danger to come at any moment.
I whip out my phone and send Saffron a text. What do you know about Natasha? Why is Ella acting so strange about it?
I slip my phone into my pocket as the guide leads right to the edge of the topmost tier of the ancient seats. The wall crumbles away, revealing a lovely view of Rome. Isla edges closer to the edge, in awe.
Natasha follows her, Ella in lockstep.
“Isla… come back,” Ella says.
“She’s fine,” Natasha says, glaring over her shoulder.
“I’m not really comfortable with her being so close to the edge,” Ella gripes.
Our guide mumbles something, stepping away to take a phone call. I look down to check my phone, almost missing it.
In a flash, Natasha steps closer to Isla, stomping on her foot. Isla rears back, her fiery temperament showing. She moves backward, almost losing her balance.
For a second, she teeters. She makes a simple noise of pure fear as she scrabbles for balance.
I look up right as Ella grabs Isla, hauling her back onto sound footing. She gapes at Natasha, screaming in the other woman’s face.
“Are you insane?! You nearly killed her!”
Natasha’s expression turns black. She shoves Ella and Isla, even as I lurch toward her.
“No!”
All I can hear are the twin screams as the girls tumble over the edge.