4. Stefano
Morning sunlight streams through the open window and a warm breeze brushes over my skin. Before I open my eyes I can feel her in my arms. I can smell her. I can hear her soft breathing.
I pull her tighter against my chest.
She is still sleeping deeply and stirs slightly to snuggle deeper against me.
I stare at her beautiful face. Her makeup was slightly smudged from the sweaty, wild, passionate night we had last night.
I've never had such an intimate night with anyone before.
I don't know what it is about this beautiful girl, but from the moment I saw her in my club, I knew I had to have her. And throughout the night that feeling only got stronger.
This morning, all I know is that I will tear the world down for her. I will kill for her. I will do everything and anything to give her what she wants.
I lay there quietly watching her sleep, tracing my fingers over her soft skin and through her long silky dark hair. She is magnificent beyond words. She is more beautiful than I can describe. And she pulls me towards her like there is a chord tying us.
I sigh softly, wondering how the hell I fell so deeply in love after knowing her for only a moment.
Carefully I slide my arm out from beneath her, not wanting to wake her.
I slip on a pair of sweatpants and walk through to the kitchen.
I want her to wake up feeling good; so I make coffee, scrambled eggs, and avocado on toast, which should be a good enough remedy for the amount of champagne we drank last night.
I did make sure she drank a lot of water before bed, so hopefully that would have helped as well.
When I walk back into my bedroom and see the most beautiful girl in the world rolling over to look at me, I can't hide my grin.
"Good morning, gorgeous." I chuckle, as she blinks trying to wake up fully.
"Hi." She says softly, rubbing her hands over her face. "Do I smell coffee?" She laughs quietly.
"You do. And breakfast." I put the tray on the bed as she shifts her body up and leans against the headboard.
I prop a few pillows behind her, making sure she is comfortable.
"Oh, wow Stefano, this looks incredible. Do you always have breakfast like this?"
"Do I always have breakfast in bed with the most beautiful girl in the world? No. I haven't been that lucky up until now." I chuckle and her cheeks glow bright pink.
She self-consciously brushes her fingers through her wild hair.
"You look incredible," I say, taking her hand, and then leaning down to kiss her.
"Um, last night was…" She blushes again.
"The best night of my life." I grin, climbing back into bed next to her and pulling the tray between us.
"I hope you like eggs?"
"I eat almost everything. Except calamari. I don't eat that. It's too squishy."
"Squishy. Noted. I won't ever take you out for calamari."
The smile that spreads across her face is pure magic as she takes a bite of her avocado toast.
We sit in bed, the sunshine warming our skin, and talk and laugh as we eat breakfast.
It is literally the perfect morning.
I could do this every day for the rest of my life and be the happiest man on the planet.
When breakfast is finished, I move the tray off the bed, onto the floor next to us, and then wrap my arms around Amelia and pull her close to me again.
"I'm not sure I am going to let you go home." I grin, tracing my fingers over her cheek.
"I'm not sure I want you to let me go home." She smiles.
I lean down and kiss her. She wraps her legs around mine and I roll onto her, my cock already rock hard and ready to feel her again.
Her fingertips trace down my back and send electric bolts through my body.
She gasps as I move against her.
I can't get enough of her.
I want all of her.
It is very late morning when we finally get out of bed, both grinning and satisfied.
She gets dressed in the same dress she was wearing last night.
"I'm going to call a taxi." She says, pulling her hair up into a messy bun.
"Not a chance. I'll drive you home."
She grins mischievously. "I don't think it's a good idea. If my father saw - I mean…"
"If your father saw what?"
"You." She smirks.
"Why? What would cause your father to be upset if he saw me?"
"Stefano, I probably should have told you last night, my surname."
I step closer to her and run my hand over the side of her face, pulling her beautiful eyes up towards mine. I stare straight into those pools of dark bliss.
"And what is your surname, Miss Amelia?"
"Ricardi." Her eyes are touched with the sharpest glint of mischief.
I can't hide my grin as I shake my head. "Of course, it is."
Of course, I met and fell for the daughter of Diego Ricardi, one of my biggest rivals.
"You are full of delightful surprises aren't you." I lean down and press my lips against hers, wishing that I could spend the day with her.
When I pull back, she is looking closely at my expression, trying to decide if I am bothered or not now that I know who she is. I think my grin gives it away. "Little fox, nothing, and no one is going to stop me from seeing you again; do you understand?"
She nods, grinning as well.
I drop her off right outside her father's mansion, even though she protests.
She begs me not to get out, and I agree because I know I will only cause trouble for it. But before I let her climb out of my car, I pull her face close to mine and kiss her again. It gets very heated very quickly and my cock, despite being fully satisfied last night and this morning, is ready for another session.
She giggles and runs her fingers over the bulge in my pants. "I have to go." She whispers, wiggling free of me.
"When will I see you again?"
"I'm not sure."
"You better answer me when I message you later."
"I promise." She grins, throwing me one last temptress of a look before climbing out of the car.
I wait until she is safely inside the gates before I drive away, feeling pretty damn good about life.
I have a family lunch this afternoon and all the way to my parents' place I am smiling, feeling giddy and elated. I don't think I've ever felt like this before, and it is confusing and really fun that she has this effect on me. Everything about her is perfect. She makes me laugh; she knows how to hold her own against my dark sense of humor; she can talk to me for hours; she's smart, beautiful, kind, and fuck me, she is incredible in bed.
I pull up outside my parents' mansion and switch off the engine. I need to wipe this stupid smile off my face, or everyone will be asking questions all day.
Walking into the house I hear my father's deep voice booming from somewhere inside.
"Stef, grab some coffee and join us out on the patio."
"Morning," I shout back, and head to the kitchen.
I grab a mug from the cabinet, sidestepping the chef who is busy making lunch.
"Hi, Danny. What are we having today?"
"Seafood sir. I'm making lobster tails and garlic butter paprika prawn with tuna medallions."
"Sounds amazing. You can put extra sauce with mine."
I may as well enjoy the calamari now because if Amelia doesn't like it, I won't be having it when I am out with her and I plan to be with her a lot.
I carry my cappuccino out to the patio where my family is relaxing in the early afternoon sun. "Dad," I say and pat him on the back as I hug him. "You're looking well."
"So are you. What's with the grin?"
Matteo throws me a bitter smirk, not getting up to say hello. "He left with some random girl last night, not even bothering to take me home."
My father throws him a glare. "But you got home just fine?"
"Whatever." Matteo quips.
My stepmother comes from inside, carrying a jug of fruit juice. "Oh, you have coffee already; well this is freshly squeezed so help yourself." She says, putting the jug on the table.
"Morning, Mom." I wrap my arms around her and hug her tightly. Camilla isn't my birth mother, but she has been very close to me ever since my father remarried. We get along well and I know how happy she makes him, and that makes me happy. She is as much a mother to me as I could have asked for.
She goes to take a seat next to my father, leaning into him. Even after all these years, they are still in love.
I smile again, thinking about Amelia and how I have met the girl I want to marry.
"He's full of smiles this morning." Camilla laughs.
My father chuckles. "I said the same thing. Not sure what's gotten into him."
I ignore their comments, smiling more though, and turn towards Matteo who is looking very bitter. "Matty, how was your night though? Did you have fun?"
"What do you care?"
"Dude, come on man. We can go for a drink tonight if you want?"
"So that you can ditch me again?"
"I didn't ditch you. It was late anyway."
"Like I said - whatever." He stands up and storms off in a mood. I am used to his moods. If I leave it for a day or two, it'll wear off and he'll be calling me asking me when we are going out again. There is no point in pushing him or trying to reason with him when he's like this.
"Just ignore your brother." My dad says, waving his hand in dismissal.
"He's been grumpy all morning," Camilla smirks, shaking her head.
I lean back in the comfortable patio chair and sip my coffee. "It's such a gorgeous day," I comment.
"I don't know what's going on with you, but whatever it is, keep it up." Camilla laughs.
My dad shakes his head. "Hey kiddo, did you get the report for last week's shipments?"
Camilla stands up. "Okay, if you two are going to discuss business I am going to go and check in on Danny." She walks off towards the kitchen.
"I took a look, yes. I wanted to ask you why there was a sudden spike in orders for the AR-14s? Do we need to stock up on those or was it a one-off?"
"I've got a new deal with a guy overseas who wants regular supply. So, I need you to start doing some shopping around and get us a good deal for bulk orders on a monthly or bi-monthly basis. He will confirm by the end of the month once he has received and tested this first shipment."
"Interesting choice. Why did he choose that one and not one of the more popular automatic rifles?"
"Hey, I don't ask why. I just get them what they want."
"Right, of course."
We run through various bits and pieces of business until Camilla calls through that lunch is being served and we should come and join them.
I walk in to find Camilla and Matteo in a bit of a heated conversation. Overhearing the last bit of it I know it is about his mood.
"Just let it go," Camilla whispers insistently.
Matteo pulls his mouth tight when I walk in and sit down next to him.
"So where do you want to go tonight?" I ask, squeezing his shoulder.
He shrugs me off and leans forward to dish up some food.
I ignore his body language. "Wow, this looks incredible," I say, picking up my plate to dish up as well. "Did Danny do his homemade garlic bread again?"
"He did." My dad nods, handing me a dish of buttery bread so that I can grab a slice.
Matteo huffs loudly next to me.
"Come on man, you can't be mad at me all day." I nudge him.
He slams his plate down on the table and stands up, pushing his chair back.
"I'm pretty sure I can do whatever the hell I want." Matteo snaps.
"Matteo." My father warns sternly. But my half brother ignores him and storms out of the dining room.
"Just leave it. Let him go. You know how he gets; there's no point in trying to talk to him now. He can go walk off his mood somewhere else." Camilla sighs in frustration.
"I'll give him a call tomorrow when he's calmed down." I nod, picking up my fork and getting tucked into lunch.