6. Stefano
It's been a few months since the night I met Amelia and we have been meeting in secret almost every day since. The days I don't get to see her seem longer and more difficult than the days I get to spend with her.
And when I'm not with her I am thinking about her.
She has become my entire world in the shortest space of time.
But I already knew it would happen. She was my entire world from the moment I laid my eyes on her.
I park outside the deli where she works shifts, sometimes in the day and sometimes in the evening. Her family is rich in ways that don't require her to work, but her father insisted she get a job to learn responsibility. I have to say I admire the fact that she is so committed to her job and doing really well at it.
I often park out here and watch her for the last half hour of her shift. We both decided it was not a good idea for me to go in as anyone could easily see by the way we looked at each other that we were together.
And we can't keep our hands off each other.
We have to be very careful about how and where we interact.
Sitting here today watching her close up and waiting for her to come out to my car I am feeling extra nervous. That kind of excitement when you know your life is about to change, but you aren't sure just how good it will get from here on out.
I know it is going to be amazing though.
She grins towards my car as she crosses the street and I pull the door open for her from the inside. She got upset the last time I got out to open the door so close to her work, so I do everything I can to respect her wishes for keeping our relationship as hush-hush as possible.
I know her father would forbid her from ever seeing me again and perhaps even go so far as to have bodyguards follow her everywhere if he suspected that she was seeing me.
I can't risk that, because it would become far more difficult to see her - and I need to see her.
She slides into the seat and closes the door behind her as I wrap my arm around her waist and pull her into a kiss.
"Hi, little fox. How was your day?"
"So much better now that I get to see you." She grins and kisses me back.
"I have a special dinner planned for you at home. I hope you didn't eat." I say, throwing her a side-eye.
"I got your message. You warned me this morning not to eat before dinner because you had something planned."
"And did you listen?"
"I always listen to you." She throws me the sweetest smile.
"Good girl." I run my hand over her thigh and start the engine, then pull out into the road and head towards my house.
At home, I park the car and walk around to open Amelia's door for her. She knows the rules. If we are in private, she has to wait for me to open her door.
She climbs out and I lift her in my arms, hugging her properly for the first time that day, feeling her body pressed against mine and breathing in the vanilla and honey scent of her skin.
Her stomach growls loudly and she giggles.
"Well, I guess that's my cue to get you inside for dinner." I laugh.
She follows behind me, holding my hand as I lead the way through the house. But instead of going to the dining room like she is expecting, I lead her outside into the garden.
"I thought you said we were having dinner."
"Shhh. Just come with me."
She giggles as she skips behind me.
Around the garden path, down near the trees, I led her to a picnic that I had the chef and housekeeper set up on a blanket for us.
Her smile lights up her entire face and her eyes glitter beautifully.
Fairy lights are hanging from the trees which will start to glow beautifully once the sun has set.
"Oh, my goodness, this is so amazing." I pull her down onto the blanket and up against my side.
"I suppose we had better feed that little monster growling inside your stomach." I laugh as her tummy grumbles loudly again.
"Hey, I only had a small breakfast and no lunch." She says shyly, pressing her hand over her stomach to try and hide the sounds.
"Good, because I made all of your favorite foods, starting with calamari."
"Cala…" She shouts in alarm.
I am laughing so hard I don't even hear the end of the word.
I grab her and tickle her, and she squirms away. "I'm going to have to keep my eye on you." She laughs as I pull her onto my lap and kiss her.
Her tummy growls again.
"Ok, ok, fine. Food first."
I dish up a plate for her of assorted picnic foods. Biscuits, cheese, cold cuts, salami, strawberries, fig jam, potato salad, and a few dumplings just for fun.
She chews happily while I tell her about my day between bites of food.
I pour us each a glass of wine and we continue to snack on the various options, no longer bothering with plates and just using our fingers.
"Do you think you could live with me, Lia?" I ask, feeling my stomach tighten.
"Yes." She answers without a moment's hesitation. "I mean, it would be difficult to explain it to my father, but maybe - I mean if he knew how I felt about you." She grins.
"I want to spend my future with you. I don't want to have to sneak around and hide how I feel about you. I want the world to know how much I love you."
"It's not going to be easy, Stefano."
"I know, but listen, Lia. I'm serious about this."
I move away from her and sit on one knee, pulling a small box out from behind the corner of the picnic blanket. She gasps, realizing what I am doing.
She covers her hand with her mouth, and I can see her eyes glittering with tears.
I open the lid of the box to reveal the square-cut diamond.
"Lia, I love you. I have loved you from the moment I first saw you and I never, ever want to be without you. Will you marry me?"
She leaps forward into my arms, knocking me off my feet and she screams. "Yes, yes, I will marry you. Yes."
I am laughing and overwhelmed as she lays on my chest with my arms wrapped around her. She presses her lips over mine and I taste the salt of her happy tears.
With laughter in my voice, I lift her off me. "You didn't even see the ring," I say, taking her hand and slipping it onto her finger. "It's beautiful, but you could have proposed with a twist tie, and I would have said yes." She giggles, then stares down at it and I swear the light from the diamond catches in her dark eyes and they glitter in the same way.
"It really is beautiful, Stefano." She whispers, then looks up at me with so much love and softness in her eyes that I can do nothing but grab her and pull her onto my lap again.
We kiss for ages, and then I lay her down on the picnic blanket beneath the dark night sky with uncountable stars glittering above us and I kiss her tenderly.
My entire body ignites against her, my cock swelling and pressing between her legs. She wraps her thighs around me, and her dress falls open.
"I can't wait to be with you forever, little fox," I whisper as I run my hand up her thigh.
She gasps as I slide my fingers into her tight pussy and massage her slowly.
She rocks her hips up against my hand and I can feel she is dripping wet and ready for me.
I tug my pants open and press her legs wider apart with my hips as I glide my cock into her pussy.
She arches her back, and a soft, beautiful moan escapes her lips.
I press my mouth over hers, dipping my tongue inside her as I thrust my cock into her.
She feels small beneath me like I could crush her with one hand, like she is a little bird that I want to take care of forever.
I thrust again, harder, deeper, and heard her cry out with pleasure.
"That's my beautiful girl, I love hearing you while I fuck you."
I grab one of her legs and lift it over my shoulder, feeling my cock reach even deeper inside her. My hand drifts down her thigh, between her legs, my thumb rubbing over her clit as I push into her.
She begins to moan louder and rock her hips harder against me.
Her legs begin to shake, and her fingernails dig into my shoulder.
"Open your eyes and look at me, little fox."
Her pussy tightens over my cock, it always happens when I tell her to look at me. I know it turns her on and because of that, it turns me on even more.
"You are going to belong to me," I whisper against her ear, then lean back again to watch her eyes as her orgasm builds.
Her lips part as she takes two sharp breaths, then her entire body shudders beneath me and her pussy clamps down on my cock, pulsing over me as her orgasm shoots through her.
At the same time, I thrust deep and explode into her.
I lay on the blanket with her, beneath the stars, listening to her breathing.
She giggles softly and I pull her close, kissing her again.
"And that naughty laugh?"
"I'm really happy." She replies.
I sit up, pulling her with me, then lifting her into my arms.
"I don't think I'm done with you, but the things I want to do to you now are not for anyone else to see." I laugh as I carry her towards the house.
"Do you think someone saw us?" she asks in shock.
"I doubt it, but I'm going to make you scream louder now and that is definitely going to attract attention if we stay out here." I chuckle darkly.
I carry her straight to the bedroom and lay her down on my bed, peeling off the layers of her clothing and tossing them to the floor before I start to remove my own.
I grab her ankles and pull her legs wide apart then lower my face between her legs, letting my warm tongue run over her pussy, then slip inside her.
She moans and runs her fingers through my hair.
In the morning, I wake up the way I want to wake up every morning, with her in my bed, wrapped in my arms.
She is sleeping peacefully when my phone buzzes, so I quickly grab it and open the message to stop it from waking her up.
"Shit," I mutter, annoyed that I can't stay here lying next to her.
I quietly get up and throw on some clothes before creeping out the door, and closing it behind me.
In the kitchen, my head of security is updating me on a situation we've been dealing with at one of our warehouses.
"So, they caught him?" I ask James.
"Yes, sir. We have him locked up in the basement of the same warehouse he broke into."
"Good." I huff, angry that someone would dare think they could get away with messing with me on any level.
"What do you want us to do with him?"
"I can't get there myself today so you can deal with it. I want both of his kneecaps shattered. I want him to walk in pain for the rest of his life. You can break his arms too so that he can't even go to the toilet alone for the next few months." I snap.
"Yes, sir."
My jaw muscles are clenched tightly when James walks away. I always send a strong message to people who mess with me. This guy is lucky he is walking away with his life, but today I want to send a message, not leave a body.
When James is gone, I turn towards the door and freeze.
Lia is standing there with a look of absolute horror on her face.
"Lia."
"So - it's true?" She stammers.
"What is?" I ask, confused.
"The stories they tell me about you. You do torture people." She looks as though she is about to start crying.
"My love, it's the nature of this business. If I didn't, people would continue to take advantage or view me as weak, and I can't let that happen."
"But you are going to hurt that man." She turns her head away from me when I move towards her to kiss her.
"My beautiful girl, this is just a part of my life that you are going to have to accept. I will never expose you directly to it, but it is who I am on a different level. In business."
"I - I don't like it." She says softly.
"There is darkness in everyone, little fox. I won't hide anything from you. I will always be honest with you. But you will need to come to terms with this part of me, and that it will be a part of our relationship."
She nods and leans against me when I pull her close. I knew it would be something that might shock her, and I didn't want her to find out by overhearing a conversation, but it is out in the open now, and once she has come to terms with it everything will be fine.
"Can I make you some coffee?" I ask, pulling her away from me so that I can look into her eyes. She smiles that beautiful smile of hers and nods. "I'd love some, thank you."
I lift her into my arms and set her on the countertop so that she can watch me while I make some coffee and breakfast. We chat as though nothing has happened, even though I can see she is still processing it all. I'll give her some time and then talk to her about it later again.