The mansion #2
The voice comes from directly behind me.
When I turn the boy who had been floating in the pool is now standing a foot away, dripping onto the stone terrace, water running in slow rivulets down his shoulders.
He isn't quite as tall as Lorenzo, but close enough and he has the same kind of build, the kind that suggests the gym is less a hobby and more a committed practice.
"Could someone let him know I'm here?"I ask unsure what to do with this information "I need to take his measurements."I add quickly.
"You can just go in, " one of the guys says. "Door's open. "
"Or you could stay and keep us company,"the blond guy offers, unhelpfully.
"No, thank you. Could someone please just get him? "
"Door's open, " one of the girls confirms again pointing to the dor.
I hesitate for one moment.Then I walk to the pool house door, knock once, and push it open.Let just get it over with.
"Lorenzo, I ..."But before I can finish my sentence I freez completely chocked.
I press both hands over my eyes so fast and trip over shoes lying on the floor.
"Oh my God. I'm so sorry, I ... I didn't...."I mutter already moving backward, stumbling over the threshold, and the laughter that erupts from the terrace behind me is loud enough to echo off the water.
"Why, " I say, turning back to them,my heart pounding so fast i almost fell like exploding "did you tell me to walk in? "
"Oh, we forgot to mention, " one of the girls manages between laughs, pressing a hand to her mouth in a performance of regret that convinces absolutely no one, "Lorenzo might have company. "
I open my mouth.Searching for words to shout back at them but before I can firm anything a cold hand closes around my wrist.
Pullinh me sharply and with zero warning to the very edge of the pool.
My flip flops hit the stone lip and I grab the hand holding me on pure reflex, because the alternative is the water.
A small gasp escapes my mounts when my eys meet Lorenzo's.He glares down at me with an expression that can only be described as glacial.
"You have approximately ten seconds" he growls , "to give me a very good reason why you are here . Or I promise you, you will regret it. "
"Believe me," I say, through my teeth, "if there were any other option available to me right now, I would have taken it."
I tighten my grip on his hand not to pull away, but to make absolutely certain he can't drop me without me taking him with me. While I struggle to hold on, it almost seems as if it is in no way strenuous for Lorenzo to hold me.
"Now let go."Something shifts in his expression. That infuriating, involuntary flicker of amusement.
And he lowers his arm, just slightly.His friends are cheering in amusement.
"No" I shout out immediately, reading it. "Don't you dare..."He pulls me back instead ,one smooth, unhurried motion that brings me clean off the pool's edge and flush against his chest. I can feel the warmth of his skin through my shirt and immediately pushing him away .
I open my mouth. Close it. Take a breath.
"Aww"one of his friends calls from the terrace, grinning like this is the best afternoon he's had in months. "Aren't you going to introduce us to your new girlfriend?"
"New record, Lorenzo" The other ones says smiling .
The look Lorenzo turns on him is flat and unamused.
"Shut up Alex" he hiss fixing his dys back to me but bevor he can say anything a girl interrupts him "Lorenzo!"
She has appeared in the doorway of the pool house, leaning against the frame, her blonde hair effortlessly put-together, one strap of her sundress slipping off her shoulder in a way that is almost certainly not accidental.
Her eyes move from Lorenzo to me with slow, unhurried interest "You owe me," she says softly, directed at Lorenzo with a smile that suggests the debt is not a small one.
I look at her. Then at Lorenzo. Then back at her.
And i am aware of exactly what is going on. This girl in the doorway looking at him like that, having clearly just come from inside is definitely not Vivien .
None of my business, I remind myself. Absolutely none of it.
"Do you have a problem?"Lorenzo's voice, low and direct, pulls my attention back. His eyes are on my face, reading something there that I hadn't meant to let show.
I school my expression.
Do I have a problem with him?
Does some distant, unwilling part of me find it surprising that he is apparently with someone other than his girlfriend?
Is any of it my concern?
No!
So I reach into my tote bag and pull out the measurement form holding it out to him.
"You know what" I say, "if my being here is such a problem, just fill this out yourself and give it to your mother. "I press it against his chest. "Properly ! My aunt needs exact measurements. "Something shifts in his expression. Subtle, but there.
"Tua zia? "
"What? "
"Your aunt" He is watching me differently now. "Why does your aunt need my measurements? "
"She's the designer for your family's anniversary event" I say and can't help noticing the slight tension that moves through his jaw. His eyes drop to the form. Then to his friends on the terrace. Something passes across his face that I can't read.
"Time to go," he says to them.
And I widen my eys in supries. Why is he sending his friends away ?
A collective groan rises from the terrace as they begin gathering their things, the laughter dying down, the afternoon rearranging itself.
"You."He turns back to me.Stoping me from turning around and sprinting back to the hous "Inside"
"Inside? " I point over my shoulder toward the main house. "Yes, good idea... I'll wait in there. "
"No" he clarifies and turns and walks back into the pool house as though the matter were already settled.
I stand exactly where I am.
His friends stare at me. I can feel the weight of it
Great just perfect
I sight and press my hands Ofer my eys felling my way to the entrance.
"What are you doing?"His voice, closer than expected, somewhere to my left.
"I'd rather not accidentally see any more of your friends undressed" I say bitter seweet.And can feel him looking at me that particular quality of attention he seems to direct at everything, unhurried and assessing.
"There's no one in here" he says. "Open your eyes."
I open them very slowly not trusting a single word.But to my supries he said the truth. It's only me and him .
He is leaning against the kitchen counter with his arms crossed, the measurement form held loosely between two fingers. Like he hasn't yet decided whether it is worth his attention.
Like most things, apparently, he is letting it wait.
"So" he says stretching the word, eyes moving over the page without urgency. "Your aunt is the one who got the design contract"
"Yes. "
"And she sent you? "
"Correct" I keep my voice even. Clipped at the edges, exactly as I'd practiced on the drive over. "It won't take long, if you cooperate. "
"Cooperate" He looks up from the form and smiles amused
"Yes" I say. "It's not a complicated concept"
The corner of his mouth moves. Not quite a smile. Something that lives just beside one.
"Is that so? "I exhale through my nose. Slowly.
Don't.Shopi just stay calm dont punish him in the face .
"Look" I start, stop, and start again, because the version I'd almost said isn't one I can take back.
"I'm sorry that you seem to think I'm obsessed with you. I'm not. So stop imagining things" I clarify"I don't want to be here any more than you want me here. So just let me take your measurements, and I'll get out of your way. That's all I'm asking"
I say it as calmly as I can manage. Internally, I am choosing between several words I can't say out loud.
He doesn't move. Doesn't soften. Just watches me with that quiet, faintly entertained expression wish I would love to punch him out of the face.
Then he pushes off from the counter and takes a few slow steps in my direction.
But I don't step back. I refuse to step back. I had done that once already and I am not going to give him the satisfaction of watching me retreat again. So I stand where I am, cross my arms, hold my ground and hope very sincerely that it isn't obvious how deliberate all of that is.
"What's your name? " he suddenly asks.
"Sophia"
He nods slowly and repeats it , with the particular quality people sometimes have when they're not saying a name so much as turning it over. Weighing it. Deciding whether it fits the person standing in front of them.
"Tell me something, Sophia" He tilts his head slightly. "How long have you been living here? "
"That's none of your business" I hiss. "And why do you suddenly care? "
"Is it not perfectly normal" he says, as though we are having a completely reasonable conversation, "to want to know a little more about the people who work for you? "
This time it's me laughing out loud . "Wait..." I hold up one hand. "I think you've fundamentally misunderstood something. I don't work for you. "
"Oh I think you will" he says.
"And I think I'm leaving" I say and something hot moves through my chest.
I turn toward the door and I am almost there when he moves to cut me off. Not, like gravity has quietly rearranged itself in his favor.
"Would your aunt really be okay" he says, "if she lost the contract because of you?"
"You wouldn't dare" I feel my jaw tightening. And watch him coming down to my eye level.
The accent thickens, just slightly "Oh,You have absolutely no idea." he says quietly.
I hold his gaze.
He holds mine.
And somewhere in the back of my mind, beneath the anger and the exhaustion and the sheer, spectacular inconvenience of everything that has happened since I set foot in this city a small, very quiet part of me registers, with something that feels uncomfortably close to dread,
that this is not going to be the last conversation between us.
Not even close.
And I hate that thought. I hate him .
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Hiiiii I hope you enjoyed reading my book so far ??