Chapter Eight
Vittoria
“O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?”
Now I understood Juliet’s problem. Of all the men in the world to crave, I’d somehow fallen for the most capable of ruining my life.
And yet here I was—pining for his gaze, his knowing touch, and feeling very much the star-crossed lover pining for her Romeo.
What the hell was wrong with me? Sure, he had an icy glare and dominant demeanor and could be a complete asshole about obedience, but when the ice turned to a consuming fire, I couldn’t get enough of him.
It had been a week since our episode in his office and we hadn’t had sex since. I slept in an empty bed most nights or woke to see his retreating back as he left early in the morning.
He must be angry with me, but he hadn’t punished me and even my ass was missing the heat that his hand made when he spanked me.
How had I become so desperate for one man's attention in such a short time?
It was absurd. Only a week ago I'd been looking for any opportunity to escape him.
Now I found myself listening for his footsteps outside my bedroom door and wondering why he'd suddenly decided to keep his distance.
I should have been relieved. Instead, I was irritated enough to flirt with a guard or two if only to remind my husband I wasn't invisible. Not because I wanted anyone else—but because I wanted his attention. I had no intention of going further than a coy glance or giggle, of course, but surely there wasn’t any harm in making a friend…
or making a friend think he stood a shot at something more.
Someone must have told him how close I was getting to Theo, because the day after our stroll in the garden, he was gone and replaced with a giant who didn’t speak.
Typical of Romeo to give me a mute who seemed oblivious to my charms, but I still had Carlo, who didn’t say much, but seemed to be a sympathetic listener at least.
On the plus side, Romeo must have felt bad for not seeing me because he’d lifted the ban on me leaving the property.
But it wasn’t like I was free either. I had four guards with me at all times.
I expected as much. After all, my mother and I had been well guarded anytime we went anywhere.
After she died, my father doubled my watch, even though my mother’s death hadn’t been the result of a mafia strike.
She’d had a bad reaction to a new medication prescribed by her doctor.
My father killed that doctor and the pharmacist who had approved it–a wild over-reaction that had only weakened his standing among the families.
Perhaps that was why my guard doubled… but it didn’t keep me from escaping when I wanted to.
As a child, it had been easy to imagine myself as a little princess locked in a tower against my will.
Now here I was, Mrs. Vitale, and not just a helpless captive princess, but a queen.
I seriously needed to up my game. If Romeo wanted distance, then maybe I needed to remind my husband exactly what belonged to him.
Think, Vittoria! Seeing me in little to no clothing seemed to have an effect on him.
Most men were visual, which is why porn was so rampant.
I went to my closet, digging through all the drawers, and riffling through dresses in search of something he hadn’t yet seen me in. There were some nice items, designer expensive, but not slutty enough for what I had in mind. Time to see just how unlimited the credit card Romeo had slipped me was.
Grabbing my phone, I called Carlo. I could have probably just asked my new personal guard, but he would only clear it with Carlo anyway, so I went to the source.
An hour later I was sandwiched in the car with my mute giant on one side and Carlo on the other. Additional security followed in another car behind us. Smart, I guess; one could be a getaway car if the tires were shot out on this one. Morbid, I know, but the realities of my life weren’t lost on me.
When we parked in front of Feretti’s, my favorite boutique, our detail pulled in behind us.
Carlo stayed with me while the others checked the store.
When given the clear, I stepped out of the vehicle with Carlo shadowing me so close, I could smell his cologne.
Inside the shop, Valentina, the shop owner, came and greeted me with a glass of champagne.
We did the double kiss cheek to cheek. “Welcome, Vittoria! It has been too long.”
Valentina had work done since last I saw her.
Her lips were so full, they looked to burst if she kissed someone too hard.
Is this what I had to look forward to in my future, plastic surgery, lipo and the latest fashions?
The image didn’t really fit with what the young princess-me had envisioned if I ever escaped that tower—long flowy bohemian dresses with my skin kissed golden by the sun of some distant shore, running barefoot through the sand just for the thrill of running…
Although once older, I’d added a child or two running beside me, screaming in frightful delight while a smiling man made monster faces as he chased us.
Picturing Romeo as that monster was surprisingly easy, only he was shrouded in darkness while the rest of us were lit by the sun. He could be that man, but first I’d have to let him in, and he’d have to want more than a marriage of convenience.
“Earth to Vittoria. Hello?” Valentina woke me from the sun-dappled forest and the bohemian dress back into the present. “What are you looking for today?”
I slipped my arm through hers and led her to the far side of the store.
“Sexy, slutty, and barely there. Do you have anything?”
She grinned. “I see. You are out to bag someone. Good for you, not that you need any help, Vittoria, you’re gorgeous already.
But yes, the new Spring collection has arrived and lucky for you, there are a stack of ultra-revealing clubbing dresses included.
They’ve become all the rage and the less material, the better. ”
“Sounds perfect!”
“Step inside room one, and I’ll bring you some selections. Undergarments to match?” she asked knowingly.
“Oh no,” I giggled, “not unless they are even more suggestive than the dress.”
It was Valentina’s turn to giggle. She left, and I sat down with my champagne. From talking with Theo before he left, I’d learned that the family owned a ring of clubs, some legal and some not, but one, in particular, was favored by the Vitale brothers and run personally by Gio, Club Carnage.
I texted the chat room I had with my girlfriends under a false name on Instagram. I’d set it up while in high school so I could make plans with my friends without my father’s knowledge. I told them the time and place and put my phone away just as Valentina brought in my selections.
Carlo wouldn’t participate in helping me pick out a dress, and the giant I’d privately nicknamed Inch, was as useful as a wet paper bag.
In the end, I sent pics to the girls of each outfit until we were down to the top three: a hot pink number that barely covered my ass and had a sizeable cutout on one side, a black mini with spaghetti straps and a plunging neckline, and my personal favorite, a red mini see-through sheath dress with sequins decoratively placed where my boobs, ass crack and vagina were.
It also came with a plunging neckline and only a partial back.
It had less coverage than the new bikini I’d ordered, and that was saying something.
Valentina, getting into the spirit of things, snapped away with my phone while I modeled. In the end, the girls all picked the red one as the winner, but I bought all three with matching lingerie and 6-inch heels.
None of the brothers were at dinner so after complaining of a headache, I excused myself and left the table. Time for a little trouble! I couldn’t wait to see Romeo’s face when he caught sight of me.
Grabbing a bottle of Amarone della Valpolicella, I escaped to our ensuite and ran the bath.
I needed all my bits silky smooth for tonight.
At 9 pm, Carlo and Inch showed up to chaperone me and an hour later, we pulled up outside of the club.
Carlo escorted me out of the vehicle, and I caught a whiff of his cologne like earlier.
I tried to place the familiar scent, but wasn’t fast enough to give my brain time to process it before it wafted away.
Carlo left Inch at the entrance by the bar to keep a lookout while he brought me over to my girlfriends.
As I removed my coat, they all whistled and made playfully crude remarks.
I watched Carlo in my periphery, expecting him to ogle me like all the rest of the guys in the club, but that’s not what I saw.
A flash of satisfaction that disappeared to be replaced with a blank expression that I almost thought I’d imagined.
Could it be that he was actually happy for me to finally get out and have some fun?
Well, I could work on discovering how deep Carlo’s sympathies ran later.
Tonight, I was here for good times and hopefully super sex later on or maybe in the bathroom.
It surprised me when an hour and four too many ouzos later, I hadn’t seen the men yet.
Carlo stood guard by my table, watching me closely, almost impatiently.
It was like he was waiting for something.
Well, he’d been the one ordering our drinks all night, maybe he was waiting for me to pass out, but he had no idea who he was dealing with. I was a Calogerà!
Slamming back two shots, I wobbled onto the dance floor with my girls.
The song that was playing was slow and dirty.
Perfecto! We ground and teased and basically did a show.
The floor cleared, leaving us plenty of space, the other patrons being more interested in watching instead of participating with us.