Chapter 7
Francesca
The next morning, Stefan quickly and efficiently whisked me out of the house. Dani hung on to me like a little monkey. A cute, crying, whining, distraught—little monkey.
No matter how many promises of our return, or how many things Uncle Stefan promised to bring back for her—it wasn't good enough. She wanted me to stay. Carlo had to peel her off me. Literally.
It was heartbreaking, but in a weird way—it also made me feel nice and warm and mushy inside. Knowing that she wanted to be around me felt like an honor.
I had quietly suggested to Stefan that we take her with us. But the way he frowned made me laugh out loud.
Even after he closed the door, we could still hear her screaming inside.
Yikes.
Stefan grabbed my hand and walked me around to the side of the house.
Castle.
This was definitely a freaking castle.
“She's attached to you fiercely,” he said, obviously talking about Dani.
I nodded but didn't say anything. Honestly, my heart was feeling pretty broken at the display that had just happened. I hated leaving Dani behind in such a state.
Stefan tugged on my hand, getting my attention. “That's a good thing. That means she loves you and feels comfortable with you.”
My poor heart broke again as I said, “She was really upset. Maybe we should go back and—”
Stefan stopped walking and pulled me into him.
“Absolutely not.” His hands dug into my hair, and he kissed me.
“This is supposed to be our time together.” He kissed me again.
Like, a really, really, really great kiss that curled my toes.
“Daniella can have you when we get back. But for now,” his hand slipped down to my behind, “you're all mine.”
I grinned against his lips and nodded. “Okay.”
He smiled back and gave me one more quick peck on the lips. “Good.” He turned and walked us to the door of what looked like a garage. He opened the door, and we traipsed inside.
“Whoa,” I said after Stefan turned the lights on. There were a ton of vehicles in here. It looked like a showroom or something. “Are all of these—yours? I asked stupidly. I mean, why else would these expensive-looking cars be in his garage on his property if they weren't his?
“Yes, Francesca,” was all he said with a smile. “And they're also yours now.”
I rolled my eyes, but didn't correct him on that. The thought that all of this was—mine—was ridiculous.
He stopped beside a cool, silver sports car. I couldn't tell you what kind of car it was—but I could tell it must've cost him a ton of money.
He opened the door and helped me in. Part of me wished I hadn't worn such a short skirt.
It made getting into the car interesting, though.
I'd spent extra time on my hair and makeup this morning.
Stefan told me he was taking me out, but he didn't say where.
When I showed him what I'd chosen to wear and asked if it was okay or not, he'd said, “Fuck, yeah, it's okay.” His eyes had done a once-over from head to toe.
His gaze lingered on my legs for a good long while.
Stefan shut my door and walked around to get into the driver's side. The car still had that new-car smell. But as soon as Stefan got in, I took a deep inhale of him. That man smelled so good. I couldn’t get enough of him.
He reached over and helped me with my seat belt. “Ready?” he asked with a smexy smirk on his handsome face.
“Yeah, I'm ready.”
Then he started the car and shifted into gear. He pulled out of the garage and drove by the front of the castle. There was poor Dani, crying and pounding on the window beside the front door.
I gave her a sad wave and mouthed, “Bye-bye.”
Then I swallowed over the large, dry lump in my throat.
“She's fine.” Stefan grabbed my hand and brought it to his mouth to kiss it.
“She doesn't look fine.” I sighed and pursed my lips together. I mean, yes, of course I wanted to go out with Stefan. I'd never been to Italy—well, I'd never been anywhere. But I was here, now, and I really wanted to explore.
“Do you think Dani's not cared for?” he asked and kissed the back of my hand again.
I let out a short laugh and turned to him. “No, of course not. It looks like she has four adults caring for her most of the time.”
Stefan raised his eyebrows and nodded. “Exactly. And with the two of us, that makes six. Daniella lives a charmed life. Her father spoils her rotten, and when he doesn't, her uncle Nick steps in.”
I looked at Stefan and smiled. “Or her uncle Stefan.”
He chuckled and steered us onto the winding road. “Yes, or me. And now, you.”
His words made me all warm and mushy inside. Dani and I had bonded. And that was a special thing for a kid.
And an adult.
“We'll pick out a few things from the market we're going to. If we find anything with a rabbit on it, she'll forgive us instantly.”
“Oh, that makes sense. She loves that little stuffed bunny she carries around.”
He nodded. “She does.”
As we drove, Stefan pointed out certain places to me. Like the farm where he got his eggs. “Oh, can we go see the chickens sometime?”
Stefan turned his head to me and gave me a curious look. “You want to see the chickens? Why?”
I shrugged and smiled. “I love chickens. One time when I was a kid, I brought one home.” I laughed at the memory. “There was a free petting zoo that one of the charities had sponsored,” I said with a nod. “It was at the food bank. In their parking lot.”
We slowed down, and Stefan turned onto the side road. “The same one you went to when you were looking after me?” Stefan asked as we headed in the direction of the farm. Was he taking me there? Now?
“Uh, yeah. That's the one.” I frowned and asked, “Where are we going?”
He laughed and answered, “To see the chickens. My wife gets whatever she wants.”
And that was exactly what we did. We pulled up in front of a cute house. And older woman came rushing out. She spoke Italian to us. I smiled and relied on Stefan to translate what she was saying. He introduced us in Italian, but that was easy to figure out.
I reached my hand out to Vera, and she laughed heartily. Then she yanked me in and gave me a tight hug. “Ah, sei bella, Francesca!” Then she quickly grabbed my arm and pulled me to the back of her house.
We walked along a short path to where two chicken coops sat.
“Oh, my,” I said, smiling at all the chickens.
She let me into the first coop and showed me how to pick up a chicken.
But I already knew how. I bent over and followed one beautiful hen.
It didn't take me long to pick her up. Vera laughed, and so did I.
When I turned to show Stefan, he took a picture of me. Or, I guess, of us. The best part of it was the grin on his face. I wasn't sure I'd ever seen him smile like that before.
Vera showed me around the coop while the hens protested. She kept it clean. Well, as clean as a chicken coop could be, anyway. We didn't stay long, but before we left, she gave me a small basket of eggs.
And another really tight hug.
When we got back into the car, I said, “Should we drive back home? I wouldn't want these eggs to spoil in the car.” I looked down and touched one of them. It was still warm. I bet Vera had just gathered them this morning.
“Use them to bargain with at the market. Someone will make a trade for them.” He nodded at my purse. “I put some money in your wallet. In case you want to buy something.”
Ugh. That icky feeling came over me again when he started talking about money. “I don't need anything,” I told him quietly, feeling more than awkward.
“Are we going back there again?” He sighed and put his hand on my knee. “Did you get quiet because of the money?” His hand squeezed my thigh when I didn't answer.
I glanced over at him. “I don't know why you did that. I don't need anything, Stefan. And you've already given me too much as it is.”
He let out an exhausted breath. “And I'm going to give you more. And more. And after that,” his hand gripped me tighter, “even more. You're just going to have to get used to it.”
I shook my head and sighed. “No, I won't.”
He shifted the car and turned off the main road onto a narrower side road. “Do we have to go through this every time money comes up?”
I looked out the window at the beautiful pastures surrounding us. “No, because we never have to talk about money.”
He grumbled under his breath. “Honest to Christ. Most women would love it if I gave them money.”
I snapped my head to him. “Well, Stefan. I'm not most women. Maybe you should go find some other wife at the market to marry you. Throw her an extra fifty bucks and make her really happy.”
He let out a deep, sarcastic laugh. “Oh, wife. Keep talking.” He gave me a dark look. “Your ass is going to be a very pretty shade of pink when we get home.” He raised an eyebrow and went back to driving.
Yikes.