Page 22 of Ciao, Amore

“Triple-XL? I’m not even gonna touch that one. But there’s not going to be a next time. The minute we touched ground, that contract was back in full effect.”

“The contract? You use my fine ass as a big sex toy, and then you lawyer up on me about contracts?” he exclaimed.

Even teasing about it was making him stiffen again, thinking of how well she’d used him, indeed.

Dani laughed, shaking her head. “Your fine ass?Mingya, you think highly of yourself. But I said what I said. We had our moment at the Cliffs of Insanity, and that’s that. Back on track.”

“If you say so. If you can turn your back on all this after having a taste…” Nico drawled, leaning back and indicating his body. “Then go for it. Have fun with your toys. Maybe we should stock up on some batteries on the way there.”

Nico smirked at her, remembering her reaction to seeing his naked chest and his cock. No doubt at all, she really liked what she’d seen. Remembered in vivid detail how much she’d loved what she’d touched, how she’d gushed when she came on him. Her eyes ran down his chest to the front of his sweatpants. Leaning back, he made sure she had a good look. Dani shifted her gaze with a scoffing sound.

“Cool. I’ll get the batteries, and you can go get them quadruple-mega-extra-large condoms to use on someone else, like that chick your grandmother likes for you. What’s her name? Stefania?”

“Yeah, Stefania,” Nico said with a head shake. “Told you, she’s like another sister to me.”

“Right, another sister.” Dani gave him her sweetest, fakest grin, rolled her eyes, and got back to her gelato.

She turned her beautiful face up to enjoy the late-afternoon breeze skipping across the sidewalk. She appeared relaxed again, now that she’d gotten her concerns off her chest and laid down the law on him like a hammer on a confused nail.

Looking at the stubborn woman across from him at the table, Nico decided not only was that thing on the plane happening again but she would be the one who asked next time. In fact, he was going to turn her flame up so high that she’d end up begging him for it before this trip was over.

Game on.

HOME BY THE SEA

DANI

“Hey, sleepyhead. Almost there.”

Nico’s warm hand squeezed her thigh once, and Dani was instantly alert. She was a bit embarrassed to realize she was curled up next to his long length in the backseat of the hired car during their drive from Rome to Naples, and she moved away quickly. As she wiped the side of her face with a smile, Nico tapped her nose playfully.

“Have a good nap?” he asked.

“I did,” she said sheepishly. “I still don’t see why we couldn’t have taken the train.”

Arranging for a luxury SUV to drive all this way must have cost him. Nico had looked at her like she was crazy when she suggested the train as a cheaper alternative.

“Somebody would’ve had to come pick us up from the train station anyway.”

“But it’s expensive.”

“Dani. When I said I’d pay for everything, that also meant I decide what’s worth paying for.”

“That sounds a little controlling,” she answered, shooting him a look.

“That’s what my brothers and sister always say. Big brother syndrome. Can’t help it. But I have visited here pretty much every year of my life. Can you trust that I know what I’m doing, and I’ve got it handled, even if it makes me look like a sexy sexist?”

She breathed out slowly. “Terri and them say the same thing about me. Big sister who can’t stop telling everybody what to do. Sorry. You’re right, you know what’s up here, and I don’t. So do your thing, Sexist.”

“You forgot the sexy part.”

Dani ignored him and peered through the tinted window instead. They appeared to be on a quiet road lined with high stone walls on either side. This was the hilly seaside neighborhood of Posillipo, an exclusive enclave where some of Naples’s wealthiest residents lived.

Before she could take in any more details of the street in the darkness, Nico spoke to someone on his phone. The camera mounted on the wall turned to aim at him, and the gates that were right ahead of their car swung open. It was hard to read the plaque on the pillar above the callbox, but there was just enough light from the headlamps to make out the words “Villa D’Alessio.”

“Villa D’Alessio,” Dani murmured with a stretch. “I love that name.”

They drove through. As the black gates closed behind them, they passed between tall oak trees and slightly overgrown grass. Dani could only partially see the four-story square structure up ahead, made of tan stone with an arched door. As they drew near, the balcony on the second level and the many shuttered, arched windows of the house came into view. They pulled up to the lit-up front via a circular gravel driveway.

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