Page 22 of Temptation
“But Greta is a sweet girl. She’s kind and genuine.”
“What are you saying, Axel? That I should stick to the wealthy sex deviants you send my way?”
The Lodge does a good job of quietly advertising my sex club. Wealthy guests who know the right person to ask and the right thing to say find themselves in a room in the hotel where my people vet them. If they’re the right kind of people, open and curious and willing to explore with like-minded people, then they get an invitation.
Axel doesn’t laugh at my joke. “Yes. Lorenzo, Greta’s too sweet for you.”
Jealousy spikes. “You got your sights on my girl.” My fist hits the table, and through the phone I hear Axel’s low chuckle.
“You really like her.”
“Yes,” I say simply. But like doesn’t come close to describing the feeling that pumps through my veins whenever I’m near her. The yearning to touch her, to have something with her I never thought I’d have, this thing she stirs inside me that makes me want to be a better man.
“Relax. I don’t have a thing for Greta. I’m just looking after my staff. She’s a good girl. Don’t corrupt her for your own amusement.”
“There is nothing amusing about my feelings for Greta.” How can this kind of pain, this turmoil be amusing?
“You really got it bad,” Axel says slowly, and I can imagine the grin on his face. “How you gonna appease the brother?”
Greta mentioned her brother, Hans, the overprotective ski instructor who doesn’t want her to grow up. Maybe he needs to be taught a lesson as much as my brother does. If you’re going to cage a woman, make it a metal one.
“I’ll handle the brother.”
“Whoa,” Axel says hastily. “He’s a good worker too, a good guy.”
It’s my turn to chuckle. “Why do you assume that when an Italian says he’ll handle someone, it means he’ll kill him.”
“I know your brother.”
Fair enough. It’s probably what Carlo would do.
“The brother will come around. I have no intention of hurting him.”
“Hmm.” Axel’s not convinced, and I don’t blame him. My family doesn’t have the best reputation on the mountain.
“Well, if you succeed in wooing someone as smart and sweet as Greta, then good luck to you. You’ll have to come up to dinner at The Lodge sometime.”
“I will, my friend.”
I hang up the phone and sit in silence for a moment.
Greta doesn’t have to rush back for work tomorrow. But her brother might be a problem. The more I keep her mind on other things, the better.
I switch the monitor on and lean back in my chair to watch her sleep.
11
GRETA
My eyes flicker open, and the first thing I see is the hard steel of the metal bars glinting in the pale morning light. My thoughts fly to last night and the brazen things I did. How Lorenzo’s gaze only made me bolder.
Instead of a blush creeping up my neck, a smile spreads across my face.
I could get used to this.
The thought pops into my head and I examine it, rolling the possibilities around in my mind. I still don’t know much about Lorenzo, but I know no man will ever make me feel the way he does. When I’m with Lorenzo, I’m sexy, the most confident version of myself. Yet there’s so much darkness in him, so much about him that I don’t know.
I sit up in bed and find the door the cage wide open. How thoughtful of him.
