I took a deep breath through my nose, resisting the urge. I was a fucking adult and wouldn’t let a teenage girl’s provocation drive me to inappropriate actions. I released her as if she’d burned me. “This is my last warning, if you don’t stop this bullshit, I’ll resign.”
Her lips parted. “You wouldn’t.”
I leaned down. “Try me. I’ve been waiting for this chance for years.”
“If you resign, I’ll tell everyone you banged Mrs. Alfera.”
I lost it. I got in her face. “Do you want your daddy to kill me, Anna? Is that it? I’m sure if you ask him nicely, he’ll do his little girl the favor even without dragging Mrs. Alfera into the dirt with me.”
“I don’t want you dead, Santino,” she said quietly, for once earnest, which made her Chucky doll outfit even less fitting. “I want you to stop treating me like an annoying burden.”
“Then stop being one,” I muttered and closed the door in her face.
I took another deep breath. Anna would eventually give up.
Ever since the Christmas party, unwanted images of Santino banging Mrs. Alfera had popped into my mind.
Instead of putting me off, they’d made me want to experience Santino’s animalistic side myself. I could tell he was passionate and lacked control. I could only imagine what that would mean in the bedroom. Clifford’s words about me doing something about my virginity had only enforced my desire to experience pleasure before marriage. If Clifford gave me the green light, what stopped me?
Of course, I had to be discreet, not just because of Clifford. Mom and Dad would certainly not be happy if word about me getting naughty made the rounds.
Two major problems stopped me from pursuing my desire:
Constant surveillance through my family or Santino that prevented me from being alone with a guy.
Plus my unreasonable wish to experience sex with Santino.
I couldn’t get him out of my mind.
And he was a reasonable choice. After all, he lacked morals as his adventure with Mrs. Alfera proved and he was the only not-related man I was alone with all the time. He and I could get naughty without anyone ever finding out.
It was the optimal solution. I couldn’t fall in love with someone and have sex with them, after all. My future marriage with Clifford would make a relationship really difficult. Not to mention that I didn’t have time for a boyfriend. I was busy with school and my designs. Anything more than a fling was out of the question.
A few months later, when Clifford invited me to his end of school year party, I saw my chance. If Santino refused to see me as a woman, I’d have to settle for someone else, and who’d be better than my soon-fiancé?
Because Mom was desperate for me to hang out with him and possibly fall in love with him, Dad grudgingly allowed me to go to the party. Of course, he insisted Santino tagged along. Santino quickly left me to my own devices and sought a place in a corner with a beer and his phone, trying to stay undisturbed. Him looking like he did, and being a hot, a few years older guy, had girls swarming around him in no time of course. But he ignored their advances like he’d ignored mine all these months.
I headed over to Clifford who was talking to a very pretty dark-skinned girl. Like I’d told him, I wasn’t jealous. Nobody knew of our soon-to-be-announced engagement anyway.
When Clifford saw me coming his way, he excused himself and met me halfway. I could tell that he was drunk already, not just because he wrapped an arm around my shoulder. He’d never been this touchy-feely before. “So glad you could make it.”
“Me too,” I said. Santino’s expression had darkened at Clifford’s familiarity, but soon he disappeared from my view as more dancers got between us, and Clifford led me into the next room. The entire mansion seemed to have been cleared of furniture.
“I can’t believe your parents allow you to party in their house like that.”
“They are in our holiday house down in Florida. As long as the cleaning staff makes sure everything is squeaky clean once they return, they don’t care what I do.”
He led me toward his pool house, which was the only place where the party wasn’t going on.
Clifford strolled over to the pool table with me by his side and leaned against it. “And? Did you follow my advice?”
“Advice?”
“To get some action?”
I huffed. “It’s not easy to have fun when you’re me. My bodyguard makes sure fun is impossible. Did you see his sour face because he had to be at this party?”
“Can’t you tell him to give you some privacy now and then? When I want to be alone with a girl, I tell my bodyguard to give me some room and he does.”