Lucia
“You have a beautiful home,” I say as we walk through the door.
My words slice through the thick fog of sexual tension filling the space between us.
“Thank you. It’s been in my family for over two hundred years.”
“That’s a long time.”
“Yes, but the structure of the main house is even older. Maybe another two hundred or so years. No one could put a date on it. It was one of the old castles that was destroyed by a fire many moons ago. My family restored it and remodeled the structure for the most part. I’ve added a thing or two over the years.”
That explains why it looks like the old world meets the new.
“It’s beautiful.”
“I agree. I also grew up here. It’s my parents’ home. After they died, the house was locked up for a number of years. I’ve only recently moved back.”
“Oh, I can’t imagine this place locked up.”
“It shouldn’t have been. It’s the kind of house that’s supposed to be filled with life. That’s one reason I moved back ten months ago. Home is where the heart is. There’s something about this place that never left me.”
I like listening to him talk. There’s something soothing about the control in his voice. It still holds that aspect of authority and power, but that’s what makes it pacifying.
“I’ve never been anywhere like this.” I look around, and he cuts me a glance.
I allow myself to look at him, too, at how tall and handsome he is.
Christ… I have to get a hold of myself. Maybe I’m just more observant because I’m sure he’s about to do something to me, and the idea is turning me on.
“How often did you go to Portugal?” he asks.
“Every summer until I went to college. I visited my grandparents. They live by the sea, literally right beside it.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. My grandfather was a sailor. He was in the Navy and has to be near water. I kind of was the same, but I haven’t even been to the beach in years. There was a time when I lived for the water.” I’m talking too much, saying way too much and showing my nerves.
Alejandro gives me a weird look I can’t decipher then looks away when we turn the corner.
“I guess Mia was right in calling you a mermaid, then,” he says just before the awkwardness of silence can take over.
I smile at him. “It’s my hair. I’m sorry. She seemed really fascinated by it.”
“She’s not the only one.” The corners of his lips curl, and I find myself blushing like a damn schoolgirl. “This way.”
He leads me down the hallway, then I’m surprised when we turn into another I wasn’t previously shown. I knew, with the exception of Alejandro’s office, I wasn’t shown everything.
This house is too big to have done so in a little over an hour. Besides, there was a whole section to the back I’d seen when I was by the lake with Mia. This looks like it’s verging toward that section. There’s an older feel to it that’s almost creepy.
“This is where I want you to come and meet me in the evenings when you’re finished with Mia,” he adds, and goose bumps rush over my skin.
“Okay.”
This area must be so he can keep what we do in the evenings secret—private. I doubt it will be secret. There’s no one around now, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be. Besides, people aren’t stupid. If someone like Estelle sees me coming from here in the middle of the night, she’s going to know what we’ve been doing.
The last thing she’ll think is that we were talking about Mia. I’m also sure I’m not the only woman to have come here.
“Marcello will let you know if I want you to meet me in the city, or if I’ll be taking you anywhere for the evening.” His voice cuts into my thoughts, and his words throw me. I imagined staying here all the time.