I kept reading my emails even when Dante served our egg whites, sautéed vegetables, and the single piece of Italian bread.
Sapphire didn’t wait and started to eat.
Nicole sent me a lot of emails last night, updating me on orders and scheduled appearances. Apparently, the fabric makers in Turkey were asking for more money since we’d increased our orders so significantly. I didn’t care about the money, but I refused to be a pushover. I responded to her emails and didn’t touch my food.
“Why did you want me to join you if you’re going to ignore me?”
My eyes slowly lifted to her face, shocked that she would speak to me that way. “That’s my business, not yours.” I looked at her fierce blue eyes and remembered the way they looked when they were locked on to my gaze. I loved their brightness as well as their darkness. She’d never looked so beautiful as when her mouth was stuffed with my come. Now she sat under the bright sun, looking like an Italian woman every man would want to keep at their villa. Even if I didn’t pick out her clothes or buy her makeup, she would still be beautiful. That innate perfection enhanced the clothes I gave her.
“It is my business when I could have kept sleeping…”
“It’s eight. You shouldn’t be sleeping.”
“Not everyone wakes up at the crack of dawn.”
“No. But no one should sleep in past eight.” I set my phone aside since she wasn’t going to let me do any work while I sat across from her. Besides, looking at her was a lot more entertaining than staring at my phone. I grabbed my mug of hot coffee and took a drink, letting the warm caffeine make its way into my stomach.
“Do you swim every morning?”
“When it’s warm.”
“What do you do in the winter?”
“The gym. But I prefer to be outside.” I drank my coffee again and then took a bite of my omelet. “I expect you to exercise every day.”
“Every day?” she asked incredulously.
“Yes.”
“That’s a little ridiculous.”
“It’s good for you.”
She added a little cream to her coffee and stirred it with her spoon. “I’ll do it five days a week, but not on weekends. That’s the best you’re going to get from me, so don’t push it.”
Five days was acceptable. “You’re forgetting that I’m in charge here. And that’s something you shouldn’t forget.” I’d walked into her bedroom last night and fucked her throat so hard that I knew she was sore today. I did it because I could. I could do anything I wanted. She, on the other hand, had nothing.
“You’re in charge of most things. But not everything.”
If she cooperated with me most of the time, I supposed that was enough. What I wanted most out of her was sexual satisfaction. As long as she delivered, I could put up with the rest of her attitude. “You don’t want me to push you, but don’t make the mistake of pushing me.” I picked up the newspaper and looked at the headlines, knowing she was staring hard at my face.
“Are you going to Milan today?”
“Yes.”
“Can I come along?”
I was keeping her under the radar for the time being. “No.”
“You want me to stay here all day?”
“Yes.”
She looked over the hillside, her hair moving slightly with the breeze.
“When I get home tonight, you’ll have dinner with me—and you’ll be wearing the lingerie that Dante will set on your bed.” I looked up and waited for an argument, wondering if she would defy me. Last night, she took all of my cock inside her small mouth, saliva dripping everywhere as she fought the urge to gag. I’d never forget the erotic scene, the way she looked into my eyes as she took the skull-pounding.
She didn’t make an argument. “I hope you will make better use of me as time goes on. If I sit around all day, I’ll get fat.”
“Which is why you need to exercise every day.”
“Working out every day is unnatural. I won’t do it.” She drank her coffee then cut into her omelet. “I’d rather be on my feet all day doing something. I could always help you at the studio, even when you aren’t using my body for a new design. I’m a smart girl with a lot of potential.”
“Do smart girls get mixed up in the mess you made?” I said coldly.
Her eyes narrowed. “My brother’s actions were out of my control.”
“But everything that came after that was in your control.” My biggest fear was something happening to my sister. Vanessa was so beautiful that even I couldn’t deny it. She had the elegance of a queen and the smile of a supermodel. Anytime I made a friend growing up, they were always smitten with her.
It was fucking annoying.
My life would be so much easier if she were ugly.