More Than a Pretty Face (Vincitore Academy 1)

She'd Wanted This So Much

"Come in."

The maid opened the door and did not flinch at the sight of Re, shirtless, in sweat pants, giving them his back as he towel-dried his short black hair. The maid ushered Margherita inside, then smiled, bowed, and closed the door.

What the hell?

Did other people not react to shirtless Re the way she did? Was Margherita out of her mind?

She leaned back against the door, as far from him as she could. The room was enormous. Margherita could see a solid-wood desk, a bookcase stocked with paperbacks, a large telescope aimed at the sky, a punching bag, and, in an adjacent room off to the side, a king-sized bed. To her right, an ajar door revealed a bathroom, now dark, steam lingering on the sliver of mirror she could see.

Re said, "I called your home. I told your mom you'd be staying over tonight."

"You what?!"

Margherita was glad the statement was enough to justify her eyes popping out of her head, because shirtless Re would have done that regardless. He was lean and well-built, like a swimmer.

His hair was all wet and floppy on top. "I didn't want to lie to her. I told her you'd had a rough day at school and wanted to stay over here, and she seemed really happy for some reason." He knew the reason very well. "Good thing she didn't see you."

Mom couldn't wait for Margherita to marry into money, which was incredibly disappointing, but at least she wasn't hung up on her daughter having sex or a boyfriend, probably because Margherita had never been much interested, up until now.

"Staring much?" He asked.

Margherita snapped out of it, realizing she'd barely uttered two words since entering the room and was still ogling his toned abs.

She covered her face with one hand. "I'm sorry. I've had quite the day. You stargaze?" She nodded toward the telescope.

Re pulled on a black t-shirt. "I used to. I received the telescope for Christmas from my dad when I was thirteen. The card said that if I learned astronomy, we could stargaze together when he'd come home for my birthday." He walked to the desk and removed the cap from the lens, adjusting the focus. "Take a look."

Margherita walked closer, a little intimidated, and peered into the telescope. "Oh my god! Is that Saturn?!"

He smiled, leaning way too close to look through the lens. "Amazing, right?"

Margherita stepped away, self consciously. "Did you stargaze a lot with your Dad?"

Ouch. Re would have rather not talked about that, but somehow, Margherita drew the words out of him. He scoffed. "I haven't seen him at all since receiving the telescope. The gift wasn't even from him. Some staff member's idea."

This incredibly sad story reminded Margherita of how, sometimes, trying to make things better, people made them worse.

Re added, "He used to come for my birthday every year, but after the accident with Arcani, he stopped."

She said, "Well, it's amazing that you know some astronomy."

He smirked. "Honestly, I know a lot of astronomy."

Margherita rolled her eyes. "Where are my clothes?"

Re moved to his bed. "In the garbage."

"Are you insane? I can fix them, clean them! We own a dry cleaner—"

Sitting on the bed with his bare feet on the floor, Re lifted from the comforter a couple shopping bags. "I had Murani replace them. You don't exactly wear unique, one-of-a kind—"