Small Time Jump... 3 days later
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Four days, so far. Four days in the middle of the ocean, Teresa assumed, in the middle of nowhere, on a Yacht.
Her lips curled into a smile, her eyes still closed, not fully awake but she was woken enough to remember his words.
I am man enough to love you, but I am not strong enough to lose you.
She didn't quite understand why he chose to use the word man and then strong. Man enough to love you. Maybe it meant being Luciano, referring to himself as a man, he didn't, he wasn't able to be as confident and open with confessing his love. Because as a man, or as Luciano, it was hard to do that because he was a Don. That it didn't come easy to a man like him.
But I am not strong enough to lose you, He had told her. And it was quite clear what the messages were. He could be a man, a Don, anything but it didn't matter if he had an entire powerful business, with men behind him, with a huge house, with the ability to be feared just by the mere thought of his name, to the right people, and still with all this power, with all this strength he had to his name, it wouldn't be there without her.
Two simple fragments of a sentence, brought her so much joy, brought her shock and a bundle of nerves she couldn't seem to shake.
Opening her eyes, they were on the white wall in front of her. The brightness from the sun shone through the windows.
A great day.
Grabbing his arm softly, she attempted to lift his arm, but instead found herself even more trapped as he instantly, almost like it was an instinct, pulled her tighter back into the frame of his naked body as were hers.
Sighing, she managed to turn around, and stare at his face. His eyes still closed, his breathing steady, still asleep.
It was an instinct.
She ran her fingers through his tousled hair from yesterday. The thought made her smile even more. One thing she hoped for, that when they got back home, nothing would change.
Luciano blew a breath of air, making her giggle and his eyes to open, a grin appearing on his face. She let out a small squeak, unexpected by the hard pull of her body and she were now laying on top of him, giggling as she laid her arms on his chest, laying her chin on those arms whispering, "Morning"
Luciano raised his hand, using his thumb to brush a strand of hair from her face and he flipped them over, making her laugh only making him even more jubilant, but now awake. "It's good morning" He grinned, being charismatically smart and she brought his head down slowly, their lips almost touching as she whispered, "Good Morning"
And her lips were loved by his.
And briefly she kissed him once and then again before he held her face still, taking her lips within his own and slowly with passion, he sucked on them, softly sliding his lips off hers, pulling away.
"A good morning indeed" She giggled, pushing off him and got up. Luciano laid back, his hands behind his head as he watched Teresa walk into the bathroom, his smirk widening, staring at the movement of her ass at every step she took.
Three full days, He thought. Three days of no phone calls, no text messages, no Mafia, and no arguing. Perfect.
Then the sex, sensationally incredible.
Sex everyday, in a row and he didn't mind it not once because he couldn't seem to not want her every second of his new meaningful life.
But it wasn't sex that made the short vacation a memorable experience. It was every minute she spent with him. Every laugh, every giggle she made. It was peacefully laying down with her back against his chest, reading Dante's books. It didn't matter what book she read to him, he only was interested because her voice made it worth listening to.
It was about how he would cradle her body in her sleep. It was about them just being somewhere where they could love each other without the comments, opinions of anyone but them. And surprisingly, it never got boring.
Soon the week would be over and they would be going back home. Home...
Suddenly that word didn't feel how it used to. Before home was whatever place he bought, wherever he lived. Just a bunch of materials being temporarily used until he grew tired of it, but now, home was where Teresa was.
She was his home.
Walking into the restroom, he saw her brushing her teeth and she raised his toothbrush over her head, already knowing, causing him to chuckle when he saw the toothpaste already there. Something she's begun to do. The entire time brushing their teeth, his arms were wrapped half way around her, continually, rubbing on her back, thighs, stomach.
After he rinsed his mouth out, Teresa waited patiently until he did, he brought his hand up underneath her jaw, wrapped around her throat and pulled her head back for him to place a lingering kiss on her lips, wanting to hear the sound their lips make afterwards. It wasn't a real kiss if the sound wasn't heard, at least to him.
He grinned, hearing it and she brought his head back down, briefly kissing him again.
"So what's today? JetSki? Jacuzzi? Vampire shows?" She smiled, questioning and he stared down at her, not saying a word.
After their shower, Teresa was standing in the mirror, fixing the loose black dress she wore. Luciano was too busy putting his gold cufflinks on. One had the letter L and the other R. Luciano Rossi. He was also wearing black, a fancy silky dress shirt though, unmistakably trying to match her.
She bent over, putting light mascara on still not knowing where they were going, though she knew they were no longer going to be on the yacht. Luciano turned his head, his eyebrows furrowing as he saw her putting on mascara and he cleared his throat, making her stop and turn to look at him.
"You don't need makeup Tesoro" He took the mascara from her hands and she rolled her eyes, turning back around.
"You are not going to be that controlling man that tells his woman what she can and can't wear." He tilted his head, setting the mascara down.
" Unfortunately that's what you signed up for. But I would never deprive you of your right to express yourself, as long as it is not disrespecting me. But I was not going to demand you not to wear makeup, I only was suggesting you are better without. You are naturally beautiful and in my opinion, that's the only beautiful that counts"
He stood in front of her, at a distance, but just a reach away and he stared down at her as she had to look up, to meet his incandescent, truthful eyes. Even though his words cast a deep spell of passion over her, still she wanted to wear it. Because she wore makeup so much, everyday at the club that it was a habit.
Besides, he spent all that money on it, letting it not go to waste.
Not knowing how to respond, she chose not to because she knew he wouldn't have felt offended or anything behind her lack of response. She grabbed her dark matte lipstick and just as fast, it was out her hand and tossed into the trash, her hair whipping as she spun around to see it land and she spun back around to glare at Luciano who only smirked, satisfied.
"Why would you do that?" As Luciano stared at her, his gaze dropped to her lips where unmistakably the lipstick would have covered. And for some reason, her words didn't get to him. Her lips somehow carried more weight than what was coming out of them. They were begging to be abused by him.
And so he grabbed her hair roughly, jerking it to the side as his lips slammed onto hers. The first thought that swarmed through his mind was how they tasted. There was always a fruity essence on her lips and if she had worn lipstick she would have tasted differently. Lipstick didn't belong on her lips like he did.
Her lips made him feel like he would go up in smoke just by her taste, just by her touch. Teresa cupped his face, feeling the harshness, the brushing and ache of her jaw caused by Luciano's lack of mercy towards her lips. His head tilted, both his thumbs now on her cheeks, deepening the flammable kiss.
Not able to accept his brutality, she gripped his hair hard, pushing hard against his lips, an attempt to gain some control, but it left as he lifted her up onto the dresser, her back harshly hitting the mirror, her hard breathing heard as things fell to the floor.
"Luciano" She sighed, as his lips touched her jawline.
"We're going to-"
He shushed her, placing a small kiss on her ear. "I know, unfortunately you are just too damn irresistible" He chuckled, pulling back and briefly kissing her.
Then suddenly she winced as she felt her breasts begin to ache, or at least it felt that way. She pushed Luciano softly, bringing forth his concern as she pulled down her dress, staring at her breasts in the mirror and rubbing them. Her head tilted, her eyes squinting. "Are you hurt? Was it me?" He questioned and she shook her head.
She turned around and Luciano stared at her confused as to why she was showing him her breasts. "Do they look swollen to you?" She questioned and he tilted his head, seeing the slight difference. He did pay more attention to her body than a man should have. Maybe obsessed with it.
"A little. Why? Do they hurt?" She nodded.
"Just a bit. Maybe it's from you constantly biting me and-"
He pulled her by her waist, his head leaning down and his lips touched her breast. Showering them with small kisses, soft kisses. She giggled, running her fingers through his hair.
-
Adriano huffed, throwing his head back on his pillow as he heard Rolo repeatedly barking. Usually Rolo was asleep when he was so he didn't hear much barking, but now it was annoying. But he realized, the barking wasn't as close as it should have been.
That caused him to jerk up and out of the bed quickly. He looked and saw the cage was open and he groaned, wondering how a ten week old puppy got out.
Walking out the room, yawning and rubbing his face, he neared the barking and walked into the room to see Rolo running after Laura, who was trailing his treats behind her back.
Adriano chuckled, finding it cute and nice that she seemed happy since her appearance 3 days ago. Though he did appreciate her taking him out to play, he wasn't exactly okay with it. Okay with her doing it without his permission.
To Adriano, raising a puppy was like raising a baby, only the mama could choose who and who not they could be around. Teresa didn't know Laura and as far as Adriano knew, he didn't exactly know her either, not anymore. He knew one thing, Teresa wouldn't appreciate letting a stranger be around Rolo.
Laura stopped, huffing and puffing and Rolo jumped up and down for the treat on his hind legs, his forepaws on her legs causing her to giggle. She took out the treat, handing it to him and he ran to the side of the room, and her eyes finally met Adriano's. She smiled, walking up to him, brushing her hair back.
"Hey! Sorry for waking you, he was barking when I woke up so I took him to the potty. We just started bonding from there" She laughed, turning her head to look at Rolo. " Thank you." He said.
" But he's not my dog, at least not the actual owner." He said and her eyebrows furrowed, but went back up like they never went down as she said, " Oh. Who's is he?"
He folded his arms, not sure if he should say. Still he wasn't certain that Laura was who she was before the trauma and didn't know what could be considered safe to say.
"A friend of mine" A friend, I am very in love with, yet she doesn't love me back because she's too in love with the man you're in love with, He thought. He smirked a little, realizing he did it and not in his mind, causing her eyebrows to raise in question.
"The model?" She questioned and it was his turn for his eyebrow to raise and his head to tilt. "Oh. I was bored so I was kind of on your laptop. And I saw the photos, she's pretty" She said, scratching her hair, averting her eyes like she's been caught. Password Adriano, He internally reminded himself.
It wasn't a business laptop so there was no need, until now.
" Where is she exactly?" She said, looking down at her fingers, her voice a little shy, weirdly to him.
" Well umm...on a trip. Sort of"
-
The car stopped, Luciano opening her side of the door after he got out and she smiled, laying her head on his shoulder, his arm around her waist as they stared at the tall building in front of them. She let her eyes look around, seeing the Christmas light shaped trees, a bunch of green healthy bushes surrounding white statues. It was a very green place. Not to mention she could see what looked like a pond or river from a distance.
Luciano turned her body around and her eyes widened as she saw the tall, huge white building. It was decorated with a turquoise and gold theme, ancient she's sure of. Many windows , a patch of fresh green grass on either side, the entrance filled with people, hanging around, seeing most with cameras.
"Borghese Gallery. Holds some of my favorite paintings. I thought it would be a good way for you to understand me more. Enjoy something I like, I admire" He said, as if he were speaking in a speech, and he rubbed her arms, kissing her cheek as she continued to stare at it.
She grabbed his hand, threading her fingers within his and turned around to face him.
"What's changed?" She asked and he removed his hand from hers, laying them on her waist.
"Time. Time changed everything." Briefly he kissed her forehead and he wrapped his arm around her waist once more, walking towards the entrance together.
From just entering the galleria, Luciano was greeted by many , and they also respected her enough to greet her as well. Or maybe because they knew the Don of Rome would cut off their faces if otherwise, She foolishly thought, though it was a pretty good reason.
However, it did not bother her because soon her and Luciano were walking around, her heels against the marbled floor.
It was chilly and when Luciano noticed, he draped his coat over her arms and she pulled her arms through, Luciano right back by her side.
He hasn't removed his arm from around her since. They stood, staring at a painting of a naked woman. She was fairly white with blondish curls in her hair that were halfway engulfed by the dark background.
Venus
The title read.
The woman sat on what looked like a table, only a piece of it being shown, the rest overshadowed by the darkness as well. This woman was naked, and what looked like a blue shirt or silky mini blanket tied around her arm. Her gaze was at a particular thing but you could see the tenderness, the subtle melancholy expression. Her shaped body was highlighted in certain spots by a portrayed sun that didn't exist.
"A inspired painting, not the original" Luciano said, not turning away from the painting, instead his eyes moved over it, observing closely.
"The original was titled The Birth of Venus, by an Italian painter, Sandri Botticelli"
She didn't miss how his lips curled into a smirk in acknowledgement the painter was Italian.
"Cocky much?" She giggled and he chuckled, shaking his head.
"Have you seen Leonardo da Vinci paintings? Was one of the best Italian painters."
She rolled her eyes, Luciano obviously seeing it but made no note to comment on it.
"Venus is depicted as a symbol of love and beauty. The story goes she was more so a goddess, born of the sea, made land by the winds that blew there. She was met by a young woman, identified as one of the Graces and she held out a cloak covered in flowers. You see Italians like myself knows her as Venus, while the Greeks, she was known as Aphrodite" Teresa stared at the side of his face, his muscular jaw line, she wanted to trace with light kisses. He seemed so focused, comfortable.
As if sensing she were watching him, he turned his head, Teresa turning hers causing him to chuckle and pull her close kissing her temple. " And she stands there naked, in the center luminously. Because she wanted to draw attention to herself, displaying her beauty."
Luciano apparently talked more when he was explaining paintings than he would any other day because he had a lot to say and Teresa didn't mind it. He didn't speak that often, so it was nice that he did. And she listened to it all, Luciano definitely making sure of himself as he questioned her on multiple occasions, asking her to relate back to him on what he said. Sometimes she often did get distracted staring at him and he knew.
They spent maybe three hours or longer there and Teresa began to say her feet were hurting from walking around, so they decided to leave. But she saw an ice cream shop and the thought went away, and Luciano followed her amused. She got a simple vanilla, Luciano getting the same saying he was a simple person though to Teresa, he was anything but simple.
* * *
She laid on his shoulder in the car, watching him eat his ice cream with a spoon, it caused her to giggle many times. She had a cone, apparently licking Ice cream was something he didn't see himself doing. She even tried getting him to lick hers multiple times but he never broke, but he did laugh.
And then they were simply sitting in the backseat, Teresa's back facing him, sitting in his lap with his arms around her, laying back and watching the night life. She realized how easy it was to be alone. Instead of going home and problems appearing after another because he would be back to being a Don.
Teresa played with his fingers, smiling.
"How did you know you loved me?" She asked quietly, softly and Luciano smirked, but she couldn't see it.
"How did you know you loved me?" He questioned, mocking her and she huffed saying " Stop doing that"
He chuckled, shaking his head, "Stop asking questions"
"Luciano," She groaned.
"Tesoro" He said back and she huffed, letting it go, clearly he wasn't going to answer. She got up, his arms falling and she walked over to the other side, her hands in the pockets of his coat, her mind racing with all thoughts.
Luciano huffed, standing up and walking up behind her. Standing close behind her, he trailed the back of his hand down her arm, and took its place on her waist. "You are able to break my character" He said and she turned around in his arms, her eyes full of questions.
"Tesoro I've told you before I am a Don. You may or may not be aware of the things I've done, but I'm sure you could imagine the brutality of my position. I have done many things, devious things that made me the ruthless Don I am today. And I've said before I couldn't find the line between the little boy my mother raised. Luciano Rossi and the Don my father made me to be. Don Rossi. Don of Rome.
As much as I hate to say, it's not truthfully a character. A character just pretends to be who I am. Do you know how you are able to truthfully tell if a man is in love?" He brushed her hair and she shook her head, not being loved by any man except for him.
" I've learned that I was becoming less and less of a vicious person when you arrived. I didn't change in a day Teresa, I'm not completely a different person and I never will be. But I've changed. For the first time I've taken off what I thought was my priority, the business, for you, for me. For us. For the first time, I've given in to you, given in to a woman. Because of you Tesoro, I am starting to see the line between being a man and being a Don. Being Luciano and being Don of Rome. Prioritizing you and prioritizing the business."
Her eyes lit, rising at the mention of her being his priority.
"I knew I loved you because I never felt the need to change myself for anyone. Anyone but you. Because you can't claim a treasure as valuable as you, if you don't deserve it. If you do not work for it. If you truly love someone, as I love you, you do whatever it takes to assure they're yours forever and that means learning to be more patient with you, considerate and understanding your feelings, being more open to conversations like this, though I'm sure you won't hear anything like this from me for a very long time" He chuckled, Teresa laughing to as her tears fell from her face.
He wiped her tears with his thumb.
"So sensitive Tesoro" He chuckled and she punched him softly. "Kiss me" She laughed and he leaned down, her arms around his neck as her eyes closed and felt the softness of his lips.
-
Adriano stood in his kitchen, staring at the back of Laura's head while she was watching Tv. Still, he couldn't believe she was here, like a long dream. But she was on his couch. And yet, he couldn't forget that she was pregnant with Luciano's baby, until she wasn't.
He never asked her how it happened because he didn't want her to relieve the painful memory, but he did want to know. He wanted to kill everyone who laid a hand on her.
Before she was gone, before she was falsely declared dead, she was basically his little sister, though she could definitely handle herself, even without Luciano. She still was his sister in his eyes, on the surface, but he wasn't sure who she was inside. He was grateful, happy that she was alive and back home, but some part of him didn't think like that.
What would happen when Luciano gets home, when he sees her? When he hears what she has to say. He knew one thing, it wasn't going to be good.
-
Teresa giggled as Luciano threw her from out his arms, onto the bed. The soft, silky fabric of the blanket.
They were at one of the luxurious hotels in Rome. He decided to spend the last 3 days there. Better, he paid for the entire floor so no one could disturb them, so they could be completely alone. Teresa crawled on the bed, taking a few stacks out of the duffel bag and fanned herself, grinning, with the money.
She saw his phone and he saw it as well, turning around and she rolled her eyes because she knew what he wanted.
"Go ahead and check in. I know you want to" She laughed, tapping on his back.
He turned around, raising his eyebrow.
"C'mon. I know you want to. I won't get mad" She said, encouraging him but he took his phone out of her hand and threw it back in the bag, shaking his head.
" Do you have any place on your mind you want to go? " He questioned, rubbing up and down her waist and she grinned, shaking her head saying, " No. I want you... " She slid his hands up, her dress rising as well, laying his hands over her breasts.
"To massage my breasts" She smiled and he chuckled, throwing his back, very amused.
"Me? Give you a massage?" He grinned, showing off his pearly white teeth and she nodded. "You like touching them so much"
"They're mine. I can do what I want whenever I want with them, Tesoro" He smirked, cupping her breasts, his thumb rubbing over her nipples.
"If they are yours, you know what's mine?" She tilted her head and she didn't allow him to respond before she ran her hand down, cupping him through his pants biting her lip and staring at him through her lashes in a seductive way.
"I don't remember negotiating that" He chuckled, removing his and her hands and she leaned back, raising her eyebrow, Luciano now focused on the exposed part of her thigh, up to her v line, realizing she wasn't wearing panties. She noticed and she scooted up the bed, the dress rising up even more as she asked,
"We're negotiating?
He nodded, his eyes still focused and then his gaze removed and found its way to her face with a smirk. "What kind of businessman do you perceive me to be?"
Teresa decided to point out that he was getting the short end of the deal by noting, in her opinion, that he only had one treasure to bargain with, meanwhile she had three. At least three she was putting on the table.
Luciano, though clearly not believing it because he reminded her of just how she came without the involvement of intercourse and she threw her head back, laughing.
" I want to negotiate something else" He nodded, undoing his cufflinks as the unexpected words flew from his mouth so casually, " I'm all ears baby" And he tensed, Teresa raising her eyebrow hearing the word baby. Never has he ever called a woman that.
" Oh I'm baby now? " She tilted her head, clearly teasing him and he grinned, relaxing and shaking his head.
"Depends," He said, pulling his shirt off.
"On?" She questioned and he took off his shoes saying, "How fast you can shut up and let me have my way with you" He chuckled, crawling between her legs and placing a kiss on her cheek. She giggled, placing her hand on his chest, but he grabbed it, placing it above her head. "You always want sex"
He smirked, kissing her ear asking, "Is this complaining I hear?" He raised up, raising his eyebrow and she shook her head frantically. "Never. Just pointing out a fact"
"What's this negation?" He questioned, he asked, lifting up, hovering over her. She adjusted her head, laying on the pillow, staring at him, her eyes searching his before she allowed the words to fly, " Move me in your room"
Surprisingly, his happy face didn't falter like she thought it was going to. Instead he smirked, "Done" Her eyes widened.
"If" Then they dimmed and she frowned asking what. " If you promise to never allow me to go to sleep without you in my arms. Even if we're arguing, I can't stand it Tesoro" His eyes showed great sincerity, genuine, showing he really meant this. She used her free hand to cup his face.
" Promise. Now kiss me"
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Well they're still on the right track huh? Aweee so cute. Luciano you are doing real good.
Anyways if you liked this Chapter vote please and thank you 😊