The weather in Italy was fantastic. Already, Isabella could see herself taking long leisure swims and sun-basking. A smile appeared on her face as they made their way down the steps of the private jet straight into the cool air conditioned car waiting for them. The man who came to get them smiled kindly to her and Liam. He had beautiful olive colored skin and his dark hair glimmered in the sun. His eyes crinkled in the corners as he spoke to them with a polite smile in his face.
“Welcome to Florence, signor Vergil and signorina Stanford. Signor Miguel is looking forward to having you at his estate for the weekend. My name is Alesio Miguel and I'm signor Miguel's younger brother.”
As he talked, the car made its way out of the airport into the ancient city. It was a beautiful and lovely city with so many activities going on. The Florence town squares were full of people enjoying the beautiful weather and listening to folk-music from several street musicians. Isabella found herself longing to get out of the car and take part in the celebrations.
Flocks of birds gathered under the ancient monuments crooning and feeding from the various people around the big fountains.
Alesio took time to explain what Florence was all about. He stated the fact that the tourism industry has grown rapidly for the past few years that vehicular movement around the city was problematic and so they were considering re-establishing the trams that were once there but were removed when the car became popular.
“But its a push-pull situation because the residents of Florence, although they need the trams, they believe that it will devalue the ancient buildings rich in history and hence reduce the number of tourists coming into the city.” Alesio concluded.
“The city is quite densified and the only way it would work is if it has an efficient transport system.” Liam stated looked out the window.
Alesio grinned. “Signor Miguel has been behind the re-introduction of trams. You see, before we moved to Siena to la Casa della Fortuna and its olive plantations, we grew up in a small studio apartment right here in Florence. Nostra madre worked in a flower shop and we went to school in Florence. Back then, it was a hard life but now Florence is flourishing and signor Miguel wants to make sure that it continues to flourish. The city has many memories for us, both good and bad.”
“It's a beautiful city, signor Alesio.” Isabella smiled excitedly at Alesio.
Alesio returned the smile and inclined his head to her lightly. “Grazie, signorina Stanford.”
Liam turned to them then Isabella felt the warm hand over his. This was the first time Liam showed his affection towards her in front of anyone! Isabella felt her face go red and when she turned to Alesio, she saw the knowingly look he had in his eyes.
La Casa della Fortuna was a spectacular building! Isabella took in the three story stone house with immaculate gardens and the impressive fountain in front. The large front double door opened and a tall, well built and rather handsome man came out. He grinned speculatively at both her and Liam as he came down the granite steps to greet them.
“Liam Vergil!” he clasped Liam's hand tightly then turned to her and his face changed. “Signorina Stanford, the newspapers and magazines have not done you justice. Welcome to Italy.”
Isabella's cheeks heated up as Carlos Miguel took her cool hand into his and placed a kiss on either cheeks.
“Nice to meet you, signor Miguel.” Isabella grinned.
“You must be tired from your journey.” Carlos helped Isabella up the steps with Liam and Alesio close behind. “We have prepared your rooms upstairs and I'll get my housekeeper to make a light snack for you before dinner at the terrace overlooking the olive plantation.”
“Mi scusi per il ritardo!” A very pretty young woman came rushing into the large foyer with a white apron around her beautiful body and her black hair tied in a loose pony behind her. Her dark eyes shone with amusement as Carlos pulled her into an embrace and kissed her soundly. “Oh goodness, Carlos! Behave in front of the guests!” she chided playfully and blushed adorably.
“This is my wife, Valencia. She personally wanted to make sure that today's dinner is exquisite! I think I should have guests over every time.” Carlos looked down at his petite wife who elbowed him lightly on his side.
Isabella couldn't help but enjoy the playfulness of the couple. They looked happy and in love, something that she longed to have with Liam...if only he would let her in. All this while as she watched the couple, she had no idea Liam's eyes were on her.
“I'll take you to your rooms. Carlos, Ernesto is waiting for you in your study. Alesio, Vicente would like to see you at the stables--”
“Stables?” Isabella's head jerked up with excitement. She looked at Liam who gave her a small smile.
“Certamente! We have a number of good horses too.” Valencia clasped her hands together.
“I would love to see your horses.” Isabella couldn't contain herself and she made Carlos and Alesio laugh.
Liam placed his hand around her shoulders and pulled her into the safety of his side. “Patience, Belle. You need to rest and get used to the climate first before you can go galloping into the sunset.”
“Come, come!” Valencia made her way up the stone stairs to the second floor. The windows were big and arched and a cool breeze drifted across the corridor. She took them to the far end of the gallery corridor with numerous doors on one side and the arched windows facing the olive plantation on the the other. “Here we are.” she opened the first double door to beautifully furnished room with a big bed, a sitting area, two large vanities on one wall, a dressing table and a book shelf. It had sliding doors leading to a balcony that had two inclining chairs overlooking the gardens. There were two more doors at one end. One led to the beautiful tiled bathroom and the other led to...the next room.
“This is your room, signorina Stanford and right through here...” she opened the door and led them to a similar room also with a fabulous view and a cool atmosphere. “...is signor Vergil's room. I hope the rooms are to your liking.”
“We love them, grazie.” Liam asnwered quickly.
Valencia smiled warmly and excused herself. When she left Isabella ran her hand over the smooth varnished table. “I wonder why we have adjoining rooms?”
“Because I told them I'm bringing a special woman with me.” Liam approached her and pulled her into his embrace.
Isabella's eyes widened. “But you said he specifically asked me to come because he heard of the partnership!”
Liam shrugged his broad shoulders. “It was the only way to get you to come with me. I can't stay away from you, Isabella. I'll go crazy just wondering what you are up to if I left you alone for the weekend.”
Isabella shook her head in disbelief. “I don't know why I trust you so much. You are such a liar.”
Liam nibbled at her lower lip. “I'm not a liar, I'm a strategist.”
“No matter what word you use to soften it, the fact still remains you lied to get me here.” Isabella felt her body melt against Liam's as his arms dug out her cream color light linen blouse from her khaki cotton pants and his fingers came into contact with her warm skin.
“What matters is that it worked.” He purred against her lips and claimed them as his body flushed snuggly against hers.
A moan escaped her lips as Liam kissed the thoroughly and turned her brain into mushed potatoes. “We should stop. Someone could come knocking at any time.”
Liam broke the kiss and his lips trailed down her jaw and neck. “You're right...but I know one place they won't bother us.”
Isabella giggled. “Where?”
“Come.” he took her hand and led her to the bathroom.
After a long luxurious bath, among other things...Liam and Isabella had some nice expensive wine with toasted bread pieces spread with olive oil and sprinkled with some nice tasting herbs outside Liam's balcony. There were also some fruit slices and cold meats.
Liam watched Isabella eat and wanted to kiss her lips again. From the moment they landed, Isabella's eyes came to life. She was ecstatic with what was happening around her. He was glad for it because deep down inside he knew of the storm that about to pass! Just thinking about what they left back home made his stomach churned uncomfortably. He wondered if Isabella was still going to trust him after she discovered what he did. The rumors Audrey started were partly true and mostly false but everyone had a different way of translating situations. He tried damage control and sent out his best people to prevent that folder from reaching the media but it was already too late. It was a good thing he took Isabella away from there before the news went viral.
Audrey thought she had won this round, that she was able to bring him down with her but she had no idea who she was messing around with and he was going to prove it to her. He had his men on standby for the last resort on the damage control.
It was about time everyone knew their places in the business world. It was about time everyone learned just who he was and what he was capable of.
“A penny for your thoughts?” Isabella's beautiful voice broke through his dark thoughts. He looked up at her and couldn't understand how she could only see the good side of things, how she avoided all the bad stuff. He wished he was more like her but he had a past that made him the way he was.
“I would not want to break the serenity of this moment with work problems.” He sighed lightly.
“It's funny that you seem to carry more weight at the company than even me and Stefan combined.” Isabella tilted her head to the side and studied him.
What did she see when she looked at him? He wondered. “I love the distraction.”
A small frown appeared on her forehead. “A distraction from what?”
“From myself.” Liam felt a familiar tightening in his chest as he thought of life before entering the business world. If it wasn't for Thomas' patience and supervision over a damaged yet promising young man, Liam would not have been where he was.
“I have yet to know your story, Liam.” Isabella mused lightly as she popped a fruit into her mouth and chewed it slowly. “I only know about who you are now but not where you are from.”
A sad smile appeared on Liam's face. Would you look at me the same way if you find out where I'm from, Belle? He wanted to ask. “There isn't a happily-ever-after story for me, Belle.”
Isabella nodded. “I know. Something must have happened to you when you were younger to shape you to the man that you are now.”
Liam laughed bitterly. Isabella knew more about him than she realized. “Let's leave my melodramatic life for another day.”
“Let's play a game.” Isabella dusted her hands and sat up, the wind caressing her dark curls like a lover's touch. “You don't have to tell me about your life, I'll guess and you can tell me if I'm cold, warm, hot or sizzling, okay.”
A wicked glint entered Liam's eyes. “You are definitely sizzling, Belle.”
Isabella rolled her eyes and started. “Okay, we'll start with your parents.”
Suddenly, Liam didn't want to play the game anymore. The demons at the back of his head raised their heads and stretched, waking up from their long slumber.
“Your father was not the best dad in the world.” Isabella stated.
Liam looked down at his wine for a moment. 'Not the best dad in the world' was putting it mildly. He sighed and answered. “Sizzling.”
Isabella grinned with satisfaction but she had no idea of the force she was unleashing by opening up the dam of memories and let them flood into his head! He took a very long time securing that dam and he wanted to forget but Belle didn't know that nor could he tell her.
“Uhm—your mother loved you unconditionally.”
Liam felt his heart twist in his ribs. His mother loved him even more than she loved herself. She was weak and very obedient but whenever Cuthbert Vergil threatened Liam with physical violence, Arnie defended him with her very soul. “Sizzling.” he answered quietly.
Isabella must have seen the sad and painful expression on his face because her smile faded and it was replaced by concern. “I could stop if you want to. I can see you are not happy talking about it.”
Liam reached forward and clasped his hands over hers. “I want you to know me, Belle. I want you to really know the kind of man I am and maybe you wouldn't be so thrilled about it. Continue asking the questions.”
Isabella swallowed visibly and cleared her throat. “Uhm...your family life was a struggle.”
“Cold,” he said softly. “I had everything I could ever want. My father made sure we had the best of everything but what he did for a living...” His voice broke and he cleared his throat. “He was not an honest man and he never took pity on what he took from the people. He told me that it was easy to get something but the challenge came to keeping it and so if a man didn't work hard enough to keep what he earned then he didn't deserve it!”
He watched as Isabella's eyes dawned with a new perspective of him. “He wasn't a nice man.”
Liam laughed softly. “He wasn't nice at all. Ask the next question.”
Isabella stuttered then asked. “He introduced you to his dishonorable living.”
Liam shook his head. “Cold. Cuthbert completely blindfolded me to what he did. I discovered by chance one day when I followed him to his warehouse and found them unloading smuggled merchandise from their trucks.” he remembered that day as if it happened yesterday.
“Oh Liam!” she gasped. “He found out you knew, didn't he. What did he do?”
Liam nodded. “He found out and beat the hell out of me.” he hoped the pain didn't sound much in his voice. “He refused to get me treatment and told my mother I was better off dead because I wasn't thankful for what I had. My mother nursed me back to health for one week.”
Suddenly Isabella jumped from her chair and went to him. Her hands wrapped around him so tightly he thought they were going to snap. “Stop it, Liam. I don't want to hear anymore! Just stop!” he could hear the tears thick in her voice. Her small body trembled beside him as she wept for him, for the pain and anguish he went through in his past life. He didn't want to tell her in details what exactly happened because he knew she would breakdown.
He inserted his fingers into her hair and held her head on his shoulder then turned to place a kiss on her ear. “You should not cry over spilled milk, Belle. It happened way before I knew Thomas or you. I lived through it. I survived, that's all that matters.”
Isabella sniffed and looked up at him with big splotches of tears coming down her eyes. “Don't say that!” she croaked. “He hurt you and your mother. He's a monster.”
Liam rubbed away Isabella's tears. “And I'm my father's son.”
“But you could never hurt me. I know your heart Liam and you are good through and through even if you don't want to acknowledge it. You will never hurt anyone.”
But I'm about to hurt you...he screamed quietly.
“It's the reason why I love you so much. You defend and protect me making sure that I never have to worry about anything. You're my guardian angel, Liam.”
Isabella's words burnt a hole deep down Liam's soul and for a moment the pain in his chest was as real as the air they breathed.
“I'm sorry, Belle. I'm not who you think I am. I'll only hurt you.” Liam removed her hands from around his neck.
Isabella shook her head. “We are not going there again. Liam, for the past few days, I have been the happiest woman on earth. The way you treated me, the way you made love to me and the way to looked after me—it was more than I could have imagined. You gave me hope and now I'm absolutely sure that we can make this work. You just have to let me in.”
“You have but a little insight of me, Belle, and your heart can't bear it. I doubt you will survive through a whole session of my so-called life.” He assured her.
Isabella's palm rose up and touched his cheek lightly. The action shook him to the core! He held it in place and turned to kiss her palm.
“Throw whatever you can at me, Liam. I'm not going anywhere.” Isabella's voice held the same finality tone as his when he was done negotiating.
He couldn't help but smile at her. “Yes, ma'am.”
She pouted. “Good, now come back inside with me and make love to me before dinner.” She got up and led the way.
Oh, how I love a woman in charge! Liam mused wickedly as he followed her in.