A T H E N A
"Taste on my tongue, I don't want to wash away the night before.
And the heat, where you laid, I could stay right here and burn in this all day"
° ° °
Vincenzo is standing by the door, waiting for me as I arrive and send him a sheepish smile.
"Sorry, had to go to the toilet."
He shakes his head and smiles. "Alright now, go on. You need to eat," he says and puts his hand on my back. "Can we just order room service?" I ask and look at him with raised eyebrows.
He shakes his head, "No, cara, I want to have some breakfast and leave immediately. We can order room service tonight."
He winks.
I open the door, ready to step out of the room when I stop in my tracks. Without thinking, I push Vincenzo roughly behind the door and firstly, he looks stunned, "Are you going to behave like a naughty little..."
"Nate, hey, I didn't expect you here," I say and lean against the door as I watch him approach his room next to ours. He looks in my direction, surprise written all over his face.
"Athena! Wow, I didn't expect you here, out of all places. What a coincidence," he laughs. "It certainly is," I say through a forced smile.
"Are here on a vacation or...?"
"Yes! Vacation, I came here for some time off, so..." I trail off and send him another smile.
Of course he's here, he works for Vincenzo. "Were you going downstairs?" he asks with raised eyebrows.
I nod. "Yes, I was about to get some breakfast," I reply, which I regret later.
I send Vincenzo a glance, to see him standing against the wall next to the door with his head leaning against it.
"Oh, I just came from having breakfast. But I can go with you if you want some company..."
"No!" I interrupt him when I see Vincenzo clenching his jaw and hands, an angry expression on his face.
"I can manage, really," I say. "No, I insist," he says and sends me a charming smile.
"Nate, I really appreciate it but I'm fine on my own. I was planning to meet with a friend anyway," I lie.
He takes the hint and nods his head. "Well, alright. If you need me, you know where I am," he winks and gestures to his door. I smile and nod. I wait until he has entered his room, before I turn to Vincenzo.
"I thought all of your employees slept downstairs?" I ask him and pull the door a little more open. He sighs. "Normally they do. Nate probably paid a little more to also have a suit of his own," he says and rakes a hand through his hair.
"Perfect," I mutter.
And this time we walk down the hall, without interruptions.
° ° °
After we had breakfast, Vincenzo called his driver to pick us up. Now we're seated in some sleek car that's driving us into the big city.
"Where are we heading now?" I ask Vincenzo and turn to him. He puts his phone away and looks up to me.
"You are heading into the city for a little shopping while I have to endure some boring meeting with a company who wants to make a deal with me. At noon, I'll meet you for lunch in a restaurant my driver will take you to," he says and gets out his wallet from his pocket.
I frown. What is he doing?
But as I see him getting out a black cart that he wants to hand over to me, I cross my arms and shake my head.
"No," I begin, "I won't accept it. I brought my own money, I can take care of myself," I say determined.
There's no way I'll accept his money.
He sighs.
"Come on, baby, you can buy nice and expensive stuff with it," he winks. I raise my eyebrows at him.
"I can buy my own nice and expensive stuff!" I exclaim. He laughs.
"I mean the real expensive stuff."
I scoff. "You think I'm not capable of buying that?" I ask, even though I know that's true.
He shakes his head. "Look, I want you to accept my money..."
I cut him off. "No, Vincenzo. I really appreciate the gesture but I don't want your money. I really don't. And I'd like it if you would respect that," I say, now getting a little irritated.
He seems to notice that and surrenders. "Alright, if it makes you happy," he mutters.
The rest of the car ride is silent, and after a couple of minutes the car stops in front of a giant building. "This is my destination," he says. I turn to him.
I don't know whether to be sad or happy that he's leaving.
Because I truly like spending time with him, but after all that has happened between now and yesterday I want some time with myself.
"I'll see you at noon, bella," he says and leans over to me, taking me by surprise as he pecks my lips.
I'm still not used to this 'thing' we have going on between us.
"Bye," I whisper and watch how he steps out of the car. But before he leaves, he turns to the driver and knocks on his window.
The driver rolls his window down so Vincenzo can speak to him. I watch how Vincenzo whispers something in his ear and swiftly gives him something I can't see. I frown and want to question it, but the car takes off which leaves Vincenzo behind.
° ° °
I admit, when I arrived at the downtown shopping street of New York, I thought I was losing my mind.
As I sit in the car, driving towards the restaurant where I'm supposed to meet Vincenzo, I think back at how I attacked almost every store, even the expensive ones, which I couldn't afford. I went to Gucci knowing I wouldn't buy anything but I had to enter that store and I tried some clothes on.
I saw this really cute dress, but after I saw the price, it wasn't as cute anymore.
And that driver was following me everywhere, like, everywhere! When I mentioned I had to go to the toilet, I was surprised that he didn't follow me to stand in front of my stall.
I could feel his eyes burning in my back whenever I was walking the streets of New York, he was always a few feet behind me.
I was as red as a tomato when I entered Victoria's Secret with him behind me. I saw a few really cute shoes in Guess and Tommy Hilfiger, but didn't buy them of course.
I didn't buy anything today, actually.
I rest my head against the window and wonder how it is to be rich. How it must feel being able to buy everything without worrying about your money.
How you can afford hotels like the Four Seasons or how you can afford a driver who's secretly a bodyguard?
We pull up at a restaurant and I get out of the car.
"Mr. Amoretto has already arrived," the driver announces. I nod in appreciation and send him a smile.
He gets back in the car, and drives away, leaving me alone.
I turn to the restaurant and enter it. The restaurant is not too big nor too small, the ground polished and as I enter and look around, I only see people who seem to be rich sitting at the tables.
I sigh and feel a little out of place. The entry is filled with people waiting to get a table while the waiter is giving them instructions.
My eyes scan the area, searching for Vincenzo.
My mood suddenly drops as I spot him, but not alone.
A woman is standing beside him. A beautiful woman at that. Her strawberry blonde hair is tied up in a high ponytail, her skin-tight black dress that reaches till her knees fits her perfectly and her face is covered in light make-up.
And she's standing next to my man, laughing flirtatiously and fluttering her long eye-lashes as she puts a hand on my man's arm and elegantly throws her head back in laughter.
I clench my hands beside me. Vincenzo stands there in all his glory, looking gorgeous as always as he talks to her.
I want to go over to them and yank her away from him, but I'm too much of a scared, little girl to have the guts to do that.
I get myself together and walk up to them. I see her talking to him, and wonder if I had the same look on my face when I first met Vincenzo.
He has to have the same effect on every woman.
As I near them, I take a deep breath and I casually put a hand on his bicep, making him turn to me.
"Hi," I say with a shy smile. His eyes light up when he sees me.
"Hello, bella," he says and snakes an arm around my waist, pulling me up to him and taking me by surprise as he kisses me on the lips.
I smile against his lips, satisfied with his reaction of seeing me.
"I'm happy to see you again," he whispers to me, making my heart warm up, "how was your day shopping?"
"It was like heaven," I admit honestly with a light blush covering my cheeks.
He raises his eyebrows and chuckles amused. "Was it? What did you buy?"
I open my mouth and am about to respond but am interrupted by a clearing throat.
We both turn to that woman who still has her hand on his arm who looks up at him with a questioning look on her face.
"Enzo, mind telling me who this is?" she asks with a smile, although it looks forced. Could be my imagination.
Enzo?
She calls him Enzo?
Who does this filthy—
"This is Athena, my girlfriend."
The fact that she called Vincenzo Enzo flies out of my mind and is being replaced with the fact that he just called me his girlfriend.
Meanwhile, the line of people shortens and we move forward.
The woman's eyes move to me and scan me up and down. I raise my eyebrows and send her a smile as her eyes meet mine, which she returns, but not as genuinely.
Bitch.
"And baby," Vincenzo says to me, snapping me out of my thoughts and making me blush a little, "this is Ms. Green, whom I just met."
So, they just met and she's already calling him Enzo?
I nod. "Nice to meet you," I tell her, but not sincerely.
"Likewise," she says. Finally, she takes her hand off his arm and takes a step away from him.
That's right! He's taken!
She excuses herself and says she needs to go to the toilet. I let out a sigh once she's gone. Vincenzo starts chuckling beside me, and I look up with furrowed brows, curious as to what he finds funny.
"You're cute when you're jealous," he chuckles. Immediately, I turn a bright red.
"I w-wasn't jealous! I—"
He pecks my lips, cutting me off. "It's alright. It's actually a turn-on watching you get all bitchy over me," he laughs, and pecks my lips again. I hum.
I like that we can do this in pubic, because no one will get suspicious or will know about our relationship.
When the lady returns, all she does is smile politely at us. I have to suppress a smirk of victory and lean into Vincenzo's touch.
When it's our turn, Vincenzo steps forward.
"I made a reservation on the name Amoretto," he says curtly, and the woman checks the list before she nods and looks back up.
"That's right, you have the table in the back of the room," she says. She gives us the instructions and we comply.
We walk towards our table and take a seat.
My mind goes back to the moment when he said I was his girlfriend.
I wonder if he had serious relationships in his past, because of what I've heard all his exes are actually just 'flings'.
So, I'm kind of surprised he addressed me as his girlfriend, knowing that he's actually more of a 'player'.
We take a seat and after some time, a waiter comes up and asks what we want to drink.
Vincenzo orders a red wine while I just ask for a water.
The waiter leaves, leaving us alone. My eyes fall on the lady of a couple of moments ago, and I see her with another woman taking a seat at a table a few feet away from us.
Enzo.
I scoff, and shake my head. Enzo, I mean, who does she think she is? I turn to Vincenzo, and see he's already watching me with an amused look in the eyes.
I ignore the blush creeping up my neck.
"Do people really call you Enzo?" I ask him. He laughs, like he expected the question.
"Yes, a lot of people do, either they call me Vince or Enzo. Actually, you're the only one who calls me by my full name," he answers.
I raise my eyebrows. "Oh, really?" I ask him, and suddenly frown.
"But don't worry, I actually like it," he admits. I shyly look down at my lap.
The waiter comes with our drinks. He places my glass of water in front of me, which I thank him for. The waiter leaves again.
I take a sip of my water. "How was your meeting?" I ask him, remembering it.
"It went good, I made another deal with a company here," he says, and I can tell he's happy about it. I smile, also happy for him.
We look at the menu and after we decided what we want to eat, Vincenzo calls for the waiter and we order again our lunch.
"You never answered my question. What did you buy today?" he asks with a curious glint in the eyes.
"Nothing," I answer honestly. He raises his eyebrows.
"What? Why?"
I shrug. "Everything was too expensive," I chuckle. He sighs. "Athena," he begins, and I clench my thighs at the sound of my name coming out of his mouth, "I told you to accept my money."
I press my lips together.
"I know, and I refused. I still did enjoy my day without buying anything," I say.
He raises his hands, as if acting innocent.
"Alright, if you say so."
I hear an obnoxious loud laughter, and I turn my head to the side to see Ms. Green laughing with her friend.
I sigh, irritated, which makes Vincenzo look amused.
"She irritates me," I mumble. "Why?" he chuckles, but he knows exactly why.
"For how long were you talking to her before I walked in?" I ask, and raise my eyebrows. He shrugs. "I don't know? Five minutes, maybe more?"
"Exactly!"
He laughs, and it sounds so melodious and beautiful.
"You're really cute when you're jealous, dolcezza."
I blush and look down. I can't believe I'm so bothered about this, Vincenzo's not even mine to begin with.
"It's not funny," I mutter and pout as he continues to laugh.
"I can't help it, baby girl. Now you know how I feel when I see you with Chris," he says, and suddenly the mood changes. I frown.
Does he really have the same feeling when Chris and I are together? I start feeling guilty, because now I know how shitty jealousy can be. That sudden pressure on your chest, the possessiveness taking over you...
"But, that's different," I say, with still the crease between my eyebrows. He raises his eyebrows.
"Is it, really?"
Confusion takes over me. "I was... still am his girlfriend. It's normal for us to be with each other," I say.
"That doesn't stop me from feeling jealous whenever I see you with him."
"You knew that I was taken, and that didn't stop you from touching me. You knew the consequences and you continued to seduce me," I say, but I feel like I'm not making sense.
"But you're still cheating on him. And that's not my fault. If you really loved him, you would've never thought about me the way you're doing now. You would've abandoned me after the first time I touched you, but you keep coming back to me, because you're addicted to my touch even if you won't admit it to yourself."
His words hit me hard, because they are true.
What am I doing to Chris? What am I doing to myself?
He's right, if I really loved Chris, I wouldn't be where I am now. I keep coming back to Vincenzo, and I don't know why. I also could have slept with Chris, but his touch is not like Vincenzo's.
Vincenzo is so... different. He's so mature and knows exactly how to treat a woman – or in my case, a girl. He has something that I can't explain, something so consuming, enticing and dangerous. And that attracts me to him.
"Mia cara, I hate seeing you struggle with your thoughts like this. Stop thinking about this. When we get back we'll focus on that," he says, and lays his hand on top of mine.
It calms me, even though I didn't expect that. I send him a thankful smile, which he returns.
It's really unfair how handsome he is.
"I know you're thinking how hot I am," he smirks. My face turns a light pink, but I roll my eyes to hide it.
But as he raises his eyebrows at my deed, I realize his words from this morning.
Shit.
"You're so getting it when we get back to our suite, baby girl."
And I don't know if it scares or excites me.