7. Franco

Chapter 7

Franco

I stand on the steps leading up to the house. Marco is a step above me.

I am looking down at the Range Rover, where Aria is seated on the passenger side. Marco clears his throat. "This is for the best."

"I know," I say quietly. "We'll be safer up by the cabin until we figure out what Vito wants."

"Just be careful. Make sure no one follows you." Marco seems unnecessarily worried. I know how to make sure I'm not being tailed. I've been playing "lose the cops" since I was old enough to reach the pedals of my father's sports car.

"Franco," he says quietly, taking a step down to look me in the eyes. "Don't get too close to Aria. Don't forget, she's going to marry me when this is over."

"You know you can trust me," I say impatiently. "Let me go before there's another attack and someone else is hurt."

Marco nods and steps back up. I turn and take the steps quickly down to the car and climb into the driver's side. "Ready?" I ask her.

"Yes," she says quietly. "Are you sure where we're going is safe?"

"No one knows about this cabin except members of my family. We'll be safe." I start the car.

Marco waves from the steps, and Aria raises her hand, but it isn't an enthusiastic wave.

I turn the radio on and turn the volume up, but Aria reaches over and turns it down. "Please don't."

"What's wrong?"

"I couldn't sleep. I want to try to sleep now," she comments. Resting back, she closes her eyes.

I roll mine and focus on driving, waiting for her to doze off before I turn the radio on a little louder.

As we approach the mountains, she jolts awake and looks around. "How far are we?"

"About an hour," I say quietly. "We're going to go through the mountains now to get to the lake."

She sits back and sighs. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"About what?" I ask. "The attack on the mansion?"

"No about... What we did."

I chuckle. "It doesn't sound like you want to talk about it."

"That's because I don't," she says with a huff. "I want to forget it ever happened."

It stings a little, but I keep quiet.

We spend the rest of the car ride in silence until I pull up to the cabin. Aria looks out of the windscreen, and her jaw drops. "It's so beautiful here."

"It has a lot of happy memories for me, at least," I say as I climb out of the car and go to get our things out of the trunk.

I carry her bags to her room and then offload mine on my bed. "It's fully stocked with everything we could need. It's been cleaned. We could be here a week or so."

"That long?" she asks, walking around the double-story cabin. She pauses at the stairs and looks up to where I'm standing on the landing. "Are there things to do?"

"Swim in the lake, sun tan, read... there's a lot of books in my father's study. I'm sure you brought your sewing."

"Cross-stitching," she says.

"It's still sewing."

She rolls her eyes and wanders in the direction of the kitchen. I come downstairs and follow her. "There's a fully stocked bar, so if you drive me to drink, at least I'm ready."

"Very funny," she says, but she smiles this time. "Actually, I could like this. I prefer quiet to busy."

"I've noticed." I lean against the door frame.

"Why don't you go get settled, and I will cook dinner." She grins at me. "Come on, you have never tasted my food. I promise you won't be disappointed."

I pull a face, and she walks over and punches me. "Give me a chance."

I rub my arm. "Fine. Fine."

I go back upstairs and unpack my bags, stowing them away when I'm done. I walk downstairs and out the front door, doing a perimeter check just in case.

I smell garlic and tomato roasting when I walk inside, and I hear Aria humming to herself. I approach the kitchen silently and stand in the doorway, watching her, her back to me.

She turns slightly and jumps. "You gave me a fright."

"Sorry," I say with a smile. "I'm silent but deadly."

"Like a fart," she laughs. Her laugh is magical. Everything about her is magical. Now we're here at the lake, just the two of us. Marco told me not to get too close, but he didn't know what I had already done to her.

I need to make a plan to keep her. To secure her to me.

I sit down at the kitchen table and drum my fingers on it. "It's been a long drive, so I'm really hungry."

"It's almost ready. The pasta is just cooking."

"You know how to make Italian food?" I snort. "Never."

"Dominique did teach me some things, even if I can't speak Italian."

"Maybe I'll teach you some Italian while we're up here," I say. "I'm a good teacher."

She smiles. "I'm sure you're good at a lot of things."

I chuckle and look away, licking my lips.

"What else did Dominique teach you?" I ask.

"About family. How important it is to be loyal to the people who love you." She sighs and takes the pot to the sink to drain the water. "He taught me how to swim and how to shoot a bow and arrow."

"So you're good for the apocalypse. Nice." I get up to set the table, take the dishes down, and get the cutlery.

She brings the food to the table and sits down. "There you go."

"Looks and smells okay," I say hesitantly. "You sure I won't get food poisoning? Or is that your evil plan?"

"Not at all."

"Fine, and since you know how to swim, why don't we take a dip in the lake after this?"

"Aren't you supposed to wait half an hour after eating before you swim?" she asks.

"That's an old wives tale. I don't wait more than five. Besides, we won't go in too deep. Just to cool off." I start to dish up some food for her before I dish up even more for myself.

"I thought you were afraid I was trying to poison you," she teases.

I wink at her. "Maybe I'm willing to take a chance for you."

She blushes and suddenly becomes very interested in her food .

As we eat, I tell her about some of the things I got up to around the lake as a child, the times I got into trouble and how I got out of it. By the time we're finished, I feel like I've done nothing but talk, but surprisingly, there's no more delicious food on my plate.

"Right, you've just volunteered to cook for the rest of our stay." I sit back, letting out a long breath.

She smiles and takes the plates to the dishwasher. "You'll do the dishes then."

"Fine." I smile. "For your food, I'll mop the floors clean with my toothbrush."

She pulls a face, and I stand up. "Come on, let's go see how the water is."

"I haven't put on my bikini."

"I've seen you naked," I say. "You don't need one."

She punches my arm again but follows me out of the cabin. She kicks off her shoes and dips her toes in the water. "It's lovely."

"Come on." I take my shirt off and shimmy out my pants and boxers after I kick off my trainers. I pull off my socks and stand up.

Her eyes are cast downwards, and I grin. "Eyes up here, sweetheart."

Her face goes red, and she quickly pulls her shirt off. She gets out her pants and panties and takes her bra off in one smooth move. Then she shyly hugs her arms over her breasts.

"Oh, come on," I laugh. "I'll go first. The sooner you get in, the sooner you can relax."

She squeals as she suddenly goes splashing into the water until she's submerged. I wade in after her, and soon enough, we're both shoulder-deep in the water.

I float near her, enjoying the cool water against my skin.

"It is lovely here," she says quietly. "I've never been to a lake before."

"Really? We came here all the time for holidays or special weekends. My parents were always about spending time together." I look at her. "Of course, I would try to drown my brother as often as I could."

She giggles and sighs, breathing deeply consistently.

"Relaxed a little?" I ask. "Want a massage next?"

"Massage would be great," she jokes. "If you..." she freezes, then shrieks.

"What?" I shout.

"Something slimy touched me," she sobs.

I try not to laugh, but I do wade over to her and scoop her up. "Don't worry, I've got you."

She slides her arm around my neck and clings to me. I feel her skin against mine, and it warms me up in more ways than one. I carry her out of the water. "It was probably just a fish."

She buries her head in my neck. "Ew. Ew. Ew."

"Calm down," I say quietly with a chuckle. I carry her toward the cabin, not bothering with the clothes. I'll get them later.

I take her to her room and stand there awkwardly. "I need to put you down now."

"No." She groans. "I'm still weirded out."

"How do you think I feel standing wet and naked in the middle of your room with you, wet and naked, in my arms?" I look down at her.

She looks up at me and smiles. "Excited?"

I smile. "I could be."

She leans up and kisses me softly. "So could I," she murmurs against my lips.

I swallow and carry her over to the bed and lay her down, settling between her legs. Leaning on top of her, I kiss her deeply. She puts her hands on my shoulders and pulls me against her.

I kiss down her neck to her breasts, where I nip and lick the soft flesh.

She arches her back, and we fall into an entanglement of limbs.

*