Page 106

"So are you gonna tell her everything?"

"No, Lucinda. At this point, I'm just going to focus on the deal and ensure that everything goes smoothly."

"The contract says you're to be married to her for a minimum of three years. Does she know that, sir?"

"I guess she'll find out." I let out a deep sigh. "Anyway, I was just calling to see if Franco had sent any updates or changed his mind."

"No, sir. I think he's very eagerly awaiting the money you're going to be paying him."

"Well, as long as the contracts are drawn up and we can get the wedding to go through quickly, then I don't see any problems."

"Okay, sir. Well, if you don’t mind, I'm actually getting ready for the workday, so…"

"Okay. Thanks, Lucinda."

"You're welcome, Mr. Gallagher. You have a nice trip."

"Thank you."

I hang up and jump off the couch. I stretch my arms and walk over to the window and look outside. It's still dark.

I head back to the couch, and then, because I am an idiot, I walk to the bedroom door and open it slowly.

Elisabetta is still in bed, lying there. She's snoring lightly. I'm not sure what makes me do it, but I walk over to the side of the bed and look down at her. Her long, dark hair is covering half the pillow. She looks peaceful. Her lips are parted, and her chest moves up and down.

There's something about her that touches my heart, something that makes me feel like a bad man. I take a deepbreath and turn around. I'm starting to feel like a creep watching her sleep. I accidentally walk into one of the side tables. "Fuck!" I say and then pause as I hear her stirring.

"What?" Elisabetta sits up and rubs her eyes. "Oh my gosh, what is going on? What are you doing in here, Liam?" She blinks and yawns as she stares at me.

I try not to gape as I gaze at her. She's wearing a tank top with no bra, and I can see her nipples poking through the thin material. My mouth feels dry.

Her eyes look me up and down and I notice that her pupils dilate slightly. I'm only wearing a pair of black briefs, and I still have my morning hard-on.

"Morning. Sorry, I was just checking to see if you were awake," I say quickly.

"What time is it?" She yawns and looks at the clock. "Oh my gosh, it's so early. Why would I be awake now?"

"Sorry, I thought?—"

"You thought what?" She crosses her arms and leans forward.

"I'm sorry, I just?—"

"You're such a creep, aren't you?"

"I'm just…" I pause. "Fine, I'm gonna be honest. I was curious if you were sleeping, and then I noticed that you were, and I had a look at you. And then I did feel like a little bit of a creep watching you sleep like you were Sleeping Beauty or something, so I decided to leave the bedroom. And when I did, I accidentally hit the?—"

"Okay, okay, I get it," she says. "No need for you to have a documentary about why you're the biggest creep in the world."

"So I went from the grumpiest creep to the biggest creep?"

"You went from grumpy boss to big creep, yes, you did." Her lips twitch slightly. "What time is our flight?"

"It's at 10:00 a.m."

"So do we have to be there at a certain time?"

"It's a chartered flight, so it's fine," I say, standing there.