Page 101 of Bellini Born

My eyes remained glued to the gorgeous piece of real estate. “When you mentioned a safe house, this was not at all what I was expecting.”

He chuckled quietly. “Let me guess, you were picturing some hole-in-the-wall, dilapidated building as portrayed in movies.”

Heat flooded my face. “Yeah, kinda.”

Warm lips brushed against my knuckles. “Going off the grid means staying out of sight, our location being untraceable. Nowhere in the rules does it say we can’t be comfortable.”

The car rolled to a stop, and I gestured out the window. “This goes beyond comfortable. This is luxury, Matteo.”

He hummed. “All I see is a palace fit for my queen, my princesses.”

Well, when he said it like that . . .

Guards appeared, opening our doors. As soon as she was unbuckled from her car seat, Bianca jumped from the vehicle, her brown eyes growing wide as saucers when they landed on the villa.

“Wow.”

Matteo hoisted Serafina into his arms before looping an arm around my waist to support me as I hobbled.

“What do you think,principessa?”

Bianca spun around to face her father. “Is this our new house?”

A smile stretched across his face as he stared down at his daughter. “We’re just visiting.”

Her tiny little nose scrunched up in thought. “Kinda like a vacation?”

“Yeah, like a vacation.”

Bouncing with excitement, she asked, “Can I go pick my room?”

Matteo turned to the nearest guard, conveying a question with a single look.

“Perimeter is secure,” the burly man, dressed all in black, replied.

“Good.” Matteo nodded. “Make sure it stays that way.”

“Yes, sir.”

To Bianca, Matteo said, “Any room you want except the big one with the balcony.”

She took off like a shot, racing to the front door and pushing inside.

“Big one with a balcony, huh?” I teased.

Flashing me with his most charming grin, he gave my hip a squeeze. “With no one around for miles to hear you screaming my name as I make you come.”

Even though my thighs pressed together at the picture he painted, right now, I could barely walk, let alone endure getting railed from behind over the edge of a balcony. It was a nice thought, though.

“Come on,” he urged. “Let’s get you inside so you can rest.”

Seemed like that’s all I was doing these days, but what other choice did I have? My body needed to heal, and only a week into my recovery, I’d come to accept that it was going to take time.

While the setting was beyond gorgeous, the circumstances of our first European getaway together left much to be desired.

Matteo quietly latched the bedroom door after stepping inside, and I reluctantly glanced up from my e-reader. The story featuring a reluctant heroine and the goalie who wouldn’t take no for an answer once he decided she was his future was just beginning to heat up.

“Where are the girls?”