Page 201 of The Morally Grey Billionaires Boxset

Solene

"Your room’s on the second floor, to the right of the stairs."

Declan stalks toward the doors at the far end of the living room. They open to a view of an infinity pool, beyond which the sea stretches out to the horizon. The sight is breathtaking.

A few hours ago, we landed at a private airstrip and boarded a limousine.

We pulled away and drove through the city of LA, then through the hills.

Throughout the ride, a hoodie-wearing Declan stayed glued to his phone.

I tried to ask him which part of LA he lived in, and he said Malibu.

That's the only word we exchanged during the entire two-hour journey. Apparently, distances in LA are five times the normal distances one covers during a journey in my home city of Naples. A sharp pang of something twists my guts. No, surely not. I can’t be homesick.

Not already. I’m simply missing the familiarity of things, that’s all it is.

When we arrived at his place, a man emerged from the house and carried our suitcases up the stairs. The man driving our car had introduced himself as Rick, Declan’s bodyguard. When Declan glowered at him, he looked at me in apology before driving off.

Now, I glance around the living room. There's a massive sectional placed diagonal to the back doors. Opposite is a massive TV, while in the center there's a coffee table. That’s it. There’s so much space here, one could get lost walking from one end of the floor to the other.

Okay, I’m exaggerating… somewhat. The space doesn’t seem very lived in or homey.

I spin around and head toward the curving staircase we passed earlier. Heading to the second floor I glance left. There’s only one set of double doors at the far end of the corridor. Is that his bedroom? I turn, and head toward the only door on the right.

When I walk in, I gasp. The entire space is massive, like five times the size of my room back home.

That’s not an exaggeration. Sunlight pours in through the large windows that cover one wall of the room.

Another thing to get used to. The sheer brightness of this place.

It’s like all the sunlight in the world has been directed through a prism at this city. It’s more than a little overwhelming.

There’s something about California that’s all new-world, hopeful and optimistic.

Maybe a little too optimistic, a little too chirpy for my liking.

It touches everything with a golden glow and makes the impossible seem possible.

I’ve never been here, but perhaps, I sensed it from all those miles away.

Getting out of my comfort zone has shown me how much of the world is left to be explored.

I walk toward the large floor-to-ceiling windows and look down.

I have a view of the infinity swimming pool, the pool house on one side, and the beach beyond.

The entire vista is overwhelming in size, in beauty, and in luxury.

I may not have traveled and have very limited knowledge of Hollywood movies, but even that confirms the scene in front of me is luxurious, larger-than-life, and uncommon. How big a star, exactly, is Declan?

As if my thoughts have conjured him, he walks out of the pool house.

He’s wearing a pair of swimming trunks that mold to his hips.

His shoulders are corded, his chest planes are defined.

And is that a ten-pack, nope, twelve-pack.

I swear to god that’s a twelve-pack. Is that even possible?

The twin grooves on either side of his concave stomach dip down to disappear under the waistband.

Even at this distance, I can make out the shape of that thick column between his thighs.

My belly flip-flops. A thousand little sparks seem to light my veins.

Ohmygod, I’m not even that close to him, and yet, I can’t stop my body from reacting to him.

And I almost touched that part of him. Almost had my fingers around his c-c-c-cock!

Oh hell, now I’m stammering in my head? That’s never happened before.

Is that how much he unnerves me? How’s that going to help me?

I need to resist this attraction to him.

Otherwise, I’m going to be too distracted to focus on the reason I came here. There’s only one thing to do.

I walk out of the house and toward the pool.

My heart hammers in chest. My pulse stutters at my throat.

I can do this. I can do this. I need to do this.

I can’t let him walk all over me. This is the new me.

The Solene who will not let anyone intimidate her.

I’ve had enough of that to last a lifetime already.

My brother used my loyalty to my family to make me conform to his demands.

My mother used my love to negotiate a marriage for me.

An arrangement I was freed from thanks to Massimo and Olivia, but also to Declan for giving me a way out.

I’m grateful to him for that. Doesn’t mean I’m going to let him walk all over me.

I need to stand up to him if I want to have any hope of him treating me as an equal.

And that’s how I’m going to live my life from now on.

When I come to the edge of the pool I stop.

He cuts through the water, his arms knifing through the surface, his legs propelling him forward toward me.

As if he senses my perusal, he reaches the edge of the water and surfaces.

He folds his arms over the lip of the pool and shakes the water out of his hair.

Droplets of water cascade over my ankles, my feet.

He rakes his gaze up my legs, my hips, my chest, then tilts his head back. A smirk curls his lips. Jerkass.

I shrug off my robe to let it pool around my feet and have the satisfaction of seeing the smile disappear from his face.

His jaw drops. He opens and shuts his mouth, but nothing emerges.

Good. I may be an innocent but this… This shows I haven’t lost that fire inside me.

The fire that consumed me when I first met Declan.

The fire that was banked by my brother and mother for the past few years but meeting D—which is a moniker that suits him well, considering the monster D he’s packing—has rekindled it.

He looks me up and down, and his gaze widens further.

"The fuck, where’s your swimsuit?"

"I don’t have one. And the weather’s too nice to miss out on a swim, huh?

" I shoot him a smile then dive in over his head. Being in Naples with nothing else to do, I spent a lot of time honing my swimming skills. It’s the one thing my family didn’t stop me from doing.

Of course, I was only allowed to use the small pool in our backyard, and only when there were no men around.

Still, it gave me time to hone my swimming enough that I execute that dive perfectly.

I swim to the surface then strike out toward the other end. Confession: I’ve never swum naked. And definitely not with the heated gaze of a man I’ve kissed following me as I reach the end of the pool then push back—and gasp. For he’s right in front of me.

Holy hell, he’s right here, and I slam into the unforgiving wall of his chest. The heat of his body slams into me.

That familiar scent of dark chocolate laced with coffee, which has haunted my dreams, is laced with chlorine, but it’s just as potent.

It sinks into my blood, heading straight for my core.

My toes curl. I begin to go under, but the next moment, he grips my waist and pulls me up.

I break the surface, draw in a breath, and oxygen floods my lungs.

My head spins, but maybe that’s because of his nearness.

The sun's rays slant over my head and halo his. The color of his eyes deepens into a piercing indigo, and I’m transported right back to our first encounter on the beach, when he saved me.

I became his then, and the fact is, I’ve never been anyone else’s.

However much I’ve tried to deny the effect he had on me when I saw him in my room, I already knew I belonged to him.

It’s why I accepted his invitation to accompany him back to LA, knowing there were no guarantees.

The opportunity to pursue the career of my dreams is a bonus.

I want it, but I want him even more. I found him again, I’m not going to give him up that easily.

I lean in so my nipples brush his chest. His shoulder muscles bunch. His chest planes seem to writhe like an electric current is running through his veins.

His hands land on my hips and he pins me in place.

I tip up my chin and gasp. His eyes… Those gorgeous blue eyes of his are so dark they could be black.

Flecks of indigo spark in their depths. Such hypnotic eyes captured me the moment my gaze clashed with his.

And in a way, they’ve never let go. He entrapped me then, like he is now.

My throat dries. My chest tightens. A heavy beat settles between my thighs.

I lean in even closer until my breasts are crushed between us.

I wrap my legs around his waist, and my naked core cradles that hard column in his swimming trunks.

Sensations sizzle up my spine. My head spins.

I reach up to try to kiss him, but I’m too short.

So, I settle for sinking my teeth into his throat.

He shudders. The muscles of his shoulders bunch. "What do you think you’re doing?"

"Trying to tempt you to break your self-imposed restriction."

He glares down that patrician nose. "It’s for your benefit."

"How is that?"

"If you’re known in Hollywood as another arm-candy girlfriend, no one will take you seriously. And your talent is too important for anything else to act as a diversion."

I scowl. "You expect me to believe that?"

"I don’t care what you believe. What you need to understand, though, is that I’m too much man for you to handle."

I open my mouth to protest, but he thrust his hips forward. The column of his shaft stabs through his swimming trunks and into my melting core. My entire body seems to seize up. Goosebumps pop on my skin. Despite the fact that the pool is heated—Hollywood, eh?—I shiver.

His smirk widens. "That’s what I thought." He releases his hold on my waist, pushes me away, and taps my head. "Run along now, like a good little girl."

He moves past me, hauls himself out of the pool, and begins to walk away.

I should let him go. I should cut my losses and go back to my room, but that impulsive part of me that has always gotten me into trouble, the part that insisted I rebel against my mother and run out of the beach at two a.m., surges forward.

I shove myself out of the pool with less grace than him, then call out, "Hey, jerkface. "