Page 49 of Wicked (Wicked Billionaires #2)

RAVEN

Outside the castle’s main door, I pat Tito and look up at silent Dante. “Let’s go see your grandmother,” Dante says nothing, but he nods.

As he heads for the Range Rover, I slide into the Ferrari driver’s seat.

Our eyes finally meet, and we say nothing. Tito then jumps into the back of the Ferrari, and we both watch Dante. Eventually, Dante climbs in, and I drive carefully away in the expensive, fast car.

We reach Dante’s grandmother's villa, or as he calls her, his Nonna.

She welcomes us with hugs, and inside, she makes us strong coffee. We eat biscotti as I pace and look around the living room. It’s a classy traditional villa, and she’s been making fresh bread and pasta.

Her English is better than I remember, and she tells me she studied art in Rome, where she met Dante’s grandfather.

After Dante and Nonna catch up on recent events, she asks me about my own life. Finally, she gets around to my novel, and I remind myself to push on with it at all costs.

“So, Raven?” she asks, “Are you on schedule, and if so, when can we read it?”

“Now I am,” I say. “And I think I’ll be finished with the final draft in a week. I’m currently elevating the ending and strengthening the female characters.”

“Good for you,” Dante’s grandmother says as Dante rubs his jaw and watches us talk.

“You hear that, Tito?” he says. “Men will be screwed, Tito. So very screwed.”

We all laugh, and I take in the photos on the Tuscan villa walls. Nonna and Dante’s eyes meet, and I look back at his Nonna. “What?”

“Dante has never brought a woman here. Ever.”

My eyes meet Dante’s, and I raise a brow. “He’s probably just shy.”

Nonna laughs, and I join in. As Dante rubs Tito’s chin, he shakes his head. “See what I have to put up with, Tito? You should return to New York with me. We need to stick together.”

I lean into another old photo and my lips turn up in a smile. It’s two people madly in love and they’re in a sports car in Rome. In fact, it looks like the same black Ferrari we just drove down in. “Is this you and your husband?”

Nonna walks over, and she rests a hand on me. “Yes, and way back. Good times. He was a little like Dante, he was.”

I glance over at Dante, and he shakes his head. “Oh, yes?” I ask, “Stubborn, playful, and grumpy?”

Nonna laughs, and Dante does not. “Not quiet. Gio was a freethinker, perhaps like you. He was not interested in fitting in for no good reason. Gio wanted to follow his own path, some may say.”

“I get that,” I say before pausing. “I’m a little odd myself.”

Dante’s grandmother smiles, and she squeezes my cheek. “We like odd, we do. In fact, the world needs more odd, and also more interesting. There is way too much plainness, and way too much fitting in, simply because it’s done without thinking. We are not sheep, you know.”

We all nod in agreement, and then Nonna holds her coffee cup high.

“To colorful characters…”

“And mavericks…” Dante says.

All eyes are on me. I need to move fast. “And… rogues,” I say.

We all laugh, and then Dante’s grandmother reaches for my hand. I like her a lot, and I can tell she is gentle.

Also not snooty, like Dante’s scary mother. She is more like my mom was, uncomplicated and warm.

“You’re a good woman, Raven. And in an old nation with much weighing it down, it's good to have a breath of fresh air. With you both here, it makes my heart strong again.”

I smile at Dante’s sweet grandmother, then Dante’s own eyes meet mine. They hold for some time, and neither of us look away.

I stare down, and I know I’m feeling too much. I don’t even know Dante, and this could end anytime.

It’s just happening way too fast. Way too fast to feel safe. His pull on my heart is too strong. This… is getting out of hand.

“You know, Tito spent time with your grandfather in the day.”

“Really?” Dante asks.

“Indeed, he usually lives around the village. I’m unsure who he actually belongs to.”

We all look down, and Tito looks up at us. I rub his head, and he leans against my leg. “I guess he belongs to himself,” I say.

“Indeed,” wise Nonna says. “As long as he has friends and a warm place for the evenings, like us all. That’s all we need.”

I feel good, even if I’m unsure what I’m going through. I’m enjoying connecting, but I know I’m becoming infatuated with Dante. It’s either that or a wicked crush.

A crush on my wicked teacher.

I flick my eyes up again, and they find the cold grump across the room. He is looking back at me, and I can’t tell what he’s thinking. It keeps me on edge. A knife edge that could end with a shredded heart.

After driving home, I cook dinner over the fire, and I follow a recipe my mother taught me when I was young. Dante selected an old wine from somewhere in the castle, and when I asked the age, he’d said around World War II.

After I asked how outrageously expensive it would be, he ignored my comment. He then said it was for a special evening, and that money was no object.

The wine, food, and fresh bread from Nonna are good, and we eat on the turret with Tito. We discuss life as the sun sets, and we watch it sink below the horizon.

We then pull-on old jackets, and we walk around the property with whiskeys and Tito.

As we pass the old barn, we see the chickens pecking away again. “Strange they’re still here when the castle was locked up for so long,” Dante says, deep in thought. “I’m sure I remember some as a child.”

“It’s likely their children,” I say, “And the life cycle continuing.”

“Hmm…” Dante says, mumbling away, deep in thought.

As we walk on, the stars become more visible, and I sigh and stare up. “I think I’m in love.”

Dante stops all of a sudden, and his eyes are big for the first time. He also looks lost for words.

“With… your grandmother,” I say, clarifying my position.

Dante chuckles, and he stares up. “Me too. She’s an amazing woman and a balanced person.”

“She is,” I say as we continue.

As we reach the cliff edge, we stop and look down to the beach and coast. I stare ahead and it slips out. “I like you quite a lot too.”

Dante turns to me, and he watches me closely. I think about this next sentence, and I say it slowly. I can’t not.

I need to know!

“When you’re… finished with me, it would be nice to stay in contact with Nonna. She’s special!” Dante looks at me, and he appears unsure what to think.

Will it really soon end? And will he really discard me?

Dante leans in, and he lifts my chin gently. He then kisses my cheeks one by one. He is nothing like the commanding brute or teacher who takes me wildly, and he is not the man who makes me beg to come.

This is another man.

“It’s sweet you two get on so well. Really.”

“Why?” I ask, leaning against him and wanting to know how he feels… And if he feels.

Dante says nothing, and I try to read his face.

As my fingertips find his face, I trace lines around his jaw and cheeks. I then lean in, and I plant a soft kiss on his lips.

I slide my tongue inside his mouth, and I draw his tongue inside my own. Seconds later, I start to work his tongue, but it’s not like before.

Dante is gentle, soft, and caring. He holds me close, but without his usual powerful sexual energy.

Something is happening, and I don’t know what’s going on. All I know is, I’m on the knife’s edge, and it’s a long way to fall. As he kisses my neck, I begin to pant.

“You’re perfect, Raven. Perfect in every way.”

I freeze, and his words hit me. It’s almost too much, and did he… does he really mean it?

I pant nervously. I’m excited… terrified… and above all else…

On edge.