CHAPTER 57

Welcome to Italy!

The air hostess’ words filtered through space

Sharon's mind was far away. Her and Luca hadn't seen each other for hours. No texts, not calls, nothing.

He seemed to respect her privacy a little too much

She was scared, scared of opening up a wound that didn't properly heal in the first place. She was scared of letting him know about her tragic past, scared letting him see what she had been hiding

Nobody knew, not even Claire

So she pushed him away—

And gosh, she didn't even mean to

But like he said, they were strangers.

They landed in a private jet terminal in Florence, and walked into the VIP

Like strangers, who met by chance on the plane—

Immediately they filed the necessary paperwork, they were both met by two tour guides. Their luggage was taken to their respective places of residence

It was evening, they were both tired, and things weren't quite settled between them

The night was cold, and even the warmth of Italy couldn't shield her

Sharon looked at her tour guide, who introduced herself as Georgia.

“We have activities scheduled for this night, right?”

“Yes—”

“Can you cancel them? I want to retire early”

“Of course”

Sharon watched as her tour guide approached a bunch of locals, who were probably supposed to entertain her, and explain things to them

She spoke fluent Latin

“Riann”

Sharon turned back, to see Luca standing behind her with a bunch of roses.

A cold wind gushed through

“Luca”

“You're not staying”

“No”

“Is it because of what I said on the plane?”

“No— no its—”

Sharon saw a red car approach her. It was her cue to leave, it was supposed to take her to her house apparently.

Georgia motioned for her to enter, completely oblivious to the whole thing. She had no idea they were a couple, that needed to define their relationship so desperately

“I have to go’

“Please take the flowers”

“I can't”

“Just put it on your table or something okay”

He unclasped her hands and wrapped them around the bouquet

And in an instant, he was gone—

*****************

Sharon's POV

I woke up the next morning to the smell of roses, sitting on my bedside table

The air was fresh and clean. Through the window, I could see a beautiful garden, that led to a path on the street. All the furniture in my room was antique, there were several paintings hung on the walls, which was painted pale yellow

The curtains were coffee brown, and I couldn't help but notice the unexpected touch of red of the telephone

It was as though I was back in time, somewhere far far away—

Then

I heard the faint sound of children singing. Their voices echoing through. They sung in Latin. I couldn't understand what they sang, but it sounded beautiful

I bobbed my head and strained my ears to hear them better. Luckily they kept getting louder. I could already picture them, in little clothes, with their little mouth's opening and closing. Their very adorable set of incomplete teeth visible every now and again

It felt peaceful

But it wasn't perfect—

Luca wasn't there

I picked up the bouquet of roses, maybe I wanted to feel him, maybe I wanted to be close to him, just maybe.

But he was just a stranger, and if he wanted my love, or attention, he had to woo me

I took off my clothes and ran a hot shower. I had never felt more relaxed. But when I opened my luggage—

My lingerie, my secret stash of sexy lace and fabric was staring right back at me

“Fuck”

And somehow, whoever put it there managed to pick the most sensual and revealing ones.

“Luca!”

He packed my luggage. He must have imagined me in every one of them, before folding them and putting them inside my box. It was cringe, he was fucking insane. Yet somehow I was—

Excited

I locked my lips seductively as I played with a red lacy set. Luca might've just given me my naughtiness idea yet

I slipped it on, being extra careful so I wouldn't rip it apart. It seemed tight at first, but then my body adjusted to it. I looked at my reflection in the mirror, and I could not recognise the woman staring back at me.

That wasn't Sharon Gray, that was Riann—

My ample breasts could barely be held by the poor little thing, and the thong has probably stretched to it's limit. I wasn't fat or anything, I just had curves in the right places. And for the first time in my life, I was beginning to see beauty

In myself—

I heard a knock on the door. The sound brought me back to reality and I froze instantly.

I had no time to inbox my luggage and look for a decent piece of clothing, and my tour guide was probably the person knocking. So I slipped on my bathrobe

She was a lady and all, it wasn't like Luca was going to show up in my house early that morning. He was probably pissed at my recent behaviour, he would never

Right?

I froze as I opened the door, to see Luca standing there, all six foot five of him!

Wearing a white cotton shirt and denim cutoffs, simple black slippers.

I was supposed to slam the door at his face and look for a shirt, a proper dress, anything! But I lost touch with reality at that moment

His hair was wet, like he had just gotten out of the shower. Little droplets of water graced his forehead, and I studied one, and watched as it landed on his thin lips

I wanted to kiss it off him, and slide my tongue through his lips and into his mouth—

“Fuck”

I heard him curse. He closed his eyes shut and groaned silently. And when he opened them back, they were hungry, and desperate

“Riann

You look like sin—”