The darkness in my room was peaceful. I’d pulled the curtains together to keep the moon out. It reminded me too much of him, and that night. The only source of light was the slit of yellow from the slightly ajar bathroom door. My stomach was full from the lavish dinner we’d had an hour after my argument with Cristo. Jenna and Aubrey stuck close by me as I avoided being around Cristo. I didn’t have to try too hard, because he’d apparently left right after I’d abandoned him on the balcony.I lay there with my eyes closed against the comfortable mattress, the soft linen and silk sheets feeling a lot like the ones back in Korea’s hotel.Gosh, it sucked to be there.Sucked to be me.Two more days, I reminded myself. Two days and I’ll be away from all the drama here. I can go sightseeing, have nice food, sleep in a place so different I’ll be completely disconnected from Cristo and Blair.For once in a very long time, I was excited to do my job. Maybe I should work for foreign clients more.

Cristo had showered and left the moment I fell asleep. I felt bad for soiling the very nice sheets of Mrs. Beaumont’s guest room, and I hoped her servants wouldn’t tell her if they found out. Other than that, I’d never slept better in my whole life. I was a little disappointed that my favorite black sweats were ruined, but I just rinsed them out, dried them, and shoved them into a bag to throw into the laundry when I got to Italy.I understood that our troubles weren’t over. Did the sex mean anything? I wasn’t sure, but I had time to figure it out later. It was a confusing place to be in, but Cristo hadn’t let go of Blair, and there wasn’t space in my heart to endure pain from her through Cristo. I could never come to trust Cristo until she left. Plus, after everything that had happened, we still barely knew each other. I didn’t have to confine myself to a hope that one day we’ll get to know each other better. There were no promises.Our one-night stands were accidental at best. Well…

It had been almost a week to my stay here, and it was only one lovely day after the other. Guasperra was really cooperative in his interviews with me. I had a very solid personality profile to go on and a good understanding of his preference. I also now knew the kind of partner he needed.“Are you ready?” Bellona asked at the door way, leaning against the frame. Her light blue floral dress rested delicately on her frame, cinched at the waist to accentuate her beautiful curvy figure.I nodded, “Almost. Just need my earrings.”My hands flailed around the dresser top, in search of the familiar smooth surface of–got it! I pushed the earrings on quickly and stepped back to take a nice look. It wasn’t anything too fancy. A white turtleneck paired with a long satin dress the color of sapphire, and Doc Martens boots. I draped my tan overcoat onto my arm, incase it got too cold.“Is this okay?” I turned to her nervously. She smiled at me softly and pushed herself off the door frame, walking be

Another week passed with another party in the midst of it. I couldn’t believe how busy I was each day, but it was enough to keep Cristo off my mind. By the time the weekends came around, I was drowning in paperwork, pinning up pages on a corkboard and working out their personality types, setting them in categories, studying their attachments styles and love languages. It was just five suitors so far but Italians were really particular about the kind of families they would be intermingling with on a regular basis. Out of those five, two were crossed out simply because of the personal interviews I had with them. One of them wasn’t interested in Guasparre at all. The other two girls were interested, but Guasparre couldn’t connect with them after I’d set them up for a small meet-up.While monitoring their interactions on a screen from another room, I started to realize in the next week that maybe there was more to Guasparre’s celibacy. I couldn’t hear what they were talking about to ensur

Ariana came to pick us up immediately, eyeing the two of us skeptically.“Would you need me to call up your butler, Mr. Alexakis-Caron.”“Please don’t.” he sighed dreadfully, “I’m a thirty-year-old man who hasn’t needed him in five years.”“As you wish.”The ride was silent but warm. I’d shed the overcoat and placed it neatly on the backrest of the passenger seat. I sat in the back with Cristo with him to my left. Our arms were so close, almost touching. I could feel my arm and neck heating up, remembering how sensual his light touches were, and the strength of just his hand. The warmth of his palm replayed on my cheek, and I wanted nothing more that for that to be a forever.“Ariana,” I said, “could you head towards the second main plaza uphill?”She looked back at me confused, but nodded and turned into a street slanting upwards. We rode in silence until the places started to look familiar.“Yes, stop here.” I said, “Do you have a coin?”“Of course.” Ariana reached into the dashboar