Quiet Wealth by J.L. Drake

Everything inside tugged me in Elio’s direction, everything but my heart. I wanted him to work for it. He pulled out my chair, and I eased onto the velvet fabric.

“Would you like a glass of wine to start, or would you like an aperitivi?”

“Either is fine, thank you.” I pulled my napkin on my lap and hesitated with the menu.

“What’s wrong?” He picked it up and started to read, and I hid my delight that I was allowed to order on my own, unlike when I was with Mariano.

“What’s good here?” I avoided his question.

“Everything, so order anything that interests you.”

“Mr. Capri.” An older man came over and offered a hand. “It’s lovely to have you back. I do hope everything is up to your standards?”

“It always is.” Elio glanced at me. “I would like you to meet my date for the evening, Sienna Giovanna.”

“Ciao belle.” He offered me a hand. “I’m Gusto.”

“Lovely to meet you, Gusto.” I returned his warm smile.

He suddenly snapped his fingers, and a young sommelier who looked nervous but excited held up a bottle of wine.

“A new batch just arrived, sir, and when we heard you were coming, we thought we’d offer you some.”

“Would you like to try it?” Elio asked me, and the sommelier turned the bottle so I could see the label. Gattavecchi Vino Nobile Di Montepulciano.

“I’m sure it will be wonderful.”

Elio motioned with his hand, and the young man opened the wine to give us both a taste to make sure we were happy with it. We both agreed it was delicious, and I did notice they both sighed with relief as it was set aside to breathe. We soon placed our food order, and as Elio thanked Gusto, I leaned back and let myself relax.

I found myself watching Elio. He had two very strong sides to his personality. One was the boy I had fallen madly in love with, and the other was much darker and commanding. I was pleased to see that for the most part he was the same boy I once knew, but oddly, his dark side piqued my interest in the most arousing way. One I hadn’t seen coming.

“What are you thinking?” His raspy voice shot right to the center of my stomach. While I blinked, trying to recall his words, he tilted his head and smirked. “You have a face when you’re thinking naughty thoughts, Sienna.”

“Is that so?” I licked my lips and reached for my water. He watched me, and his eyes wandered down to my throat and dipped low on my chest. He fingered his cufflinks, looking relaxed as one hand absently stroked his chin. Not wanting to give away my private moment, I decided some answers were going to have to be given tonight if I was going to be okay with Elio being in my life again.

“Is Gusto the owner?” I changed topics.

“He is.”

“And you get the entire patio whenever you bring your dates here?”

“Whenever I come here, yes.”

“Seems like a lot of lost revenue for them.”

He looked away for a moment. “I make it worth their while.”

“Do I want to know what you do, Elio?”

His gaze darted over to mine, and I felt my stomach tighten. He held me in his gaze until I finally broke his hold. “I’m not sure yet.”

“Fair enough.” Why wasn’t I running away? Normally, there would be a burned path out the door, but for some reason I just knew I was going to be okay, because it was Elio. I absentmindedly reached for my necklace and rubbed the pendant he had given me.

“Why did you leave without a goodbye?” came flying out of my mouth, and I could see the fear that raced across his face. “Wait.” I held up a hand, feeling a sudden panic sweep over me. “Don’t answer that.”

“I will answer that question, I promise you, Sienna, but can we address that one another time?” His face told me it wasn’t the time or place. I gave a curt nod, hating that I wanted to run from the answer.

“Can I ask you a few questions?” He kept his voice soft.

“All right.” I swallowed hard and wondered where he would go with this.

“Tell me about your life now.”

That was not what I was expecting.

“Yes.” I shook off the unneeded stress. “I share an apartment with my best friend, Wyatt. He’s from the States.”

“What part?”

“New York.”

“Lovely place.” He nodded at me to keep going.

“He’s there right now. I was going to join him, but I’m here, so…” I trailed off and quickly realized that might have sounded bad. “It’s his sister’s wedding, and, well, that’s just pure entertainment if you knew the groom’s family.” I laughed as I thought about them.

“Tell me about Wyatt.”

I found my face stretching into a huge smile as I thought about my crazy friend.

“How much time do you have?” I chuckled. “We met when I was living on the streets. He helped me get a job, and later we moved in together. We are both journalists, work at the same company, share basically everything. One would think we’d be in constant competition chasing down stories and leads, but it was never like that. Instead, we work together and co-write a lot.” I smiled to myself. “He’s crazy, wild, fun, exciting. He’s really the polar opposite of me.”

“Seems to me you weren’t always tame, my belle.” Elio made a dive motion with his hand as he arched an eyebrow, and I knew he was referring to the time I jumped off a thirty-foot bridge on a dare one summer.

“Things change.” I lowered my voice as the waiter returned with our food.

“Yes, they have.” He cleared his throat and thanked the waiter. “Do you enjoy your job?”

“I do. I can’t stand my boss, Georgio. Oh, don’t get me started on him.” I laughed. “I’ve met some interesting people, which has been fun, and I get opportunities like this.”

Elio took a moment to sip his wine and music suddenly started to flow from below us.

“I love this song.” I closed my eyes and listened to the sweet melody of Primavera, by Ludovico Einaudi. We ate in silence, listening to the music and enjoying each other’s company, not needing to make a lot of small talk. When dessert was served, I was almost too full to take another bite, and I was swept up in the music and the thousand twinkling lights below us.

“Do you really think Mariano is right for you?” He finally spoke, and I kept my gaze on the scenery, trying to place my true feelings.

“No,” passed softly over my lips.

“Then, what are you doing?”

Slowly, I swung my gaze over to him. “Living.” I felt my shoulders stiffen. “I’m trying to let myself live. I want to let go a little, have some fun for a change.”

“Have you kissed him?”

“It’s interesting to me that you think we’re dating.”

“It sure seems that way. I just wanted to know if when he kisses you, do you burn to kiss him back more deeply, or do you feel like you want to pull away because it doesn’t feel right?”

I had felt that with every man I’d ever dated since him.

“Because that’s how I feel when I kiss another woman.”

“Please stop.” I held on to the sides of the table as my gut churned in confusion.

Giuliano Sangiorgi’s E penso a te flowed up and surrounded us with his bleeding words. Elio stood, dropped his napkin on the table, and offered me his hand.

“I don’t dance.” I didn’t do romance that well either. I loved it, but I’d never allowed myself to feel truly intimate with anyone…but him.

“Yes, you do.” He pulled me into the middle of the patio. “Remember what I said.” He gave me a smile, referring to our childhood at his parents’ place. “Form to me, and I will do the rest. I promise.”

I glanced down as my heart battled my head, then slowly lifted my hand and slipped it into his and stepped closer to let my body surrender to his. His warm hand pressed against the small of my back, and I rested my head against his chest and began to sway with him to the music.

“Mm,” he purred as he kissed my head with contentment.

Slowly, I closed my eyes and relaxed, and with the release I let go of the tight hold on my memories and allowed my mind to drift back to our past.

“Come on.” Elio lifted me by the waist and hauled me onto the dance floor where at least a hundred other guests were slow dancing to a live orchestra. I had borrowed a dress from Andrea but still felt completely out of place as he insisted I dance with him.

“Dancing is the perfect way to be with someone without any need for words, without a care in the world. It’s just two people listening to music intimately. I want to experience everything with you, Sienna.”

“Elio.” I loved that he wanted my firsts to be his, but...“I want to, I just don’t know how to.”

“Lucky for you.” He stood straighter and gave me his famous sexy smile. “I’m an excellent teacher.”

I looked around, feeling awkward. I didn’t belong there. I didn’t belong anywhere, it seemed.

“Hey.” He held my chin. “Form to me, and I will do the rest. I promise.”

“Can I ask you one last question?” I was immediately plunged to the present as he whispered into my hair. His hand gently rubbed my bare back.

“Mm?” was all I could say as I fell deeper under his spell.

“Do you still love me?”

I knew he felt the waver in my step, but I quicky regained my composure. Carefully, I leaned back to look at him. I was sure a thousand and one emotions were evident as they danced across my face.

The fact was I had never stopped loving him, and I was scared, so damn scared to be hurt again. I wasn’t sure if I could ever recover from another heartbreak.

“Can we address that one another time?”

He nodded and removed his hand from mine, running the backs of his fingers down my cheek, then he tipped my chin up and hovered over my lips.

Giving in to my heart, I pushed up on my toes and pressed my lips to his, letting the world drop away. His kisses were gentle and tame, and I moaned, loving his taste. The hand on my back slipped low into the back of my dress and touching the top of my lacy thong.

“Oh, Sienna,” he groaned painfully against my mouth, “there’s so much you don’t know and so much I want to share.” His hand moved to my heart and rested there a moment then slid down between my breasts to finger the pendant. “To think a part of me has been sitting right here all these years.”

I held on to the lapels of his jacket, needing an anchor.

“I hate how scared I am around you,” I confessed. I felt like my heart might burst if I didn’t share what was happening inside. “I hate how much I ache for you when you aren’t there, and then when I’m with you I ache in a different way. Like an addiction that feels so good and makes everything seem right, but deep down inside you know that drug might run out and leave you in its terrible wake.”

“I’m so sorry, Sienna.” He pressed his forehead to mine. “You must know that I never, ever wanted to hurt you.”

I nodded. I knew he was telling the truth, but sadly, the damage was already done.

“We’ll just take it one step at a time, okay?”

“Okay.” I settled back into his arms, needing to be held.