5. Tryst

The day dawned crisp and clear. The first rays of sunlight lit up his room. The dawn chorus of melodic birdsong drifted in. Xavier laid there, his head resting on his hand as he watched his woman in adoration. The sound of her light, steady breathing filled the room. His hand reached out and grazed her bare arm tenderly.

Megan stirred in her sleep, and then slowly opened her eyes, squinting as she allowed her eyes to adjust to the beam of sunlight. When her visions became clear, her eyes continued to widen when she noticed Xavier staring down at her.

"Sleep more tesoro mio (my precious)" He covered them in the duvet and tried to pull her to him but Megan had sat bolt upright, shoving his hand away from her.

His lips twitched, he cocked his head to one side and narrowed his eyes. "Is something wrong?"

"I..." she stuttered. The drumming in her heart was instantaneous, memory of last night flickering back to life. She clutched the duvet all the way up to her chest, hiding her bare body from him.

He stared brazenly into her eyes, as if daring her to say the words.

"I'm sorry. It was a mistake."

And she did. Vexed, he lifted his chin up a little at her intrepid behaviour. Her eyes unknowingly darted to his naked body and her face glowed red and felt hot to touch.

"So you wish to take back what happened." He stated, not asking her a question.

She nodded warily, her eyes were dark pools of fear.

"How are your thighs?" He avoided, remembering he had spread her legs so wide she was moaning in cries.

Looking puzzled, she assured him. "They're fine." She continued staring at him, waiting for his response in reverent.

The last thing she wanted was facing the wrath of this man. No good will come of it.

"You've given yourself to me. Warmed my bed. Do you think I'll just let you go?"

Her mouth formed into a perfect 'O' shape as she studied him, trying to work out his intention.

And he continued, "Before, there was a chance I could have possibly let you go. But you need to know that's not possible now."

No way...

Megan gulped audibly. She made no attempt to hide her incredulity. She wished he was speaking Italian so she would not understand what he meant but his beautiful, rich velvety voice in that thick Italian accent definitely made his English sing.

"I mean..." she paused for a moment and cleared her throat, trying to find the words. "What we had last night was amazing. We're adults. You want me. I want you. We had great sex. But all good things must come to an end eventually eh? Isn't that how the world works?" She laughed and shrugged nervously.

"Not in my world." He said coolly, showing her he does not kid.

"But-"

"Last night I told you." His jaw clenched tightly as he tried to control his rage. "There's no going back. You don't remember?"

"I thought you meant the sex."

"That... and all of you too cara mia(my dear)." A puckish smile crept across his face as her startled eyes met his.

A wicked person who bit the throat with his fangs that dropped with poison and paralysed the entire body. This man was a snake. He had used that against her.

Terrified, she was but not entirely upset about it because a tiny part of her had wanted this. Wanted him. Was it because of the way he made her feel safe in his arms? Or was it the way his eyes said something to her every time she looked into them? She was not sure.

"I have asked my men to collect your belongings from the hotel. You will be staying here." He explained as he got out of bed. Megan whimpered silently when she felt the absence of his warmth.

"Okay..." she drawled.

Not okay Megan. This is far from okay! What about your life?

"Can you take me to my room then?" She asked as she watched him wrap himself in a dark navy night robe.

He chuckled softly and gave her an ambivalence look, as though telling her you can't be so naive can you. "This is your room. Our room." he enunciated the last two words so there was no misunderstanding between them.

"Wait! Where are you going?" She exclaimed when she realised he was heading toward the door.

"Was last night not enough for you, cara mia?" His amorous stare made her lose her breath.

Gosh... this man is insatiable.

"Shower up and get dressed. I'm bringing you on a date." He opened the door but turned to look at her once again. "Oh and this time... I'm not asking." Reminding her who was the boss now.

Megan rolled her eyes and ambled her way into the shower room, washing off the scent this man had left on her.

******

"The deal is done. He's dead." Xavier heard Killian speak over the phone.

"I can always count on you. Send his body back to his mob." Xavier ordered and disconnected the call.

He wanted to let everyone know the consequences of going against Xavier Vellutini and his people. He was pleased that Vincenzo was finally out of the picture now.

He leaned back to his chair in his study room, reminiscing last night with Megan. She was the first woman who could satisfy his carnal desire. The only woman who had been able to turn him to lava with nothing more than a seductive stare or the flash of a shoulder. To his body, there was no more desirable a woman. Even the curve of her ankle was erotic.

A knock on his door disrupted his thoughts.

"Come in."

Rico and Antonio made their way into his study room.

"Boss... Adalberto called and said his daughter will be visiting you tomorrow." Rico informed.

Adalberto Russo was the former boss, before Xavier had taken over the entire mafia. The title was not given to him easily. He started working for Adalberto at the age of 21. And at 28, he had lost count the amount of lives he had taken. His hands were tainted with blood.

Before he stepped into the world of cruelty, just like a normal kid, he was a boy who had a perfect family. He had parents and an older sister who loved him dearly. That had all ended when a hitman brutally murdered his whole family, and Killian's family too. Miraculously, the two boys had survived. After the tragedy, he and Killian were adopted by Adalberto Russo. The man became a father figure to them, training one to be his successor and one to be a ruthless assassin so they could both conquer the mafia world. To his dismay, that did not happen as Killian found the love his life in London and decided to purge himself of his old self.

"Get Caroline to clean the lady's room and prepare for her arrival then."

"I will be going out with Megan later. I want both of you and Killian to be there just in case. Antonio, I want eyes on Megan at all time. That's your job now until further notice."

The sound of a soft knock filled the room and three men turned to find its source. Megan peeped into the door and her eyes widened to three pairs of eyes staring back at her.

"Err..." she stammered nervously. "I just want to let you know I'm ready to go." She pointed to the hallway and closed back the door, leaving the men to their unfinished business.

With a slight close-lipped smile, Xavier had thought that was cute. He stood up and padded out the room with the men following behind.

******

Xavier brought Megan back to Trevi Fountain. He laughed a little when Megan had called it the Fountain of Love. She squealed when she stood in front of the fountain once again. This was the third time. She had made a wish successfully this time and tossed the coin into the fountain.

"You know I read about it on G****e. They said if you throw in a third coin, it is said to help lead the way to marriage." She explained as she rummaged through her bag and fished out more coins. Xavier seized her hands when she was about to make her third throw. She looked up at him in wonder.

"You're not getting married to anyone." Xavier frowned and narrowed his eyes as he said.

"What are you? My father?" Megan retorted, freeing herself from his grip and threw the third coin in.

"You may have your way with me in bed. But not my life. You know I'm a woman of my own right? I make my own decision." She did an elegant hair flip and walked away with Antonio following closely behind her. Xavier exchanged glance with Rico, chuckled softly and shook his head.

"Boss... you seemed to like her a lot." Rico whispered beside him. On usual days, Rico probably would not dare to speak to his boss this way. But he knew Xavier was in a good mood today so he became a brave little lion.

"She's something else." Xavier nodded as he gazed at Megan in silence, who was already a few metres away from him.  She was talking to Antonio, giving some local practical information as if Antonio was a tourist and she was the tourist guide.

The couple continued to explore Trastevere after crossing the Ponte Sisto bridge from the Campo de' Fiori market. Charming narrow streets and alleyways between tall Renaissance buildings are lined with quaint bars and cafes.

Later that night, Xavier took Megan to a first-class standalone restaurant on the top floor of Sofitel Villa Borghese. Megan's mouth dropped open when she set foot in the restaurant, taking in a cityscape with the Vatican in full panorama.

"So what do mafia usually do?" Megan asked audaciously as she took a sip on her white wine.

"That's for me to know cara mia."

"Then... what do you do?" Megan provoked.

"Business." Xavier answered again in a callous tone.

"Okay..." she uttered. "Well I'm an artist. And I went to Royal College of Art. Although my dad never really liked me doing it, I loved drawing ever since I was a little girl. It was the best feeling ever. Seeing an empty canvas slowly developing into a masterpiece." Her eyes glittered with happiness.

And so, Megan went on and on with her hobby and life, hoping to let the man know more about her. She thought her opening up would make this man open up to her too. It would be a good start. But boy was she wrong. She had been doing all the talking. Xavier had kept his mouth shut the entire dinner and only listened to Megan.

Once they were back in his room, he had pulled her tightly into his arms and kissed her hard. His kiss was fierce, demanding and possessive. Xavier had wanted to do that the whole day they were out. He was hungry for her, as she was for him too.

Taking his time, he stripped her clothes and her dress was bundled in a pile on the floor together with his. Last night, he was a little rough but tonight, he wanted to be even gentler. He placed soft kisses on her neck, shoulder, arm, down to her breast as he slowly moved lower, down to her pelvis. She reached out and grabbed his hair, her fingers digging into his scalp.

He gently spread her legs. The moment he pressed his lips to her clitoris, she gasped and tried to sit up. Holding her down with one hand on her belly, he buried his face there, his tongue rhythmically pressing against the nub of her pleasure, inhaling the musky scent he adored.

Her whimpers lengthened, deepening into groans. He opened his eyes and watched as her head rolled back. Her back became stiff and he felt her clit twitching in his mouth as she climaxed.

And he made love to her that night. Over and over again. She lost count how many times he had made her come but she remembered they had drifted off to sleep with a triumphant smile on his face.

The next morning, Megan woke up an empty bed. A little disheartened, she crept out of bed and freshened up.

He must be in his study room again.

Padding out of the bedroom, she headed to his study room. She was about to knock on the door but two voices in the room stopped her in her tracks. One was a woman's voice.

"Xavier... Papa said we should set our engagement date as soon as possible. You know how he is." The woman inside the room purred.

What?

Author's Note—

Oh my! Im so excited writing this chapter to be honest. I'll be adding a lot more endearments in this book. Im no Italian but I've done my research and realised they love giving different endearments to loved ones and I find that really sweet and romantic. Do correct me if there's any mistake!

Please vote and comment to let me know what do you think of this chapter! <3