Rome for Always (The BAD BOY BILLIONAIRES Collection) (8 page)

Arie gave her a grudging nod. She only hoped that
whatever would be wasn’t that Rome would end up choosing his family over her
and Maya.

She’d be going to Italy with all fingers and toes
crossed.

***

“Are you okay?” Rome reached over and rested his hand on
top of Arie’s.

Trying hard to look composed, Arie swallowed then she
nodded. “Of course,” she said quickly. “Why wouldn’t I be?” But her voice was
hoarse and just a little bit shaky. Far from convincing, she was forced to
admit. She cleared her throat and tried again. “I’m fine,” she said and this
time her voice was firm, even if strained.

Rome’s eyes narrowed as he regarded her. “You don’t
sound fine and you don’t look fine, either.” He let her hand go but only so he
could shift the loose strands from her face and tuck them behind her ear. Then
his hand covered hers again. “Nervous?”

That made her give a shaky chuckle. “Can you tell?”

His smile deepened. “It’s more than obvious,” he said,
his tone soft and totally nonjudgmental, “but that’s okay. You’re going to a
new country to meet your family-to-be. Who wouldn’t be nervous? Heck, if I were
in your place I’d be shaking in my shoes.”

She couldn’t help rolling her eyes over that one. “Yeah,
right. You? Scared?”

“Hey, that’s a sexist remark. What? Men can’t get
scared?” He gave her a look that said he was deeply offended, so offended that
she had to laugh.

“You’d better fix that pout or I’ll have to kiss you
till you’re blue,” she threatened.

That got rid of the pout, all right, because his face
immediately broke into a wide grin. “Bring it on, babe. You can punish me any
time.”

It must have been the fact that they were thirty
thousand feet up in the air or maybe it was her taut nerves snapping. Arie
didn’t know what came over her. Before the words were even out of Rome’s mouth
she’d unsnapped her seatbelt and was leaning over to clasp his face in her
hands. Then, like she’d been starving for this all day, she captured his lips
with hers and kissed him like she would never get enough.

And he answered in kind. Rome unsnapped his seatbelt,
too, and he lifted the armrest between them then he was pulling her over and
onto his lap where he turned the tables on her, taking full control of the kiss
so she was soon gasping and clinging to him.

It was exactly what Arie needed to take her mind off her
impending troubles. As Rome’s lips molded to hers she melted into him, letting
his tongue slide into her softness, drawing strength from his embrace.

“Would you like some w...Oops! Sorry, sir. Ma’am.”

Arie jumped and drew back just in time to see the
navy-blue drapes closing. “Wha…who was that?”

When she glanced back at Rome he was smiling. “Well, we
gave the kid an eyeful, that’s for sure.”

“The flight attendant…” She gave Rome a guilty grin. “I
forgot you’ve got an attendant on this flight. Somehow I keep thinking –
private jet, nobody but us and the pilots.” Then she shrugged. “If I’d
remembered I probably wouldn’t have attacked you like that. Sorry.”

“I’m not. In fact, I don’t mind if you attack me again,
right about…now.” On the last word he dipped his head to nibble on her ear,
sending sparks shooting right down to that now tingling tip between her legs.

“Oh, no, you don’t.” Before he could turn her on even
more Arie slid off his lap and plopped back into her seat then folded her hands
in her lap like a good little girl. “We’re going to behave like mature adults. No
more hanky-panky on the plane.”

He heaved an exaggerated sigh of disappointment. “You
certainly know how to kill a man’s flow.” Then he cocked his head to one side. “Seriously,
we’ve got three more hours to go before we get there. Are you telling me that
I’m going to have to sit over here and keep my hands to myself? Where’s the fun
in that?”

Arie shrugged. “We passed the first part of the flight
watching movies. Now we can talk.”

“Boring,” he teased but he shut up when she reached over
and punched him on the arm. “All right, all right. I’ll talk. God, the abuse I
have to put up with.”

“I want to know more about you,” she said. “Fill me in
on everything before we get to Italy. I don’t want your family giving me the
third degree and not be able to handle it.”

Rome looked at her like she was making a mountain out of
a molehill. “What else is there to know? The real question is, what’s there
about me that you don’t know.”

“A lot,” she said without hesitation. “I mean, I know a
lot about you as an adult. Who you are now, your business and all that stuff. But
what about when you were a kid? You haven’t told me much about that.”

“You want to know about my childhood?” Rome shook his
head then put a hand over his mouth and gave an exaggerated yawn. “Double
boring.”

“I doubt it,” Arie said drily. “You, the son of a
mega-wealthy Italian family? Boring, your childhood was not. I’ll bet money on
that.”

“Don’t be so quick to bet on it, kid. I’ve got
witnesses.”

“Oh, come on, Rome. Talk to me. Give me all the juicy
tidbits about what made you tick.”

“All right,” he conceded with a hint of frustration,
“but when you start snoring I’m going to kiss you awake, flight attendant or no
flight attendant.”

Arie laughed. “Deal. Now start talking.”

And that was how she found out what a troublemaker the
man she loved used to be. Thank goodness she’d met him after he’d passed
through that phase. As a boy he’d been the devil incarnate, teasing his sisters
nearly to death and bossing his brothers till they had to gang up on him.  His
father tried to curb him but he’d rebelled and that was when they’d shipped him
off to finish high school in the United States. While the other children had
remained behind in Italy with their mother he’d gone with his father to their
new offices in America.

“But didn’t you miss your family?” Arie couldn’t help
asking.

“Sure I did and I went home to Italy every chance I got.
But I was a rambunctious teenager and I needed curbing. Having my father focus
all his attention on me straightened me out real fast, I can tell you that.” He
was shaking his head as he spoke then he gave a soft chuckle. “At first I did
everything I could to frustrate the old man, make him send me home, but it was
no use. He was determined to bring me in line and he’s a tough old goat.” He
gave a snort. “You don’t want to get on the wrong side of that one.”

The words made Rome laugh but instead of amusement what
Arie felt was a frisson of fear. Was this premonition? A warning of what was to
come? If she’d been scared of Rome’s family before, now she was one step closer
to terrified.

“Uhm, is he still like that?” she dared to ask. It made
sense for her to be prepared.

“Worse.” Rome leaned over to give her a soft peck on the
cheek. “But don’t worry. He’s going to fall in love with you just like I did.”

“I wish,” was Arie’s answer, and it was laced with all
the doubt she was feeling just then. But it was only a whisper and she knew he
didn't hear her..

Which was a good thing because she had no idea how she
would explain the nagging dread that his family would not like her, not one
bit.

CHAPTER SIX

“Do we have to go now?” Arie took another sip of her orange
juice then began to toy with her spoon.

She and Rome had arrived way past bedtime Italian time
so instead of heading straight to his family home he’d booked a suite at Regina
Hotel Baglioni so Arie could get some rest.  She’d been more than relieved at that
plan but now it was time to face the music.

Rome had already finished breakfast. He reached over and
took the fork from her. “Yes, we have to go now. We didn’t fly all the way to
Italy to spend our days in a hotel.”

“Well, it’s a pretty nice hotel,” she said as she
reluctantly took his hand and got up to go.

“Agreed,” he said with a chuckle, “and we’ll come back
and enjoy it some other time. Right now, though, we have places to go and
people to see.”

Arie knew if she dragged her feet any more it would
begin to look bad so she straightened her back and put on her game face. No way
was she going to let anyone be able to call her a wimp, even if she felt like
she was being led to the gallows.

The Alfa Romeo ate up the road too fast for her liking
and long before she felt ready they were pulling onto the grounds of an elegant
estate in the middle of which sat a majestic home that had her mouth falling
open. She’d expected a home worthy of the Milano name but what she saw far
exceeded her expectations. It wasn’t a home. It was a freakin' castle.

“Wow,” she breathed. “You grew up here?” Arie couldn’t
even begin to imagine what it must have been like, growing up in the midst of
all that wealth. The house – if you could call it a house – looked big enough
to accommodate ten families. You could easily live in one wing and not run into
the rest of your family for a week.

“Yeah,” Rome said with a shrug. “Boring.” Then he hopped
out of the car and went to open her door. “Come on, let’s go in.”

“What about our bags?” Arie asked, fishing around for an
excuse to delay their entry.

“Don’t worry about it. One of the staff will bring those
in. Now, come on.”

At that point there was nothing to be done but leave the
refuge of the car and head on in. “All right,” she said on a sigh. “I’m right
behind you.”

When Rome gave her his hand she clung to it like it was
a lifeline. As they walked toward the main entrance she was holding on so tight
that he looked down at her. “You okay?”

Arie nodded and gave him a pseudo-brave smile, wondering
why he had to look so darned eager. But then she dismissed the thought. This
was his family he was going to see. Of course he’d be looking forward to it.

She, on the other hand, had no experience with family
gatherings. How could she when all she’d known was the life of a lowly card in
a deck, shuffled from foster home to foster home till she’d been shoved out on
her own the day she turned eighteen.

She was used to being on her own. In fact, she’d grown
to like it – except, of course, when the holidays came around. That was the
only time she found herself wishing she had a family.  And soon she would have
one, the perfect one, when she had Maya in her arms and Rome by her side as her
husband. That was all the family she would ever need.

But when she married Rome she’d be marrying his family,
too. They would be hers, like it or not. Assuming they even accepted her…

But those were the thoughts of a defeatist and Arie was
no loser. She would face this family head on and they’d better love her or else.
“Hurry up, slow poke,” she said as she tugged on Rome’s arm. His smile told her
he was surprised and pleased at her change in demeanor. “Let’s go show your
family what a gem of a woman you’ve found.”

“Now you’re talking my language. I can’t wait to show
you off.”

His words giving her a shot of confidence, Arie was
smiling as they approached the main entrance. The door was opened by a
diminutive woman in glasses that looked too big for her face.

“Signora Luca.” Rome gave the woman a hug then turned to
pull Arie forward. “Please meet my fiancée. This is her first visit to Italy.”

“Benvenuto, signorina.” Signora Luca gave Arie a
deferent bow but her smile was warm and her dark eyes twinkled in her softly
wrinkled face. “I hope you will enjoy Italy.”

Arie smiled back, glad for the pleasant welcome. “I’m
sure I will.”

The signora nodded then turned her attention back to
Rome. “Your mother and sisters are in the green room. They are anxious to see
you.”

“We’re on our way,” Rome said and took Arie’s hand then
he was leading her down a hallway that could only be described as palatial.

“The green room?” she asked, curiosity getting the
better of her.

“My mother absolutely loves gardening. The room was
designed to remind her of the gardens she used to have back in Sicily when she
was a young girl. As you can imagine, the room's got lots of green.” He gave
her a sly grin. “Be warned.”

It was a good thing he put her on notice. When they
entered the room Arie was so surprised she almost came to a halt. It was like
she’d stepped into the Garden of Eden. When she’d heard of the green room she’d
expected to see the walls in that hue but there was no such thing. Instead, the
walls were a softly elegant shade of ivory accentuated by wainscoting of deep
mahogany. The striking thing was the abundance of plants that filled the space.
There were palms, tall and elegant in the corners and soft ferns in charming
pots hanging from the ceiling. Vases of fresh-cut flowers adorned the side
tables, adding brilliant bursts of color to the scene. But it was the
centerpiece that drew Arie’s attention. In the middle of the room was a low
glass table on which sat the biggest bouquet she’d ever seen, an explosion of
red, pink, white, blue and orange, a floral celebration of color that could
compete with the most brilliant of fireworks.