Total pages in book: 46
Estimated words: 44746 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 224(@200wpm)___ 179(@250wpm)___ 149(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44746 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 224(@200wpm)___ 179(@250wpm)___ 149(@300wpm)
We both laugh and I kiss her again.
We end up on the couch, naked, comfortable. I hold her and we don’t do anything but talk, tease, and enjoy each other.
There’s a world outside of this room. It’s crumbling, it’s broken, it’s a failure.
But right now, right here, with my Paige…
None of it matters. It’s all held at bay.
I have her and that’s all I need.
13
Paige
We spend the rest of the evening in and out of bed. We order room service and he explores me like no man has ever explored me before.
He tastes me… teases me… takes me. Exposes me in an exquisite intensity.
I fall asleep in his arms from sheer exhaustion. I didn’t know I could be so satisfied in my entire life. It’s like we’re not in a different country trying to figure out what we’re going to do next.
It just doesn’t seem to matter.
I sleep deep, dreamless, and I only wake up when I hear him in the shower. I yawn and get out of bed, surprised that I’m still naked.
I never sleep naked.
I sneak into the bathroom and brush my teeth. He pokes his head from the shower and grins at me. “Morning,” he says.
“Morning.” I blush a little and cover my breasts. I don’t know why, it’s not like I have anything to hide from him anymore.
“Coffee and food out there if you want it.” He disappears back into the shower.
I finish brushing, throw on some clothes, and find the coffee. I nibble at some pastries but mostly I stand at the window… and I stare.
Monaco is gorgeous. I don’t think I appreciated it yesterday. I was so jetlagged and Leon’s mood was so awful that I couldn’t take in the city. But Monaco is beautiful, the coastline picturesque, the buildings like they’re from some catalogue or painting. Everything is brightly colored, clean, and orderly. It’s like an old world French coastal town but modernized.
Boats bob up and down in the harbor. Large buildings line the seafront, resorts and hotels and more. There’s a tennis court not far away, and everything is just so… orderly. People move down on the sidewalks, down on the dock, climbing on and off yachts.
This is the playground of the rich and the elite and it shows.
“Lovely, right?”
I half turn and find Leon wearing only a towel. For some reason, I wish I had stayed naked instead of putting on an old t-shirt and shorts.
“It really is,” I say.
“There’s a reason I wanted to come here. I mean, aside from how impossible it is to get in.”
He joins me at the window. “I guess you’ve been here before?”
He nods. “Years ago. I came here when I built my first hotel and it was a success. I came here and gambled away most of that money.” He laughs to himself, shaking his head. “I was young and stupid. But I made a promise to myself that I knew I had to keep.”
“Which was?”
“I knew I had to build here. This is where the rich come to play… and building a hotel here as a foreigner would be the crowning achievement of my life. I could retire happy… rich and happy.”
I smile a little bit. “You’re talking like it won’t happen anymore.”
His face darkens a bit. “I’m worried,” he says, and turns away. He gets some coffee and is about to say something else when there’s a knock at the door.
He looks at me and nods. “Go ahead,” he says. “Assistant.”
I sigh and I feel the magic of the previous evening slowly start to drain away. The world was kept at bay… until now.
I go to the door and answer it as he disappears into our room. Claude is standing there wearing an identical suit to the one he was wearing yesterday… or maybe it’s the same one. I genuinely can’t tell.
He looks at me with a frown, eyes roaming up and down, judging me. “Is Mr. Price available?” he asks like I’m not worth his time.
“He’s indisposed.”
Claude grunts once. “Very well. Please meet us at the arranged work site in one hour. We’d like to give you a tour.”
I feel my heart leap. “Will Maxime and Cerise be there?”
Claude’s face doesn’t change. “We will see you then.”
He turns and leaves without another word.
I shut the door and feel a bit of hope. I head back into the room and watch for a second, transfixed by Leon’s body. He slowly dresses, his ripped muscles covered by expensive, flawless cloth. I wish I could tear it away again.
“Was that him?” Leon asks.
“Claude,” I say. “Wants to show us the building site? I didn’t know we had one.”
Leon nods. “There’s a proposed site, anyway.”
“This is good, right? They wouldn’t take us to the site if things weren’t moving forward.”
He nods, but he doesn’t look convinced. “You’d better get dressed,” he says and turns away to check himself in the mirror.