Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 82878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
I catch myself staring, and Amelia’s shy smile tells me she has noticed it too.
“Hey,” she greets.
“Hey yourself,” I say with a smile.
She reaches the car and I pull her into my arms and kiss her. I have to will my cock to behave as it strains against my jeans. God, how does this girl have such an effect on me that a simple kiss has me hard?
I open the door for her. She gets into the car, flashing a bit of her thigh as she does so. I close the door and move to the driver’s side. I’m driving tonight because I want it to be just her and me.
“I think you’ll like this place,” I tell her as I start the car. “It’s one of my restaurants and out of all my businesses, it’s my personal favorite. It’s Italian, and the head chef there trained in Naples.”
Amelia’s stomach growls as I talk, and we both laugh.
“Just in case you’re a bit deaf and didn’t get the message, it sounds very much like my sort of place,” Amelia says with a laugh.
We arrive at the restaurant and the valet takes my car away. I offer Amelia my arm and she slips her hand through it. It sends sparks flying through me.
I smile down at her, and I can see by the flush of her cheeks that our contact is having a similar effect on her. Maybe we should have just gone straight back to my place and ordered in, but I really do think Amelia will like it here, and I want to show her that she’s special to me, that this isn’t about sex.
19
VIKTOR
We step inside and the hostess smiles at me.
“Your table is ready, Mr. Leshchenko. Right this way please,” she says.
We follow her through a crowd of diners. The place is just right – busy enough to have an atmosphere, but not busy enough to make it feel less intimate. The hostess leads us to my favorite table. It’s situated a little way away from the rest of the diners, right at the window which looks out onto an Italian garden full of the very herbs and spices the chef uses in the food.
A waiter pulls Amelia’s chair out for her. She thanks him and sits down. I sit down opposite her, and the headwaiter appears.
He smiles expansively at us. “Welcome, Mr. Leshchenko.” He nods politely at Amelia. “Signorina.” He places a menu down before each of us. “Would you like any drinks now or do you need a minute?”
“A bottle of your finest champagne, please,” I tell him.
He nods and moves away from us. Amelia picks her menu up and I do the same. Even though I eat here nearly once a month, the menu changes weekly.
“Do you see anything you fancy?” I ask her.
“It all looks amazing,” she smiles. “I’m thinking maybe the chicken alfredo.”
“Great choice,” I tell her. “I think I might have the same.”
The waiter comes back with champagne, and I order the meals.
“I’ve told you everything about my past and you hardly told me anything about yours,” she says.
“What do you want to know?”
“Tell me about your family. Are you close to them?”
“My father died before I was born and my mother decided many years ago, she wanted to return to Russia, so I arranged it all for her and visit her a few times a year.”
“I never knew my father either,” she says. “He left before I was born, and it’s been an endless succession of stepfathers for me.”
“That must have been tough.”
She sighs. “It’s no secret that I’ve always preferred it when it was just Mom and me. You know, that time in between stepfathers. Sure, we struggled for money and that, but we were happy. The men she chose were never really suited to family life and having them around just messed everything up. Of course, my mom couldn’t see that. “At first, she thought there was something wrong with her, but I think my latest stepfather, Dan, has cunningly managed to persuade her that there’s actually something wrong with me. She now thinks I’m a brazen seductress and Dan is the innocent victim, drawn in by my womanly charms.”
She laughs suddenly at the irony of it all. It’s a bitter laugh, and although her story makes me angry on her behalf, I keep my expression neutral. “Dan is a manipulative shit, I take it?”
Amelia’s expression of disgust says it all. “That’s the understatement of the year. Let’s just say Dan thinks he’s God’s gift to women, but he’s enough to turn any woman’s stomach. And one day, Dan went too far so I left.”
There is real sadness in her voice, and I can tell she is really hurt by her mother’s betrayal. I feel something rise up inside my gut. A strong reaction. A feeling of anger at a woman who would be so stupid as to choose a useless man over her daughter and a feeling I haven’t felt for a long time. A feeling of great affection for the girl sitting opposite me.