PIPPA
Massimo and I spend the rest of the day being absolutely lazy. I can’t shake the feeling and thoughts from the back of my mind that he was out doing something yesterday that would hurt me.
The facts are, we don’t know each other. I don’t know if he has a woman other than me. I don’t even know his parents. I don’t know shit. My mind spins all day long. We eat breakfast together, Massimo takes a nap. We eat lunch together, then relax poolside, and now it’s dinnertime.
I’m still wearing my bikini, only throwing a sheer gold cover-up over the top. “I’m going to order up some dinner,” Massimo calls out.
I’m in the kitchen, the fridge open and reaching for a bottle of water. Taking it out, I close the fridge and turn to face him. He’s standing on the other side of the bar, his head tipped down as he looks at the binder that the hotel has left for us.
“Okay,” I murmur, twisting the top off of my water before I lift the bottle to my lips.
I keep my gaze on Massimo. He doesn’t look up, he doesn’t even acknowledge me at all. His focus is on the menu, then he reaches for the phone and I watch as he calls down to order the food. Never once does he lift his eyes to look at me or ask me what I want to eat from the menu.
Turning away from him, I head upstairs to shower and change into something suitable to eat dinner in. Starting the water, I wonder if this is my future. He claims that he’s not like the man that I assume him to be, but every single action proves my assumptions completely correct.
Closing my eyes as soon as the warm water washes over my face, I let out a sigh. What have I done? I could have sold my virginity and already be looking for a place of my own while trying to figure out what I’m going to do with the rest of my life.
Instead, I’m standing in a shower of a twelve thousand dollar a night room, on my honeymoon, if that’s what you want to call it. I’m married to a stranger who doesn’t even give a fuck what I want for dinner. He disappears after he fucks me for the first time for hours and I’m supposed to accept his excuse of… business.
Once I’m clean, the scent of sunscreen washed from my skin, along with the sweat from laying out all day off and on. Wrapping a towel around my wet hair, I wrap another white fluffy towel around my body before I make my way back into the bedroom.
My entire body comes to a halt when I see Massimo sitting in the chair in the corner. He has his elbows on his knees, his fingers clasped together and his chin resting on them as his eyes flick to me.
“Massimo,” I say, keeping my voice low, but unable to hide my hesitancy.
“What are you doing?” he asks.
I look down at my body, then turn my head back to look at the bathroom before I shift my eyes back to meet his. “I took a shower,” I say.
Though I don’t understand why I even have to say the words, it’s pretty fucking obvious what I’m doing. He shakes his head, as though that’s not the answer he expected nor wanted. I decide to stay quiet and wait. He’ll eventually have to tell me what he’s talking about, what he expects from me. I’m not a mind reader.
“You’re upset. You walked away from me. Left your water on the counter and just, walked away.”
Pressing my lips together, I fight the urge to tell him exactly why I walked away, not wanting to risk sounding a little too crazy. Clearing my throat, I shrug a shoulder.
“You looked busy, I decided to get ready for dinner.”
He nods his head once, his eyes still focused on mine. “I looked busy,” he repeats.
Rolling my lips, I stand with my towel still wrapped around me as I wait for what he’s going to say next.
“Pippa,” he sighs. “There is something you’re not telling me. I’d like you to tell me now, please,” he says. His voice is low, it sounds dangerous, and a chill runs up my spine.
Making my way over to the bed, I sink down, sitting on the edge and twist my fingers in my lap. Inhaling deeply, I let my breath out on an exhale and lift my head before I shift my gaze up to meet his own.
He looks like he’s patiently waiting for me to speak, but I have no doubt that inside, he’s seconds away from losing that cool that he’s attempting to hold on to. I sigh, then shake my head once before I finally speak.
“I want to trust you. I married you, I needed security and you provided that for me and I’m grateful, but I want this to be real.”
He smirks, shaking his head, then stands. I watch, my lips parting as he makes his way toward me. He sinks down to his haunches in front of me, lifting his hands, he curls his fingers around the sides of my thighs.
“This is real. It cannot get more real than what we have, Pippa. You will not know every move that I make. Sometimes I will leave you in the night, sometimes I will be gone for hours without contact. You will need to accept that and not always assume the worst, yeah?”
Rolling my lips, I sink my teeth into my bottom lip as I give him a short nod of my head. “I want to be okay with it all. I’m sorry that I’m not, yet.”
His hands dance up my sides until he reaches the towel wrapped around my hair. Slowly he unwinds the terry
