Page 33 of Sandro

I shrugged. “It was just tacky. There was marble in places, but then it was obvious that other places were much more cheaply decorated. There was no consistency.”

“I’ll give you a tour later if you’re feeling up for it. And if you like the outdoors, the gardens are a source of pride for Master Vincent. He loves the gardens, and although he doesn’t spend as much time in them as I think he wishes he could, he can be found out in them several evenings a week.”

“Sandro, I’m from Rome. We don’t have gardens. We have more buildings. The buildings on either side of our pride house were only an alleyway apart.” If you wanted green, you were taking at least a bus, and that was after walking several blocks to get to the nearest bus stop. It wasn’t that I didn’t love Rome. I truly did. But it was crowded, noisy, and busy. It was home though, and although I wasn’t upset about leaving, I was going to eventually miss certain parts of it.

My stomach started to feel uneasy again, and I tilted my head back to wet my hair and hurry with my shower. Of course, I was stuck with a head full of soap suds when my stomach decided that it was really unhappy. I tried to leave the shower, but Sandro held me as I simply bent over and emptied what little bile there was in my stomach. That was really not fun at all.

After I’d finished, Sandro turned on the center showerhead, and the mess was quickly washed away. He then helped me rinse my hair, and then the best part: he gently washed my body. It was intimate without being sexy. He was caring for me, and it was such a sweet thing.

“I’m sorry,” I said once he’d finished washing my feet and stood back up.

“What for? For being pregnant? I’m the one responsible for getting you pregnant. If anyone should be sorry, it’s me.”

I reached out and placed a hand on Sandro’s chest. “I wanted the baby, remember? Don’t be getting that way. I was apologizing for throwing up in your shower.”

“Our shower. And the drain here goes to the same place as the toilet. I didn’t want you rushing to the toilet with wet feet and slipping. We need to get you some tea. And yes, I’m going to again say some food. Tea alone isn’t going to be enough. You are throwing up because your stomach is empty.”

I nodded in agreement. I let Sandro help me rinse, and then he turned all of the dials on the wall, and the water turned off. There was a mat just outside of the shower, but Sandro had been right. The tiles between it and the toilet would have been slick with my wet feet. Chances of me being careful were probably slim since I was about to get sick.

Sandro handed me a fluffy, cream-colored towel, and I quickly started drying off. I needed to eat, and if I only had a short amount of time before I got sick again, I needed to hurry up. I dried, then followed Sandro over to the sinks, where I once again brushed my teeth while he combed his hair. He handed me the brush when I was finished, and I sighed. I’d left so much behind. Not that I had a whole lot to begin with. I had things. My parents had provided for me. But they were gone now, and since their deaths, things had changed. That included the number of things I had. The majority of them had simply gone missing with all of my parents’ stuff.

“Are you feeling up for breakfast with the family?”

I nodded. “As long as tea is involved, yes. And maybe some fruit and crackers? Or do you have pastries?” I normally ate a larger breakfast if at all possible, but it used to be that I’d take whatever I could get. Now, I’d take whatever my stomach could handle.

“If there is something you’d like that isn’t there, we can get it from the kitchen. If it’s not in the kitchen, I’m certain Rio or Mazzi would be more than happy to help with anything you want.”

I nodded. I finished in the bathroom and left, and once back in the bedroom, I finally looked around. It was just as nice as the bathroom, but obviously, it wasn’t a bathroom. I was going to have some sort of relationship with the bed, I was certain, with how I was currently feeling. That, and it was just comfortable.

“Do you know where my clothes are?” I asked. I could always wear the ones I’d been in last. I’d taken them off and dropped them on the floor, but I didn’t see them now.

“They’re put away. We need to go shopping for you,” Sandro said. We can go to the shops with one of the guys, or you can go on a shopping spree with my card online.”

“Put away where? I don’t have a wardrobe or anything,” I said, looking around the room. Sandro pointed to another door, and I followed him into a large walk-in closet. Yeah, this place was so much nicer than the pride house without even trying really. “Seriously?” I said as I looked at the line of dark slacks that were organized according to color. They ranged from black to light gray. Then there was another section that had what looked like linen pants, and don’t get me started on the button-down shirts. “Sandro, this is just…” I shook my head.

“What?” He opened a drawer and pulled out a pair of briefs. I couldn’t help but stare at his ass as he bent over to pull them on. I had very little desire to fuck him, but I definitely appreciated the man’s body.

“It’s just a lot. Like, I thought the pride house was fancy, then you bring me here, and I see this place and nope. This place is by far nicer and definitely fancier than anything that the pride house could ever be. It’s very obvious now that Alpha Franco was trying to appear more than he actually was.”

Sandro chuckled. “There are most likely going to be a lot of differences you will see in the coming weeks,” Sandro told me as he pulled on a pair of dark gray slacks. It was obscene how they fit his ass. Again, it was definitely worthy of staring at. “Your clothes are on the other side. I put them away last evening before I joined you in bed. Which is why I said we need to take you shopping.” I turned around. The other side of the closet was a mirror of the right, and although there wasn’t anything hanging on it, there were jeans folded and on the shelf in the middle. I had assumed they were Sandro’s though. He’d been wearing jeans in Banff. But I guess they were mine. I found my briefs in a drawer just as Sandro had his, and in about two minutes, I was dressed from my shoes to my T-shirt.

“Am I going to be underdressed?” I asked. “You’re all fancy, and I’m in jeans and a T-shirt.” It was basically all I had owned.

“You are fine. You are dressed much like Abel. Something else that is going to endear you to him. He will no longer be the only one in jeans and…shoes like those.”

I looked down at my sneakers. They were comfortable, and it wasn’t like I needed to dress up to scrub the floors. “I like my sneakers,” I said.

Sandro nodded. “I’m certain. We can get you as many pairs as you want. But first, tea and food.”

I nodded, and when I started for the door to leave the closet, Sandro stopped me by grabbing my wrist. I smiled as he pulled me into his arms. “I didn’t get to welcome you home last evening. You were exhausted. I’m doing so now though. Welcome, Leonardo. I hope you are happy here.”

My smile widened. “I’m sure it’s going to be an experience.” Of that, I had no doubt. I had nothing against the family and what they represented. In fact, I knew that Sandro’s family was going to be nothing but beneficial for me when it came to dealing with Alpha Franco.

Sandro kissed my forehead again, and after he smiled down at me, he led me from the closet. We walked through the bedroom and then to the outer room. It was a smaller room that had a sofa and a television, and in the corner was a small space that had a table and a little kitchenette area. There was no stove, but there was a sink, a small refrigerator, and a coffee machine. I grinned at that.

I followed as we left the room, and once outside in the hallway, the energy of the house seemed to shift dramatically. The energy in Sandro’s room had been calm. Out here, it wasn’t chaotic, but it was definitely more energized.

We walked hand in hand down the hallway, and it led us to what looked like the main foyer. There were stairs to the right, and beside them was another hallway. “What’s down there?”