Page 136 of The Italian Obsession

I giggle as excitement runs through me. He doesn’t even care who can see. I climb onto his lap, and he wraps his arms around me tightly. He kisses me, his tongue sweeping through my open lips.

“I’ve missed you, Rici Ferrara,” I whisper down at him as I brush the hair back from his forehead.

He smiles against my lips. “I’ve missed you more, my love. Don’t leave me again.”

He gifts me with the perfect kiss, full of emotion and promise. I giggle. “Everyone is looking at us.”

“Fuck them.” He smirks. “Fuck them all.”

________

It’s after 9:00 p.m. when we leave the restaurant. We’ve been acting like lovesick teenagers all night. I can’t wait to get him alone. All this pent-up heartbreak and back-and-forth love means I’m about to lose my damn mind.

Enrico looks over to a parked car, and I see a man give him a thumbs-up.

“Who’s that?” I ask.

“Marley. He’s my bodyguard who, unbeknown to you, has been guarding you since we broke up.”

“What?” I look over to the car and the two men inside it who are staring at us.

Rico opens my door, and I get into the car while still looking at the two men. I’ve never seen them before in my life. He closes the door and gets into the driver’s seat. “I’ve been guarded?” I frown over at him.

“Yes.” He starts the car and pulls out onto the road. I turn in my seat and see the car pull out behind us. “I needed you safe.”

“Why wouldn’t I be safe?”

He puts his hand on my thigh. “I’m a very wealthy man, Olivia. With that comes security issues. If somebody wanted to hurt me, they would hurt you. You will have a bodyguard twenty-four-seven now. Marley will be with you. I trust him with my life.”

No words are in my head—only shock. “They’ve been following me?”

“Guarding you, not following you. How was Germany, by the way?”

“Rici.” My mouth falls open to say something nasty about my lack of privacy, but I decide to stay silent instead.

“We’ll go back to your hotel now and pack up your things. You will move to Lake Como tonight.”

“What? That’s crazy. Why tonight? What’s the rush? I want some time to sit with this.”

“I want you to move there tonight.”

“Why can’t we just go tomorrow?” I ask. Damn it, I want a whole heap of bone-shattering make-up sex first. Not to be moving frigging house.

“Olivia, I want to start our new life together in Como… tonight. Our first night together will be in our bed, not your cheap hotel room, and not in my apartment, but in our new home.”

I smile over at him.

“What?” He smirks.

“I was just horny, that’s all.”

He throws his head back and laughs out loud as if shocked by my statement. “Don’t worry, you will be well and truly fucked tonight… but in my bed, and on my terms.”

I smile as I look through the windshield in front of us.

“What are you thinking?” he asks.

“I’m thinking that you’re very bossy, Rici Ferrara.”