Secret Pleasure (Secret Series) (Volume 2) Read online

  He was feeling a little lightheaded and knew that he had just exerted himself more in the last hour than he had in the last two weeks. How could his body betray him so quickly?

  He had thought that being trapped in the hospital had been bad, but being locked in this room wasn’t any better. He craved getting back to work and having his normal body back. He wanted to get back to his office in the States. Hell, at this point, he’d settle for their main office in Rome.

  Taking a large breath, he remembered the feeling of Airlea’s fingers on his skin.

  It had been pure torture not grabbing her and taking her on his bed. His medicines were affecting him in so many ways, but they didn’t seem to be getting in the way of his desires. Was she trying to kill him? She had to know what she was doing to him. The soft smell of her and the feel of her hands on his naked skin had been pure hell.

  Maybe it wouldn’t be such a hardship being locked in this house for a while if he had her to play with.

  By the next day, he was trying his hardest to get the woman out of his house. He couldn’t stand it, he couldn’t stand her. Did she honestly believe he was a child? She’d walked into his room that morning and talked to him like he was ten instead of twenty-eight. His mother and aunt had been no help, either. They had just left the room and he could have sworn he saw a smile on his mother’s face.

  “If you don’t move your butt, how can you expect to get any better?” she was saying behind his back.

  He was standing for only the second time since his accident, and he wasn’t happy about it. He knew it was only a matter of time before his right leg gave out. Pain was shooting up his left leg and he swore he could feel the two pins they had inserted. The blood had all pooled in his foot and he could see it starting to swell by the second. His leg was still very swollen and wrapped tightly in gauze. He’d seen the damage to his leg and knew the scar would be large. He couldn’t remember much from his first few days at the hospital, but he did remember one doctor telling him he would have to walk with a cane and would probably have a limp for the rest of his life, to which Dante had replied, “The hell I will.”

  He was determined not to have any side effects from this whole ordeal, and he knew that Airlea was the key. He just didn’t want her to know that he thought that, yet.

  “You are pushing me too hard. I’m going to end up either on my ass or on top of you.” He leaned a little more on her tiny frame, knowing he could have tolerated a little more, but not wanting her to see it.

  “You will not; we only need to get back to your room.” She shifted her weight, taking a little less of his, a sign that she knew he was not in as much trouble as he wanted her to think he was.

  They had walked the entire length of the upstairs balcony, something he could remember doing a million times before the accident. But this time, it had seemed an impossible feat. Looking down at the length of it, he wondered why his father had to built the damn thing so big in the first place.

  “See, there, we are just a few steps away.”

  “Oh, yippee.” The sarcasm rolled off his tongue and gave him little satisfaction. Finally they reached the doors to his room. His aunt stood by his bed, a stern look on her face.

  “You are pushing him too hard.”

  “Mr. Cardone can handle what I’ve planned for him. I’ve looked over his medical charts and know his limits. But thank you for voicing your concerns.”

  He watched in amusement as she dismissed his aunt with a look, something he’d never learned how to do.

  She helped him walk into the restroom and shut the door behind them.

  “I thought you would like to shave today.” He noticed there was a chair sitting in front of the sink and mirror. His shaving items sat on a fresh towel on the counter. She walked him to the chair where he sat down without a word.

  “I’ll leave you to it.” She walked out without a word, gaining more of his respect. Halfway through shaving, he heard loud voices from the next room. He tried to listen, but the thick door didn’t allow much sound through.

  Less than ten minutes later, Airlea walked back in the room looking a little dazed, but holding her head high.

  “What was that all about?” he asked before she could cross the room.

  She stopped in her tracks and looked at him. “Your aunt was just voicing some of her concerns. I’ve managed to answer some of her questions.” She continued towards him and helped him stand again.

  He’d taken his time shaving, and felt almost human again. He wished he could wear some normal clothes, instead of his cut-off sweats and the extra-large t-shirt. He also wished he could get back to work. So far, his mother hadn’t even brought him his laptop. She had told him the first day home that he would get it when she felt he was up to working remotely, and no sooner.

  He thought that she was trying to make up for all the time she’d lost raising him. She was being overly protective, more so than he was used to with his aunt.

  “I’m sorry my aunt yelled at you. She can be a little overbearing.”

  Her perfect eyebrows shot up and she looked at him. “Oh, your aunt wasn’t yelling at me. I was the one scolding her.” If she hadn’t been holding onto his waist, he was sure he would have fallen on his ass.

  “What?”

  “I’ve been put in charge of your health and recovery. I don’t expect anyone to interfere with my duties. Your aunt was wrong to question my authority. I was simply explaining this to her.” She started moving towards the door again.

  He couldn’t hide his smile. How could he not respect a woman who stood up to his aunt?

  Airlea was shaking. She couldn’t stop and she knew it had nothing to do with the fact that she’d been reprimanded by Dante’s aunt. She could hold her own and the shaking had nothing to do with what had transpired in the next room. No, what was causing her to shake was the smile on Dante’s face. Seeing it, she knew she was in trouble. His perfect, white teeth weren’t the issue, nor were his yummy looking lips. It was the pure sparkle in his eyes and the deep dimples on either side of his perfect mouth that gave her stomach a little flutter and had her hands trembling.

  Grabbing onto his waist again, she tried to rush him back to his bed, so she could disappear for a while and recover. After she deposited him on the side of his bed, she quickly helped him move his injured leg up to a comfortable place on top of the pillows.

  “Any chance you could bring me my laptop? It’s in the office, just down the hallway.” He looked at her, and she saw a pleading look in his eyes.

  “Yes, I’ll be right back.” As she started to walk out, he called out to her.

  “Oh, make sure to bring the cable and the mouse sitting beside it.”

  Walking down the hall, she peaked into every room until she finally found what looked like a large office. It faced the front of the house and she could see a large wood desk with the laptop sitting on it.

  It took some doing, balancing the laptop, the cable, and the mouse, but she managed to get everything back down the hallway. Then she had to find a plug and ended up crawling on the floor behind his night stand to plug it in for him. When he asked for a hard surface to use the mouse on, she handed him a book. He set it on the bed and happily went to work on his laptop.

  With their work done and Dante occupied with his computer, she felt like she could take some time for herself. Lunch was an hour away and she didn’t think she’d be missed if she took a brisk walk. Stopping by her room, she changed into her tennis shoes and grabbed a light sweater, since the weather called for rain later that day. She took the wide stairs past Dante’s doors and walked down the rock path past the large garage. She could hear someone banging around in there, but didn’t stop.

  Taking a path she’d seen earlier, she walked through the large fields towards a small cluster of olive trees. The path looked worn and she could tell it was well traveled. When she reached the first row of smaller trees, she noticed a few larger trees near the middle. She picked up a few ol
ives that had dropped, and ran them through her fingers. They were still very hard and bright green. She had heard that harvest was just a few weeks away, and she was very interested in seeing it for herself. Looking around the empty orchard, she wondered what the process was and wished she would be here long enough to witness it herself.

  Dropping the olives to the soft ground, she continued her walk up the hill towards a small building. Here the ground was rockier and steeper. She enjoyed taking brisk walks and saw the climb as a challenge. She always tried to take walks back at home, even on days she was busy at the hospital. Thinking about her job caused her steps to falter. She was glad to get away from Greece. Losing her job had been a big disappointment, and knowing it was all Angelo’s fault really upset her.

  Stopping, she closed her eyes and took a few cleansing breaths. She didn’t want to think about Angelo or the loss of her livelihood. Every time she did, her head and heart hurt. She’d cried all the tears she could over them both. She was done feeling self-pity. In her line of work, she was used to dealing with people who pitied themselves. She refused to be one of them.

  Stretching her arms over her head, she looked across the field. She was halfway up to the top of the hill and could see for miles. There were a few other houses and buildings within sight, but the Cardone’s place was by far the biggest building around. Its red tiled roof stood out like a beacon in the sea of green. The stone walls reminded her of an old fort she’d seen once in eastern Greece as a child.

  Damiano and Kathleen Cardone were nothing like the people she’d heard about on the news. She’d heard the whole story about what had transpired last year. She’d even had the pleasure of meeting their daughter, Dante’s sister Katie, earlier last month. Of course she hadn’t know it was Katie Derby at the time or that Katie had a sexy older brother. She’d only seen a woman in trouble and in love.

  She’d been impressed with the man, Jason, who had carried the unconscious Katie into the hospital. She’d enjoyed talking to Katie later that evening as she’d made her rounds. She’d purposely changed shifts so she could see how the couple was getting along. The man had a nasty concussion and had slept for most of the night. Katie, however, had sat up and talked to Airlea for a few hours.

  Airlea had enjoyed learning more English from Katie and had even helped her out with her Greek and Italian.

  She was almost to the top of the hill when she heard a noise behind her. Looking back down the path, she saw an old border collie jogging up the path towards her. She looked around to see if anyone else was around. Seeing no one, she called to the dog with a friendly voice.

  “Hello, are you a nice dog?” Upon hearing her voice, the dog’s tail started wagging quickly. Smiling, she knew she’d received her answer.

  When the dog arrived by her side, she bent and let it sniff her hand. When it sat and held up its paw, she laughed and shook it.

  “Well, hello.” She looked at the dog’s collar and saw that her name was Lucy., “u chuckled at the human name. The black and white dog just looked at her with what could only be described as a smile on her doggie lips. “Well, I was going to walk up to that shed and back down. Are you up for the walk?”

  The dog barked at her and got up, its tail wagging, so Airlea continued up the pathway with Lucy following her.

  She could get used to living in the country. She’d grown up just outside of Venice in the small town of Adria, and after finishing school, she’d rushed to the city for medical training in Rome. She’d enjoyed living in downtown Rome in the small dorms on campus. She’d made friends and had quickly decided that she wanted to pursue physical therapy instead of being an ER nurse like her mother.

  When she made it to the small building, she took a deep breath and looked around. From here she could see down another valley, at the bottom of which was a large lake surrounded by small trees. She made a mental note to make that trek in the near future. She sat down on a large rock and Lucy sat next to her, putting her head in Airlea’s lap. She pet the dog and though about her future.

  Maybe losing her job had been a blessing in disguise. She’d been thinking in the last few months about getting back to Italy again. Maybe she’d find a little town and open her own therapy clinic somewhere.

  She had quite a bit in savings. It wasn’t enough to do anything elaborate, but if her mother would help out, she might have enough to start off. She could always see about getting a loan at the bank, but she didn’t really like being in debt. She’d paid off her student loans in the first year of working at the hospital. She’d sacrificed a lot that year to pay everything off. Meals, friendships, and even dating, had all been put on the back burner.

  Thinking about dating only brought her mind back to Angelo. She had no intention of dating anyone in the near future. After being burned by him, she didn’t think she would be able to easily trust again. After all, he had been able to hide who he really was from everyone he’d worked with for years at the hospital. Everyone there had assured her that he was the nicest man, so she’d taken a chance and gone out with him after he’d asked her a dozen or so times. Everything had worked out great that first six months. He’d really seemed like the nice guy everyone had talked about. It wasn’t until after he’d moved in that he’d started to show his true colors.

  Controlling didn’t describe it well enough. He’d ruined her. That sounded harsh, but in fact, she no longer felt like she ever wanted to get married. She couldn’t believe that at one point, she’d thought he was the right man to marry, and he’d turned out to be the worst mistake of her life.

  She didn’t need or want a man in her life right now, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy herself. She’d always been open with herself about her desires, taking her pleasures where she found them, and Dante Cardone was very easy on the eyes. Even though he’d been rude to her, she knew it was probably only his pain talking. No one could be that rude all the time, at least she hoped not. Breaking him into the routine she’d need him on was going to be a challenge. She hated being one of those strict physical therapists, but she needed him on his feet more often than he was. With an injury like his, blood circulation was vital at this stage. She needed to assess if he had any nerve damage in his shoulder and leg.

  Just then Lucy stood up and started walking back down the path. Taking the hint that it was time to go, she got up, dusted off her scrubs and started down the narrow pathway.

  Dante watched Airlea walk down the path with Lucy. He could just see the pathway if he leaned to the other side of his bed. When he’d seen her go by his doors half an hour earlier, he’d set his laptop down and watched her walk up the hill. Why he did this was still a mystery to him. He knew he had felt an instant pull of attraction towards her. After all, he wasn’t blind. Why was a woman like her doing a job like this?

  If he knew his mother, he didn’t doubt she’d hired her just to help her friend out, like she’d said. His mother was a meddler. Even though he hadn’t gotten to spend a lot of time with her growing up, he’d learned that lesson early on. It had almost crushed him when he’d found out about his mother’s other life. He’d known for a few years that she had another son in the States. She’d always maintained that he was from an earlier relationship in her college years. But almost four years ago, he’d discovered the truth about his half-brother Ric Derby.

  Finding out about Katie Derby, his full blood sister, had been the real shocker. He looked over at the dresser and saw the picture his mother had framed and set there. It was impossible not to see the blood connection between the two faces. His face was still pale from surgery and his eyes were clouded with drugs. The picture of them at the hospital a few weeks ago was a good reminder for him of what she looked like, since the drugs had dulled his memory.

  His sister was beautiful and well worth the pain he was now going through. He would easily do what he had done again if her life was in jeopardy again. He’d always wanted a sister or brother. He’d been one of those kids that had constantly a
sked his mom for one when she’d been around. Now he knew why she’d always looked at him the way she had; she’d felt guilty for keeping his sister from him.

  Since his return to Rome, he’d tried to stay clear of his mother, but after his surgery, it became harder and harder. His father had insisted that he recover here, at his childhood home just outside of Rome, and of course his mother had been living there full time since they had married almost a year ago.

  Instantly she’d felt it necessary to try and coddle him, so he’d made a point to not allow it by throwing things while she was around. He found it quite therapeutic hearing the crashes and watching her clean up the mess. After all, she hadn’t been there most of his life.

  Looking up at his door, he watched his aunt walk in with a tray of food.

  “She works you too hard,” his aunt said, setting down the tray on his night stand. “I don’t like it, or her. I can take care of you. After all, I’ve been doing it all your life while she was out—”