Prologue: The Stranger
I have given the quest for love. Because hopefully, love will find me one day. Unexpected, astonishing, and breathtaking.
_Unknown_
Lorena's POV
I glanced at my slender waist, evident in my Emerald silky nightwear. Again.
It's dark already here in Via del Babuino, and I'm feeling so tipsy from washing down the predicaments of my soul with a bottle of champagne. The door to my hotel room opened - finally - a tall, attractive man stepped into the room and walked closer to my sitting position, which was the bed. I squinted at the dark-haired man standing in front of me.
"Hello, " I smiled at him, wanting to understand why he looked so much like Andreas and what he was doing in my room.
I don't know what I was expecting, but I wasn't hoping he would ignore me completely. He looked deeply at me; then, I realized how dark his eyes were. They are blue, blue eyes.
Suddenly, he sits closer to me. I turned to take a peek at his face, but this time -closer- he smiled at me. I blink numerously, trying to blink away the wilderness of antioxidants.
"Hello, " he finally replies.
His voice was a bit cold, but same time it made my blood vaporize faster without much thought.
"Why are you here? In my room, " I feel my voice is so inactive.
"I'm lost!"
"That's the funniest word I've heard today. Are you, by any chance, the bellboy?" I looked uncertain at him, but he could only hum at my question.
"You can't afford me, so leave, " I act accordingly to my noble protocol.
"BabyGirl, let me tell you. There is not a single brand that I cannot afford!" he smirks. "And, I'm not a bell boy. Do I, by any chance, look like one?"
"Great, " I smiled. There is a trace of a strong accent that can't be Italian.
BabyGirl.
Greek. I know that accent; it's green; he's a Greece person. Knowing how I like my fantasy guys that play hard to get. I held his big cold hand on mine.
He looks from our entwined hand back to my face. "Emerald eyes!" he whispered.
Okay, then. But whosoever this stranger is, right now, I don't care.
For some reason, I felt connected to him. I caught a vibe for him by merely looking into his blue eyes, and this must be the life my father wanted me to choose since he tried to pick the life I didn't like.
Without much hesitation, I clash my lips with his. It tastes divine. Cold and minty, and at the same time, his breath reeks of alcohol-soft and tender lips. I suck at his lower lip as he devours the moment. I invaded his lower lip with my tongue and kissed him as hard and deeply as possible.
He gripped my slender waist tightly to control the moment. I melted in his arms as soon as he started to kiss my chin and trail kisses down to my neck and bare shoulders. Whoever he is, I thought silently. I don't care right now. He's here kissing me like a ruthless lousy boy. A low moan escapes his throat.
He pushes me lightly to look at his face filled with dark squirming desire. Without much thinking, he rushes to my lips so eagerly, and slowly I unbutton his shirt, and he slowly falls down the tiny hand of my emerald nightwear as he caresses my body.
Suddenly, I pushed him back, and we were both breathing hard. He's still not composed after our heated kiss. With tipsy eyes, I fall flat on the bed, and with this, he falls flat to the bed too.
*
Lorena Cicero's Pov
I squirm at the ray of sunlight through the silky white curtain. I yawn, slowly getting up from the bed and removing the white duvet from my bare skin. Standing up, I put on my silky emerald nightwear back on.
"Ah- what time is it?" I yawn even more. As I lean forward, searching for my phone. "Rosetta..." I called, but no reply.
"Where's my phone?" I grope on the mattress. Then the realization hit me hard about why I was n***d.
"Why am I here?" I fidgetted. "Why ain't I at home?" I whispered.
Immediately, the thought of my father came rushing into my head. I'm dead. He called for me, but I told him I'd stay late for my Greek lessons.
Think about it, Lorena. What did you do last night? After my vernacular lesson with Signora Vincenza Pallas, I stopped by the downtown Target mall and bought chocolate and champagne. Then, I decided to relax, so I check-in into the luxurious hotel closer to Cicero's, my home. Via del Babuino.
Signora Pallas. She's my Vernacular teacher and a lovely woman who raised an orphanage home with her late husband. She didn't have a child before she lost her husband to war years ago. So, she decided never to remarry, but instead, she raised plenty of kids, so I always donate one million euros each year.
Then the actuality strokes me once more. I was drunk last night in this room, and a man walks into me- oh my goodness- I jump up in shock.
Kiss, we kissed! I kissed a total stranger.
I started hearing a rustling sound from the bathroom. Someone is in the bathroom.
I straightened my silky nightwear, then tiptoed to take a peep. I slowly opened the door, but what my eyes fed on was inaccurate to the information to my brain.
My eyes Burdge out. It's a man, a real man- his n***d body washed down by the hot steamy water- my eyes landed on his buttocks. That buttock looks so tempting to touch. He didn't even notice that someone was staring.
Buon Dio.
I need to get out of here. No one needs to know about this because if my father finds out that a man accompanied me- then I'm doomed- my father is an old patrician who still lives inside the old ways of Roman culture and traditions.
I turned away, returned to the room, and started packing my items. I quickly changed my clothes back into my chaste black dress. I'm not sure what we did, but how my father educated me, it isn't polite to live as a visitor without greetings, or a thank you gift.
Then the thought of his harsh word bounces back at me.
BabyGirl. There is not a single brand that I can't afford.
I frown. Who the hell does he think he is? Did he even know who I was? I am a breed from birth patrician, not a lowlife plebeian. I breed riches.
I decided to write a small note and brought out a neat euro pile of up to one million. I cashed out the money from my account and planned to donate it to Signora Pallas's orphanage yesterday, but I was too disturbed.
This is for you. Goodbye. We shall not meet again, never in the future! Stupido
I bet he hasn't seen so much money before, so he will be pleased and won't get angry at me for catnapping him. I ran out of the hotel before he came out.
Stupido.
