The Vindication Gents

Chapter 2.15

Antonio Romano’s POV

After Christina wore her clothes, we were in the lobby as I opened the door for her. She arched her eyebrows at me as I shrugged at her.

“It’s just a force of habit,” I said as I was fastening my seatbelt. Christina did it as well.

“Right,” she said before I turned the ignition on and sped off from the hotel to our destination. I must say that I loved this time alone with Christina. f**k, I was even looking forward to it.

I smiled when I parked the car in the parking lot near the beach. I switched off the ignition and unfastened my seatbelt as Christina did the same.

“Holy smokes!” She said as she was smiling before she looked at me. I smiled at her as I knew that she was happy to be there. She opened the door before she went to the sidewalk and looked at the beach. It was a fascinating sight as I was leaning against the hood of the car as she was smiling brightly.

“This is so beautiful,” she said as the wind was caressing her hair. It made her look young, as she was smiling and happy. She spread her arms as she was laughing and her face was looking up to the sky.

“Yeah, you are,” I mumbled before I called her to get the things out of the trunk before we headed to the beach and set up our picnic place.

“Have you been here, Tony?” She asked as she was putting out the food that I had ordered from the room service. It was roasted chicken with some salad and egg sandwiches to eat while we were sipping some white wine that I asked to go with it.

“Well, I have never done this before,” I replied as Christina stared at me.

“What?”

“You’re kidding.”

“I am not. I haven’t had time to do this with anyone before,”

“But you did it with your PA?”

“It’s just a reward for you, no one else,” I replied before we both dropped the conversation as Christina was cutting the chicken. She was good with a knife and did not cut herself in the process. After that awkward silence between us when that conversation stopped, she handed me the chicken as I thanked her. She nodded before we were staring at the beach.

Yup, keep telling myself that this was a reward for Christina, not a date. What a lame excuse that was!

“So, you've never done this before?” Christina asked as we were eating our lunches. I sighed as I turned to look at her. She was staring at me with her wide, big grey eyes.

I don’t think I wanted that gaze to be somewhere else.

“I told you, I was busy before.”

“But now, you’re not?” She pressed before she was arching her eyebrows at me.

“Well, I think I need a vacation as well, so why not enjoy it with my PA as well?” I said as I was biting into the chicken flesh. It was delicious.

“Right,” she said before she was smiling as she was looking at the beach. Christina was eating some egg sandwiches before she took some of the chicken as well. And I think I loved to see more of her eating beside me.

I smiled at the thought. One step at a time, Tony, one step at a time.

Christina Dobulski’s POV

“I cannot believe it,” Kiara screamed on the phone as I was looking outside the room. We were back at the hotel at the Finale Ligure before Tony and I will go home tomorrow. I rolled my eyes at Kiara as I was rubbing my temples.

“Yeah, but it was just a reward, nothing else,” I said as I was trying to keep my heart from breaking even more. I don’t want to think that Tony would have some special feelings for me. I sighed.

“Right, of course. Just a reward,” Kiara snickered at me as I was glaring at my reflection in the window.

“Okay. Now, what was that supposed to mean?” I asked her before she was laughing at me.

“Nothing,”

“Nothing always means something to you. Okay, out with it,” I said as I was looking at the nightclub that we went to. I was embarrassed that Tony came into the room the next morning as I didn’t know where Kiara was. I hoped I didn’t do anything shameful on the way home. I groaned, as I don’t remember what happened at that time, lying on the bed.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Kiara asked me after she was done with her laughter.

Laughing at me, that was.

“Nothing, I just…I just don’t know if I can handle my job anymore,”

“Why not? Is Tony making it hard for you?” She asked suddenly with a stern voice, as if she was ready to fight someone.

“No, that’s the problem. He’s sweet, charming and nice. He cares about me,”

“Well, that was unexpected,” Kiara told me as I was rolling my eyes at her, even if she couldn't see it anyway.

“I’m not finished. He does those things because I’m a klutz, not because I was a good PA to him. It’s more like he has to take care of me than I was to take care of him. Sometimes, I felt like our roles had been reversed,” I said as I was closing my eyes before opening them again, as I was staring at the ceiling.

“Well, I cannot help you with that. You may have to ask Tony about it,” Kiara said before I sighed.

“You’re right. Maybe it’s his maternal instinct that he is looking out for me,” I said as I was smiling, but not because I was happy, but I was thinking that I would never be more than a charity case to him.

“Okay, I need to go now. I have some tasks to be done,” Kiara said.

“More killing?” I joked at her.

“No! Why would you think that I would be killing somebody?” She hissed at me. I laughed at her.

“Well, it’s just a wild guess. Talk to you later,” I said before I hung up and I went to close my eyes as I could sense that sleep was claiming me.

Antonio Romano’s POV

“You’re right. Maybe it’s his maternal instinct that he is looking out for me,” I heard Christina say that when I was about to tell her that I would be leaving for Finland and would be back tomorrow. But she was so excited talking with someone on the phone that I just left without saying goodbye to her.

Was I looking out for her because I felt like a mother to her?

I shook that thought away as I was looking at the night sky. There was nothing to see in the air as I was asking for champagne before my flight attendant gave it to me. She smiled at me politely as they knew I preferred someone other than the female gender. They kept their distance as they thought they didn’t have a chance.

Well, they don’t. I only cared about Christina, but not in a motherly way.

I would glare at people who were staring at her without her knowing. When she wore the scandalous outfit that day when I told her to wear shorts, I was furious as the workers would flirt with her. But she was too dense to notice it, which I was glad for it.

“Sir, we will be landing shortly,” the flight attendant said as I was nodding at her. I went to put the seatbelt on as I was sipping on the champagne before I was relaxing in my seat. Maybe some time away from Christina will do me good.

I think I was not being motherly to her. I just wanted to keep her safe from the other murderous males. I laughed at my thought. Being a mother? To a woman? Why was I supposed to be a godmother?

But I could not answer my question as I was thinking more and more about Christina.