The Roman's Woman (A Singular Obsession Book 4) (18 page)

He suppressed a chuckle. “We’re almost there. Look, I can see the airport now,” he added, pointing.

Sophia looked up instinctively, following the direction of his hand before covering her eyes and groaning loudly. Shutting her eyes, she grabbed blindly until she caught his tie and yanked on it. “I’m going to scratch up your Doctor Who Blu-Rays!”

Ouch
.

“It’s over. We’re here.”

The flight on the jet went much smoother. It helped that the plane was outfitted with a full bar. He poured Sophia a brandy and then had her lie down in the back bedroom for a while. That went
really
well for him—after he properly apologized for forgetting to mention the helicopter ride. It went really well for her too, but, of course, that was part of the apology.

The flight to Rome was over in a blink. Before he knew it, they were climbing into his town car at the airport. His local driver had picked them up. Sophia narrowed her eyes when she recognized him and then pinched Gio’s ass cheek as they climbed into the car.

“I can’t believe I bought that he was an Uber driver. He wears a suit. No Uber driver wears a suit. And their cars smell like take-out. This one smells like cognac and expensive leather. Does filthy rich have a smell? ’Cause I think it smells like this.”

Amused by her observations, he cuddled her closer and pointed out the sights, places he wanted to take her to eat or to shop and occasionally a building he owned. She was refreshingly unimpressed about the latter. All she did was nod and grumble adorably about moguls and their “damn helicopters.”

It was such a relief to be completely honest about his background. He couldn’t wait to show her Rome—for real this time. Now that she knew everything, he could take her to his favorite restaurants and the theater. He knew she would love them. They liked the same things, from music to their taste in movies. None of his other friends liked science fiction or fantasy beyond the latest season of Game of Thrones. In fact, Sophia was the only person he knew who’d read the books.

“I should warn you the penthouse is on the top floor,” he said, once they were in the elevator on their way up to his apartment in the Parioli district.

Sophia rolled her eyes at him. “Buildings are all right. Buildings don’t fall out of the sky.”

“They do during earthquakes,” he couldn’t help teasing.

“And you have a lot of those here in Rome?” she asked sarcastically

“No, not really,” he admitted as the elevator doors opened, revealing the penthouse foyer…and his father.

“
Papà
,” he said, taken aback. “You were supposed to come over with everyone later.”

His father was standing there in his favorite sweater vest and faded black slacks. He was a small man, around Sophia’s height, with dark hair that had gone gray at the temples. Gio resembled him, except for his size and stature.

“I thought I would meet your friend before everyone arrived,” Salvatore said, extending his hand.

The words were friendly. His father even had a smile on his face. But Gio knew the tone and it wasn’t good. Especially the emphasis “
friend.
” Also, Salvatore didn’t shake hands. He kissed on the cheek like any good Italian.

Gio had hoped his father would warm to Sophia on sight, but apparently it wasn’t going to be that easy. Salvatore had lobbied hard for him to marry Maria Gianna, and he still wasn’t ready to let the dream die.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Sophia said, a fixed and overly large smile on her face.

They shook hands and exchanged pleasantries about the flight. It was very polite and completely awkward. She fidgeted with her hair, which was still a little mussed from their lovemaking session on the plane, and then shot him a meaningful look over his father’s head.

Hopefully, his father hadn’t noticed. Gio offered him something from the bar and Sophia excused herself, presumably to find the nearest mirror.

Salvatore turned to watch her walk away. “She seems nice, although not in your usual style,” he said in Italian

“I don’t have a style,
Papà
,” Gio replied flatly, pouring himself a drink.

“All I am saying is most of the girls you’ve dated were on the thin side.”
Like Maria Gianna.
“And this new girl is…”

“Perfect the way she is,” he said in a noticeably colder voice.

“Maria is more beautiful,” Salvatore muttered.

Gio slammed his drink down on the mahogany surface of the bar. “Only on the outside.”

And it wasn’t true. Sophia was far more beautiful and exotic. She just wasn’t model thin and blonde.

“
Mio figlio
, I don’t have anything against this girl. I think it’s fine for you to spend some time with her for now. But eventually you and Maria Gianna will reconcile. I know there’s been some bad blood recently—”

“It’s more than bad blood. Reconciliation is not possible.”

“But—”

“
No
.”

Salvatore templed his hands. “Tobias and I were speaking about your problem. We think if Maria gets a little counseling, she can turn her life around. All she needs is a man to take charge of things, someone to encourage her to stay out of trouble.”

Unbelievable.
They wanted him to be his ex-wife’s keeper. Didn’t his happiness matter to them?

“That someone is not going to be me.”

His father was not above pouting. “Think of my grandchildren.”

Gio put up his hands. “Any children that woman had wouldn’t have been
your
grandchildren. Trust me on that.”

Behind his father, Sophia stepped out of the hallway, but after hearing that last sentence, promptly turned around and went to hide.

Passing a hand over his face, he decided it was time to tell the truth about Maria Gianna. It was long overdue. He couldn’t allow his father’s blind allegiance to the idea of him with his best friend’s child bias him against Sophia.

Salvatore drew himself up to his full and unimpressive height. “I'm aware there were rumors, but you can’t listen—”

“They were more than rumors. I caught her in bed with Vincenzo Gavazzi.”

His father’s face fell, the air leaking out of his tires until he sagged, seeming to shrink before his eyes.

“Sorry,” Gio huffed. “I didn’t mean to blurt it out like that.”

Silence.

“
Babbo
.”

Salvatore took a big sip of the drink in his hand. He cleared his throat. “Why didn’t you say anything before? You let me go on and on about her and all this time she was a…a…”

Gio reached over and gently took the glass his father was waving around, spilling his best grappa on the marble tiled floor. “She’s still your best friend’s daughter and your goddaughter. I should have told you before. I thought to spare you and Tobias some of the ugliness, but I can’t let you go on thinking that Maria Gianna and I are still a possibility. We’re not, and I don’t want you to have anything against Sophia. She’s very special to me.”

Salvatore blinked. “How special?”

“
Very
special.”

His father dropped down on a bar stool and reached over to pour himself a refill. “So where did you meet this girl? Has she ever been married? Does she like children?”

Relaxing, Gio laughed. “She’s a woman, not a girl. And I haven’t asked her if she likes them. And she hasn’t been married, although she was engaged once, to a professor. I met her at the foundation dinner,” he said, stretching the truth. “Sophia’s one of this year’s research grant winners.”

Salvatore straightened on his stool. “The ecologist?”

“No. The neurobiologist.”

The surprise on his father’s face was comical, if slightly insulting to Sophia.

“So…who were her people? Is she Catholic?”

“Since neither of us goes to church anymore, I don’t see how that last matters. Her mother was Mexican and her father was Castilian. She was an artist, and he was a professor of Sociology.”

“Another professor?”

He shrugged. “The ex-fiancé was the father’s protégé. But he’s out of the picture. So is her father. Actually both of her parents have passed away.”

His father crumbled like the softie he was. “Oh, how sad. She’s probably a bit lonely. Find out if she wants children.”

“Shh,” he whispered as Sophia poked her head back into the living room. “Enough of that for now, or you’ll scare her.”

He waved Sophia over and poured her a glass of red wine. She took it with a polite smile and sat on the barstool next to his father. Salvatore asked her about her research and Sophia relaxed, clearly glad to be talking about a safe subject.

Things were going well, but he needed to have a little time alone with her before his relatives descended. After a few more minutes, he ushered his father out, promising to see him later at his house in the outskirts of the city.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you we moved everything over here for tonight,” Salvatore said innocently. “It’s more central for everybody and you’ve never entertained here, but now that you have Sophia that’s going to change, isn’t it?”

Gio smiled in defeat. “Yes, it is.”

“Excellent. Plus your cousin Carolina sprained her ankle and we didn’t want to make her drive out to the house. This way she can take a cab.” He waved and headed to the elevator.

“You could have started with that,” Gio called after him.

Once the doors closed, Sophia raised her glass. “He doesn’t like me,” she said before drinking.

“He will. You’re his only hope for grandchildren.”

Gio almost bit his tongue off when Sophia choked on a sip of wine. She coughed a few times, waving him away when he tried to pat her back.

“So, who all is coming tonight?” she asked brightly, changing the subject.

That’s not good.

He let it go and proceeded to tell her all about his relatives, especially who to avoid. It wouldn’t do to let her get cornered by Uncle Nunzio, who became pretty handsy after a few drinks. And God knew those curves were an unholy temptation for a normal man. In fact, a large number of male relatives were coming over. He needed to keep a close eye on everyone tonight.

It turned out those words were prophetic…

The gathering had been going fine until his cousin Lucca showed up with Aunt Perla. Gio had been furious, but his aunt insisted that her son was sorry and had come to tell him so.

The grudging apology he received from a sullen Lucca was woefully inadequate. Fortunately, Lucca had taken off almost immediately afterward so there hadn’t been a scene. But his cousin’s appearance had put a damper on the rest of the evening for him, and Gio was glad when everyone departed.

After his family left the rest of the night took a decided turn for the better—right after he showed Sophia the master bedroom. Neither of them got much sleep. He was looking forward to an equally sleepless Saturday night when the vice president of one his subsidiaries called early in the morning.

Negotiations over some real estate in Germany had taken a turn for the worse. It was partly his fault. He hadn’t been able to finalize the purchase himself because he’d been in England courting Sophia.

Feeling responsible, he reluctantly broke the news to her and made plans to spend the rest of the weekend in Berlin. He consoled himself by organizing a special treat to make it up to his siren.

“Stop apologizing,” Sophia laughed as he packed. “I’ll head back home early, and we can try again in a few weeks. You’re always so understanding when I have to work on the weekends, surprising me with dinner in the lab and hanging around working on your computer while you wait. It’s only fair that I be as understanding when you need to do it. In fact, there’s a few experiments I’d like to try on my newest samples since I have the time.”

“No! I promised you a break and I'm going to give you one,” he insisted, throwing a few pairs of socks into his bag. “I have it all arranged. You have a full spa day planned at this place my cousins swear by. After that, I have arranged a few tours at some of the museums we didn’t hit the last time we were in town. And if there is someplace you want to see a second time, ask Carlo, my driver, and he’ll organize it for you.”

“You didn’t have to do that,” she said, trying to convince him to let her go home.

He was determined, however, and in the end he left when she did. He headed to the airport and she went to the spa for her first appointment, a massage in the preferred style of her choice.

She chose deep tissue, as well as a seaweed wrap and the spa’s signature fourteen karat gold facial. And he didn’t even have to bribe the spa personnel to keep him informed, as he originally intended. Instead, he had asked Sophia to keep him updated and she did with a series of texts.

Marveling at the simplicity of dating a reasonable woman, he attacked his work in Germany with ruthless efficiency, cutting down the negotiation time to a third of his original estimate. By evening, he was already on his way back, eager to surprise Sophia with his early return.