VITTORIO'S MISTRESS (The Vittorio Series) by Kimberley Reeves

haven’t forgotten our agreement or what it entails.”
    Dante frowned.   “You are angry when there is no reason to be.”
    “Except for the fact I’m selling myself for the deed to the center you mean?”
    “You are not selling yourself, Paige.   You said yourself that you wanted this for the same reasons I did so why not consider the deed as my parting gift to you instead of a payoff?”
    “A rose by any other name is still just a rose,” she replied with a resigned sigh.   “It doesn’t matter, not really.   In the end, we’ll both have gotten what we wanted.”
    Would they ?   Dante wasn’t so sure any more what he wanted.   “Turn over so I can put lotion on your front side.”
    “I think I’ve had enough sun for today.”   Paige sat up and drew the towel around her to cover up her nakedness.   “I’d like to take a shower now if that’s okay with you.”
    A cruel smile twisted his lips when she tucked the towel more securely around her breasts.   He didn’t like her dismissive tone or the defiant look in her eyes.   Paige was his , she belonged to him with or without that damned agreement and he was going to make sure she knew it.
    “You forget yourself, mio tesoro .   I am the one who decides when I am finished with you for the day.”   Reaching out, he snatched the towel away from her then pressed her onto her back and lowered himself over her.
    “Dante don’t,” she begged, but it was already too late.
    He entered her slowly, reveling in the way her eyelids closed and her beautiful lips parted on a sigh.   He watched her face as he moved in and out of her, each languishing stroke bringing more color to her cheeks.   She surrendered to him just as he knew she would, and it was pure heaven the way their bodies became one, moving in perfect rhythm as if each of them had been created solely for the other.
    Dante gathered her in his arms afterwards and carried her upstairs to the shower so he could bathe the sweat from her skin.   He couldn’t help smiling when she closed her eyes and tilted her head back so he could wash her hair and it was all he could do to keep from pulling her into his arms and kissing her.   When they were done, he dried Paige’s hair then led her back to the bed and crawled under the covers with her.
    “I just want to hold you for a while longer,” he whispered as he hitched her up close to his side.  
    “I have to go soon,” Paige mumbled sleepily.
    “I will wake you when it is time.”
                                                ***
    “Of course I’ll help,” Chantel said after Paige told her everything that had happened.   “Staying here for a month will give me the breather I need from my roommate and her new boyfriend.”
    “I was afraid you’d turn me down and then I’d really be in a bind.   Daniella shouldn’t be any trouble at all.   She’s sound asleep by eight and I’ll be home in the morning before she wakes up.   Oh God,” Paige groaned, “ am I doing the right thing, Chantel ?”
    “You want to be with him, don’t you?”
    “More than anything,” she admitted.
    “Then what’s the problem?   As far as Daniella is concerned, she won’t even know you’re gone.   Who knows, maybe Dante will discover he can’t get you out of his system and confess he’s madly in love with you.”
    “Not likely,” Paige said miserably.   “He made it perfectly clear that he’s calling the shots and that I’m only there to satisfy his needs.”
    Chantel gave her a wicked smile.   “So you’re not really enjoying your role as Dante’s mistress?”
    “I wouldn’t say that exactly.”
    “Well, I think he’s drop dead gorgeous and can only imagine what it would be like to have a man like that in my bed.”
    Paige let out a wistful sigh.   “Making love with Dante is beyond anything you could possibly imagine.   I just wish…” she shook her head.
    “You don’t know for sure that he doesn’t