[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.The older one, he ssome kind of hotshot lawyer, works all over the world.Carlton& Colton, something pretentiouslike that.The other brother& oh yeah, Hunter is his name.I think he s the family fuck-up.Anyway, when I spoke with her a few days ago, she told me she would be away, that I waswelcome to use her suite& for whatever purpose I saw fit. Purpose.Interesting word choice. Beno, Gina, they told me of your conversation.So, the pleasantries were over and they were going to get into it already? They had noteven toasted this reunion.Freddie had yet to take a drink of his champagne.As though noticingthe downturn in his smile, Santo said,  Forgive me, of course.Yes, Freddie, let us raise ourglasses.We have much to celebrate at least, so I hope. We do? Shall we toast first, talk later?Freddie s eyes fell on Santo s handsome face, felt the heat permeating between them. It s your invitation, so it s your toast. Yes, well, let s make this simple.To New York City.Stunned, Freddie found his body momentarily paralyzed to the point where he couldbarely lift his glass.A smiling, surprisingly calm Santo nearly laughing, actually leaned overand clinked his glass with Freddie s.He didn t wait for them both to drink; he took the first sip,and damned if that didn t seem the most refreshing taste imaginable.Freddie regained hiscomposure, took his first sip and went weak in the knees as the dry, crisp bubbles attacked histaste buds, tickled his nose, warmed his insides. Delicious, Freddie said, taking a second, larger sip. Yes, Patsy said to order the best.This night is all on her account. Why? With Patsy, you can never know.She s a hard woman to read, doesn t let many peopleget to know her well.Hasn t loved since her husband died.Maybe she s trying to find her wayback to romance through us.But if I had to take a guess, I d say it s a big case of guilt.Guiltdeep enough to offer up this ridiculously priced suite.Do you know it goes for over eightthousand euros a night? Do you realize how much guilt she must feel? Or how much money she must really have.God, Santo, this play of hers, it s really theultimate vanity project, isn t it? She certainly isn t doing it to get rich.Santo shrugged. Who knows what s truly going on inside her devious, pretty mind? Butremember, even a woman of Patsy s financial independence is still just a woman, a person withfeelings, regrets, emotion.We would be wise to remember that. He paused, taking anotherdrink. So, Freddie, would you like to sit? Actually, I d like to know what s going on. Fair enough, Santo said. Simply, I owe you an apology. Me? Yes, the way I roped you in with everyone else, assuming you were part of my family slame conspiracy.Inviting Patsy to Rome, her pitch to make me Broadway s hottest sensation, theweekend at the villa.To have all of those machinations going on was one thing, but to have metyou, to have& yes, Freddie, to have fallen in love with you, it all seemed too good to be true.SoI got suspicious or perhaps paranoid is the right word.Regardless, I let Patsy, Gina, Beno sscam affect the way I treated you.Hearing you and Patsy talking down by the pool& well, let sjust say since I had already convinced my heart of your motives, once my brain processed yourwords& well, my entire body shut down.And I left you God, I m so sorry, I left you to fend foryourself with my family. I survived. Yes, by leaving.You returned to Rome.And finally had the trip you wanted, yes?Freddie wasn t sure what Beno or Gina had told him.Did Santo know about Johnny theGladiator, about Liam and Mikey and the fleabag hotel? A telling look on Santo s face indicatedhe knew everything, but he suddenly waved it away. Freddie, I am not interested in what youdid, who you did, but I would like to know why.Sex with strangers, with other men& so soonafter what we had experienced? I m not sure I understand your motives.Freddie opted to take a seat finally. Wow, you go right to the solar plexus, don t you?Santo, this entire summer, it s almost like Rome has controlled me maybe the heat andhumidity made me a little crazy.Yes, when I arrived I was convinced I was just going to hangout, not get involved, have fun, drink, go clubbing, meet some guys, the whole no-responsibilitything.Except Rome threw me a curve right here, on the curving Via Veneto. Meeting me, Santo said, his words not a question. Yeah, you.I couldn t get you out of my mind, and sure, my first instinct was desire.Iwanted to sleep with you.Hello, you re sexy as hell, why wouldn t I want a piece? Once I soughtyou out at Mama Mancusi s, something began to change.Not initially when you joined me at mytable for dessert, because I was still just thinking about ripping off your clothes and& well, youknow.Afterwards, when I left the restaurant, you came after me, and you were so sweet, almostchildlike in the way you asked if I was interested in you.Back home, good-looking guys like youdon t lack for confidence.They ll either be aggressive in their pursuit of you, or remain aloof,giving off a vibe that you should be so lucky.Santo, you were up front.And then you kissed me.You sent me off with a feeling I don t think I d ever experienced. Which is what? I think you know, Freddie said. Freddie, cards on the table.If I m going to make this commitment to New York, I wantto know I m not just following a paycheck.Yes, my family is in need of a bailout.I understand Iam the one who can do that.But I want more [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]