Chapter 6
Isabella felt the warmth from Vitale's palm, a strange heat surging through her body.
She unconsciously pressed her thighs together, trapping his hand between them.
This unexpected contact made her cheeks flush. With the slightest movement, she felt even more heat building there.
"Vitale..." Isabella's voice trembled slightly, "I hope you can be gentle. This is my first time."
"I mean, I don't have much sexual experience." She gathered her courage and closed her eyes, waiting for his kiss. "Please don't hurt me."
Vitale laughed softly, withdrew his hand, and easily lifted her onto the white bed covered with Egyptian cotton sheets.
He leaned over, his fingertips gently tracing her nose bridge:
"Expecting my kiss, little gambler?"
Isabella's eyes flew open, and she turned her face away in embarrassment: "Of course not! I just thought it was a necessary step."
"I want to kiss you," his breath brushed against her lips, "and I want to make love to you properly, but tonight..."
His voice suddenly dropped: "I'm thinking of Liliana Luca. I need to control myself. You can understand that, right? Isalan."
The fake name instantly sobered Isabella up.
She nodded gently, suppressing the desire in her body, and suggested: "Want to talk? Maybe it'll help you feel better."
Vitale was somewhat surprised, then moved to pull her into his arms, deeply breathing in the scent of her hair.
It was the cedar body wash he usually used, but now, infused with her body heat, it seemed especially different.
"Tell me about your sister," Isabella suggested softly. "What kind of girl was she?"
Vitale's gaze drifted toward the moonlight outside the window: "Liliana, she had the same stubborn personality as you. I remember on her sixteenth birthday, she insisted on taking a jet ski out to sea alone, and ended up getting lost in a storm."
"Oh my God! What happened?"
"I searched for her at sea all night long." Vitale's arms unconsciously tightened. "Finally, at dawn, I found her. She'd stopped the jet ski at a small fishing village fifty nautical miles away and was grilling fish with the local fishermen."
Isabella couldn't help but laugh softly: "She really was a brave girl."
"Too brave." Vitale's voice suddenly grew hoarse. "So brave that yesterday, to take that bullet for me, she threw herself in front of it without hesitation."
"And then she died."
The room fell into brief silence. Isabella could feel Vitale's burning breath becoming irregular.
"I'm so sorry..." Isabella gently stroked his arm. "She must have loved you very much."
"Actually, we weren't biological siblings, but I treated her like my own sister." Vitale took a deep breath. "Ten years ago, I found her on the streets of Novaria, trying to steal my wallet."
"She was only twelve then, thin as a stray cat."
"You took her in?"
"I should have sent her to an orphanage." A bitter smile crossed Vitale's lips. "But this little thief said: 'Sir, if you take me in, I can teach you all the street survival skills.'"
"Who could refuse such an offer?"
Tears welled up in Isabella's eyes: "You must have had many wonderful times together."
"We did." Vitale gently stroked her blonde hair. "She taught me how to bargain at markets, told me which neighborhoods not to go to alone."
"Even though I didn't need any of that, but in return, I sent her to school, taught her how to run a business..."
"Until she saved your life."
"Until she saved my life." Vitale repeated, his voice choking.
Isabella took the initiative to wrap her arms around his neck: "She wouldn't regret it, Vitale. To protect the ones we love, we'd all make the same choice."
"Is that why I can't tonight?" He gazed into her eyes. "Being intimate with another woman the day after losing Liliana feels like betraying her."
"Of course, I treated her like my own sister."
"I understand." Isabella said softly. "Then shall we just lie here and talk? Like, tell me why you chose to bring me here?"
Vitale's deep gaze looked at her: "I wanted to bring you to see Liliana."
"You're very beautiful, the type she liked. This room was actually hers. I want her to rest easy, knowing I have someone with me."
Isabella seemed to understand and moved closer to him: "Yes, I'll be here with you."
Her voice grew lower and lower, and soon she fell asleep.
Vitale heard her shallow breathing and lowered his head to gently kiss her forehead.
Sleeping Isabella was as beautiful as a goddess. Her skin had an almost translucent quality in the lamplight, making his gaze deepen.
"Little liar," he said softly, his kisses landing gently on her cheeks, the tip of her nose.
Then Vitale's gaze fell on Isabella's slightly parted red lips, and his penis immediately hardened with arousal.
Vitale thought about his love-at-first-sight story with Isabella.
A month ago, his capable assistant Antonio White came to him with his fiancée's documents to apply for marriage leave.
While reviewing those files, he accidentally saw a party photo.
A blonde girl turned back with a light smile in the crowd, her azure eyes seeming to be filled with sunshine. In that moment, Vitale felt his heart, dormant for so many years, suddenly start beating again.
"Who is she?" he asked Antonio, pointing at the photo.
"That's Lisa's good friend, Isabella Lorraine." Antonio answered cautiously. "I heard she's already engaged."
The word "engaged" pierced through Vitale's heart like a blade, stabbing the budding feelings that had just sprouted.
That night, he drank alone on the castle terrace until dawn, his mind full of that blonde girl he'd never met.
This inexplicable jealousy surprised even himself.
He, Vitale, was actually feeling such a strong possessive desire for a girl in a photograph.
He could actually use his methods to get Isabella, have his men kidnap her to his castle, and then take her in every corner of this place.
Make her go from resistance to surrender, calling out his name.
Make her body covered with his scent, Vitale's scent.
Make her intoxicated by his kissing skills.
But he didn't. He was the heir to the mafia, but he didn't want to make the woman he fell in love with at first sight love him through such submissive means.
He didn't like one-night stands. What he wanted was forever.
Physical compatibility was far more intoxicating to him than spiritual connection.
So Vitale had people watching Isabella's movements, originally wanting to find an opportunity to get acquainted, but he never expected Liliana would appear in the gunfight territory, take a bullet for him, and die.
After Liliana was buried, he boarded that notorious party yacht.
Whiskey couldn't numb the pain of losing a loved one, until he saw that familiar figure among the clinking glasses.
Isabella was being toyed with by Colt using darts, her skirt stained with spilled liquor, but her eyes burned with an unyielding flame.
He didn't intervene immediately, watching this farce, waiting for her to walk into his trap.
When Isabella asked him if he could take her virginity.
Vitale restrained the urge to possess her right there, deliberately frowning and asking back: "Sorry, what did you say?"
He enjoyed her ensuing panic, and even more enjoyed when she finally took the initiative to wrap her arms around his neck, her soft body pressing against him.
When Isabella straddled his waist and clumsily offered her kiss, he silently thanked the departed Liliana in his heart.
The memories faded, and Vitale's gaze refocused on Isabella's slightly parted lips.
Moonlight was flowing there, as if inviting him to taste.
Vitale slowly leaned down, and just as he was about to touch them, Isabella suddenly opened her eyes.