Taming Theo

As midnight approached, the room was almost empty. The few remaining guests huddled in the corners, swaying to the soft sounds of music. Just a moment before, I had been doing the same.

I hadn’t expected to end up at a party.

I had come to Sasha’s house to find a little solitude and quiet time to hide my tired heart, far away from civilization and the scandal that had rattled my already broken world.

Once upon a time, this house had been a place of freedom, my childhood sanctuary. Only then, I had been young and naive.

Tonight, everything smelled and sounded just as it had the last night I had been here. Back then, her brother had turned my very innocent seventeen-year-old world upside down.

Sasha and I had liked to sneak in whenever Theo was having a party. That night, I had found him in this very room—drunk, and just not a little. He’d been wasted. Even after five years, I could still feel how excited and scared I had been.

My eyes drifted to the sofa, where I could still picture him sprawled out. I cringed as I remembered how I had approached him, my shaky hand touching his rich, dark hair.

He’d taken my wrist and pulled me down. I hadn’t made a sound, because I hadn’t wanted him to recognize my voice and let me go.

I hadn’t been able to breathe. My lungs had turned into molten lava even before his mouth touched mine.

I’d thought fear would block out the memory entirely, but it hadn’t.

I remembered it all—the scent of alcohol and cigarettes, which I hated as much as I’d loved his kisses. That night, I lay awake, nurturing that nervous feeling of a first crush.

The next day, Theo got married.

He had mistaken me for his future wife and kissed her instead of me.

I shook my head as if that would make the memories stop. Even after five years—and even after Theo’s divorce—it still hurt to remember the day when my foolish crush was shattered.

I shouldn’t have come here, but I didn’t know where else to go.

After my grandfather died, I felt alone. He had been the only person who was always there for me when I needed him, who would pick up the phone no matter when I called.

His sudden death hadn’t given me any time to grieve. When a man as rich as Nono died, there were so many things to be done—lawyers to be met, papers to be signed, company regulations to be followed, and, of course, the inheritance.

No one had stopped to actually miss him. Everyone had acted like it was a business deal—not the loss of the best man I had ever known.

So, I’d fled. I’d accepted an offer to travel with my ex and his boyfriend.

If I hadn’t been running from my life, I might have stopped to think it over, but it hadn’t been the best time for decisions. I’d put off the opening of the will and signed whatever my father wanted me to sign. After all, no one cared where I was or what I was doing.

I’d thought getting away would make me feel better.

It hadn’t.

I was pulled out of my thoughts when Sasha tumbled onto the sofa beside me. She lifted her legs over mine.

“I’m so glad you’re back. I missed you so much,” she said. “Do you remember all the good times we spent here?”

I bit my lip and nodded. Our vacation house was just a little down the street. Sasha’s father and my grandfather had been best friends, and this little village had been perfect for our families to hang out together.

She moved her head to the side, watching the party end. “I bet your parties this summer were way better than this one.”

I looked at my hands. I was not in the mood to talk about the scandal, which was just a cherry on top of the worst year of my life.

“All those sexy men with sun-kissed biceps…” She shuddered theatrically. “Just to eat them. Sex oozed from those photos.″

I mulled over every man on the yacht we had been sailing around Europe with and couldn’t agree more.

They all looked perfect. They also knew more about skincare, sun protection, and healthy eating than I did—not to mention exercise and clothes. I’d probably had the highest testosterone levels on that boat.

Sasha’s cheeks had become rosy from too much drinking. “I saw that topless photo. You looked like a goddess.”

Everyone had seen that photo, but not everyone had thought it was worth mentioning or calling for—at least not my parents.

I straightened my top. “Yeah, the goddess of stupidity.”

That made her giggle, and the need to explain myself arose even though I had promised myself not to. People believed what they wanted, no matter what I said or did.

But I was concerned that her parents would see the picture and be disappointed in me. Their opinion mattered to me, especially now, with my grandfather gone. I didn’t have much of a family anymore. It was just me, Sesi, and Mike.

“I wasn’t topless. The bathing suit was nude, and the paparazzo did me dirty with that angle.”

Sasha entwined our fingers. “You don’t have to defend yourself. We don’t care. My parents love you. The only one freaking out was Theodore. Dad had to calm him down and explain that you were grieving. The pain made you act recklessly.”

I tried to turn my head away, embarrassed, but she took my face between her palms.

“Stop it. Tomorrow, there will be another naked chick somewhere, and everyone will forget about you.”

“I wasn’t naked.”

She smiled. “Tell that to Theo. You should have seen it—his neck vein almost doubled in size.”

I closed my eyes and sank deeper into the sofa as my heart was caught in a painful grip. “He has a lousy opinion of me. This just proved he’s right.”

Car headlights washed over the house, and Sasha walked to the window. When she turned to look at me, her face was pale as a ghost.

“He’s here,” she whispered.

“Who?” I stood up, my skin crawling, expecting the devil himself to appear on the front lawn.

“Theodore.”

My mouth twitched with confusion. “Why the drama?” I asked, feigning cool, even though my throat had suddenly gone dry.

“If he finds out about the party”—she opened her palms—“he will send me back to Milan. I don’t want to go home.”

I opened my mouth and knew I would regret it, but the words still got out. “Tell him it was my idea.”

She stopped fussing. “Really?”

“Yeah.” I pretended to be cool but knew he would think precisely that no matter what we told him. What was another scandal on the list of things he hated about me?

When the front door slammed shut, I heard Theo’s deep, angry voice.

I went straight into flight mode and rushed to the back door—I could take the blame, but I didn’t have to stay and face the man. Not when my holiday home was just around the corner.

But luck had not been on my side much lately.

My legs stumbled on the uneven ground, and I landed like a wreck in the wet grass.

“Damn it,” I cursed, hearing a scraping noise.

Murphy’s Law, of course—I knew my watch was ruined even before I looked at it.

This morning, I had decided not to put it on, as it had reached a solid price at the online auction. And then I did it at night anyway, out of habit.

A long scratch through the center made me panic. I needed the watch to fund my grandmother’s project, which I had been working on for a long time.

It was my thing, something I wished to do for my soul and heart, and I didn’t want to ask my parents for money.

I took a deep breath as two gleaming shoes appeared in my view.

Slowly, I got on my feet and calmly tidied myself. Facing Theodore Morelli was always a challenge.

When I thought I was ready, I raised my face to his. His piercing blue gaze stole the breath from my lungs.

How the hell had I ended up in this situation?

Night dew dampened Tara’s white T-shirt, making it almost see-through, and I could see the shape of her small breasts. She was braless, and just like that, the naked pictures popped back into my mind. I clenched my jaw.

I knew she was here. That was why I’d spent half a day driving from Milan after all. But I hadn’t expected her to bring her wild ways into Sasha’s life.

The woman was incredible. Wherever she went, scandals followed.

She made a spectacle of standing up and untangling her long, dark hair. Her left sneaker hung limply from her foot. I crossed my arms to keep myself from grabbing her delicate shoulders and shaking some sense into her.

“Can’t you keep your immoral ways away from my little sister?” I asked.

She snorted inelegantly, licking her upper lip. “I will when you stop calling her little. She is a year older than me.”

Twenty-one to my twenty-seven—that’s how old Tara Ricci was. I glanced over her graceful figure, finally resting my eyes on her face.

Her teary gaze didn’t match her mischievous smile, and that combination of fragility and defiance toyed with my mind.

“You know me. I like fun,” she said, rubbing me the wrong way.

The lump went down her throat, and her eyebrows shot up. “Who mentioned orgies? And I am not into girls, so Sasha doesn’t count.”

I felt my blood pressure rising, and as if she’d felt that, she pushed harder.

“And Theo…” She leaned closer, looking at my lips. “Don’t make me repeat myself, and stop treating her like a child.”

She must have seen the muscle in my jaw twitch. The next moment, she turned to run away just as my hand curled around her waist, pulling her back. Our bodies collided, and I felt her shiver.

“Ugh.” Her breath left her lungs, and she turned to the side to look me in the face. The warm curve of her cheek pressed against my chest. “There is no need for manhandling. If you’re into orgies, we could arrange something.”

I had to bite the inside of my cheek to stop myself from laughing after hearing that bold last line. I moved my head until my lips grazed her tiny ear.

“The fun is over, princess. I’m taking you to the will reading in Rome.”