DECEPTION vol.1: A promise made A promise broken (Turbulent Desire Series) (3 page)

“Wake up, Skylar,” I heard my mom saying from the other room. Immediately, I rolled over and woke Madison. We both slipped into our robes, quickly washed up and walked to the next room for breakfast.

A buffet table had been set up in our room, covered with hot breakfast dishes, fruit and pastries. My mother and Alessandro were already eating while watching the Italian news.

“Help yourselves, girls,” Alessandro said as we walked in. I grabbed a plate and served myself some eggs and a huge helping of the crispy bacon that had woken me up.

“Is there any syrup?” I asked.

My mom looked up from her breakfast and laughed. “Skylar, there aren’t any pancakes, you silly.”

“It’s for my bacon, Mom,” I replied. Madison laughed and looked at my mom for a response. My mother stared back at me in disgust and then handed me a small bottle of syrup.

“How can you like syrup on your bacon, Sky? That’s gross,” my mom exclaimed. I laughed and drowned my bacon in the sugary goodness.

“Eat up quickly,” said Alessandro. “We have sights to see, and I know you ladies will want to do some shopping!”

We visited the Ancient Capitol, the Colosseum and the Arch of Constantine. And of course, we couldn’t leave without visiting the Fontana dei Trevi. When we arrived at the beautiful fountain, I immediately asked my mother and Alessandro for some coins so I could toss it into the fountain to ensure that I would return to this wonderful city again someday.

By the end of the day, we were all drained. The sun was beating down on us, so we headed back to the hotel for the rest of the evening. We watched TV and ordered from the hotel’s room service. Tomorrow, we would be leaving Rome; it gave me a bittersweet feeling. We were spending only two nights here, but it had already been an amazing trip. I couldn’t imagine what my mother had planned for the rest of the week.

My mom woke us up late the following day for brunch, and we made our way back to the airport to catch our private flight to our next destination. As we were waiting for our flight, I excused myself to use the restroom, leaving Mom, Alessandro and Madi behind. As I left the washroom to make my way back, I bumped into a firm, muscular body.

“
Mi dispiace, signorina, stai bene
?” said a deep, Italian-accented voice.

I looked up and our eyes connected. It was as if time had stopped and nobody else existed, just the two of us. He stared at me, looking as stunned as I felt.

The man in front of me was devastatingly gorgeous. He was tall with dark hair and an olive complexion. He had the most stunning emerald eyes I had ever seen. His chiseled face gave him a rugged, confident air. His sharp nose was perfect; I couldn’t remember ever noticing a man’s nose before.

I realized that I was gawking at him and stepped away, overcome with shyness.

“Signorina, sei molto sexy,”
he said.

I wasn’t fluent in Italian, but that was one of the phrases I’d learned while surfing the web. Overcome with a sudden flash of boldness, I turned towards him, my hands on my hips, and replied, “I sure am.”

He gave me a dazzling, contagious smile that made me grin too. His smile quickly subsided, and he bit his lower lip provocatively. His eyes darkened; I was captivated.

“That you are,
bella,”
he said in English, winking at me. I laughed and walked back to my family, smiling uncontrollably. Never in my life had I experienced something like this before, this flash of heat and connection. No guy back home had made me feel this way.

Mom, Alessandro and Madi were waiting for me at the gate. The plane was ready for us to board. I murmured to Madi, “Did you see that guy that just went into the restroom?” I asked.

“I saw someone pass by, but I didn’t pay attention, what about him?” Madi replied.

I shook my head. “Nah, never mind” I whispered, not sure how to explain something I didn’t even understand myself.

When the plane took off, I nodded off to sleep, dreaming of sun-kissed boys and sunny beaches.

“Skylar!” Madi’s voice brought me back.

“We’re here, Sky! We’ve landed,” I heard my mom say before Madi could finish her sentence. My heart started to beat faster, and my groggy frown turned into a big smile. The flight attendant was standing by the airplane door, waiting for us to disembark.

“Where exactly are we, Mom?”

She smiled and walked to the front of the plane, stepped outside, and said,
“
Isola del Giglio, here we come!
”

Madi and Alessandro were right behind us. “We still need to take the ferry in order to get to our destination,” Alessandro said.

A chauffer was waiting for us, ready to take us to the ferry. We loaded our bags, hopped in, and drove off. We all were ready to get to our summer home villa.

As we boarded the ferry, I caught my first glimpse of the sparkling water, and my heart leaped with anticipation. I wanted to jump out of the ferry and into the water that very second. The isle looked like paradise. Everything was so beautiful. I handed my phone to my mother and asked her to take a photo of Madi and me.

We were trying to get a second picture, and I looked around for the perfect spot. As I turned my head, I saw him. The handsome guy I had bumped into at the airport was watching me. His intense gaze held me captive once again.

I could not look away from his stare. We stood looking at each other for a couple of seconds that felt like hours. He gave me a flirty, suggestive look, but his stare was so intense that I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to look away from him.

Then I heard Madi yelling at me. “Earth to Sky! Earth to Sky! Is she there?”

“Madison, what?” I yelled back.

“You were ignoring me.”

I rolled my eyes and looked back at the handsome stranger, but he was gone. I looked around but he was nowhere to be found. I couldn’t believe I’d seen him again—and best of all, on the ferry! He was obviously going to the island, too.

Please, God, make our stay on the island the perfect opportunity to meet him, I prayed silently.

When we docked, I was stamping my feet in my eagerness to get off. Then I realized my mother and Alessandro were lagging behind. Alessandro was helping my mother walk, as if she was feeling ill. Her skin was very pale.

“Mom, what’s wrong?” I asked.

“I just feel tired. It’s been a long trip, you know, I don’t have your energy. Don’t worry. I just need to rest up a bit and everything will be okay, princess,” my mother replied with a gentle smile.

We finally arrived at our destination. The scenery was spread out in front of us like a tapestry.

“Did you know we were coming here?” I turned to look at Madi, who was gazing at the scenery in awe.

“I knew we were coming here, but I had no idea it was
this
beautiful …” She turned to look at me and we smiled at each other.

We finally arrived at our summer home, Villa Condeza. Madison and I excitedly ran upstairs into our room to unpack and check everything out. I convinced Alessandro to allow Madi and me to go down to the beach while my mother rested. We changed as quickly as we could. We grabbed our beach bags, and sun hats and ran off to Canelle beach. We spent the rest of the day tanning and splashing around, and sneaking glances at the many, many handsome boys.

The sun finally went down and Madison made it clear she was ready for dinner and bed. I pouted, but we gathered our things and left. As we were walking across the sand, I caught a glimpse of a guy jogging towards us. I stared at him closely—it was him.

He turned and caught me staring, smiled, and winked. I blushed. I turned to look at Madison, who was completely oblivious to what was going on; she was just striding along. By the time I looked back, the dude was gone, just like that.
I’ve seen him three times in one day. Is this a sign?
I thought to myself. “Easy come, easy go …” I whispered.

“Skylar, stop talking to yourself, it’s not attractive,” Madison joked from behind. I turned and gave her “the look” before she grabbed my wrist and pulled me back towards our villa.

When we arrived, Mom and Alessandro were nowhere to be found, but dinner was waiting for us on the table. While Madison stuffed her face, I jumped in the shower and cleaned up. I walked back into the dining room and picked up a note from my mom. It read:

Skylar & Madison,

I felt a little better so Alessandro decided to take me out for the evening. We took the liberty of ordering takeout from Pizzeria la Castellana. Enjoy the evening; please try to stay in the house or at least within the property. Love you both. See you in the morning.

Mom.

I smiled, grabbed my salad, plopped on the couch and turned on the TV. Madison came out of the bathroom with bloodshot eyes. “You look tired,” I told her. She rolled her eyes, sat next to me and took a small crouton from my plate.

“I
am
tired. You’re so rude.”

I laughed and finished my dinner then got up and headed to bed. Madison dragged behind me. When we were finally in bed, I decided to tell Madi about the guy I had seen three times today.

“Madi?” I whispered,

“Hmm?” she replied sleepily.

“I’ve come across this guy three times today,” I said excitedly. “Do you think this means something, maybe destiny?” I continued. “His eyes, Madison, they are—” but before I could start describing him, she cut me off.

“That’s great, Sky, maybe you’ll see him around again tomorrow. Can I sleep now?”

I rolled over and smiled. “Yeah, goodnight.”

She snuggled herself further into the covers and drifted off to sleep.

I slept a little throughout the night and woke up to the sound of waves breaking on the beach. I checked the time on my cell and saw that it was six in the morning.

I quietly got out of bed and tiptoed to my mother’s room. I opened the door slightly to check if they’d made it home safely. I heard Alessandro snoring loudly, and I had to hold in my laughter before I woke anyone up. I changed into a sundress and tried to wake Madison up. When my attempts failed, I slipped out of the villa to enjoy a walk in the morning sun.

Before I knew it, I found myself next to a vineyard, rows of grape plants stretching into the distance. I walked into the nearest row, took a grape and popped it into my mouth. I smiled as the warm, delicious juice flowed down my throat. I walked along the row and picked a few more, then I heard my cell phone ringing. I looked at the caller ID and saw it was my mom,
Ugh! I can’t get away for two seconds
. I put my phone back in my pocket and continued collecting grapes.

I was enjoying my third handful when I heard someone behind me clearing his throat.

Startled, I dropped the grapes and they scattered across the ground. I slowly swallowed and turned around.

Finally! Thank you, God
, I thought to myself.

It was him, the handsome man from the airport, the ferry and the beach. But instead of smiling now, he looked annoyed. My cheeks turned red and my hands started to sweat. He stepped closer to me. I racked my brain for something to say.

“I—” I started to speak, but I was interrupted by his deep voice.

“You do realize you’re on private property, right?” he said to me in a low whisper, his sexy Italian voice now sounding stern. I looked up at him anxiously, the glare of the sun blocking my view of his face.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t think anyone was here, the grapes just looked so … I don’t know,” I stammered. “I’m not from here, please don’t call the cops … I … my mother would be so pissed.”

Suddenly he laughed, a rich, sexy sound that made me weak in the knees even as I sighed with relief. “I am—how do you say?—teasing you.” He smiled broadly at me. “My name is JC.”

The gorgeous guy put his hand out for me to shake it, and I gently placed my hand in his.

“Sky … my name is Sky,” I mumbled nervously. My face was hot, whether from embarrassment or from something else, I wasn’t sure.

“Sky.” He repeated my name. In his voice, it suddenly sounded unbelievably sophisticated and beautiful. He brought my hand up to his mouth and gently kissed it. A current of electricity ran through my body when his warm lips touched my skin. His emerald eyes never left mine. “The pleasure is all mine,” he added and slowly released my hand. As soon as he let go, I feel a sense of emptiness. Already I missed his touch.

“Is this your place?” I asked trying to ignore my discomfort.

He chuckled. “It’s my parents’.”

I bit my lower lip. Just then, of course, my phone started ringing. I sighed and pulled it out of my pocket. JC’s eyes locked on mine as I flipped open my phone and answered my frantic mother.

“Yes, Mom, no, I haven’t been kidnapped, yes, I’m safe.
Okay!
I’ll be back soon.” I made it through the phone call as fast as possible and smiled at JC.

“I better get going,” I said, the disappointment in my voice embarrassingly obvious. I turned to walk away, but he grabbed my hand.

“Let me walk you home. I’m sure it’s a long walk back to … wherever you came from.”

I quickly pulled my hand away. “I don’t know you,” I said.

He laughed and backed away, holding his hands up in surrender. “
Mi dispiace
. I just want to make sure you get home safe. You can trust me.” He stretched out his hand once again and sweetly smiled at me. “I am not a stranger to you anymore; we have bumped into each other several times now—it is a coincidence, no?”

I pretended to think about it for a few seconds but of course, my mind was already made up. I let him lead me through the vineyard and onto the gravel road. We walked in silence for a few minutes, holding hands as if we were a couple. How strange, but at the same time … how nice.

We passed a couple of villas before he spoke again. “So you’re on vacation, I assume,” he asked me.

God, his accent stirs my blood
. “Yes …” was all I managed to say. My voice sounded like a moan …
damn
. He just laughed and kept walking. Sometimes from the corner of my eye, I caught him staring at me. As we stepped to my summer home villa door, we caught each other’s eyes and smiled. My heart was pounding.