Starstruck (Fusion #1) (8 page)

“I do, but it is complicated,” Xander replied as Indi noted the
signs of an inward struggle in his countenance.

Indi glanced away and rolled her eyes. “Which means what?
You care enough to pay for some security but not for…” In the end, she could
not bring herself to finish the sentence, because she was making a fool of
herself. They had entered into this as a no-strings fling, and he was not doing
anything different to what they had agreed upon.

Xander stood up and started to walk closer, holding his
hands up in a gesture of surrender as he pleaded, “Okay, I won’t touch you, but
please hear me out.”

Indi remained quiet and just waited.

He stood in front of her, ever so close that she could feel
his breath against her hair as he was the taller. “You aren’t just a secret
fling to me, Indi. I’ve grown to care about you more than I thought possible in
such a short space in time, but there are
things,
family things, I
need to sort out before I can bring you into my life properly and show you off
to the world in a way you deserve.” His voice was heavy with emotion as she
watched his eyes brimming with sincerity.

“But I would have to be hidden away until then?” Indi
whispered, reaching out to palm her hands against his hard chest, signalling
her willingness to consider his plan.

“You could still meet the other members of my family that I
trust, if that will make you feel more at ease?” He leaned in and began to kiss
away her half-dried tears.

“I would like that,” she said before closing her eyes as
Xander began to devour her mouth with his.

***

Later on, after freshening up and changing into different
outfits, Indi went with Xander to dine with Adam and Hayden in the restaurant
car.  The meal went pleasantly; she soon gathered that despite the two men
actually being in Xander’s employ, they were actually remarkably close friends
with him as well.  Indi also discovered for the first time that Adam and
Hayden were members of the same corps section as a cousin of Xander’s who
headed up the band’s security. They laughed and joked at his expense, bringing
up stories of their nights out with him, his cousin, David, and his friend,
Charlie.

“I don’t think I’ve seen him this happy in a long time,” Hayden
observed when Xander left them alone for a few minutes.  “You’re clearly a
positive influence for him.”

“I think he’s equally good for me too,” Indi replied wistfully
as she sipped her wine, unaware that Xander had heard what she said. 
“I’ve never talked so much to one person about my inner thoughts before, saving
me lots of time in therapy,” she joked.

“Just let me know where to send the bill,” Xander said drolly
as he retook his seat and kissed her cheek.

Later, Indi and Xander managed to snuggle into the cramped
single bed, rather than sleeping separately for some of the night.  They
struggled to get any proper rest as they knew they would have to get off the
train at 6.00am the following morning in Rome, and change on to another train for
the final leg into Florence, arriving at 8.20am.

***

In Florence, the group took a taxi to the hotel that he had
booked for them – or at least what his assistant, Sam, back in England, had
booked on his instruction. Checking into a nice suite of rooms, they spent
the morning unpacking, before catching up on a brief slumber in a massive,
king-size sleigh bed.

With the hot afternoon sun blazing through the half-drawn
curtains of their bedroom, they were woken from the haze of sleep by the sound
of a mobile ringing.  Grumbling, Xander rolled over on his back and
released Indi from his grasp slightly. “I don’t recognise that
ringtone.  It must be yours.”  His fingers strayed from her stomach to
arouse her exposed nipples to a more hardened state as the sheets had worked their
way down their bodies during their sleep.

“Mmm, I can’t imagine who would be calling me; they know I’m
out of the country for another week.”  Sighing, Indi pushed herself off
the bed and pulled the offending phone from her handbag.  Looking at the
screen, she frowned slightly and accepted the call.  “Hey, is something
wrong?” Indi asked the person on the other end of the line as she moved into
the adjoining sitting room.

 “I was just checking up on my little sis,” Angel said
casually.

“You had me worried, calling like that on an international
rate. I thought it was serious.  However, it’s lovely to hear your voice.
You would love it here – so relaxing and weather to die for.  My tan will
put your porcelain complexion to shame!” Indi teased her good-naturedly.

“So, have you seen any hot men?”

“Actually, I’m in Florence with one now.  It has been a
whirlwind.  I have so much to tell you when I return,” Indi replied, bursting
with excitement to share some of her news with her closest sister.

“Oh my God, Florence! I hope you’re being safe,” Angel
cautioned.

“Don’t concern yourself; this is nothing like that.  Anyway,
I must go. I’ll see you when I get back.”

Smiling, Indi closed the handset and re-entered the bedroom,
catching a quizzical expression on Xander’s face.  “My sister,” she
explained.

“Was anything wrong?”

“Oh, no, she was just checking up on me. We’re pretty close,
and after all that I went through with the court case, she’s been keeping a
close eye on me and wasn’t too keen on me staying here alone.”

“Ah, did you tell her about me?”  He asked, looking
hopeful.

Indi smirked, moving back to join him in bed. 
“Actually, I did mention you in passing when she asked if I had met any hot
men.”

“Oh, I see, so I’m a hot man, in your opinion,” he teased,
pushing her on her back as he slid his hands over her hips and waist lightly.

“Extremely,” she answered, giggling as Xander began to
tickle her rib cage while trailing the tip of his tongue from her collarbone all
the way up her neck to just behind her ear.  He pressed his upper torso
against her breasts as his mouth trailed across her face to her lips. 

One of his hands reached between her legs, flicking across
her clit; stroking the wet skin surrounding her entrance with increasing
frequency that it made her hips move of their own volition. Indi gasped loudly
against his mouth as he continued to devour it while her body shuddered with
the rapturous pleasure from his handy fingerwork.

“Mmm, a perfect fit,” he murmured as he slid his rock-hard
length into her with an eager thrust. Xander continued to describe all the
dirty things he enjoyed doing to her as he punctuated every slow, but powerful
thrust with a groan of pleasure.

Afterwards, they were enticed from the bed with some room
service, followed by a tour of Uffizi gallery with their own tour guide as Indi
had expressed an interest in visiting some art museums.  They spent the
next couple of hours viewing one of the largest collections of Italian
Renaissance paintings in the world, including Botticelli’s
Birth of Venus
, Leonardo’s
Annunciation
,
Michelangelo’s
Holy Family
and Titian’s
Venus of Urbino. 

Indi wore a big wide smile as they walked back to the hotel.
“Thank you for arranging to go there, Xander.  It was a fantastic buzz to
be surrounded by all that history.” 

“I’ve more planned tomorrow – that is why I suggested the
more suitable shoes.”  He pointed to her spiked heels and shook his head
in mock horror.

“I thought you liked my unsuitable shoes; at least that is
what you said last night when you wanted me to wear them and nothing else!”

“Mmm, they were more than suitable for that kind of activity.
I just thought you might be more comfortable in flats, but, hey, you’ll get no
complaints from me whatever you decide to wear,” he joked, attempting to pull
her in for a kiss as she playfully swiped at his arms.

“Okay, I’ll wear more sensible shoes tomorrow, just to
please you,” she relented.

***

Over the next three days they visited the Accademia Gallery,
Bargello Museum and the Palazzo Vecchio, one on each afternoon, after lazing
around in bed all morning and talking.  

Each evening they travelled with Adam and Hayden in tow to
see various musical events being held in Scandicci, located just ten kilometres
outside Florence.

They enjoyed anonymity for the first two evenings, but news
of Xander’s presence was announced via social media by one eagle-eyed fan on
their final day.  This caused widespread chaos outside their hotel where a
large crowd of fans had been gathering ever since, waiting for a glimpse of
him.

“I think it might be best if you forget about your plans for
tonight and we just head to the train station in the morning. The crowd out
there has swelled dramatically,” Adam cautioned as he glanced out of the window
overlooking the place where the crowd was congregating. 

Xander shook his head. “No, I’m determined not to have our
plans ruined.”

They had planned to explore the centre of Florence, from
Repubblica Square to Strozzi Palace, on a specially organised night tour. Indi did
not say anything as she was still unused to all the attention that Xander’s
presence drew.

“Well, the local police don’t want us to do anything that
encourages the crowd to get any bigger or start up in another area. They have
already started sectioning them off, so the traffic can start flowing properly
again,” Hayden commented as he entered the suite. He had just been down in the
foyer of the hotel, talking with one of the senior police officers in charge of
keeping things in order there.

“Is there a back entrance that Adam and Indi can use?” asked
Xander. “Then I could go and sign some autographs for fifteen minutes to
placate them, with you nearby if it gets out of hand. Then we can head back
into the hotel through the front and exit out the back as well.”

“Maybe that could work,” Adam said as he and Hayden nodded
their approval at one another.

And it did. The more diligent fans gained their photos and
autographs, and Indi got her tour of the city.

***

The group travelled back on the early morning train, but did
not arrive home until later that evening. As their car pulled off the main road
into a smaller lane, which led to their villas, they passed a taxi coming in
the opposite direction. At first they thought they were the occupants of another
villa nearby.

“Fuck!” uttered Adam, who was driving, as he pulled the car
to an unexpected stop shortly after the other car had passed them by.  “I
could have sworn Caitlin was in the back of that cab.”  He caught Xander’s
eye in the rear-view mirror.

Xander swore under his breath. “Okay, well, let’s get back
to the villa before she gets a chance to get the taxi driver to turn around and
come back.  I don’t want her associating Indi with me unless we’ve no
other choice.”

“Caitlin?” asked Indi. Taking in the alarmed expressions on
the men’s faces, she drew the conclusion that this woman was one of the issues that
Xander had needed to sort. She wanted answers and fast.

“Indi, please trust me on this. I don’t have time to explain
now, but I will as soon I can get away.”

She glared at him stiffly. “Fine, just drop me here, and let
me walk the last bit myself.” While they had shared a marvellous time in
Florence, she was determined not to have it tainted by a confrontation at the
end. 

“Are you sure?” Xander furrowed his brow. “It might be
the easiest way, in case she does come back, because if Adam saw her, it’s
likely she recognised him too.”

“Yes, but I do expect a
full
explanation about who
exactly
she is,” Indi responded coolly.

Hayden took the initiative and got out of the vehicle to remove
her suitcase from the boot.

“I will,” Xander assured Indi. He leaned in to kiss her, but
she shrugged him off quickly before exiting the car.

With her suitcase in hand, she carried herself off down the
lane towards the villas while Xander’s car drove off into the distance, leaving
dust clouds wafting in their wake. Indi had just passed through the gate and into
her garden, out of sight of any passing traffic, when she heard a car pull
up.  Seconds later, she heard the door of it slam. A woman with an awful,
shrill voice demanded that the driver help with her luggage before disputing
the charge for the journey.  Indi closed her eyes and sighed as an uneasy
feeling swept over her.
Had he been playing her along?

***

It had been three long hours since Indi arrived home alone.
During that time she had tried to keep herself busy; first by removing her
washing from her luggage, and then listening to some music and answering emails
on her laptop, but nothing could focus her mind away from what might be
happening next door.

She could not help thinking the worst about who this woman
was. Indi replayed the moments over and over in her mind from when Adam had
sworn some expletive as the taxi passed by them to when she had walked down the
lane to her villa.  She tried to focus on Xander’s body language at the
time. He had not seemed happy to see this woman at all, but that didn’t mean he
was not in some kind of relationship with her.
Maybe he
just isn’t happy at being caught out?

Indi tried to stop thinking that Xander might disappear
without any explanation. Several times she stepped out on to the terrace to
reassure herself there was still someone next door. Each time a sense of relief
washed over her when she heard the murmur of faraway voices. Finally, at a
little after 11.00pm, Indi’s body gave into the fatigue she had been fighting
and she fell asleep, curled up on the sofa.

Xander

It was not until the sun was rising that an extremely tired
Xander let himself into the villa using the spare key Indi had given him. He
shook Indi’s arm gently to wake her from her slumber. She opened her eyes
slowly; her body moving stiff and disoriented at first as he sat down on the
edge of the sofa, looming over her curled-up body. 

“Haven’t you been to bed at all?”  Indi asked. She reached
up from her reclined position to run a hand over the day’s worth of stubble
coming through on his cheek. 

Xander shook his head silently. Taking her hand from his
face, he planted a tender kiss on the inside of her palm.  “I’m sorry it
took this long to get away. I had to wait until she went to bed after our
screaming match.”  His voice was low and hoarse. 

“So who is she?” Indi made a move to stand up, her nerves
coming through in her voice.

Xander had gone over a prepared speech several times, so that
he would sound convincing while concealing part of the truth. Lying was
something he had never been good at, but he was prepared to say almost anything
to keep Indi from discovering the full facts before he had a chance to deal
with his father and free himself from Caitlin permanently.

“There isn’t much to tell,” he said. “She’s the daughter of
one of my father’s business associates.  I’ve chaperoned her to a few
business events as she also works for my father.”

He watched Indi walk away from the sofa and start to clear
up the plate and glass remaining from her evening meal the previous night.

“Has she come here for herself or your father?” she asked.

“She came to give me some papers that my father needed
signed, but it was a ruse to spend time with me as well. She’s always been
hopeful that we would get together, especially with both of our fathers
encouraging the idea. ”

Not quite the whole truth, but a little white lie here and
there, so it did not sound quite as awful as him being engaged to the woman.
 Xander was so close to putting his plan into action that he did not want
to ruin it now by spooking Indi with the full truth when he would soon be free
to pursue her properly, without the weight of his father’s deception hanging
around his neck. Just a few more hours and the proof that Xander knew about his
father’s affair with Caitlin would be hand-delivered to him in stage one of his
ousting.

“But you don’t share their viewpoint?” Indi asked.

“God, no, she’s my worst nightmare. She follows me
everywhere and just won’t take no for an answer.”

Indi furrowed her brow. “If there is nothing going on
between you, why did you hide me away when we saw her? Wouldn’t seeing you with
me put an end to her aspirations?”

Xander felt a sense of dread rise up his throat from the pit
of his stomach.
Whole lie or half-truth – which one should I utter?
He
hated lying to the woman standing in front of him; a woman he was falling in
love with. “I did it to protect your existence from my father until I can
disentangle a few issues he’s caused.”

“You keep mentioning these issues, but never actually expand
on them. Are they really that sensitive that you can’t tell me about them in
any detail?”

He fidgeted uncomfortably under her scrutinising gaze. “It
is complex. There is a lot of baggage between my father and his children that
is best remaining within the family. All I can promise you is that once I get
back from Sicily, things will be resolved to a satisfactory point so that he
won’t be able to interfere with our plans.”

“Can you be sure whatever concerns you have now about keeping
me secret from your father will be truly alleviated? After everything I went
through with my father, I can’t live with the constant worry of someone else’s
causing problems in my life as well.”  Her voice wavered up and down.

“I understand your apprehension, but it will be okay.”

Indi was silent for a few moments and then offered him a
weak smile. Inwardly, Xander sighed in relief as she seemed to accept his
reassurance without any more questions.

“You look dead on your feet,” she remarked. “Why don’t you
go back to your villa and catch up on some sleep before she discovers that
you’re gone.”

Xander shook his head stubbornly.  “Sleep can wait. I
need to hold you close before I’ve to endure that woman again.” He paused. “Come,
I’ve an idea of how to relax and get rid of the tension from the last twelve hours.”
He held out his hand to her, encouraging her to place her small one within his.

Wordlessly, Xander opened up the glass doors and led Indi
out onto the patio that was still draped in the remaining gleams of moonlight
before they became outshone by the rising dawn. “I thought we could watch the
sunrise from the Jacuzzi,” he suggested as he turned and caught her confused
expression. “It is perfectly secluded from the other villa, so you don’t have
to worry about being spotted.”

“Am I going to get to see the sunrise this time?” Indi
smirked teasingly, remembering how they had missed several previous ones, distracted
by each other’s bodies.

Xander returned her grin, beginning to enjoy himself for the
first time since the previous evening’s grim turn of events. “I didn’t hear you
complaining about missing them at the time. In fact, if I remember rightly, you
were doing another kind of moaning!” Pulling her into a quick embrace, he
swatted her bum lightly with his palm.

“Ouch!” she protested, rubbing the place where his palm had
landed.

“Don’t worry, baby, I’ll kiss it better,” he said, picking Indi
up and dumping her into the already bubbling water, fully clothed. “Now hurry
up and get naked!”

It was not long before they were both submerged in the
water, naked. Indi sat on his lap as they kissed any doubts over their future
away.  Catching his breath, Xander smiled down at Indi as they moved back into
an embrace, not wanting to spoil the moment quite yet. “I guess I should
apologise for distracting you from yet another sunrise.”

Laughing, she replied, “I rather prefer your distractions.
Anyway, we will share plenty more sunrises in the future.”

“Yes, we will.”

They were silent for a while, conscious that this would probably
be their last opportunity to see one another before Indi caught a flight home the
following morning.

Catching Indi yawning, Xander carried her out of the Jacuzzi
and off to the bedroom, intent on making sure she drifted off to sleep before
he headed back to his own villa. Instead, the enormity of what lay ahead and
her tiredness made Indi quite emotional, and he ended up curling up next to her,
trying to soothe her worries. Exhausted, his own tiredness got the better of
him. Luckily, Adam woke him an hour later with a call on his mobile, warning him
that he had been gone for quite a while.

“Try not to worrying about everything,” Xander told Indi.

She nodded.  “I’ll keep myself busy. Do you think you
might be able to come see me again later?”

He shrugged dejectedly. “I’m actually not sure. I’ll try my
best, but I don’t want to do anything to heighten her suspicions in case she says
something to my father. If I can’t get away during the daytime, I promise to
come to you tonight.”

They shared one last lingering kiss before he headed out of
her room.