Meet Me In Monaco - Flora Ferrari Page 0,11

and pursue some mysterious local, no matter how hot he might be. In fact, his hotness is part of the problem. I don’t think dad would appreciate it if I was to abandon him to spend some time with this stranger.

I need to think of some way of getting him alone, without dad knowing about it. Some way I can pretend. But if he leaves us here now, I won’t be able to track him down again. He’s just one man in this whole place – and chances are that I won’t get the chance to see him again if he walks away.

I can’t make him stay with us for the whole week. That would be inconvenient for both of us.

I need to be able to contact him – somehow after he leaves us here today.

“You must let us know your address,” I tell him, thinking on my feet. “I would like to send you something when we get home. A token of thanks. You’ve helped us out so much, and I’d love to send you something that will remind you of your time in Philly.”

I make sure to keep eye contact while I’m speaking to him. I can’t say it outright in front of my dad, but I think that Nico will know what I’m saying.

If I have his address, then sooner or later I can distract dad and sneak away. I can tell him that I’m going somewhere boring for the afternoon or the evening, and leave him in a bar or back in the hotel, doing his own thing.

I can sneak away and find Nico.

“Well,” Nico says, looking at me very closely. “That’s nice of you. But, really, I don’t need any reward.”

I stare at him, my mouth dropping open just slightly. Wow. So, he’s going to reject me, just like that?

He did catch my meaning, right? I should have just come out and said it. I’m not good at doing subtlety. I usually just say what I mean – I don’t have the practice.

“But,” he says, turning and looking at dad with a charming smile. My heart skips a beat. “I do feel a certain responsibility for your stay here in Monaco. After all, you’ve already been lost once and now attacked – I want to make sure that you will have someone who can help you out if you need it again. Someone who can speak French, maybe?”

Dad laughs at the joke, somewhat in spite of himself. He’s always had a good sense of humor about his own failings. “That’s a generous offer,” he says. “You know, I would normally say I don’t want to put you out. But, you’re right. Just in case. And since we keep bumping into one another, maybe something in the universe wants us to stay in contact.”

I smile at that thought. The universe wanting us to stay in contact. Yes. Maybe Nico feels the same because when he reads out his number for my dad to put into his phone, he looks sideways at me the whole time.

And that’s how I know. He’s giving me his number, not dad. He’s just doing it in a way that won’t stir up any suspicion. He read my message, loud and clear, and now he’s giving me one of his own. We’ll meet up again. We’ll meet up without my dad, and maybe something can happen between us then.

And I know the first chance I get, I’m copying that number and giving him a call.

Chapter Nine

Nico

I get home late after the meeting, falling exhausted into bed after managing to take off my clothes and at least hang them neatly. I haven’t been this tired in a while. It must be the emotional toll of the day, as well as the physical and mental one.

I try to settle myself against my silk sheets, waiting for sleep to take me. Nothing seems to come. Instead, the moment I close my eyes, I see her face. Not just her face, either. Liliana’s body, her hips, her breasts, all of it flashes before my eyes. I find myself imagining what she would look like beneath that white dress.

I picture her coming here, calling me secretly, and meeting me outside. I would bring her in here, undress her in front of the bed. Admire and worship her body. Run my hands all over her. Taste her lips, her nipples, every part of her skin. I would make her shiver, moan and scream my name. I would make