Free Claimed by the Sicilian Tycoon by Emma Shortt Page B

moment they’d arrived, she’d skipped around, a smile making
her dimple peek out, complimenting pretty much everything she saw. To him the
apartment was okay, basic, passable, and certainly he’d lived in far worse, but
those memories were distant now. For the last decade, he had surrounded himself
with wide spaces. Huge town houses, wide, sweeping villas…and yet, had he not
been excited when he walked into the first home he’d lived in with more than
one room? Her reaction reminded him a little of how he’d felt back then, all those
years ago.
    Abruptly
he found himself wondering exactly what sort of home Lyra lived in, and how
different it was from this apartment.  
    “Do
you like it?” he found himself asking.
    She
grinned. “What’s not to like? The view is beautiful, the area is gorgeous, and
there are actual shops downstairs in the same building.”
    “There
is also a gym and a swimming pool, though you are the last person who needs to
use either of those facilities.”
    Lyra
laughed. “You don’t think I need to tone up a bit?”
    “Are
you serious?”
    “No.
I’m not. I’m aware that my body is pretty much perfect.”
    “Not
many women can say that.”
    She
flicked her hair—worn loose around her shoulders—with her hand, and Andros
watched as it fell down her shoulders. Last night it had fanned around his face
as she rode him to orgasm. God, he wanted more.
    “Thing
is, Andros,” she said as she walked over to the window and looked out on to the
view. “I do nothing to make it that way. I should lie and tell you I diet and
exercise constantly, but I don’t. I’ve looked like this since I was in my teens
and it doesn’t change.”
    “You
are beautiful,” he said, because she was. Dressed in one of his shirts that
reached down to her mid thighs, she’d clinched it shut with one of his belts,
teaming it with her ridiculously high heels. He’d offered to drive by her
apartment, pick her up some clothing, but she’d shook her head and said his
shirt was fine. He couldn’t help but agree.  
    “By
chance.”
    “What
do you mean?”
    “I
didn’t do anything to look like this,” she said. “I didn’t work for it or earn
it, it’s just a genetic lottery and I don’t even know who it’s from.”
    “What
do you mean?”
    Lyra
shrugged, turning from the window to look him square in the eye. “I never knew
my parents, or at least if I did I don’t remember them. My dad walked out on my
mom from what I can gather, and my mom dumped me when I was very small. I don’t
remember really. I was too young.”
    “What
happened to her?” Andros asked, intrigued by this small insight into Lyra’s
life.
    “My
mom? I have no idea,” she said. “Only thing I do know is that she was not
parental material. I managed to get my hands on my file once, when I was
younger, and it said a few things. It was…uncomfortable reading.”
    “What
of your sister?”
    “My
sister?”
    “You
mentioned her yesterday.”
    “I
did? Well actually, I have two and they are both exquisite. Rachel in
particular is heartbreakingly beautiful.”
    “I
doubt she could come close to you.”
    Lyra
rolled her eyes. “You’d be surprised.”
    “And
the other sister?”
    “Penny.
She is also beautiful, but differently so. She’s all ice and haughtiness. We
call her the cat because I swear she could be one in another life.”
    “And
she let you all go, your mother I mean?” Andros asked, baffled by such a
thought. His own family was close knit. He spent a significant amount of time
with them, ensured they were all well looked after. His parents, in fact, were
currently on a six month tour of Australia, his younger brothers in the States,
and he would visit them all fairly soon.   “What are your sisters’ ages?” he demanded.
    Lyra
rubbed her hands up and down her arms, the only indication she’d given so far
that she was uncomfortable. Interesting.
    “I
don’t want to talk about this anymore,” she