Free Give a Little by Kate Perry

he’d feel all that again. Not tonight—she’d made tonight off limits, but soon. Maybe in Italy, if he were lucky.
    He prayed he’d be lucky.
    She stopped in front of him, hands on her hips. “This is blackmail.”
    “I’m not coercing you to accepting the terms. You want what I have, and I gave you my price. You could walk away and go to another seller.”
    “You know you’re the best seller there is.”
    “Yes, I do know, which is why I have the bargaining power.” He flashed his most charming smile.
    She glared at him, and he could practically hear her teeth grind.
    He stood, picked up her coat, and handed it to her. “Pack a small bag. Tomorrow we go to Italy.”
    “Tomorrow? To Stallon-E?”
    “No. Like I said before, first my week, and then I’ll take you to Stallon-E.”
    She bristled. “Are you insinuating that I won’t honor our deal otherwise?”
    “No, I’m only selfish.” He slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her stiff body close. Once she found out he was a principle in Stallon-E then she’d shy away from the company. His only course of action was to show her how good they could be together—both personally and in business.
    To do that, he needed time for her to get to know him, away from her safety nets and those things she used as barriers. A week in Italy, in his home, surrounded only by him.
    She looked him in the eye, her fingers playing with the buttons on his shirt. “What do you mean?”
    “I cannot wait to have you to myself. One week with me, for pleasure, no work, and then you’ll have everything you want, Beatrice. I promise.” He imagined her undressing him, and a surge of desire shot through his body. It took so little for her to turn him on. He lowered his head to her neck and bit her there, lightly, so she knew she was his no matter her denials. “What’s your answer? Will you go?”
    She listed toward him. “No.”
    “What?” He lifted his head, certain he’d heard wrong.
    “I’m not going.” She disentangled herself from him. “It’s a mad proposition, Luca.”
    “I don’t think it is.” Stepping away from her, he bent for her bag and handed it to her.
    “You would, if you knew me.”
    He stiffened with hurt. How could she say that? “After all these months, after every time you’ve come to my bed, you think I don’t know you?”
    “That’s precisely what I think.” She reached for her scarf herself, wrapping it around her neck as she took her coat and strode out of his flat.
    He waited until the door closed before he picked up the martini glass and threw it against the wall.

Chapter Nine
    Rowdy stood in the middle of his new rehab center. It was completely empty, just painted after they’d finished construction. He’d had a couple rooms added: an office and a room for massage therapy. The space he’d rented had been a restaurant that had gone out of business, and he’d had the kitchen converted into a locker room with showers and a steam room.
    All expensive as hell.
    He’d been worried about how he was going to afford it, but now that Pop was becoming his silent partner, he thought he could even swing the workout equipment he wanted. He’d thought he’d have to scrimp there, but the old man had saved the day, the way he always had.
    Feeling a rush of gratitude, he called his parents.
    “Gary?” his dad said.
    “Dad, you’ll be happy to know I was successfully auctioned off in Pop’s name.”
    His dad whistled. “You didn’t really do it, did you?”
    “Of course I did.” He’d have done it for Pop, regardless. “I raised more money than anyone auctioned in the history of the event.”
    “Libby, Gary auctioned himself off at that cancer fundraiser thing, and he raised a buttload of money,” his dad said to the side. There was a pause, and then he came back on the line. “Your mom wants to know who’d spend that much on you.”
    Rowdy grinned. “Tell her I love her, too.”
    There was a rustle and then his mom was