Chapter 264: You Look Beautiful

Now, under the shower spray, she let herself think about what these fourteen days might hold. What it meant that he’d planned this. That he’d built this island paradise specifically for her. That he was willingly stepping away from his world for two weeks just to be with her.

By the time she got out of the shower, she was smiling.

She dried off and looked at herself in the mirror. Her skin was already starting to tan from yesterday’s sun exposure. Her hair was damp, falling in waves down her back. She looked relaxed. Happy. Like a woman who wasn’t carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders.

Eve dressed in a short white linen skirt and a fitted tank top, then pulled on her bikini underneath. She’d seen a beach pool on the grounds yesterday during the tour, smaller than the infinity pool, but more intimate, designed for actual swimming rather than lounging.

She made her way through the villa toward the terrace, following the sound of voices.

Dimitri was sitting at a large wooden table on the terrace, Marco across from him. They were reviewing something on a tablet, some kind of security protocol, probably. Dimitri’s expression was focused, intense, his jaw tight the way it got when he was working through a problem.

Marco saw her first. He stood up immediately, his posture shifting from business to respectful. "Miss Eve. Good morning."

Dimitri looked up, and something shifted in his expression. The business mode evaporated, replaced by something darker. More possessive. His eyes traced over her body....the bare legs, the way the tank top fit her, the knowledge that she was wearing a bikini underneath.

"I’ll brief you later," Dimitri said to Marco, still looking at Eve. "We can review the rest this afternoon."

"Of course, sir," Marco said. He was already moving away, his discretion perfect. He didn’t look back. Didn’t acknowledge the way Dimitri’s hand was already reaching for Eve.

"Good morning," she said, moving toward him.

"You look beautiful," Dimitri said, pulling her down into his lap. His hand immediately moved to her thigh, stroking the bare skin. "Did you sleep well?"

"I did," she said, settling into his embrace. "But apparently not as long as you. What were you and Marco talking about?"

"Nothing that matters," Dimitri said, his attention already shifting away from business. "Just security updates. Making sure everything is locked down so we don’t have any interruptions."

Eve turned in his lap to face him. He was shirtless, wearing only linen shorts that hung low on his hips. His chest was bare, and she could see the scars, old ones from fights, new ones from the bullets he’d taken. Each one told a story of a war she’d never fully understand.

"I was thinking we could do something fun today," she said. "Not intense. Just... fun. I saw that beach pool yesterday. We could swim. Explore more of the island."

Dimitri’s hand tightened on her thigh. "Swimming sounds good. Though I have to warn you....if I get you alone in that pool, we might end up doing more than swimming."

She smiled. "I’m counting on it."

***

They had breakfast on the terrace first.

The staff had prepared fresh fruit, pastries, cheese, prosciutto, bread so good it made Eve close her eyes when she tasted it. There was fresh juice and coffee so strong it made her question if Dimitri had specifically requested it that way.

"How did you find this place?" Eve asked, biting into a croissant that was still warm. Butter dripped down her chin, and Dimitri reached over and wiped it away with his thumb, then put his thumb in his mouth, tasting the butter.

"It was available," he said simply. "An oligarch was selling it discretely, he needed cash and wanted no questions asked. Marco handled the purchase through shell companies. By the time anyone connected it to me, the property records were so convoluted that it’s virtually untraceable."

"So you just... bought an island?"

"I bought a lot of things," he said. "Properties, businesses, assets. When you have money and access, the world becomes very malleable."

She set down her croissant. "Sometimes I forget how much power you actually have. Like, intellectually I know you’re a mafia don running multiple operations. But standing here on your private island, eating food prepared by your personal chef, it’s just... surreal."

"Is it bad surreal?" he asked, his hand finding hers across the table.

"No," she said. "It’s good surreal. It just reminds me that we exist in very different worlds."

"Not here," Dimitri said, his voice firm. "Here, we exist in the same world. Your world is my world. What you want is what I want. That’s how this works."

She didn’t argue, because they both knew it was more complicated than that. But she appreciated the effort. Appreciated that he was trying to give her this fantasy where they were just two people in love on an island, not a mafia boss and his woman caught in a web of politics and danger and war.

The beach pool was even more beautiful in daylight than it had been during the tour.

It was set into the cliff face, natural stone carved out and perfectly maintained. The water was fed by a natural spring...warm, clear, the bottom visible all the way down. It was maybe twenty meters across, surrounded by white stone and palm trees. There was a waterfall on one end, cascading down from higher up on the cliff. Privacy walls made of white stone blocked the view from any neighboring properties, and there were no neighboring properties for kilometers anyway.

They changed in a small stone structure that served as a changing room. Eve stripped off her clothes and pulled on her bikini, a tiny white two-piece that covered only what was absolutely necessary. When she came out, Dimitri was already in the water, waiting for her.

He wore black swim shorts that hung low on his hips, showing the definition of his abs and the dark trail of hair that led down to his cock. The water came up to his waist, and he watched her approach with the kind of focus that made her skin prickle with anticipation.

"Come here," he said.