Diavolo (Devil’s Playground #1)

6. Chapter 6

6

Despite Elyse's aggravation over Alessandro's brazenness, a shot of heat flared throughout her body. His question sparked between them like a live wire. But Elyse refused to let it catch. She hesitated to react, not daring to move a muscle as she stared at him from the bed. Alessandro strode toward her until he stood beside the mattress. His face was close enough that Elyse could make out every individual spike along his long, dark lashes. Elyse couldn't decide whether or not she wished for him to come closer. Their encounter from the day before replayed itself in her mind.

If you pull this shit again, I will be ready to fuck your brains out.

The man leered down at Elyse as though he might consume her. Caution told her not to make any sudden movements. He was the serpent to her Eve. Temptation sang through her veins. Sternly, Elyse reminded herself that nothing good would come from surrendering to lust. She took in a deep breath to calm her nerves.

It didn't help much.

A moment later, Elyse found herself teasing the sexy bastard. Even though it was a terrible and dangerous idea. "Rest assured, Mr. Vitale, if I wanted something bad enough, I'd never deny myself. I don't need you."

He scowled. "You… do not need me?"

“I have hands, don't I?"

To prove her point, Elyse decided to give him a taste of how self-sufficient she could be. She wore a knowing expression. Elyse's hands ghosted down her shirt, using both palms to outline the curve of her breasts and the hardening tips. He trailed her movements with a dark, piercing gaze. The black of his pupils soon swallowed all the color from his eyes. There was nothing sexy about her sleep shirt, but Alessandro remained fixated as though she was the world's most fuckable woman. Her fingers drifted south. Elyse traced her ribcage over the cotton fabric and slipped down her stomach as if she had no intention of stopping. Lower and lower she went. Teasing here. Touching there. She held his gaze the entire time. Right as her fingers were about to brush against her clit, however, Elyse smirked and folded both hands in her lap in a ladylike manner. "I'll leave the rest to your imagination."

Disbelief fell across his face as he rasped, "You are ruthless."

Elyse laughed darkly. With a tight smile, he confessed, "Now my mind is filled with impure thoughts. I may go to hell because of you."

She offered in breezy tones, “Want me to pray for your soul?"

Alessandro muttered with a wry expression, "Just let me burn. Dio . I would give anything to become necessary in your life. What must I do to earn your love?"

"Don't hold your breath."

He grinned. "You are breaking my heart, angelo ."

"Impossible," she quipped. "You have no heart."

"Not anymore. It is in a thousand pieces."

His shamelessness was getting out of hand, and she was behaving no better. Her conduct just now had nothing to do with the need to seduce him for information. She'd simply wanted to get a rise out of him.

Because she was attracted to him.

Because she liked him.

Because she was a goddamn idiota .

This slew of unwelcome revelations shocked some sense into Elyse. Fucking hell. They were both going to need hard, fixed boundaries for this arrangement to work. Elyse coughed. "Then stop wasting your efforts on me. We can't keep doing this."

"I do not know what you are talking about."

The man appeared to be an expert at playing dumb. In exasperated tones, Elyse spelled it out for him, "The flirting. The teasing. And the pet names. It has to stop. I'm going to be your physician. Nothing more."

"As you wish... Dr. Romero ."

Elyse regarded him closely. Alessandro had referred to her as Dr. Romero and not angelo . A step in the right direction. But he'd also agreed way too quickly. Like a beast pretending to be tame. She couldn't let her guard down. In slow, stealthy increments, Elyse tried to ease her way out of bed.

"Where do you think you are going?" he murmured in mocking tones.

"Away," she replied, "from you.”

"Your words wound me."

"You survived a bullet. I doubt words can hurt you."

"In case you have forgotten, a rather vital organ in my chest has been broken into infinite fragments because of your cruelty."

Irritably, she fired back, "Do you have to talk like—"

"What?" Alessandro interjected with a look of innocence.

"Like you're reciting bad poetry all the time?"

In roguish tones, he defended himself, "What can I say? I am Italiano . We were born to be romantics."

She rolled her eyes. Alessandro continued to preen and boast, "I also attended boarding schools in London. For a time. There—I learned how to speak English better than the English. I do not think my words sound inferior. You are simply too American to appreciate English when it is used to its fullest potential."

Too American, was she? Elyse scowled. "Do you enjoy irritating all the Americans who work for you?"

He grinned. "Only the beautiful and brilliant ones."

The bastard was impossible to shame. She wanted to smack the amusement from his stupid, handsome face. But there was also a part of Elyse that wanted to wrap her legs around his waist and fuck him to the moon and back. The mere thought made her core throb. "I thought we agreed to keep things professional?"

Alessandro shrugged. " You agreed to keep things professional. I simply did not disagree. While I find your self-control to be enticing, I admit, I am far more interested in exploring all the ways we can unleash your restrai—"

She commanded, " Stop ."

Alessandro laughed. It was a strained sound. "Very well, Dr. Romero, have it your way. I will behave."

Elyse regarded him with suspicion. Was it possible for a man like Alessandro to behave? As her gaze dragged over him from head to toe, she found her eyes dipping toward his crotch. Mierda . Maybe she was the one who needed to behave? Elyse quickly redirected her gaze. To a nearby wall . Several paintings hung from it. Elyse stared at each piece of art as though they were the most interesting things in the room.

Sullenly, she grumbled, "If you don't mind, I want to get dressed."

He crossed his arms over his chest with a challenge in his eyes. "Be my guest. But do let me know if you require assistance."

Elyse scowled. "I think I'll manage. Now be a gentleman and look away."

"Must I?"

She mimicked the British tones in his accent, " You must ."

Alessandro flashed a wolfish grin before disappearing into the large walk-in closet beside the bathroom. While he was out of sight, Elyse hopped out of bed to pull on a bra, a gray sweater, and a pair of black jeans. Then, she began throwing her belongings back inside her suitcases. Elyse intended to move out of his room this very instant.

He called out, "May I come out now?"

"Yes."

Alessandro re-emerged from the closet and assessed the suitcases that Elyse was now clutching in her hands. He observed, "Your bags are packed."

She nodded curtly. "Can you please ask Malina to prepare another room for me?"

Anxiously, Elyse wondered if Alessandro would deny her. His eyes narrowed. "Do you intend to sleep with your door locked each night? With a chastity belt clamped around your waist?"

"Those aren't bad suggestions."

He sighed. "They are terrible suggestions."

Even though Alessandro had promised to be on good behavior, her new employer seemed dead set on destroying any possibility for them to maintain a healthy working relationship. Too many boundaries kept getting crossed.

"I thought you were going to behave?"

" Sì , but..."

"What?"

"My bed will be cold without you."

She didn't know whether to laugh or rail at him some more. The bastard was a lost cause, but Elyse wasn't one to give up easily. She hadn't forgotten about her mission to unearth his true intentions. Elyse switched to a new tactic and began setting her trap. "You're an attractive man. Surely, you can find someone else to warm your bed."

"So," Alessandro drawled, "you find me to be attractive."

He'd missed the point. On purpose . Undeterred, Elyse carried on, "Whether or not I find you fuckable is beside the point. You recruited me to be your doctor. Not your fuck buddy."

The corners of his mouth quipped. "Is that what you think I am trying to do?"

"Aren't you?"

" No ."

This was the opening she'd been hoping for. I did not bring you here solely to fuck you. His words kept replaying themselves in her mind. I have other reasons. Time to uncover these reasons. Elyse probed a little more, "Then why go through so much trouble to bring me here?"

An unreadable look passed over his handsome features. His eyes hardened over. Like ice. "I chose to bring you here because you intrigue me, Dr. Romero. More so than anyone else at the moment. There is no denying my attraction to you. I would love to fuck you, but, rest assured, I value you more than a fuck buddy."

"You're deflecting again. Please answer my question."

He cast her a look of amusement. "I cannot decide if your unwillingness to let things go is pissing me off. Or turning me on."

Was it even possible to draw a straight answer from this man? Even more stubbornly, Elyse repeated, "Why did you go through so much trouble to bring me here?"

He smiled coolly. "I already told you. I never fail to repay my debts. "

"So I'm a debt that you need to repay?"

"One could argue that you were summoned here more as a favor than a debt."

"A favor?"

"To an old friend."

Silently, Elyse rejoiced at his confession. At last, it seemed that Alessandro revealed something worthwhile. She furrowed her brow in an exaggerated show of confusion. "I don't understand."

Elyse hoped that her little performance would prompt Alessandro to elaborate further. From years of experience as a female in a male-dominated field, her fellow male surgeons, colleagues, supervisors, and patients—anyone with a set of dick and balls, really—had always jumped at the opportunity to explain things to a confused-looking woman. Stefano's ego had operated in very much the same way. Alessandro probably wouldn't be any different.

His mouth curved upward, but the smile didn't quite reach his eyes. "For now, you do not need to understand anything beyond these four simple truths. Uno. You are under my protection. Due. The Mancinis and their men will never touch you again. Tre. You work for me now. Quattro . Forget your worries, and life will be good."

To Elyse's surprise, Alessandro didn't sound like he was mansplaining. His statements sounded more like subtle threats. There seemed to be an underlying message tucked behind his words. Don't ask any more fucking questions, and be content with what I've given you. She’d need to proceed with more tact in the future.

In the blink of an eye, Alessandro's intimidating countenance shifted back to his usual teasing, smirking self. He walked over to grab her suitcases. She eyed him questioningly.

" Come ," he commanded, "allow me to escort you to your new room. You have made your wishes clear. I will not be bothering you anymore. From now on, our partnership will be as clinical and sterile as your heart desires."

Two months slipped by in a stretch of listlessness. The first snow of December began to fall, blanketing the surrounding mountains and valley of Crans-Montana in a realm of white.

Alessandro Vitale proved to be a man of his word. During this time, he didn't visit Elyse again at night. In fact, he didn't make an appearance at all. Not even to seek her out as his physician. Alessandro became a peripheral shadow. Intangible, unavailable, and full of mystery. It felt like Alessandro had forgotten about her altogether.

On the rare occasions when her employer was home, he locked himself up in his study. Whenever Elyse chanced by the room, she could hear him through the door. He was usually on the phone, growling at someone in rapid-fire Italian. Most of the time, however, he was gone. According to Malina, Alessandro was "out running errands with his associates," which Elyse interpreted to be code for shady criminal activities.

Elyse convinced herself that their arrangement was ideal. Best to keep a low profile. Stay out of each other's way. No need to rock the boat when waters were calm. On the surface, it wasn't hard to appreciate the quietness of her new routine. Malina and her competent staff saw to all of Elyse's needs. She ate well. She slept well. The chalet was beautiful. Crans-Montana was a scenic mountain paradise. She was living in a fucking winter wonderland. There were only a few minor problems. As a surgeon who once thrived in a high-pressure career with seventy-hour work weeks, Elyse soon came to realize that she wasn't well equipped to deal with the mind-numbing idleness of being a patient-less physician.

An irrational fear of Stefano started creeping back as well. Over the past two months, Stefano had only messaged Elyse a few times to confirm her payments to him, but he didn't call or harass her about anything else. Surely, Stefano must have figured out that she had left New York by now? Her former boogeyman's uncharacteristic graciousness was unsettling. Mikey was still missing. It all felt so bizarre. Every time Elyse's anxiety spiked over Stefano and Mikey, however, her mind would wander back to the four simple truths that Alessandro had imparted to her.

The Mancinis and their men will never touch you again.

Alessandro claimed that she was under his care now. Was this why Stefano hadn't tried to find her in Switzerland? At present, Elyse didn't know how to answer this question, so she tried to keep busy and focus on her blessings. She continued collecting paychecks and paying off Papá's debt. She got around to canceling her apartment lease with her landlord back in New York. She checked in with the nurses at the specialized care center where her father was being kept on life support. For better or worse, nothing had changed with him. Her father's condition was stable.

She then went on to set up a workstation in her bedroom and ordered some basic medical equipment and supplies. Elyse reached out to Mr. Schmid to procure copies of Alessandro's medical records and history. It didn't take long for her to work through these tasks, though, and she soon found herself with nothing to do yet again.

Across these empty hours in her days, Elyse began to dream and plan for a new future. An idyllic future without men like Stefano or Alessandro looming over her every thought and every move. Freedom, true freedom, became a possibility.

Carefully, Elyse calculated the exact cost of this freedom. If she stayed under Alessandro's employment for approximately two more years, then she'd be able to save enough to pay off every cent of her father's debts and build up a small nest egg to, maybe, fund a fresh start in a new city back in the States. This was, of course, assuming that she'd be able to continue working for Alessandro for the next two years. Who knew what the bastard had planned for her down the line?

The uncertainty of her situation prompted Elyse to plan for a means to escape as well. Her cushy new life as a patient-less physician could be snatched away in an instant. Alessandro held all the power, and she wielded none. She hated this imbalance. It made her feel helpless and entirely dependent on his good graces.

Alessandro promised that he would never harm her. Elyse didn't want to test him on this matter, though. In the past, Mikey had landed more than a few bruises on her body, and Stefano's threats still haunted her dreams. She refused to relax her guard around Alessandro. Men of the mafia were hardly known for keeping promises, and they were definitely known for their abysmal treatment of women.

Paranoia continued to simmer away. She tried to ignore it and, instead, hope for the best while planning for the worst. This needed to be her new mantra. With caution on her mind, Elyse spent hours exploring every inch of the chalet. She learned where all of the main exits were located. She discovered where Nils kept the keys to the Benz. She memorized the names, faces, duties, and schedules of the household staff. Elyse knew when everyone arrived at work and left to go home.

Additionally, she studied the public transit routes that could take her out of Crans-Montana and back to the Zurich Airport. Elyse withdrew a bit of cash from her checking account and hid small stashes around her bedroom. Just in case she needed to take off at a moment's notice.

Around this time, she attempted to cozy up to Malina and Nils and a few other staff members, striving to learn more about Alessandro's other reasons along with his favor to an old friend . Everyone always kept their responses polite and accommodating, but they were tight-lipped as fuck. Elyse sensed that Malina and Nils knew better than to double-cross their boss over a nobody like her.

In this slow and lethargic manner, Elyse's days and nights ambled on. It wasn't a bad life. She could easily adjust to such a leisurely pace for two more years. If Alessandro was willing to pay her obscene amounts of money for doing nothing, she'd be a fool to walk away.

Her peace was soon to be disrupted, though.

One evening in mid-December, a knock sounded at Elyse's bedroom door. She was barely dressed, braless, in an old Columbia T-shirt and her underwear, but Elyse assumed it was Malina. Nowadays, it was always Malina.

"Come in," she said pleasantly.

Sitting cross-legged on her bed, Elyse waited for Malina to walk in. But it wasn't the apple-cheeked housekeeper who entered her bedroom.

"Good evening, Dr. Romero."

Elyse's eyebrows rose at the sight of Alessandro. Handsome and beautiful as ever, his commanding presence stole her breath away. She hated being so affected by him.

"Good evening, Mr. Vitale," she managed to greet him calmly even though her thoughts felt chaotic. "What can I do for you?"

The left corner of his mouth tilted up. "It has been a while since we last spoke. Have you been well?"

"I'm doing wonderfully," she answered. "Thank you for asking."

Alessandro's brown and blue-gray eyes flashed with a hint of annoyance, but the emotion disappeared so quickly that Elyse wondered if she'd imagined it. His expression became impassive once more. "I am here to tell you that we will be leaving for a trip in a few days."

Elyse's eyes fluttered in surprise. "Thanks for letting me know. I'll prepare accordingly."

Her employment contract had outlined that traveling alongside her employer would be part of her duties. Elyse felt obligated to honor it since Alessandro hadn't asked anything of her since she started working for him.

"May I ask," she prompted, "where we'll be going? And for how long? Just so I know what to prepare."

"We will be spending seven days in Paris," he replied.

His gaze swept critically over her threadbare T-shirt and unkempt appearance. "On second thought, do not pack anything. I will have Malina take you shopping first. We need to upgrade your wardrobe."

Elyse arched an eyebrow. "What's wrong with my clothes?"

"If you are to be seen with me in public," he explained, "you must look the part."

She frowned. "I didn't realize public appearances were part of my job description."

His jaw ticked several times. "You will be attending a few black-tie events with me."

This sounded like an order. Not a request. Elyse scoffed quietly, "Don't you have an army of glamorous women—lined up out the door, I imagine—for that sort of thing? I'll accompany you to Paris, Mr. Vitale, as your physician. But please save the new clothes and black-tie invites for your girlfriends.”

With stormy eyes, Alessandro stalked toward her bed, stopping at the very edge of the mattress. "I do not have a girlfriend. Nor am I looking for one."

He glowered down at her with contempt. Or was it another emotion? Elyse couldn't be sure, but the way Alessandro was piercing her with his glare sent her heart racing. "Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you, I only meant to say—"

"If I had not knocked on your door tonight," he growled, "how much longer would you have kept yourself from me?"

Green eyes grew wide. She protested, "I've been ready to offer my services from day one, Mr. Vitale. You never approached me, though, and I didn't want to get in your way. You seem to be a busy man."

"I expect daily physicals from now on," Alessandro barked. "I am not paying out this ungodly amount of money for you to sit on your pretty ass all day!"

Daily physicals seemed excessive for a healthy man in his prime, but Elyse decided not to fight Alessandro on the matter. She'd save her strength for a more important battle. Smiling to mask her true feelings, Elyse supplied agreeably, "I'll set up a schedule for us right away."

His jaw relaxed slightly. “About fucking time."