All I've Never Wanted(61)

“Easy there, tiger,” she teased, her blue eyes sparkling mischievously. “You have plenty of time to ogle him later.”

I snapped my mouth shut, my cheeks heating up. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” My voice was remarkably steady.

“Parker’s not here.”

Adriana smirked, a knowing look on her face. “Right. Parker.”

I bit my lip. Maybe Carlo was right. Maybe she did know we weren’t really dating. Of course, with my grandmother gone, it wasn’t a big deal anymore, but I didn’t relish having to tell everyone we’d been lying to them the whole time.

“My-My, come on!” Zack was bouncing excitedly on the balls of his feet. “I can’t wait to show you around!” He grabbed my arm and started pulling me to the door.

“I thought this was Roman’s house,” I pointed out, trying not to trip on the steps.


“Yeah, but we’re here so often we know it inside out. And now that you’re living here, we get to see you even more than usual!”

I laughed. I couldn’t help it, Zack was just too cute. Besides, I was glad he’d gotten over whatever he had Wednesday night, though his recovery was suspiciously quick, if you ask me.

“It’s nice to see some people are so chipper in the morning,” Roman grumbled when we reached him.

Now that I was closer, I could see that he’d probably just woken up. His eyes were heavy-lidded and sleepy, there was a pillow crease on his cheek, and his tousled hair was sticking up in all directions. He looked unusually and utterly adorable.

The minute the thought entered my head, I shook it out. Come on, this is Roman Fiori you’re talking about! I silently berated myself. It’s not like he’s a puppy. He’s more like…like a flesh-eating vulture. Or something.

“Good morning to you too,” Adriana said pointedly, coming up behind me. “Didn’t get enough beauty sleep last night?”

Roman just glared at her, completely ignoring me. Well, fine then.

“Hey, is Maya staying in the Greek suite?” Zack asked excitedly.

The violet-eyed boy barely had time to nod before the blond was off again, dragging me with him. “You’re going to love your room, My-My!” he shouted over his shoulder, pulling me into the elevator. Of course the Fioris’ had an elevator.

Roman and Adriana barely made it in time before the doors closed. Zack jabbed the “3” button repeatedly.

“No matter how many times you press that, it’s not going to go any faster,” Roman sighed.

“Says who?”

I grinned at Zack’s childishness. “Yeah, says who?” I echoed, unable to resist teasing Roman a bit again.

“Don’t you start with me,” he warned. “Remember you’re staying in my house for two weeks. I run things here.”

I smirked. “Whatever you say,” I agreed sweetly.

The doors opened again, and Zack grabbed my hand to pull me out. I caught a disgruntled look on Roman’s face before I stumbled down the seemingly endless hallway, until I arrived in front of a pair of gold-and-white double doors.

“Go ahead, open it,” Zack encouraged, his eyes shining.

I hesitated, then slowly twisted the knob. I stepped inside, then froze. Blinked. Blinked again. Holy. Crap. If the grounds had been paradise, then this was heaven, only better.

Everything was white and gold, from the gigantic four-poster canopy bed to the intricately carved marble furniture to the floor-to-ceiling drapes that covered the bay windows. The floor was covered with a wall-to-wall white Aubusson carpet that felt soft as clouds (note to self: never eat in this room), and the walls were a pale cream with gorgeous gold flowers delicately hand-stenciled on them.

“Maya Lindberg, welcome to the Greek suite,” Zack announced proudly, like he was showing off his own house.

For the next hour, he showed me around my suite. Yes, it really took that long, because it was huge. In addition to the bedroom, there were two walk-in closets, each the size of Manhattan studio apartments; a private bathroom, complete with a glass-doored waterfall shower, swimming-pool-size sunken bathtub, and a Jacuzzi; a balcony that had its own dining area and spectacular views of the Fioris’ lake and gardens; a study nook with a platinum-plated iMac that had the Apple logo in diamonds on top, and finally, a den that consisted of a fully stocked mini fridge, 60” flat-screen TV that came out of the ground with the press of a button, and a monster sound system.

“I don’t know that much about the gadgetry and stuff though,” Zack said at the end, collapsing in a sofa in the den. “Roman will explain that to you.”

I snuck a peek at where the heir himself was leaning against the wall, a bored look on his face. “I’ll do that later,” he muttered. He rubbed the back of his neck. “So, uh, you like your new room?”

I widened my eyes and nodded vigorously, the words getting stuck in my throat. The others laughed at the look on my face. “I love it,” I finally managed, embarrassed.

“Well, I’m glad this all worked out then.” Adriana clapped once, getting our attention. “I propose a nice little dinner party tonight to celebrate!”

“There’s nothing much to celebrate,” I sad, a bit confused.

“Of course there is! Your parents just left you alone for two weeks, which means you can do whatever you want.” Adriana smiled slyly. “Who knows, maybe you and Parker don’t even have to hit that one-month mark to—“