ALFONSO

I barely slept last night. My mind kept on thinking about my current dilemma--Violet was unexpectedly back in the country and her presence might ruin my plan. I didn't understand myself. Before I was always looking forward to when she'll finally have a break from movie shootings and now that she's finally here I am not that happy.

Since when did I start not looking forward to seeing her?

My question was immediately answered when my gaze settled on the woman in front of me. She's the only reason I could think of why I haven't been thinking about Violet since she came into my life.

Everything I planned backfired on me big time and now I have to pay for the consequences. I planned to charm her so I could use her easily for my devious plot but in the end, I was the one who was enchanted by her.

Her eyebrows drew together. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

I allowed myself to smile slightly, looking directly at her lovely eyes shining brightly under the Italian sun. "Like what?"

She adjusted the straw hat she was wearing. "I don't know, something like looking at me intently? What's wrong with you?"

I cover my mouth to hide my smile. If she had any idea what was going on inside my head right now she wouldn't appreciate those naughty thoughts. "I am just admiring your beauty, Claudia. Have I told you that you look beautiful today?"

"Hmm," she dramatically flipped her hair. "What a shame. You only notice just now? Because I thought it's already obvious how beautiful I am you are just too dense not to notice it."

"I always knew that, okay?" I answered with a laugh. Damn, this woman and her self-confidence. I have always admired that characteristic of hers.

"See—" she paused for a moment and stared at me with wide eyes. "—wait a moment." She frowned at me. "Are you flirting with me?"

I took a step forward in her direction and she automatically took a step backward that made her back hit the grapevines. "If that's a yes. Does that mean it's working?"

"What?" She asked cautiously. There was a cute crease on her forehead while she was looking straight at my face. Did I mention that my face was only inches away from hers? I have this sudden devilish urge to close the distance between our lips.

Someone cleared his throat nearby in a playful manner. I looked in the direction where the sound came from. I saw the middle-aged man who was the foreman in the vineyard grin in my direction. "I just want to ask if you're going to help us or..."

"We're going to help," I replied with a smirk on my face. I looked down at the woman who was currently trapped between me and the grapevine. "Right, Claudia mia?"

There were pink stains on her cheeks while she was glaring at me insolently. She pushed me away with all of her strength. "Get away from me!"

I moved aside and chuckled at her prudish behavior. "Where are you going? I thought you said that you wanted to participate in grape picking. Let's go to work."

She stopped walking and glanced back at me. She threw me a cold glare but then she walked back to where I was standing. "What shall I do?"

I picked a wooden basket on the ground along with garden shears. "Here," I said giving her the shear. "Start picking the ripe grapes and put them in this basket."

"How should I do that?" She queried curiously, looking at the grapes and then at me. "Is there a specific way to do it?"

I smiled and showed her how it was done. "You should cut the stem as close as possible to the vines. Like this..." She followed my directions and cut her first grape. "Perfect."

She grinned at me, her face lit up with joy. "This is going to be fun, Alfonso."

I was utterly pleased that she was enjoying this. I am so glad that I have invited her to this activity in the vineyard. I never thought that she would enjoy this. "Then let's go to work before Emilio comes back and accuses us of being lazy vineyard workers."

"If you didn't try to flirt with me a while ago he would not think such a thing." She reprimanded me but her eyes sparkled with laughter.

"There's a saying that, there's no harm in trying," I replied with a suggestive wiggle in my eyebrows.

She laughed out loud, shaking her head. She started picking the grapes and placing them in our basket. "What will you get even if you try to flirt with me? Oh, wait!" She looked at me with a scandalized expression. "Don't tell me that you're trying to get under my skirt? Let me tell you now you'll never going to succeed with your evil plan."

"Darling love," I looked at her meaningfully. "We both know that's going to happen if I want to." I threw a suggestive smile in her direction. "You know how persuasive I can be, right?"

"You mean, how obnoxious you are?"

"I am obnoxious?" I repeated with an amused smile on my face. "I call it charm."

She scoffed while still very diligent with her work. "Then, you need to reevaluate yourself, mister.
There's no way that loathsome behavior of yours can be called charm."

"I will disagree with you, my dear." I moved closer to her side until our arms brushed together while collecting grapes. "I think that my charisma is starting to work on you. You just hate to admit it yet."

She let out a humorless laugh while sparing me a glance. "Your self-confidence exudes most of the time. Do you know that? You're the only man I knew with such attitude."

I leaned down at her until my lips grazed on her ear and whispered the words for her ears only. "I know that you like it when I am like that. I bet that I become more handsome in your eyes."

She jumped putting some space between us. She touched her ear which was currently red like the rest of her cheeks. "What do you think you're doing?"

"What's wrong?" I asked innocently while the devil inside me right now was making a happy dance. Step one in making Claudia Romano fall for me is already set into motion. All I have to do now is to crawl my way to her elusive heart.

"Stop whispering in my ear like that!" She protested, throwing a dagger look at me.

"You don't like it?" I arched my brow.

"No!"

"Why not?" I inquired openly. I was aware of the swirl of emotions playing on her face right this moment that she might not even be aware of. I hid my smile when I realized that she might not know that she was being obvious about her real feelings. I can see it clearly but I will not tell her so.

"Because..." she started and then she halted abruptly. Claudia scowled at me audaciously. "...because I say so. That's it!"

I chortled, watching her move away from me and start to work several feet away. As if that would help her. I intend to stick close to her like vines throughout the day. I would not let her leave my side even for a moment. "Does it make your heart race in your chest, topolina?"

"Stop calling me that!" She spat. I could still see the cold glare she threw in my direction with our distance.

"Isn't it that what you are?" I goaded with an evil smile playing on my lips. "Running away from me like a scared little mouse?"

She muttered something under her breath. I would bet my inheritance that she's cursing me to death right now. I was surprised when crossed the distance between us in a few strides. She grabbed the fabric of my polo and drew me closer to her. "Listen to me, you arrogant man..."

Instead of feeling insulted, I was quite amused by her unladylike attitude. If I have to be honest with myself I was enjoying the way our faces were only inches away. I could see her eyes clearly who was fumingly mad at the moment. "I'm all ears, tesoro."

Her mouth slightly opened but no words came out so she shut it again and tried once more. "Don't stick so close to me. Got it? Let's put some space between us while we're working here. Can you do that?"

I felt my lips curve with a smile. "Why? Does my presence make you uncomfortable?"

"What? No!" She replied a little violently in my opinion. "Don't be ridiculous."

"Is that so?" I cocked an eyebrow in her direction while my lips twitched with a slight smile. "Then, perhaps if you want to put some space between us you want to release me from your hold, dearest."

Claudia abruptly let go of me as if she was caught doing something illegal. "Oh, right." She avoided my gaze. "Let's go back to work."

"Are you done flirting—I mean, picking grapes?" Emilio showed up from nowhere, there was a knowing smile playing on his elderly face.

"Yes," I replied with a straight face. I wouldn't let this foreman tease me mercilessly about this in the future.

He went to where our basket was located and checked the half-full bag. He smiled mockingly in our direction. "Si, I can tell." He grabbed the wooden basket and started to walk away. "Let's add this to the rest of the grapes who knows it might add even just a few milliliters to the wine production."

Claudia's face went scarlet red because of Emilio's remark and I pointedly ignored the middle-aged man as we followed him to where they would extract the grapes.

We followed the foreman to the cellar where they grind the grapes to extract the juices that would need to make the famous Orsini Wines. Claudia looked intently at how the production went like a curious child and I enjoyed watching her awed reaction.

"How long does it take to make this wine available in the market?" She asked, watching the hired help put the extracted juice into the wooden barrels.

"Eighteen months to two years," I replied, standing next to her. "Probably longer. The longer you store the wines the more expensive it will become."

"Oh, that long?" She said with wide eyes. "I didn't realize that it will take that long aging process before you can enjoy your favorite bottle of wine."

I smiled at her reaction. "As they say, patience is a virtue." I led her away from the workstation by taking her hand with mine. "Lucky for you, you don't have to wait that long before you can enjoy a bottle of Orsini Wines."

I took her to where the wines were being stored and got a bottle from the cellar cabinet. "Don't tell me you're asking me to drink wines with you in broad daylight?"

"Why not?" I asked nonchalantly. "There's no law saying we can't enjoy a bottle of wine after a tedious work at the vineyard."

She threw a disapproving look in my direction. "We didn't even manage to fill up the basket with ripe grapes that's why Signore Emilio was chiding us."

"He was just teasing us. Don't take him seriously."

Claudia sighed deeply. "It's still embarrassing! I came here to help not to be a nuisance to the harvesting."

I grinned at her, opening the bottle of wine. "Don't worry. If I hear anyone accuse you of that I will fire him or her immediately."

"Don't be ridiculous. Why would you do such a thing?"

"Because I don't want my people to talk bad about you," I answered matter-of-factly. "Oh, crap. There's no wine glass here."

She looked at me dryly as if that was not a problem. "Why don't you just drink straight from the bottle like a lawless pirate?"

I couldn't help but gape at her suggestion. There were times when she still managed to surprise me with her ideas. "What about you? I thought of sharing this wine with you so you'll understand why it needs to have a long aging process."

She rolled her eyes at me. "I will do the same."

By now, she needed to scrape my jaw from the floor. "You will drink this wine from the same bottle where I drink?"

"Obviously," she said sanguinely as if that's the most logical answer. "Unless you have some contagious disease that I should be aware of?"

"No, but—"

"Then, it should be fine."

I let out a laugh while shaking my head. This woman was one of a kind! I am very much sure of it now. What kind of woman would suggest such an unconventional thing to a man? Drink from the same bottle as a comrade. Hell, I think even comrades on the battlefield wouldn't do this.

"Ladies first." I pushed the wine bottle into her hand.

She stared at me for a moment before drinking straight from the bottle as she suggested. Man, this woman took a swig of that bottle like a pro. After taking a sip she returned the bottle to me. I did the same I feel like we were teenagers who sneaked inside the cellar to have a taste of their first alcohol.

"What do you think?" I asked after taking a sip from the bottle where her lips touch moments ago.

"It's good." She responded after a moment. "It's sweet, sour, and salty at the same time with a hint of bitterness at the end. It has an earthy and fruity flavor."

"You have good taste buds," I remarked. "Not everyone can distinguish the flavor right away."

A pleased smile broke into her beautiful face. "I'm pretty special, then?"

I gave a short laugh. "I guess so."

"I enjoy this day, Alfonso. Thank you for letting me experience harvesting grapes for your wine production."

I smiled at her, messing with the perfectly placed hat on her head. "I'm glad that you enjoy it."

"Hey!" She protested, fixing it right away. "Don't ruin my hairdo."

Silence filled the wine cellar after that. We enjoy the bottle of wine taking a sip alternatively that's when I decide to discuss Violet's unexpected homecoming with her. "Claudia," I started.

"Hmm?" She answered taking a sip from the bottle.

"Violet is in town." I notified her, unable to look at her eyes directly. I dared to look into her eyes and I saw her blank expression but her eyebrow arched.

"Is she?"

"Yes," I breathed, rubbing my nape warily. "She wants me to come with her to Lake Como the day after tomorrow."

"That's good." My eyes snapped at her the way her voice sound so cold and distant all of a sudden. I mentally winced when I saw her face remain so stoic.

I took a deep breath, feeling my temple starts to pound. "Claudia—"

She gave me this big bright smile. It would not take a genius to know how fake that smile was. "You don't have to explain just enjoy your vacation with your actress."

Cazzo. That's all I could think of.

I'm screwed.

Big time.