I nodded. “An hour ago. It’s kicking in already. I feel a little better.”
“Good. You should be able to take it again when we get there.” He kissed me one more time and handed me my helmet. He climbed on the bike and looked toward me. I didn’t see Ivan walk up while I was putting on my helmet. I just felt his hands under my arms as he lifted me up and set me on the bike. I grinned; thankful I didn’t have to try to step onto the bike with my hip. I signed a “thank you” to him as he walked to his bike.
Adrik sat up, pulling my arm around him. I heard him in my helmet, “you hold on as tight as you need to, solnishko.”
“Wait, I can hear you in my helmet. Are we psychic now? Did that just happen?”
I heard Misha laughing in my helmet too. “Gazelle, they’re all connected so we can talk to each other.”
“Wait, I can hear all of you? Dam mit. That means I can’t talk sh it about you guys to Adrik the whole way. That’s it. I’m not going.”
More laughter. Ivan spoke up. “Remember you promised to tell me if this is too much, princess. I’m holding you to that. We’ll have to stop a few times anyway, but if you need to stop more, tell me.” “I promise, Grumplestiltskin.” I felt Adrik’s arm on top of mine, his fingers laced through mine. We started to move, and he leaned down, pulling me with him. We pulled out of the driveway, Ivan and Viktor in front, Misha beside us, and Stephen and Andrei behind. Misha looked over, pointed to me, and gave me a questioning thumbs up after a few miles. I nodded my head as he pumped his fist once in the air. I smiled and shook my head.
I spent most of the ride enjoying the scenery as we sped through the countryside. I couldn’t see over Adrik’s body to see how fast we were going, but we weren’t taking a leisurely ride, for sure. We would weave in and out of traffic effortlessly as we passed through small towns. We would only slow down as we entered small towns where people were walking on the side of the road. We had to wait for one man to get his go ats across the road.
As soon as we left the towns, it was back to pushing the upper limits of the bikes. I held on tightly to Adrik anytime we accelerated. He would feel me squeeze tighter and would place his arm over mine, lacing his fingers through mine.
We finally made it to a larger city and stopped for gas. It had been a few hours and I was happy to be able to stand up for a minute. Before I could even attempt to get off the bike on my own, Misha had jumped off his bike and was lifting me off. He set me down gently, making sure I was steady on my feet before he took his helmet off.
There were a few customers trying not to stare, but very obviously staring at our little group. There was a car full of what looked like college-aged girls. Their jaws dropped when Misha took his helmet off. He hadn’t noticed as he was busy filling the gas tank on his bike. I walked to his side and asked quietly, “are we coming back this way when everything is done?” “Maybe? We haven’t decided. We might leave from Naples. Why?” He looked puzzled.
I discreetly nodded my head in the direction of the car full of girls. “Because you can have an Italian baby in about nine months if you want one.”
He was still looking at me but cut his eyes toward the car full of girls. His wide smile stretching across his face. He ran his hand through his hair. I heard not so quiet exclamations from the group. “You could have all of them, without even trying.” I said as I winked at him, walking back to Adrik.
He had left his helmet on but took it off when he saw me coming toward him. More exclamations from the group of girls. While I was more than willing to be a wingman for Misha, they were lusting after the wrong one when it came to
Adrik. I glanced in their direction to make sure they were watching as I walked to him, wrapping my arms around him, and kissing him. He smiled against my lips, “did you just pu blicly claim me, solnishko?” “Da mn straight I did,” I said with my best devilish grin.
He kissed me once more. “You’re allowed to pub licly claim me anytime you feel the need, my love.”
Sephie
We all made a pit stop, with Adrik waiting outside the restroom for me. As I was washing my hands, one of the girls walked into the bathroom. She spoke to me in Italian, but I shook my head no. “English?” I asked.
She continued in English, “how do you have so many attractive men with you?”
Without even thinking, I looked at her as seriously as I could, “I’m a movie star. They’re my bodyguards. I can’t believe you don’t recognize me.” I smiled to myself as I left her stunned in the bathroom. I was stil smiling when I walked out of the bathroom. Adrik looked at me, smiling back at me, looking especially handsome in his leather jacket.
“Why are you smiling so big, solnishko?” he asked as he wrapped his arm around my waist to help me walk back to the bikes. The more I walked, the easier it got, but I was still grateful for the help. “I’m now a movie star and you guys are my bodyguards.”
“Remind me to get your autograph later.” He kissed the top of my head, chuckling.
Before we left, the car full of girls pulled out ahead of us, turning in the same direction we were going. I was sure we were going to catch up to them quickly. I put my helmet on and Misha was there to pick me up, putting me on the bike once again. I wrapped my arms around Adrik’s waist.
We’re going to need to do this more often when we get home.
It didn’t take very long, and we caught up to the car full of girls. Viktor and Ivan pulled beside them, both waving at the girls. Adrik and Misha doing the same. I looked back and Andrei and Stephen had done the same. The girls were so embarrassed that they could hardly look as we passed.
“They’re going to remember this day for the rest of their lives, gentlemen. You guys just shaped their future love interests,” I laughed as we sped away from them. I heard laughter from everyone in my helmet. “We should be coming into Rome in the next few minutes,” Ivan said. “We’re making better time than I thought we would be. You’re a fuc king beast, princess.”
“I don’t know about all that. I’m literally just sitting here hanging on to the man I love. This doesn’t feel like a lot of effort on my part.”
Adrik reached back and grabbed my leg, pulling me closer to him. I squeezed his waist a little tighter.
Traffic got heavier as we got closer to Rome, forcing us to slow down. We could split the lane with cars, allowing us to jump ahead of slower traffic. I’ve never seen so many cars in the same place. Driving through Rome was chaos, yet everyone seemed to stay out of the way of other cars. I found myself gasping a few times thinking that one of us was going to be hit, but it never happened. Each time I would flinch, Adrik would squeeze my hand or would talk to me, assuring me it would be okay.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.