The Devil of DiRisio (15 page)

“Oh, not you too.”

“What do you mean?”

“Everyone thinks I’m crazy for not marrying him.  I’m only seventeen; what’s the rush?”

“There’s no rush.  Will just really loves you and he wants a sense of permanence.  He wants to feel secure.”

“How do you know?”

“He told me.  He wanted me to talk to you.  He thinks you keep saying no because of me.  He thinks you need my approval or something.”
         “That’s ridiculous.”

“I know.  Men are stupid sometimes.  But look, sometimes you just have to give them what they want.  And you need to snap him up before that singing boob job does.”

“What?”

“Vanessa Venezuela?”

“Veronica
Valerio
,” I corrected her.

“Whatever. Look, just get engaged and don’t set a date.  Use your feminine wiles to push it further and further back.” Sasha gyrated suggestively.

“You mean sex?”  She nodded as she took a sip of orange juice.  “We don’t have sex.” Sasha did a classic spit take.  I would have thought it was hilarious except that she spit a mouthful of orange juice all over everything in sight, including several newspapers and me.

“Excuse me?” she asked in utter shock as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

“We haven’t had sex,” I stated simply as I wiped juice droplets off my face.

“You sleep in the same bed and you don’t have sex?”  Sasha had now moved from shock to confusion.  She really didn’t understand how something like that was possible. I nodded.
“Never?”

“Never.
  Will wants to wait until we’re married.”

“What do
you
want?” she asked.

I shrugged
.“
It’s frustrating sometimes, but I can wait.  At least I know he doesn’t just want my body.”  Sasha stared at me with her mouth open.  She couldn’t believe it. 

“Well, no wonder he wants to get married so badly.  Marry him, Sonya.  Marry him now!  This guy is special. I mean you do love him, right?  There’s no one else, right?”

“Of course, I love him.”

“But there’s someone else?  Is it that Damian character?”

“No!” I yelled.

 Sasha looked at me skeptically.

 “There is nothing going on between us,” I added.  “He’s just a dance partner.”

“I saw you last night.  I’ve never seen you dance like that.”

“So?”

 Sasha sighed and said, “Well, if there’s no one else, and you love him, just accept his proposal.”

  It sounded so simple.  I loved Will.  So, why didn’t I just marry Will?  It was simple.  So, why didn’t I just do it?

After that amazing performance with Damian Karl, I thought I was safe. I thought there was no way I could get kicked out of the Academy after the kind of reviews I had just brought it. Unfortunately, I was wrong. Monday morning I was summoned for a meeting with the Enrollment Committee. I knew it wasn’t good. Once you were enrolled in the Academy, the Enrollment Committee all but forgot about you until graduation unless there was some sort of problem. Since I wasn’t graduating anytime soon, that meant there had to be a problem. And oh, was it big.

“I suppose you know why you’re here,” Signore
Atanasio
the owner of the Academy said. He sat in between Alejandro and Madame Mara in the business office of the school.

After several attempts to find my voice, I finally squeaked out a, “No.”

“So you haven’t had any problems with your grades?
Chemistry in particular.”

That’s when it all came back to me.
The Chemistry test.
Cynthia must have
ratted
me out. She was probably so jealous of my performance that she couldn’t wait to get me expelled.

“About Chemistry, I worked so hard on that test. I really did. I didn’t plan –.” I stopped talking when I noticed Alejandro and Madame Mara exchange glances. I thought I was done for. There was no way they were going to believe me. I couldn’t believe this was happening to me … again.  How was it possible for me to get expelled for cheating from two schools in one year? And both times it wasn’t my fault.

“Cynthia claims it wasn’t you who took that Chemistry test,” Signore
Atanasio
continued. I just stared at my feet. I still had my ballet slippers on. I hadn’t even bothered to change when the secretary pulled me out of class.

“But we know she’s lying,” Madame Mara said.

My head shot up. I stared at her with wide eyes. “Excuse me, what?”

“I said it in English didn’t
I
?” She looked at Signore
Atanasio
. “Is my English that bad?”

“No, I understood you. I was … I just wanted to know how you know she’s lying.

“Damian explained everything. He says there’s been an interesting love triangle going on with you three and that when he chose you over her, she vowed to get revenge.”

“Damian said that?”

She nodded. “It’s certainly understandable. After that performance with him the other night, I assure you many of the girls in the company and the Academy are going to be jealous of you.”

“Sonya, we just wanted to assure you that your position with the Academy is safe,” Signore
Atanasio
said. “And if you keep dancing the way you did on Saturday, it will be for a long time to come.”

I sat there in stunned silence for what felt like ten minutes. Was this really happening? Had something actually worked out in my favor?

Finally, Alejandro tired of my staring said, well, barked, “We are through. You can go!” Was that man ever in a good mood?

Still shocked, I stood to leave. But I couldn’t. Something just didn’t feel right. I still felt like I was lying.

“May I have a small request?” I said before leaving the room.

Signore
Atanasio
looked up from his desk where he was putting away my file. “Yes?”

“Um, I’d like to take that Chemistry test … again if I may.”

“Whatever for?”
Madame Mara asked.

That was a good question. How was I ever going to explain it without admitting that I didn’t really take the first one? “Well, as you can see in my file, I’ve been wrongly accused of cheating in the past. I would just like to dispel any residual doubt about my integrity. Please.”

“It is completely unnecessary, but if it is all right with your professor, we see no reason why not.”

I was overjoyed as I left the business office. It didn’t even bother me that I would have to take that dreaded Chemistry test. I would force Sasha to tutor me round the clock until I could spout the periodic table backwards from memory. Okay, that probably wouldn’t be necessary, but the point was, I wasn’t afraid of a little extreme studying. And Sasha owed me for what she had put me through.

But as I stood next to Pierre in
pas de
deux
class, my elation about avoiding a cheating scandal suddenly deflated. Signore
Atanasio
stated that as long as I kept up the same caliber of dancing, my position was secure. There was no way I could keep up that level of dancing with Pierre. I was doomed unless I had Damian Karl by my side.  I couldn’t dance that way with anyone else.  But his tenure at
DiRisio
was up.  He had also finished the work he was doing with Veronica
Valerio
.  There was nothing keeping him in Italy.  He had a successful career that took him all over the world.  Why would he want to stay here and help boost my career?

I agonized over the predicament for the rest of the day
..
Anna Marie thought I was giving Damian too much credit.  She said I was good without him and I didn’t need him.  I knew I was
good
without him, but with him I was
spectacular
.  And that’s what I wanted.  I decided I had to ask him, or beg him, to stay.  I knew Will would be furious with me, but what else could I do?  This was my future. I also needed to thank him for what he did with the Cynthia situation. I wondered if he knew the truth or if he actually thought she was jealous of me.

Even as I stood outside his hotel room door I knew it was a bad idea, but I really couldn’t think of another way.  What was I getting myself into?   This man was so strange and unpredictable I didn’t know how to play it.  Should I just come right out and ask him to be my partner for at least another four months until I was invited to the company or should I use some sort of reverse psychology?  I could tell him that he was just an okay ballet dancer and that I was glad he was leaving so I could find someone even better.  Well, that would sound stupid.  He would know I was lying.  I was a horrible liar.

Damian answered his door practically naked.   I gasped at his incredible physique. With my mouth agape, my eyes traced the outline of each and every lusciously firm contour of his body from his head to the virtually nonexistent tight little dance shorts that accentuated his manhood.  My eyes bulged when I got to that part.  It was like I was transfixed.  I couldn’t turn away.  All I could do was shut my eyes.  Then without saying a word, I spun around and headed to the elevator. 

My eyes were still closed when I walked into a wall and fell flat on my butt.  Damian started laughing.  He was really enjoying my embarrassment.   He started to approach me to help me up, but just then the elevator opened and I literally crawled into it.  The two people already in the elevator stared at me like the complete moron I was, but I didn’t care.  I had to get away from him.  There was no way I could go into his hotel room alone with him looking so … so … wow.  I didn’t know what I would do.

Fortunately, I had convinced Sasha to come with me and she was waiting downstairs in the lobby.

“That was quick,” she said when I ran to her.  “What did he say?”

“Naked
… ”
I panted, out of breath.

“He wanted you to be naked?”  I shook my head.  “He was naked?”  I nodded.  “He came to the door naked?”

“Biker shorts
… ”

“What did you do?”

“I closed my eyes … and walked into the wall.”

“So, you didn’t ask him?”

“I got nervous.”

“Come on,” she said grabbing my hand and leading me back to the elevator.  I dreaded facing him again.  I knew he thought I was a complete idiot.  Why did the sight of his body do that to me?

“Damn, I missed the show,” Sasha said flirtatiously when Damian opened the door fully dressed.

“I’m always up for an encore,” he said as he started to unbutton his shirt. I covered my eyes.

“Relax, he’s kidding,” Sasha said as she pulled my hand away from my eyes.

“So, how can I help you two beautiful ladies?” he said after we stepped inside. Damian sat down on the couch, put his feet up and clasped his hands behind his head.   How could he look so calm and collected?  Wasn’t he the least bit embarrassed that I had seen him practically nude? What was it with European men and nudity?

“My sister is here for two reasons,” Sasha began as I stood there mute. “First of all, she would like to thank you for handling the Cynthia situation.”

Damian looked at me and said in Italian, “No problem. I knew it wasn’t your fault. Just one look at your sister and I knew she was trouble.” He winked at Sasha.

“What did he say?” she asked me.

“Um, he, um.
He said it was no problem.”

“That’s it? Sure sounded like more.” She shrugged and continued. “And she wants you to stay in Rome and dance with her. She realizes what an extraordinary dancer you are and thinks you can help her get accepted into the
DiRisio
Company.”  Damian stared at me with his intense eyes.  Once again, I felt like he was burning my clothes off.

“I’m sorry, I can’t help you,” he said coldly and in English.  “I have obligations elsewhere.  I have nothing keeping me here.”

“But it would just be for a few months,” I said speaking up
..
  “Then you can go off and do whatever you want.”

“What I want to do
is
you
,” he stated in Italian.

“What did he say?”  Sasha asked again.  I didn’t have time to answer because Damian kept going.

“I want you to admit you want me.  Just say it one time.  Just tell me that I excite you in ways your boyfriend can’t. Then let me make love to you.” My mouth flew open in astonishment.  What an arrogant bastard, I thought.

“What is he saying?”  Sasha was growing impatient.  I was afraid she would be able to pick up on some of what he was saying because she had taken Spanish in school, but, thankfully, I think the full import of his words eluded her.

“He said … he … he said that … um
… ”