Unravel by Samantha Romero Read Free Book Online

chin as he tactlessly laughed at my expression. “Madam this is a 19 th century stone building. There is no lift—just stairs.” He then pointed to a long flight of colorfully painted steps with no offer of help, despite the reception area being completely empty.
     
    Clonk by clonk, I dragged my luggage up the psychedelic staircase until I reached the fourth floor and found my room. The room was tiny and, like the rest of the “hotel,” very brightly painted. It made my studio apartment look like a mega mansion. But it was clean, and there were no cracked tiles or roaches in sight—just squeaky wooden floorboards as I wandered across them. I wondered how anyone could possibly sleep in a place like this. It looked like the walls could easily start glowing in the dark. I shuddered at the thought.
     
    Dumping the suitcase on my bed, I decided to go straight back out while there was still some light left in the day. Chucking on my sunglasses to avoid the glare from the décor, I ran downstairs and out onto the Parisian sidewalk. The Seine was not too far from the hotel, and I figured fresh air was just what I needed to clear my mind of all the baby photos and other spam filling it.
     
     

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    I stared into the murky water as I reflected on the day—it sure hadn’t been routine. I could never have imagined when Jess knocked on my door earlier that morning, that by the end of the day I would be in Paris, staring at the Seine.
     
    “Hello darlin’.”
     
    I turned around in utter disbelief. “God, are you everywhere ? Have they cloned you? Seriously—you’re driving me insane. How can you be everywhere all at once?”
     
    His dimples came out to play as his hand ran down his chiseled, sexy jaw. “What are ya doin’ here, Siena?”
     
    I looked around, hoping that a helicopter would fly in, Fear Factor style, dropping a rope ladder above my head to whisk me out of the situation. Sighing, defeated, when I realized one wasn’t about to appear, I answered, “Trying to get away…”
     
    He smirked. “From what?”
     
    I looked into his deep, beautiful eyes. “You know the answer as well as I do.”
     
    He pointed at his chest. “Moi?” Laughing, he asked “Why would you want to get away from me, darlin’?”
     
    I fiddled with the hem of my t-shirt. “Because I find you… tiring. Really, really , tiring. I feel drained, Daniel.”
     
    He chuckled. “You are very hard to please, Siena. You find roses draining? What should I have sent instead—diamonds?”
     
    I closed my eyes in weariness. “How ‘bout nothing? How ‘bout you just leave me alone?”
     
    I heard a crunching sound as his feet moved across the gravel closer to me. “Moved on, have ya?” he whispered in my ear.
     
    I paused, taking a step back, knowing that the conversation was only going to get more cumbersome as time passed “I met a guy, yeah.”
     
    “Is he good?”
     
    I crossed my arms, feeling his eyes burn through me. “Let’s not do this, ok Daniel? Why are you here anyway? Has business dried up in Milan?”
     
    He looked sideways as a bunch of guys came cheering towards him, one of whom had a long-legged, scantily-clad blonde wrapped around his shoulders. They stumbled across the street in their designer suits, clearly three sheets to the wind.
     
    “Oh,” I snorted as the penny dropped. “Of course, how stupid of me. It’s your bachelor party! Even though you’re already married—Daniel Anderson is, of course, having another bachelor party. Stripper included—excellent!”
     
    He shook his head, smiling as he lifted my chin with his fingertips. “It’s for the papers darlin’; it makes it look good—authentic, ya know what I mean?”
     
    I pushed his fingers away from my jaw. “Is anything you do genuine? Or is everything just for the papers? Seriously, you make me sick, Daniel.”
     
    “Sick with love?” He winked at me.
     
    “I’m done!” I hissed, turning on my heels as I walked