The charming gentle man.

It was an entire hour later before the luxury car diverted off the high way and on to what seemed to be a secluded road. Sarah wasn't scared at all, after all, this was the same journey she made to get to town in the morning. However she started to wonder why he would choose to live so far away from everything. 'It has to be a rich people' thing she thought to herself. Both Julia and Justino's families' had houses that seemed somewhat secluded. She had the pleasure of traveling a little during this little wedding expedition. Whether it was Sicily, Rome or Madrid, the characteristics of old money families were similar, if not the same. Pre-modern architecture, a not-necessarily-old mansion with elegant (colorless) interior decoration, a huge yard which sometimes includes a garden and no technology in sight—no remote control doors or sliding gates. Oh, and a fuck load of security. Yeah, because everyone is trying to murder you when you are rich.

However impressive those had seemed before, they were nothing but mediocre now, after seeing the next levels of riches as per Aldo Accardi. She was so fascinated by this man and everything around him. You could tell that his ancestors where influential. The influence he held seemed to be hereditary, accumulated over centuries, slowly cured to produce an outstanding man whose every move exudes elegance, superiority and class. His aura was powerful and oppressing, making people stutter in fear, Sarah was not an exception. Even though she could tell that he was being extra cautious and he sounded extremely gentle, she could always sense that he was the kind to flip the world upside down when he lost it. Somehow that was greatly attractive to her and she just couldn't pull away.

The car continued its course down the road until the lights from the Accardi mansion came to sight. "We're close" she muttered to herself. Upon hearing her comment, Aldo who had not lifted his head from the tablet screen for a while, finally looked at her. "You are right."

Realizing he heard her, she glanced at him, using this opportunity to end the grave yard silence in the car. "You must be really busy, you even work on your way home."

"Right, that's rude, isn't it? I'll stop now." He said as he switched the iPad off and placed it in a pocket on the seat. He held back the smirk that was threatening to break through his lips. His heart rejoicing and commending his own acting. Working? She thought he was working? How cute! Guess that's one way to look at it. He was working… on ….her schedule. Going over all the pictures his 'agent' sent. Picture of her, today, working. If she felt the same way about watching him work as he did about watching work, then, a win is a win.

"Oh not at all. I understand, work first." She replied quickly trying to be considerate.

"My father would murder me if said something like that while he was alive. Even now I'm worried he might scold me in my sleep for this."

"Really?"

"Really. He would drop everything he was doing and give my mother his full attention. He used to say, 'il lavoro può aspettare, ma il mio amante no' which translates to… 'Work can wait, but my lover cant'" he said charmingly, holding her gaze the whole time he spoke.

Realizing that he was flirting with her, she chose the oblivious route and pretended she didn't understand the ambiguousness of his response.

"Your father must have been a very soulful man" she said with a chuckle. A beautiful smile laced her face as her eyes broke contact and she slowly taped on her hair which was now straightened and styled to perfection, revealing five well-manicured finger nails.

Her reply made him laugh light heartedly. "Soulful she says…. More like 'spirited'. My grandfather was like that too. You could say that I come from a long line of extremely amorous men. Work has never been first in my family."

It seemed this long ass ride to Aldo's house, was shortened by the smooth conversations they had in the car. Soon enough they had arrived the main gate. Just walking around this place was good enough exercise. Sarah had never had trouble walking but she could not help wondering what an inconvenience it would be if a young child were to get lost here. Guess it was a good thing he didn't have kids. Or did he? She didn't know him like that. As these matters churned inside her head, Sarah's thoughts quickly went from a slight ambivalence towards the house to a strong curiosity about the owner's personal life.

Sarah had always been a nosy person. As she grew older she learnt to hide her curiosity at certain times and slowly look for ways to find answers. "If I ask him about his relationship status, will he think that I'm too obvious?" she thought to herself.

"Would you like to go straight to the table?" Aldo asked bring her back from wonderland. Only now did she realize that the car had stop moving. Seeing that she didn't know how to respond, his expression softened and what seemed to be a smile broke out, not from his lips though; from his eyes. Yes he was smiling with his eyes and it was charming. He unclasped her seat belt, got out and opened the door for her. What a gentle man!

"We could have someone lead you to your room first if you'd like that?" he continued the initial thought now that they were both outside.

Looking up at the stairs marble before her, leading into the ginormous house, she suddenly remembered the events from this morning and replied. "The same one from yesterday? No thank you, sir. I almost died in that hallway. Don't think I can do that again on an empty stomach"

Following her answer he let out a low, light hearted chuckle. The lady's got jokes, huh? He gently placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her to face him and said "you will like this one, I promise." placing his hand on her small back he lead her up the stairs, into the entrance hall.