Devil's Due [h.s.]

Chapter 66

**THIS IS A TRIPLE UPDATE - 66, 67 AND 68! ***

Chapter 66

This newfound affinity of Harry's to be anywhere and everywhere that I was all the time was my ultimate, progressive undoing toward the decision of agreeing to go back to Italy with him. The country that had tied us closer together during our first outing there; the country home to the language that he frequently loved to get under my skin with.

Maybe it'd been rash to tell him that I would so quickly. The word 'yes' tumbling from my lips only moments after he'd asked the question, any rational thoughts being tabled in the back of my mind for a later time. I knew it was probably for a job, probably for reasons I didn't ever even want to find out, but I didn't really care. I'd come to realize that I enjoyed spending time with him far too much to overthink the alternative – the reason why we were together most of those instances.

So now, a week later, in place of my usual alarm that would normally wake me up for a grueling day of dealing with clients at the studio nitpicking over every little bit of paint I'd thrown onto a canvas, I was being woken up by the warmth of another body. A familiar warmth that sent my heart near-catapulting straight through my ribs as arms wrapped around my waist from behind.

I hadn't told Harry about my run-in with the man from the bank. In fact, I'd forgotten it almost the moment that we'd stepped into the restaurant, considering my mind was much too pre-occupied worrying about whether or not the numbers I was presenting to Derek were going to be enough to keep the studio afloat. I'd lied earlier when I'd told Harry that our figures were up. If anything, they'd actually decreased within the past few months. Still, Derek had merely glanced them over a few times before sliding the portfolio to the corner of our table with a small smile, to which he proceeded to redirect the conversation moments later toward his daughter, whom he grilled for over an hour about ways she could start helping out to pick up the slack around the studio.

Needless to say, as much as it pained me to see Olivia so annoyedly reluctant to abide by her father's wishes, her sudden availability to work at the studio a few days a week had come at a perfect time. Her first actual scheduled shift happened to be today, the Friday that Harry and I were taking off.

He'd informed me after the fact, at some point between last week and now, that it was in fact for business. He'd also mentioned something about how originally Zayn was supposed to tag along but that there was enough security wherever we were headed to allow him to go on his own to complete whatever needed to be done. Truthfully, I'd only been half-listening and I was pretty sure he was only half in the mood to tell me, considering this explanation had arisen while the two of us were tucked away on his couch watching New Girl, his words coming second in importance to his mouth and hands which roamed everywhere over my skin.

Very much like they were now, actually.

Warm, calloused palms had slipped beneath my shirt and were smoothing over my waist as I shifted around to face Harry, finally able to meet his eye. A lazy grin had settled on his lips, one I was all too happy to see this morning.

"Hi," I mumbled with a smile. "How are you feeling?"

We'd been flying for a little over a few hours now, the whole arrival and boarding onto the jet being something of a blur to me. We'd woken up so fucking early, as per Harry's request, and I could barely keep my eyes open on the drive to the tarmac, and I'd found myself wishing for only a split-second that we forgo the whole trip to spend the whole weekend in bed.

That thought though was quickly squashed once Harry had loaded all of our things in and ushered me up the steps, toward the bedroom in the back, where the two of us passed out alongside one another almost instantly – a tangled mess of limbs and snores that hadn't even made it beneath the covers. Falling asleep beside him, feeling the gentle movement of the plane beneath us and knowing just him and I were heading off on this trip together had me very grateful I'd agreed, even if it had been on a whim.