The Devoted Gentleman (EDITING)

Chapter 6

Valeria looked down on her bed and found a black box with white bow wrapped around it, it came with a personal handwritten letter. It was from Valentino. The box had been sent to her place by one of his staff, and was ordered to be sent straight to her room. Valeria had not noticed it before, maybe the staff had kept it with them and had only placed it when she was out of the shower. She had personally been invited to attend a charity gala to raise fund for education and scholarships for young Italians. What made the event unique was the people who would participate in it, one would think it would be filled with only Italians who come from old money, the one who had maintained their wealth for generations, however, the list of guests would come from all over Europe, it was not just Italians, but the gala would be attended by guests from France, German, and Spain as well, maybe there would be some from other countries, but she was not really sure.

Her fingers moved to open it, inside, there was a beautiful deep purple evening gown. She let out a sigh as she took it out and displayed it on the bed. It was beautiful, and for some reason, it fitted her measurement perfectly, she was sure it was a custom dress made just for her. She thought it was all, but she was wrong, because there was another box on the bottom of the bigger box, she opened it to find a beautiful cross necklace with a round cut diamond embedded in the middle.

It was unusual for someone like Valentino to send her over gifts like that, he just did not seem the type, but after they had spent some time together, he was starting to show his generous side which on one side, frightened her, on the other, made her blush. Before putting on her dress, she went to do her makeup and hair first, she decided to keep her makeup on the natural, neutral side, her wavy hair was done in a classic up do.

After everything was done, she went to her closet and put the dress on, rushing to the front of the mirror to admire her outfit, she twirled her body around and the fabric flowed along with her. It was a stunning dress, and purple suited her really well.

Later on she sprayed a soft iris and tuberose perfume on her collarbone and the back of her neck which instantly filled the entire room, she closed her eyes to inhale the powdery feminine scent. For a moment, she could forget everything and transferred herself to the magical world of scents. Once she was done, she picked up the necklace and placed it around her neck, it dazzled beautifully against the light. For a strange reason, her heart skipped a beat as she stared at it, the tip of her finger touched the center part and a smile escaped her lips.

"Valentino, you are making things difficult for me" she murmured, well, if she was to be married to Alessio, Valentino would be her brother in law, she thought there was no harm in him giving her gifts. Though she knew inside it was not true, she would be incredibly naïve if she actually believed that. She finished putting on the rest of her accessories and headed outside, just then, Valentino arrived, she walked out the house with a blushing smile on her face as his face was stunned when he saw her that night. He was wearing an al black suit with white shirt underneath, topped with a nice pair of leather boots over his black socks.

"You look beautiful" he complimented as soon as she had entered the car. They were seated side by side in the passenger seat and for a moment, Valeria felt slightly nervous for being so close with Valentino. Though the driver was not really paying attention to them, Valeria still felt this romantic almost sexual tension in the air, every little movement she made inside felt like they could easily be noticed. He seemed to realize her nervousness and chuckled.

"Just relax, I won't bite you" he teased, she knew he was just joking, but the serious side in her almost took seriously. In the meantime, she could smell his scent, as they were stuck in the closed space, he smelt like musk, amber, vetiver, and cedarwood with something spicy, cinnamon? Either way he smelt intoxicating, it almost made her want to cling close to him.