Chapter Text
Chapter 1
Eighteen year old Shane Hollander was in awe as he admired the beautiful, historical villa in Tuscany. He and his father, David had landed that day in this part of Central Italy via Rome from Los Angeles, California and was jet-lagged to his bones even if they flew first class. He didn’t even know what time it was. But the beauty of the villa made him forget his exhaustion.
Shane and David were dropped off by the airport taxi in front of the villa. They passed by a long driveway surrounded by luscious trees, colorful flowers and an elegant looking fountain. Both Shane and his father stretched their long frames while the taxi driver brought down their luggages. They walked to the main door with intricate design and rang the bell.
Shane was yawning when the door was opened by a petite European looking woman and a young boy who stood beside her.
“How can I help you?” the woman said in Russian.
“Privet,” Shane’s father replied. “I’m sorry, I don’t know much in Russian, do you speak English?”
“Da, I mean yes,” she replied.
“Great!” David was relieved and smiled brightly. Were they their hosts? The woman seemed to be surprised at David’s warm smile. “My name is David Hollander, and this is my son, Shane,” he said while pulling Shane closer to his side. “We came here to avail of the gift voucher given to me and my family for free. We will be staying here for a month.”
“I’m sorry, what?” the woman asked incredulously. “Who gave you the gift voucher?”
“Uhm, my wife received it,” Shane watched his father slowly panicking as he pulled out his phone from the back pocket of his pants. “I only have a soft copy of the confirmed reservation. Here,” David said, showing the confirmation from his phone. “My wife is still on her flight together with my daughters. She was the one who confirmed it. I am not sure who she confirmed it with but I can message her right now.”
The woman and the young man both looked at David’s phone in disbelief. True enough, the confirmation was valid. They just didn’t know who gave out the voucher and who confirmed the Hollanders could stay there for a month.
Shane couldn’t help but yawn again as the exchange was ongoing. He was starting to fall asleep on his feet.
“I’m sorry, but there must be a confusion,” the woman said.
“What?” David and Shane both said.
“Fuck,” Shane whispered. He didn’t think he could manage to stay awake in the next five minutes.
“Uhm, let me just call my wife. I’m sure she has wifi access in her flight,” David muttered, scrambling for his phone.
“Why don’t you come in?” the woman said finally. “Your son looks like he is dead on his feet,” she said while looking at Shane.
“You okay, buddy?” David asked with concern to his son.
“Yeah, I’m okay, Dad. Just really tired.”
“Ilyusha, why don’t you help Mr David and Mr Shane with their belongings and bring them to the living room so we can sort this out.” The young man nodded and slowly stepped towards David and Shane.
When Shane saw the young man, his heart skipped a beat and he became very awake. Their young host looked like a Greek god with golden curls, green eyes, and well chiseled jaw. His jaw is jawing, Shane thought. The young man was a few inches taller than Shane, maybe about 6’3. He had broad shoulders and the tiniest waist and when he flexed his arms to help with their luggages, Shane almost drooled — well, he did actually, he just wiped it quickly from his mouth. When their host, his name was Ilyusha, right? turned his back and led them to their living room, Shane saw how his ass was so round and ample from all sides, he felt like he had died and gone to heaven.
“Shane,” his father whispered to him as he trailed behind his son. “You’re drooling,” he teased.
“Daddddd,” Shane whispered back. “I’m not!”
“Well, you are as red as a tomato and your freckles are so bright. Like what you see?” David smiled with glee.
“Oh my god, Father, stop it!” Shane sighed dramatically which made David laugh harder.
When they got to the living room, both David and Shane gasped in pure amazement because the living had arcs as windows and were overlooking the sea. They could clearly hear the waves crashing and they could smell the fresh sea breeze.
“Wow, Dad, look, this is amazing!” Shane said as he excitedly went to one of the windows. “Everyone would love it here! Ophelia would make hundreds of songs here and she would play her cello by the sea, Alice would practice the scripts she had received, Bella would paint this view and Iris would write so much smut here!” he happily explained. Ophelia, Alice, Bella and Iris were all his older sisters.
“And what would you do while your sisters are busy, hmm?” his father teased.
“Why pester them, of course!” Shane said matter of factly.
“Uhm, how many will you be, Mr. David?” Both Shane and his father turned towards their female host who had followed them in the living room.
“Seven,” David replied. “Me and my wife, four daughters and my son who is my youngest.”
“You have four daughters?” she asked in complete surprise.
“Yes!” David said fondly. “They are with my wife now. We don’t take the same flights, for security purposes. Plus it gives me and my son quality time with each other.”
“We are also four sisters in the family. I am the eldest and Ilyusha is our youngest,” their host said.
“I’m sorry, I don’t think I got your names,” David said politely.
“My name is Marta Rozanova. This is Ilyusha.”
“Ilya,” her brother clarified. His low baritone voice almost sent Shane into a spiral. He is perfect, Shane thought.
Just then, another woman came in carrying a tray with iced lemonade and croissants for David and Shane. Must be one of the sisters, Shane thought. She looked like a goddess too, like her brother, Ilya.
“This is my youngest sister, Svetlana,” Marta explained as Svetlana put down the tray on the coffee table. They sat down and Shane reached out to the croissants immediately and gobbled one up. He was starving and was a growing boy, you know. When the buttery croissant melted in his mouth, Shane let out a groan.
“Shane, you hungry?” his father asked him, laughing, but when he took a bite of his own croissant, he also let out a groan.
“Wow this is so good,” Shane exclaimed. “Where did you buy it? We can ask Mom to buy it on their way here!”
“Ilya made it,” Svetlana replied stoically.
Wait, what? This Greek god here can also bake? You are a total babe! Take me, I’m yours! Shane thought as he finished up his croissant.
All three Rozanovs were standing, looking at the Hollanders happily finishing their pastry and lemonade.
Shane was scraping up the crumbs from his sweatpants, he didn’t want anything to go to waste and he was still starving.
“I’ll get you more,” Svetlana said and left.
“So Mr. David,” Marta started.
“David. Please call me David.”
“David. We have a situation. Me and my siblings stay here for a month during this time of the year. Just us. We send home the villa’s caretakers, our cook and helpers to enjoy the summer. We also don’t rent our villa on these dates.”
“Oh,” David said crestfallen. “But our confirmation had these dates.”
“I know and I apologize for that,” Marta explained kindly.
“Maybe we should look for another place to stay,” David said as he looked at his phone. “Shane, buddy, can you help me look for other places to stay?”
“Okay,” Shane was sad he wouldn’t be able to spend more time with his Ilya. He got his phone from his pocket while yawning again. He tried to turn on the data on his phone but his eyes were watery.
“When are your wife and daughters arriving?” Marta asked. Svetlana had also returned carrying a larger tray with more croissants.
“Tomorrow morning,” David replied. “That should give us time to look for another accommodation, right, Shane?”
Shane just shrugged his shoulders and got another croissant. With his hunger and jet lag, he didn’t remember which part of Italy they were in.
“Why don’t you stay here for the night, you look really exhausted. We will help you find another accommodation tomorrow,” Marta suggested.
“Oh we don’t want to be in your way,” David said unconvincingly. He was also gobbling up the croissant and he was tired, too.
“You won’t,” Marta said. “We have 20 rooms here in the villa. We have more than enough for everyone.”
“My son and I can just stay in one room. We will tidy up on our own,” David said.
“It’s no problem, Mr… David. There was also a mistake on our part,” Marta said. “Sveta, Ilyusha, please bring David and Shane to their rooms. They can use the west side.”
The two siblings nodded at their oldest sister. Sveta grabbed David’s luggage while Ilya grabbed Shane’s. All of the Hollanders’ luggages had name tags on them lovingly made by their mother, Yuna.
“We can carry our own bags,” David said but Sveta and Ilya just ignored them and proceeded to the west side of the villa.
Gee, they are quite snobbish, Shane thought, which made him like Ilya even more. He and his father got up and followed the Rozanovs.
“This would be your room, Mr David,” Svetlana said softly as she stopped at a bedroom door.
“Thank you, Svetlana. Please call me David, too.” Turning to his son, he added, “Shane?”
“His room will be farther down,” Svetlana replied. “Mr. David, towels are in the en suite bathroom. Please join us for breakfast tomorrow at our dining area. Just follow the noise,” Svetlana tried to sound welcoming but sounded flat.
“Will do. I’ll see you tomorrow, Shane. Rest up, we have a busy day tomorrow,” David said, winking at his son before he entered his room.
Shane rolled his eyes as he followed Ilya towards his room. Svetlana had left them so it was just them. Before Shane could get excited, he was struck in awe as Ilya opened his bedroom door.
His bedroom looked heavenly with its bricked walls intertwined with arches. Ilya went inside the room and opened the arched door at the opposite end which led to a stone walled balcony overlooking the garden. He wanted to explore more but the bed was so inviting. Without saying a word, he removed his hoodie and plonked down on the bed. He was out in a light.
“Bathroom is over here,” Ilya said, turning to their guest. His eyebrows raised as he saw Shane face down on the bed, naked from the waist up, with his feet dangling on the bed. He gulped as he noticed freckles also dotted his guest’s back. That was the first thing Ilya had noticed about him, while his sister, Marta, was talking to Shane’s father — the freckles on his cheeks which looked so adorable. Even from afar, Ilya saw Shane’s soft brown eyes which were framed by long lashes and the softest, plumpiest lips.
My Shane. The thought crossed Ilya’s mind as he walked towards the sleeping man who was snoring softly. Earlier, Ilya had wanted to swallow his moans while Shane ate the croissants he’d baked and he wanted to lick off the crumbs from his lips. He even wanted to…
Stop, Ilya told himself. No use going there. Ilya sighed softly as he knelt down beside Shane’s feet, untied his New Balance and removed them. He wasn’t sure if Shane sleeps with his socks on. That is something I would love to know. He left them on but he couldn’t help but slightly squeeze Shane’s foot. He wanted to worship Shane’s feet now that he knelt before him.
Stop, Ilya told himself again. He got up and gently moved Shane’s legs on the bed. He heard a grunt but Shane still remained fast asleep. He covered Shane’s naked back with a blanket and slowly walked out of the room.
It would be a pity that Shane and his family won’t be able to stay with them. There was no way his sister, Marta, would allow that. This time of the year was sacred for him and his sisters. But Ilya wished deep in his heart that he would be able to spend more time with the freckled, brown-eyed boy.
The next morning, Shane woke up with his stomach grumbling. He sat up and looked around trying to remember where he was. Tuscany, he remembered. He had no idea what time it was and oh, his mother and sisters must be here!
He got up and put on his shoes. He didn’t remember removing them last night. Then he was surprised that his iPhone was charged on the bed side table. Now wait a minute… His thoughts were cut off when he heard female voices carried by the wind. My sisters are here! he thought. I can pester them again!
He grabbed his iPhone and hoodie, left his room and hurriedly followed the voices while he was putting on his sweater. The voices seemed to be coming from the dining room which was adjacent to the kitchen, he guessed, and when he got there, he was pleasantly surprised to find all Rozanovs sitting up stiffly on one side of the table while his parents looked relaxed on the other end.
“Hello, good morning,” he said politely to the Rozanovs. All the Rozanovas half-smiled at him while Ilya just stared at him. Shane then went up to his Mom and hugged her from behind her chair.
“Mom,” he said, squeezing his mother tight.
“Hello, sweetheart,” his mother, Yuna, said while giving his son a quick kiss on his freckled cheek. “It’s afternoon now actually.”
“What? How long have you been here?”
“A couple of hours now. Your Dad picked us up at the airport.”
“Why didn’t you wake me up?” Shane asked, turning to his father.
“You were fast asleep, son. I just wanted you to rest and recover,” his father said.
“But who helped you with all of their luggages? They brought a hundred.”
“It’s not a hundred!” his mother said smugly.
“Ilya,” his father said. “He drove me to the airport and we had to rent two more airport taxis for their hundred luggages.”
“It’s not a hundred!” his mother exclaimed again.
“Did you get to sleep, Dad?” Shane asked his father, ignoring his mother’s comment.
“Hmm, just enough. I can rest later.” Shane turned to Ilya and silently mouthed a “thank you” and got a nod in return.
“Are we going to look for another accommodation to transfer to?”
“No, we don’t have to, son. We will stay here with the Rozanovs for a month. We were talking about it while you were asleep. The confusion had already been settled.”
“I see,” Shane said. Oh boy, a month with this Greek god! Shane looked up at Marta Rozanova and found her nodding in agreement. Just then he heard footsteps behind him.
Iris.
“Hey sleepyhead!” his sister who was closest to his age said. “You’re finally awake!” Iris quipped while tossing Shane’s hair.
“Iris,” Shane said fondly while grabbing his sister for a huge hug.
“Come out to the beach. Everyone is there!” Iris grabbed Shane’s hand and dragged him outside.
“Wait, I haven’t eaten yet! I’m starving!” Shane whined.
“There’s food on the beach side. Let’s go!” Shane had no choice but to follow his sister.
“Thank you for letting us stay,” David said to the Rozanovs as soon as his children had left. “My children are quite a handful,” he added while taking his wife’s hand on his own.
“It’s no problem, Mr David. My siblings and I are happy you are here with us.” There was no way Marta was going to make the Hollanders leave when she found out that Yuna confirmed their booking with Irina Sheremeteva, their mother’s maiden name. Their mother, who took her own life when Ilya was 12 years old, almost 6 years ago, had somehow made the booking for the Hollanders to stay with them at this time of the year on her death anniversary. Ilya had found her and it took a toll on him. Marta is not very religious but she knew deep in her heart that their mother wanted her family to stay with the Hollanders.