"How do you even know all this information?" Seth asked Leonardo who was busy giving him insider tips on how to taste wine like a pro.

"I grew up on a winery, remember? Some things end up rubbing on you whether you like it or not."

Seth hummed, his nose and palate were trying to pick up some interesting details like whether the wine was oak-aged or not, how old it was and etcetera. "This one has a cedary aroma, light bodied and a spicy finish."

"Not bad for a beginner." Leonardo was proud, Seth was already catching up to the world of wine. "Do you want it? We can have the ones you like set aside for your taking."

"I bet they're super expensive and I already have some bills to sort out." Seth pointed out in all seriousness drawing a snort from Leonardo.

"Who said anything about paying? These are the benefits of having a vintner's son as your—boss." He'd almost said boyfriend.

"Well, in that case," Seth grinned. "I'll take the offer, boss."

They sampled more than twenty wines and Seth picked six specifics which he wanted to take home with him. He had to admit, wine tasting with Leonardo was such an amazing experience.

The following day they had a road trip in an open jeep around the vineyard and Mia was also tagging along with a small basket for her grape collection.

"We harvest grapes using the old fashioned way and that's by hand. For generations many vintners including the Bravucci's believe hand picking grapes produces a superior product in the end..." Eduardo Cortez, an active foreman at the Bravucci winery was busy explaining to Seth how everything was done.

It was harvesting festival and flocks of wine connoisseurs flew in their numbers to Italy with a sole purpose of taking part in this miracle, vising wineries, walking through vineyards, taking part in the harvest of course and pairing the types of wines they discovered with amazing Italian food. All the Bravucci wineries throughout Italy hosted over five hundred sommeliers all over the world. It was quite a big deal for them.

Seth was very interested in how the wine makers measured the sugars, acids and tanning levels in their grapes. He'd loved how everything on the winery was hands on experience.

"These are probably the largest grapes I have ever seen in my whole life." Seth admitted whilst keeping a close eye on Mia who was busy plucking bundles of grapes from a dangling branch.

"Do you want to taste them?" The kid instantly asked Seth all hyped up. She was taking the whole besties deal very seriously.

"Of course," Seth quickly accepted her offer as he looked around for his boss. "Where is your daddy, Sweet pea?"

"He was talking to uncle Gio in the barrels room." She informed him before dashing in another opposite direction. Sighing, Seth jogged after her. He always wondered where she got such vibrant energy. "Mia, you're supposed to stay close to me all the time."

"Come here Seth! Come see a three-wheeled harvester!" Clearly she didn't really care about Seth's frustrations.

"She can be a little rascal, just like her fath—" A familiar voice chuckled humorously only to be cut off mid sentence.

"Shut up Gio." Leonardo drawled behind him.

"I didn't know you were also coming here." Seth's surprised statement was meant for Giovanni who then flashed him a wide smile. "There's no harvesting festival which takes place without me. I'm the man on the ground whenever the Bravucci wineries are concerned."

The explanation made perfect sense to Seth, after all Giovanni was the current CEO of Bravucci Inc. "This winery project you have here is a breath of fresh air."

"Thank you doc." Giovanni was now a hugging distance from Seth. "I guess we do what we've got to do best. Hope you're enjoying yourself?"

"Absolutely."

With a hug and a pat on Seth's shoulder, Giovanni dismissed himself leaving the trio to themselves. The guy was a busy man after all, he had an important deal to close with some French top notch wine exports.

"You look great in those summer shorts." A tantalizing shiver sizzled through Seth's spine at Leonardo's close proximity, he was literally nuzzling his neck. The man knew exactly how to steal his breath away and make him feel all mushy inside.

"You look great too, I mean you always do." Seth was avoiding any form of eye contact at all costs. He knew his face was on fire and there's no way he'd let the man see him flustered like that.

"You're blushing." Leonardo smirked.

"No I'm not!"

"Yes you are and I think it's adorable."

"Will you stop saying things like that?" Seth was even redder.

"Only because we have somewhere else to be."

. . .

According to Seth, Milan was a perfect example of old-world romance.

Just for the irony, four days after the winery tour Leonardo took Seth and Mia at a museum which housed the most famous Italian Renaissance paintings in world history, Leonardo da Vinci's, Mona Lisa and The last supper as well as other incredible masterpieces from artists like Lucio Fontana.

"You and my daddy love each other?" The question took Seth by surprise. "I saw you kissing last night. Nona said grown-ups can kiss if they love each other."

Seth didn't know how to tackle this catastrophic situation. It was a dead end either way so he said, "Yes, I do like your daddy."

Maybe a little bit too much.

Mia was grinning like a cheshire cat. "Does it mean you'll be my daddy too?"

Seth swallowed hard. "I don't know." He murmured. "It's—umm—you see, for adults things are a little bit complicated. But we're still besties, right?"

Mia's brows were arched in mystification, she was probably trying to understand why Seth was mumbling all of a sudden. The guy was virtually sweating buckets.

"Yes we're besties!" Mia squealed getting easily distracted. "Let's buy some friendship bracelets."

Currently, Seth and Mia were strolling in a packed flea market while Leonardo was busy making dinner reservations in one of Milan's cozy restaurants.

"Friendship bracelets?" Seth questioned with a raised brow.

"Let me show you," Mia pulled Seth towards a table decorated with colorful beads. "They make them for you. All you need to do is tell them exactly what you like." She quickly explained.

Mia was super excited about getting a friendship bracelet on her wrist with Seth's name. She insisted to have each other's names so they could look at the bracelets whenever one missed the other. It was the most heart melting thing Seth had ever done with anyone.

"Mia saw us kissing."

A day had passed after the friendship bracelets incident. Leonardo and Seth were spending some quality time without a tail "Mia" on their backs. Leonardo's expression however remained neutral. "And what did she say about that?"

"She asked me if you and I loved each other."

"And?"

"I told her I like you." Seth winced. "You are out to her, right?"

Leonardo was amused. "She understands I'm into men, Seth. I didn't know you liked me."

"You wanted me to tell her I hate you instead?" Seth snorted, leaving a noticeable ghost smile on his lips.

"The last thing you feel towards me is hatred, Seth." Leonardo sounded like that cocky top you'll never be able to take home because he's on high demand and he knows it. "I guess you already know the feeling is mutual. I've always liked you from the beginning." Leonardo said, then he grabbed Seth's hand leading him to some Roman cuisine themed no labels bar. Something about holding hands with Leonardo in public made Seth's heart swell inside his chest.

He felt somewhat—safe, which was silly.

"Wait, you said from the beginning?"

"We are definitely not starting with that conversation."

Seth laughed, "I'm trying to get the information straight here."

"Well good luck with that."

The bar was neither loud nor was it full. It had a warm ambience to it, dimly lit and perfect for subtle flirtatious conversations.

"I still owed you a drink." Leonardo mentioned as they both walked towards the bar counter.

"If I didn't know better I'd think you're just trying to get me drunk." Seth was smirking.

"You do realize I don't even need to get you drunk to have you in my bed?"

"Touché."

"Are you guys ready to order?" The brunette with Slavic features serving as bartender inquired with a megawatt smile on her beautiful face. She had to, it was part of her job description.

"Bourbon on rocks with a twist," Seth immediately replied for both of them. Speaking of taking charge, Leonardo thought it was hot as hell. "Hope you don't mind a little pizzazz on your drink."

Leonardo's brows raised in wonderment. "Did you think ordering for me would piss me off?"

"Kinda." Seth chuckled, taking a lazy sip on his drink which was placed right in front of him. "I'm actually surprised you didn't throw a fit about it."

"Maybe I would've bitched if you ordered a Malibu cocktail or something."

"Really? Because now I have a different theory altogether."

"Humor me please." Leonardo stated in the middle of taking a reasonable swig on his drink.

"You love it when I take charge." Seth whispered. "I know you want me to fuck the living daylights out of your brains but you're scared to admit it."

Leonardo looked like he was going to choke on his drink. "You need either God or a mouth-filter in your life Mickelson."

"Tell me I'm wrong." Seth teased.

Silence.

Then the resident burst into fits of laughter. "You should've seen your face—priceless."

"The next drink is on me." Seth proceeded to say and Leonardo was still eerily quiet, feeling conflicted.

"I'm ready to leave."

"What?" Seth frowned. "But we just got here."

"I know, but we now have something else on schedule."

"What?"

Leonardo groaned. "We are leaving." He was starting to feel agitated all thanks to Seth's big mouth.

"Okay, at least tell me why the sudden rush?"

"Thanks to you, I'm now in the mood."

Seth felt himself stir inside his jeans but he wasn't done taunting the older man. "Hmm someone's now hot and bothered?"

"Shut up wise-ass let's get out of this place before I do something scandalous."

"You're seriously considering to bottom?" Seth's eyes widened a bit.

"Been thinking about it."

"Don't worry, I'll make you feel alive." Seth whispered, his voice dripping with pure seduction.

The attending cussed under his breath. "Can we start moving already?"

"I don't see why we're not."