He laughed and a moment later she grinned. “Sorry. That was the lamest conversation opener ever.”
“Nope. Nope. Pumpkin cupcakes. Way early for Halloween though.”
“Test run.”
“Ah, so I’m your guinea pig?” He picked one up and peeled the paper back.
“Yep. I was going to say it’s because of your fine palette, but really it’s because you’ll eat anything.” She grinned at him, relaxing. Orlando nodded.
“Pretty much.” He bit into the cake and chewed. “It’s good.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Your face is saying something else entirely.”
Orlando shrugged and grinned, putting the other half of the cake down. “You got me. Sorry, sweetheart, they’re not great.”
She grinned. “Yeah, that’s what Norah and I thought.”
Orlando’s eyes widened. “Ah, so, you just thought you’d have a little fun with me, then?”
“Yep.” She was laughing at him now, looking like his Zulika rather than the stressed-out wraith of the last few days. “Why waste some perfectly good, or as the case may be, not so good cupcakes?”
“Ha ha ha.” But he grinned. “Seriously, you okay?”
She nodded. “Yeah. Getting there. You?”
“Same. Look—”
“Don’t say anything. Not yet. Let’s just enjoy …” She gestured around the both of them.
“You got it.”
She gave him a grateful smile. “So, not pumpkin. I need ideas for Halloween food. We’re going to have a kid’s party here. Fred’s idea. Maybe Ferma could come?”
He smiled at her. “I think I can guarantee she will.”
“Good.” Zulika smiled, her body relaxing. “So, any ideas?”
Orlando stroked his chin, pretending to ponder. “Ghosts on Toast. Ghost Toast. It’s a winner.”
She nodded, pretending to consider it seriously. “Just so happens, they’ve got a special on ghosts at the market.”
Orlando clicked his tongue and gave her the finger pistols. She grinned and refilled his cup. “You are so silly.”
He chuckled. “Always happy to help, ma’am.” He looked around. “Quiet in here today.”
Zulika nodded. “It’s hot outside. Everyone is at the beach.”
Orlando smiled at her. “Zul, we can’t ignore what happened between us. For what it’s worth …I don’t regret the act. I certainly don’t regret it was with you. I just got …”
“Freaked out.” He nodded and she smiled. “Me too. Lando …would it make you feel better if I said it was pretty momentous for me too? Lando …it was my first time.”
For a second he thought he hadn’t heard her right. “Excuse me?”
Zulika flushed red, but she gave a soft laugh. “That’s usually the reaction. I was a virgin, Lando.”
Orlando realized he was gaping at her, then he shut his mouth. “Oh, Zul …”
“It’s okay. I’m glad I waited. I’m glad, even with the circumstances, that it was you.”
Orlando hesitated for a moment, then got up and came around the counter. He pulled her into his arms and hugged her. “I don’t know what to say.”
She leaned into him, her face buried in his chest. “Don’t say anything. Let’s just stay like this for a moment.”
In the back room, Norah scribbled a note telling Zulika she was going out to lunch with Giacomo, then she skipped out. Giacomo was just pulling the car up to the curb and smiling. She got in and kissed him hello.
“You taste so good,” she murmured against his lips,,and he laughed.
“Are you hungry, mio caro?”
She grinned, nuzzling his neck. “Not for food, no.”
“Insatiable.”
“You betcha. Take me somewhere and fuck me, Conti.”
Giacomo grinned as he started the car. “You’re horny today, il mio amore?”
“For you, every day.” She took his hand and slid it under her dress, laughing as his eyebrows shot up when he encountered bare flesh.
“Jesus, Norah …” He was grinning widely as he began to caress her clit. She grinned and put her hand over his cock.
“Take me to Baker Beach …you know where …”
She was pretty sure they got there in record time, but still, by the time he parked the car, they were both so worked up that he fucked her there in the back seat of his car, going down on her first hungrily, then slamming his cock so deep into her that she screamed with pleasure.
“God, you make me so hot, Bella,” he growled as he pushed her legs further apart.
They almost got caught twice, reducing them to giggles, but after two orgasms, Norah sighed happily. “I love you, Giacomo Conti. You make we want to do things I’ve never even considered.”
He started the car, his dark curls wild and his face flushed, but he grinned. “Just think of all the things we haven’t done yet. I’m thinking of taking you back to my island again—and maybe bringing some new stuff we could have fun with. You could be naked all day, every day. That’s my dream.”
She stroked the hair over his ear as he drove her to a small trattoria for something to eat. “And so could you. That’s my dream. Oh, that reminds me.” She delved into her purse and retrieved the panties she had slipped off earlier. “I can’t go commando while we eat.”
He was still laughing when they walked hand-in-hand into the restaurant.
Orlando got up reluctantly, pondering whether to call and get the sitter to go pick Ferma up from school. He had been in the Anthology all day now, talking to Zulika and Norah, helping out, and laughing and joking with the customers. Zulika touched his arm. “You okay?”
“Yep. Just thinking about Ferma.”
Norah grinned. “Why don’t you two go pick her up?” She winked at Zulika and disappeared into the back.
Orlando nodded, looking at Zulika. “Walk with me?”
She smiled up at him. “Aren’t you tired? We have been working you hard all day.”
“It was fun.”
She laughed. “Try doing it all day, every day.”
“Don’t give me that. You love it.”
She nodded. “Yeah, I do.” She took the pumpkin cupcakes, untouched since that morning, and dumped them in the trash. “Funny we didn’t sell any more of these. It’s almost as if someone were telling the customers how bad they were.” She stuck her tongue out at Orlando, who grinned.
“What do you say to grabbing supper with Ferma and me?”
She looked away, hesitated, then nodded. “Yes, thank you. I would love that.”
He walked around the counter, hesitated, but then hugged her. She leaned against him for a second before pulling away. She smiled. He looked down at her.
“Wish I could say everything I want to you. Wish that very much.”
She nodded. “Me too. But best not. Makes it harder.”
“Yeah. I know. We both need time.”
“We do. Now, let’s go get Ferma.”
As they walked out of the store, Orlando’s stride was lighter. His heartache was easing. Friends. Still family. It helped a lot.
Six months. Six months in the planning and it all came down to a few minutes today. Lucian looked at Tara as they sat in the car and she smiled at him. “Don’t look so worried. It’s going to be fine.”
He hoped so.
After Orlando and Zulika had left, Norah watched them walk to the corner of the street and smiled to herself. Was this a good sign? She was just tidying the store when she heard the knock on the back door. Distracted, she forgot to check who it was. As she opened it and, to her dismay, saw it was Lucian, she tried to close it again, but he kicked it in, sending her flying back and crashing to the floor. He was on her then, pinning her hands down and sitting on her legs so she couldn’t move or run.
“I just want to talk, Norah. Talk. Just hear me out.”
“Motherfucker!” She struggled with him, half-crazed, “Let me go. Let me go.”
Lucian forced his mout
h onto hers to quiet her and she started to sob.
“For fuck’s sake, just listen to me for a few minutes, then I’ll be gone,” he lied. Still growling, Norah stared up at him.
“Nothing you could say is of any interest to me, you psycho.”
He punched her in the stomach and she recoiled, the wind knocked out of her. “Now, I didn’t want to do that, Norah, but you won’t behave yourself.”
She was gasping for air as he got up and she curled herself into a ball for a second before scrambling to her feet and backing away from him.
Lucian held his hands up. “I just want to talk about your impending wedding. I can’t let you marry that man, Norah. I just can’t. You belong to me.”
“I don’t belong to anyone!” She screamed at him, “I’m not a fucking possession. You don’t get to tell me how to run my life, you piece of shit.”
Lucian leaped at her, his anger exploding as he picked her up and threw her across the room, shattering the window to the back room. Covered in glass, Norah clambered to her feet, ready to fight back, but he was too quick and too brutal. He slammed his fist into her belly again and again.
Norah cried out, but Lucian, half-crazed with rage, didn’t stop. He beat her to the floor, punching her in the temple and kicking her viciously in the stomach. “Fucking bitch whore! You ruined my life!”
Blood poured from the cuts and gashes on Norah’s body, but it only spurred Lucian to greater violence. Only when he noticed that Norah had stopped moving did he step back, breathing heavily. God …was she dead? He dropped to his knees and felt her throat, searching for a pulse.
“Norah?”
Alive. Her breathing was ragged, hitching. Suddenly sense flooded back into Lucian’s fevered mind and he reeled away from her. What have I done?
Breathing deeply, he pulled his phone out, finding it slipped through his fingers. He saw the blood on his hands. “Oh god … Tara? Tara, god, I’m at the bookstore …I think … I think I fucked up. Help me.”
“What do you want me to do?”
She sounded bored and Lucian lost it. “I just beat the crap out of my ex-girlfriend! Help me, you nasty little cunt! You wanted me to come see her. You must have known what would happen.”
Tara sighed. “Is she dead?”
“No, she’s not fucking dead.” Lucian was screaming now.
“Calm down, Lucian. It’s obvious what you need to do. You can’t leave her like that; she’ll lead the police right to you.”
“What are you telling me to do?”
“Kill her.” Tara’s voice was cold and flat. Lucian couldn’t help but groan.
“I can’t kill her, Tara. ?For fuck’s sake.”
“Yes, you can. There’s a kitchen in that hole of a bookstore, right? Find a knife and cut her throat. Or, if it’s blunt, stick it in her gut a few times. That should do it. Make it look like a robbery.”
Lucian felt the sweat begin to pool on the back of his neck. Could he? Could he kill Norah in cold blood like that? His legs were moving as of their own accord. He walked into the kitchen and pulled open some drawers. “There’s a knife.”
“Do it. Then this is all over for everyone.”
Lucian took up the blade, barely registering what he was doing, and went back out to his unconscious ex-girlfriend. The knife was a dinner knife, almost blunt, so he pushed up Norah’s top and pressed the tip against her skin. His hand tightened around the handle and he jabbed it once, quickly. It didn’t even break the skin.
“It’s too blunt.”
“Do it from a height. Really slam it into her.” Jesus. Tara was psychotic. Lucian dropped the blade. If only he hadn’t waited …he could have killed Norah that day when she used her knee on him. That day he was angry enough. That day he had had a sharp enough weapon with him. Except …could he really go through with it? Kill another person? Kill his Norah? After all he had threatened and had imagined doing—he couldn’t go through with it.
“Is it done? Is she dead?”
Lucian said nothing for a moment, then he gritted his teeth. “She’s dead. I did what you said.”
He heard Tara heave a sigh of relief. “Thank fuck. Now get out of there and don’t contact me for a few days. I’ll call you.”
Lucian hung up the phone, then stared down at his very much alive ex-lover. She was drenched in blood, with cuts from the window and his fist, her lips split, and a wide gash at her hairline. Blood was pooling beneath her. He knew what he had to do now …it was just a matter of how.
Giacomo, having done no work all afternoon, was still smiling from their lunchtime escapade together as he pulled up at the bookstore. He got out, knowing she might be upstairs working, and went around the back.
He stopped. The back door was ajar; Norah would never, ever leave it like that. The window was smashed. No, god, no, please …
Taking out his handkerchief, he used it to push the door open and saw the devastation inside. Broken glass, smashed furniture, and blood everywhere.
Giacomo couldn’t breathe. Something bad had happened here. Something very bad and the worst of it was obvious.
Norah was gone …
Zulika shot an agonized glance at Orlando, who himself looked pale and shocked. Giacomo sat with his head in his hands as the police moved around them, gathering evidence and studying the chaos of the Anthology’s back room. Zulika kept seeing the blood, the smashed glass, and the debris of what had to be a violent and brutal fight.
Norah was gone. Was she dead? Zulika had no doubt that Lucian was behind this horror; Giacomo had told the police as much. He looked broken. “I should never have let her out of my sight.”
Zulika hugged him. “You know Norah would have hated that. One of the reasons she loves you is that you don’t control her and you don’t try and tell her what to do. This is not your fault, Giacomo.”
“Then why do I feel like it is?” He closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath. “The one bright thing is …I feel she is still alive. I know it. He took her because he wanted her, not because …not to hide her …”
He couldn’t finish that sentence and Zulika nodded. “That’s a good thing to cling to, Giacomo.”
Orlando cleared his throat. “The police are asking us to come to the station, answer some questions, and help with the search.”
Giacomo looked up at his friend. “Good. I’ve already got my security out and looking …Mio Dio…”
Zulika saw him staring down at the pool of blood on the floor. “He beat her,” he whispered. “He hurt her.”
He sounded so desolate that Zulika felt tears drop down her face and she began to cry.
The first thing she registered was the smell. Musty sheets and the sharp stench of industrial cleaner. The sound. A television. Norah opened her eyes. She lay on a bed, her left hand handcuffed to the frame. Every part of her body hurt, her vision was blurry, and her eyes were stinging. She retched at the stench of the room and then someone hovered into view.
“Don’t throw up. You’re gagged. You’ll drown in your own vomit.”
Lucian. She tried to stretch her mouth free from the duct tape covering it, glaring at him and growling as best she could. Lucian laughed.
“I wouldn’t bother, Norah. No-one is going to hear you out here. Manager’s an old buddy. No one knows you’re here.”
He stroked her face tenderly. “I had to take you with me, Norah. It was the only way to save you.”
She bugged out her eyes at him in disbelief, then wished she hadn’t. A headache screeched around her skull and she winced, closing her eyes. A few moments later, she felt a cold cloth against her forehead and felt some relief, despite herself. Lucian washed her face in cool water; she could hear him rinsing the cloth and when she opened her eyes, she could see a bowl of pinkish water. Blood.
“I’m sorry I got so rough, baby. I didn’t mean it.”
He was crazy. He was actually crazy. Norah felt the fear clenching at her stomach. Was he going to kill her? What had he m
eant by ‘saving’ her?
Lucian put the bowl of water down on the floor and looked at her. “Now, I’m going to take that gag off. You can scream and holler …but no-one is out here and it’ll just make me angry again. I don’t want to hurt you, Norah, so don’t make me.”
He ripped off the duct tape in one fast motion and she gasped. She licked her dry lips and he held a cup of cold water to her mouth. She gulped it down gratefully, all the time deciding whether to scream or not.
Not. Lucian meant what he said and Norah knew she would have to be crafty to stand a chance of getting out of here alive.
“Why did you take me?”
Lucian sighed. “Because …someone told me to kill you. I couldn’t do it. And this …person …would have made me do it.”
“Who?”
He didn’t answer and Norah decided not to push it. Who would want her dead? She didn’t think she had any enemies—not psychotic ones, anyway. The only person who had physically harmed her was right here and now he was telling her was ‘saving’ her? There was only one answer.
Lucian was insane.
Norah looked away from him. “Do you have any aspirin? My head is killing me.”
Silently, he got up and went into the bathroom and Norah used the opportunity to take in her surroundings. They were obviously in a sleazy motel—she didn’t want to think about the counterpane she was lying on or what lurked in it. She gagged again gently, then shook herself. Concentrate. Her left arm was cuffed to the bed frame, but the cuffs were the kind you could get in an adult store—flimsy. She was pretty sure she could get out of them. Her stomach hurt the most and she pulled up her shirt and winced. Huge black and blue bruises covered her skin, along with the impression of a boot print.
Bastard. She ran her tongue over her dry lips and tasted blood. Lucian had really beaten her to a pulp. How am I still alive?
Don’t ask that. The important thing is you are still alive. Now it’s time to figure how to get away from him.
She knew Lucian and knew his fatal flaw. His arrogance and self-adoration. She would play up to it and seduce him into trusting her.
Lucian appeared with two aspirin and another cup of water. She swallowed the pills down gratefully and leaned back, closing her eyes. She felt his lips against hers and felt sick.
His Beautiful Revenge: A Bad Boy Billionaire Romance Page 13
