His Beautiful Revenge: A Bad Boy Billionaire Romance

by Michelle Love

  Zulika smiled. “I hope so …but I need to make it clear that I’m not replacing her mom. I could never, would never try. But I do love Ferma. I hope Carmel would have approved.”

  “She would, baby, I swear.” He sighed then. “Of course, we will have to run the gamut of her relatives.”

  Zulika nodded. “Listen, after my relatives, they’ll be a cake-walk.”

  Orlando smiled, but three hours later, when the police came to tell Zulika that her step-brother was dead, they were no longer laughing.

  “Lucian is dead.” Norah softly repeated it to herself again as she dried herself after taking a long, hot shower. She could barely believe it herself. The whole world had seemed to shift on its axis when the police told her and Giacomo, as if her life before Giacomo had never existed and that Lucian, the man they were talking about, had been a stranger to her. She felt relief for herself, sadness for what might have been if Lucian hadn’t gone off-the-rails, and concerned for Zulika.

  Hollister Bean was coming to see them in an hour and Norah didn’t know how to feel. They had precious few details other than Lucian was dead.

  When Hollister told them Lucian had been murdered, Giacomo and the detective exchanged a glance. “Tara?”

  “We think so. We have a warrant out for her arrest, but to be honest, without Lucian Hargity’s evidence …”

  Giacomo cursed under his breath, glancing at Norah. “Then it’s settled. We’re leaving the country. I’m taking Norah to Italy for the rest of her recuperation.”

  Hollister nodded. “I think that’s a good idea.”

  Norah’s hands were tingling with unease. “What about Zul? Or Orlando and Ferma? If what we think is true, they’re not safe either.”

  Giacomo sighed. “We’ll talk to them. Obviously I can’t make them come with us. If they don’t want to, then I’ll make sure they have the best security in place.”

  Hollister nodded. “Good plan. I think you, Norah, are still in the greatest danger—you and Giacomo. If she’s as psychotic as we think …”

  “She is.” Giacomo sounded angrier than Norah had ever seen him. His eyes had a dangerous intensity to them and his brow was deeply furrowed. He looked beautiful and terrifying at the same time—an avenging angel. “When you find Tara, let her know from me …I will never stop trying to bring her down.”

  Later, Giacomo drove them back to their apartment to pack for Italy. As Norah emptied the chest of drawers, she looked deep in thought.

  “What are you thinking, mio caro?”

  She looked up and gave him a smile. “I was just thinking how Tara is at the root of everything. If she hadn’t cheated on you, we might never have met in the first place.”

  Giacomo nodded, but his face was serious. “Possibly. But I like to believe we would have found our way to each other.”

  Norah smiled. “I think so too.”

  Giacomo put down the stack of t-shirts he was about to put in his case and took her in his arms. “Principessa, I’m certain of it. God, Norah,” he stroked her long hair back over her shoulder. “There would be no life without you. None.”

  “Right back at you, handsome.”

  “I can’t wait to be your husband, mio caro.”

  She grinned. “You might regret that; I’m a terrible nag.”

  He chuckled. “Well, I know that already.”

  She laughed and leaned into his body. “How long did the doctor say until we could …?”

  She trailed off with a knowing look in her eyes. Giacomo chuckled. “Bella, we have to be strong for the next month at least. I don’t want to risk your health.”

  She grumbled and he grinned. “Although …there are other ways we could enjoy ourselves that wouldn’t involve too much strain.”

  He made her lie down on the bed, then pushed her dress up to her hips. Norah grinned down at him. “Where ya going, buster?”

  He laughed softly, then his fingers were pulling at her panties and a second later, she felt his mouth on her. “Lie back, Bella. Relax. Let me do the work…”

  His tongue lashed around her clit, teasing it until it swelled and became almost unbearablely sensitive. Norah moaned with pleasure as her orgasm built slowly and when Giacomo began to slide two fingers in and out of her, she came almost immediately, shivering and sighing. Giacomo moved up so he could kiss her mouth and she kissed him back passionately.

  “Your turn.” She grinned as her hand went to his fly and she unzipped him.

  “Bella, you don’t have to—”

  “Ssh.”

  Giacomo ssh-ed. Norah took his cock, already huge and throbbing, into her mouth and trailed her tongue up and down the long shaft. She teased the sensitive tip, hearing his sharp intakes of breath as she worked on him, her hand massaging his balls, and her fingertips pressing into the sensitive perineum to arouse him.

  “Norah …il mio amore …”

  She brought him to climax, his semen shooting deep into her throat. She swallowed him down and grinned up at him. “I love you.”

  He carefully helped her up and held her close. “Thank you, my love. God, I wish we could lay together properly.”

  She grinned up at him. “Think of the anticipation.”

  He laughed and let her go. “That’s one word for it.”

  Two hours later, they were on his private jet heading across the country. Norah was asleep in the little bedroom at the back of the plane, but Giacomo was unable to sleep. He grabbed his phone and headed back into the main cabin.

  He called his head of security. “Any news on Tara’s whereabouts?”

  “We have a few leads, sir. One of my contacts said she was in New York at the weekend. She may still be there, but she’s in hiding. She knows the police are after her, but she definitely realizes that if we get to her first …”

  “If we get to her first, take her to the hanger. I want to deal with her myself.”

  “Of course. We’ve briefed your team in Italy; they’re doing daily security sweeps at the villa.”

  “Good.” Giacomo sighed and rubbed his hand over his eyes. “The one advantage she has is who her contacts are. Where they are.”

  “Her father was a mob boss, right?”

  “Right. Look, just do what you can to keep her and her goons away from Norah.”

  “She won’t get near, boss.”

  Giacomo prayed he was right.

  Tara’s father, George, glared at his daughter as she strode into his home in Chicago. “What the hell kind of mess have you got into now, girl? Murder?”

  She waved her hand. “Pa, I am your daughter. I had a problem. I dealt with it.”

  “With all the subtlety of a wrecking ball.”

  Tara shrugged. Her father didn’t scare her—something he’d always admired in her. She was totally without empathy. George Hubert recognized the psychopath in his daughter and had even encouraged it. But her propensity for not thinking her actions through was beginning to threaten their lives.

  “Tara, this is going to take a while to figure out.”

  She raised her eyebrows at him. “Really? It’s such a little thing.”

  “Let me understand this.” George got up. “You fucked a nobody, thus cheating on your rich, good-looking boyfriend. Your boyfriend’s best friend’s wife catches you out, so you have her killed. Just so happens she’s a prominent human rights lawyer. Not very low-key. Then your boyfriend finds out you’re fucking this nobody, and to get revenge, he hires the lover’s girlfriend. Then he falls in love with the girlfriend.”

  Tara shifted uncomfortably in her chair, knowing her father was about to get angry. She hated it when he got angry. “You make it sound so …”

  “Petty? Ridiculous? That’s because it is, Tara. It is. For the love of God …why did you kill Lucian Hargity?”

  “Dad, they haven’t got a case. There’s no evidence.”

  “Except you ran. You don’t think that looks suspicious?”

  Tara said nothing. She could feel herself r
egressing back to a sulky teen. Her father sighed. “Here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to contact the police and offer to fully cooperate with them. If what you say is true, then we don’t have a problem, except with the press, and we can work on that.”

  Tara sat, fuming, but then nodded. “Fine. I’m confident the police have nothing on me but, if I’m going to risk it, I need you to do something for me.”

  “What?”

  She smiled grimly. “Giacomo’s fiancée never gets to see her wedding day.”

  George Hubert glared at his daughter for a long moment, then, almost imperceptibly, he gave a nod.

  Her murder was the last thing on Norah’s mind as she walked through the cool stone corridors of Giacomo’s Tuscan villa. The place was from a fantasy, she thought, all billowy white drapes at the windows and outside, the Tuscan countryside with rolling hill and olive groves …

  “Heaven,” she sighed and Giacomo smiled at her.

  “I’m glad you like it.”

  “Understatement. I think I must be dreaming.”

  He took her hand and led her inside, to his bedroom. There was a huge four-poster bed with draped white mosquito netting and pure white Egyptian cotton sheets.

  But then her attention was solely on the gorgeous man who took her in his arms and kissed her. “I can’t wait until I can be with you properly and make love with you all night as we used to. But until then, we can still enjoy each other.”

  He carefully picked her up and lay her on the bed, pulling at the belt of her wrap dress, then sliding his hands under the material to stroke her bare skin. God, she wanted him so much. She wanted his cock inside her, driving her toward almost unbearable ecstasy. Norah couldn’t help feel annoyed once again at the circumstances that got her injured and unable—as yet—to fulfill that desire.

  Giacomo looked down at her. “You’re frowning.”

  She told him what she was thinking and his smile faded. “I know, mio amore, I’m angry too. But I thank the stars every day that you’re still here—that you’re safe.”

  They lay together in comfortable silence for a time, Giacomo’s long, warm fingers stroking her skin.

  “Giacomo? If it weren’t for Zul and Orlando and your work, I could easily stay here forever.”

  He laughed. “I know, Principessa. It’s tempting, no? But as you say, we have our family back in San Francisco. My work …eh, I have been thinking of taking a step back anyway and doing something different as a side project.”

  “Really? What?”

  “Something charitable, but I have no idea what yet. I thought we could work on whatever it might be together.”

  Norah felt excited. “Really? I would love that.”

  “We make a good team.”

  Norah smiled at him. “We do.”

  She felt grateful all over again for this lovely man who had given her so much and who believed in her so absolutely. She rolled onto her side and pressed her body against his, her bare skin against the roughness of his sweater and the denim of his jeans. She could feel his cock thickening as she reached down and cupped it with her hand. She looked up at him from beneath her lashes.

  “I can help you with that, my darling.”

  He grinned and she moved down his body, unzipping his pants and freeing his cock. She swept her lips over the crest of it, hearing his sharp intake of breath as she teased the sensitive tip with her tongue. Norah ran her tongue up and down the long shaft, pulling on it with her mouth until she could feel his orgasm building. Giacomo’s fingers knotted in her long hair as he came in her mouth and she swallowed him down. She loved the flush on his face afterward as he panted for air.

  “God, il mio amore …I pray these few weeks go fast …”

  She laughed and kissed him. “Me too, baby. Me too.”

  Ferma looked between her father and Zulika and nodded slowly. “Good. Daddy has been lonely and I hate that.”

  Zulika and Orlando waited for her to say more, but she merely smiled at them. Zulika shot a glance at Orlando before taking the young girl’s hand.

  “Ferma, I’m not trying to replace your mommy. No one could ever do that. I miss her so much, so I know you do.”

  Ferma nodded. “I know. It’s a separate thing.”

  Orlando beamed. “When did you get so smart?”

  Ferma giggled. “I’m not silly, Daddy. I know that you and Zulika like each other. I told Aunt Claudette that I thought you should be together and make each other happy now.”

  Zulika felt both happy about Ferma’s response and uneasy about Claudette. Although she had always gotten along just fine with Orlando’s sister, there still had been a distance too. Claudette was not easily won over, Zulika guessed.

  She asked Orlando later, and he confirmed his sister’s stoic nature. “I’m the emotional one in our family,” he admitted with a rueful smile. “Claudie has always been the rock, the steady one. But you shouldn’t be nervous; she does like you.”

  “But will she like ‘us?’” Zulika fretted and Orlando kissed her.

  “Of course she will. She wants me to be happy too.”

  But, at lunch with his sister later on that week, Claudette raised her doubts. “I’m scared,” she admitted, “Scared that because Zulika is still so sick, she won’t pull through and that you and Ferma will be right back where you were after Carmel died.”

  Orlando nodded slowly. “I understand that, Claudie. But Zulika is getting the treatment she needs. She’s going to be fine.”

  Zulika sat in the chair at the oncologist’s office and waited to see the oncologist. It had been a few weeks now and tomorrow she would be admitted to hospital for her surgery.

  The oncologist smiled at her. “Ready for the big day? I’m going to get all those suckers out. You’ll see that I do.”

  She smiled at his optimism. “Doc, give me the hard truth. Do you think you can get them all?”

  He nodded. “Look, I’m not being gung-ho or telling you what you want to hear. From your scans, the tumors are where we can get them and, with a course of chemo I don’t see why you shouldn’t go into remission. Obviously, there are no guarantees, but I’m very optimistic.”

  At home, she packed her overnight bag for the stay, then, on a whim, she called Norah in Italy. It had been a few weeks now that Norah had been in Tuscany and Zulika missed her friend.

  “Hey, babe.” Norah sounded relaxed and happy and it made Zulika’s heart lift.

  “Ciao, Bella. How are you?”

  Norah laughed. “I’m very good, thank you. Had my last appraisal at the hospital today.”

  Zulika laughed, knowing what that meant. “Well, I’m glad I called before the orgy began. How’s the wedding planning coming along? Have you met Giacomo’s family yet?”

  “His brother and sister are coming tomorrow. I met his parents. His mom is lovely.”

  Zulika heard the slight tension in her friend’s voice. “And his dad?”

  Norah hesitated. “He’s hard to read. I’m not sure he doesn’t think of me as a gold-digger yet.”

  Zulika made a disgusted noise. “I hope Giacomo put him straight.”

  Norah half-laughed. “I haven’t said that to Giacomo. It’s just the impression I got. I may be wrong. God, I miss you, bub.”

  Zulika felt a pang. “I miss you too. Hopefully we’ll be together soon.”

  “How're things going with Lando?”

  Zulika smiled. “Blissful. But, you know, early days.”

  “How are you feeling now? Do you have any news for us?”

  It was on the tip of her tongue to tell Norah about her surgery, wanting to hear her friend comfort her and tell her everything was going to be okay.

  But she knew Norah would want to drop everything and fly back immediately, and there was no way Zulika would deprive her of her time with Giacomo—not after everything they’d been through.

  Later, when Orlando got home with Ferma, they cooked together, Ferma holding court about her day and a sho
w-and-tell she had nailed as her father and Zulika moved around each other. Ferma knew about Zulika’s surgery and when Zulika went to kiss her goodnight later on, she hugged Zulika tightly. “I know everything is going to be okay, Zully. I just know it.”

  Zulika had hidden the tears in her eyes as she hugged the little girl.

  Orlando was undressing as she went into the bedroom. She smiled at him and he took her into his arms. “How’re you feeling, baby?”

  She leaned her body against his. “Exhausted, I’ve got to admit.”

  He pressed his lips to hers and she responded, sighing into the kiss. “Baby, everything is going to be okay.”

  She chuckled. “Your daughter just said exactly the same thing.”

  “Smart girl. Takes after her dad.”

  She laughed and climbed onto the bed, tugging him after her. “Come lay down with me.”

  Orlando cradled her in his arms and Zulika felt safe in his strong hold. “Lando?”

  “Yeah, babe?”

  “If anything does go wrong …or they can’t take all the cancer out …”

  “Then we’ll deal with whatever comes along. Whatever comes along, Zulika. I love you. Ferma loves you. We are a family.”

  Zulika realized then that, although she wanted Norah here, both she and her friend now had their person, the love of their lives who would support them and, in turn, who they could lean on. Norah had Giacomo and she had Orlando. Zulika stroked his face now.

  “Thank you, my darling. Thank you.”

  Giacomo had come from a lunch with his father and his mood was bleak. Although he had suspected some reticence on his father’s part about his forthcoming marriage, he hadn’t realized the depth of his dad’s doubts about Norah.

  “I don’t understand where she came from,” Enrico Conti had told his son. “First she is just the girlfriend of Tara’s lover, then she is suddenly your fiancée?”

  Giacomo had fixed his father with a cold look. “After everything Norah has been through, you think she has ulterior motives? Really, Papa? You met her—her loyalty, her love, and her sweet nature shine out from her. How can you think like that when you never once accused –Tara—who at this point, might be a murderer—of the same thing?”