“Giacomo!”
All three of them stood, people around them scattering as Tara raised the gun and pointed it at Giacomo’s chest. “You ruined my life, you bastard.”
Giacomo was calm. “No, Tara. You ruined your own life.”
The gun was shaking in her hand, but Norah saw her flick off the safety. No. No way. Without another thought, she shoved Giacomo hard, right into his father, as Tara fired the gun. Norah felt a sting in her shoulder, but the adrenaline had kicked in and she dived at Tara, knocking the gun away from her.
“Get off me, you bitch.” Tara was scratching and clawing at the other woman, but Norah was in no mood to be fucked with. She slammed her fist into Tara’s face over and over, all of her pain, her guilt, and her anger fueling her. It took both Giacomo and his father to pull her off the other woman. Giacomo wrapped his arms around her as two polizia came running to help.
Norah couldn’t recall what had happened next; the red mist in her brain was so virulent, so overpowering, she felt like she was a gibbering ball of rage. Every ounce of pain, hurt, betrayal and fear came out of her as soon as she’d seen Tara point that gun at her beloved Giacomo, and she knew that even if Tara killed her, she would not let Giacomo die.
She finally calmed down as the doctor examined her shoulder. Giacomo was holding her other hand and his father stood a way back, watching the scene with that unreadable expression of his.
“It’s just a flesh wound, thankfully,” the doctor said finally. They had been surprised to find an American doctor working at the Florence hospital’s emergency room. “You won’t even need surgery.”
“Good. With respect, doctor, I’ve seen the inside of a hospital too much recently.” Her voice was scratchy and she felt Giacomo’s lips pressed against her temple.
“I’ll numb the area and we’ll get you cleaned and stitched up. Now, how do you feel in yourself? The bullet didn’t do the damage, but the shock could affect you.”
Norah shook her head. “No, I’m fine, doc, I promise. I’d rather be with Giacomo than in here. If I relapse or anything, I’ll come back.”
The doctor nodded, seemingly satisfied. “Well, hang out here, Supergirl, and we’ll get you cleaned up.”
Norah closed her eyes and leaned against Giacomo. “It’s really over now, huh?”
They had seen Tara dragged away by grim-faced polizia, and later the chief inspector had assured them that Tara would be facing a raft of charges. “The F.B.I. have also reached out to us. Mr. Conti, perhaps you would like to speak to them when you have a moment.”
Giacomo reminded them of this now and excused himself to go call the agency. Norah sat in silence, suddenly feeling uncomfortable with Giacomo’s father.
Enrico Conti pulled up a chair and sat next to her. To Norah’s shock, he took her hand and she saw tears in her eyes.
“What you did today,” he said in broken English. “You saved my son. You put yourself in harm’s way for him.”
“Of course I did, Enrico,” she said softly. “I would die for Giacomo. Happily. Willingly. As he would die for me. I know you think I’m some opportunist, latching onto the nearest billionaire. I honestly don’t give two craps about his money. It’s his money. I make my own way in the world. Yes, sometimes the things he wants to do are out of my pocket, but we balance that out. Money is nothing in comparison to time. The time I spend with him. With our friends. With his family. That is more precious to me than any amount of money.”
Enrico smiled at her. “I believe you, Norah Reddy. I am sorry I was so …reticent? Is that the word?”
She grinned. “It is. Your English is better than you know. And never apologize for protecting your son. Although the circumstances weren’t great, I’m glad I was able to show you how I really feel about him.”
Enrico stood and bent to kiss her cheek. “I must tell you …even before today, I was beginning to change my mind about your motives. Goodness shines from you, Norah.”
Norah flushed scarlet. “That’s a lovely thing to hear. Thank you.”
“I speak only the true.”
She grinned. “Truth.”
Enrico chuckled. “I speak only the truth. I will have to spend more time with you to improve my English.”
“I would like that.”
Giacomo came back then and she saw the happiness on his face when he saw them laughing together, but he didn’t mention it. “The F.B.I. just told me that the hitman who killed Carmel rolled on Tara in exchange for a lesser sentence. She’s going away for the rest of her life.”
Norah gave a little gasp. “God, I’m so happy for Orlando and Ferma. Closure, at last.”
Enrico nodded, smiling, and excused himself. Norah knew he was giving them some privacy.
Giacomo nodded, sitting down beside her. “I called Orlando …he’s pretty happy. He’s even letting me fly them all over in the jet.”
Norah blinked. “Wow. We’re really getting married in less than a week.”
Giacomo touched the wound on her shoulder. “The battle-scarred bride.”
She grinned at him and pressed her lips to his. “You betcha. I’ll wear this scar with pride, my love.”
His smile faded and he took her face in his hands, his eyes serious and intense. “You saved my life today. Again. You are my miracle, Norah Reddy.”
He kissed her slowly and tenderly, pouring all his love into the embrace and ignoring the amused looks of the nurses who wandered in and out, and of the doctor who came to stitch her wound …
The End.
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His Beautiful Revenge Extended Epilogue
Tuscany, five years later …
Giacomo groaned as his children ran into their parents’ bedroom and launched themselves onto the bed.
“Monsters,” he growled at them and they giggled. His wife, beautiful in a white cotton nightdress that fell to her mid-thigh and showed off her long, long legs, followed them in.
“Serves you right for sleeping in.” Norah grinned at him as she crawled onto the bed. Their daughter, two-year-old Sophia, cuddled up to her mother; their three-year-old twin boys, Sebastiano and Ando, wrestled with their father playfully.
“See this gray hair?” Giacomo groaned at them. “Entirely your fault.”
The boys giggled because they knew he was joking. Giacomo hugged them to him. In the five years since he and Norah had been married, their lives had changed so entirely he could barely believe it.
When Norah had gotten pregnant the first time, they were sure they would be happy with just the two boys, but then, before he could make the decision to have a vasectomy, Norah had unexpectedly become pregnant with Sophia—and Giacomo could not imagine life without his daughter. She was the spitting image of her beautiful mother, but with his light green eyes, and he doted on her.
He kissed his wife now. “I’m allowed to sleep in. I’m on vacation.”
She laughed. “True enough …it is ten a.m. though. I’ve been keeping them occupied for hours. Tomorrow, that’s your job.”
“Deal.” He glanced at the clock. “Hey, kids, your mother and I were thinking you might like to go into Florence today? Get some gelato and hanging out with the statues?”
The boys nodded eagerly and Sophia gave him a shy smile. She was such a serene little girl that they couldn’t help but feel peaceful around her.
An hour later, they had bundled the children into the car. The weather was warm but breezy and Giacomo put the top down as they drove through the rolling Tuscan countryside. He glanced over at Norah, her long, dark hair blowing around her head, and she grinned back, sliding her hand onto his thigh.
Even after having the kids, their sex life was still red hot. Yes, there was less spontaneous fucking on the kitchen floor than before, but they made time for themselves as a couple still. Giacomo’s parents doted on their grand
children, so they had felt they could afford to book their first vacation alone. Giacomo’s parents would come and collect the children, then they would fly the children down to Sorrento. Then Giacomo and Norah would take his private jet to spend ten days on Mnemba Island in Zanzibar, blissfully naked and wrapped around each other.
That was the plan at the end of this week, but Norah was slightly fretful about leaving her young offspring for such an extended period. Giacomo was entirely confident he could distract her. He glanced over at her now, his hand on her bare leg.
“Hey, Bella …ten days.”
She grinned back at him, knowing what he was thinking. “Dirty boy.” She had already packed their –suitcases, and had included all of their favorite sex toys. In fact, she had told him proudly, she was pretty sure their toys outnumbered their clothing.
“Good,” he had said approvingly. “Because, Mrs. Conti, I want you to be naked for ninety-nine percent of the time.”
“Quid pro quo,” she grinned back at him. “You too.”
“Deal.”
Florence was busy with tourists soaking in the warm afternoon sun, and after placating their children with some gorgeous gelato, the family wandered around the city, seeking out places to show the children—even if they were a little young to take it all in—and ducking into the tiny little shops and boutiques.
Sophia was soon tired out, and as Norah walked her around in the pushchair, she thought just how normal they seemed—just like any other family. To look at them, no one would recognize that the casual but handsome Giacomo was a billionaire, or even guess at the horrific things they had all been through to get to this point.
Norah thought about her best friend back in San Francisco. Zulika had quietly married her lover, Giacomo’s best friend, Orlando, a year ago and had just officially adopted Orlando’s young daughter, Ferma. Ferma, now twelve and two grades ahead of her peer group, was the cutest little geek. Sophia was enchanted with the girl’s dark curls and thick spectacles, and Ferma, in turn, always stole Sophia away for herself when the families were together.
“Let’s sit and have coffee,” Giacomo said, breaking into her reverie, and they found a café with tables outside. To the left was a building outside which two statues with swords stood and the boys ran over to them and pretended to fight as their parents looked on.
Giacomo checked on his sleeping daughter, then smiled at Norah. “Ten days, mio caro.” Then he lowered his voice, “Ten days in which I will have you in every way we know …and maybe some new ways we have yet to try.”
Norah chuckled at him. “Ambitious …but I’m up for it.”
Giacomo smiled at her, his green eyes fixed on hers in that way that always made her weak. God, Giacomo only got better with age. Now forty-two, his dark curls had slivers of silver running through them and there was a scattering of laughter lines at the corners of his eyes. Norah still felt a giddy teenager when she looked at him and was still amazed when she thought about the fact that this gorgeous, sexy man was hers.
He was obviously enjoying her admiration. “Whatever it is that you are thinking about me right now, Principessa, is nothing to how I feel about you.”
She touched his face, stroking her thumb over his cheek tenderly. “I wouldn’t bet on that, buster.”
He held her hand to his cheek, then pressed his lips against her palm. “I can’t wait for Saturday, Bella.”
Norah chuckled. “Well, maybe later, if we exhaust the monsters enough, they’ll go to sleep sooner. Then we can have a little pre-holiday fun.”
Giacomo gave a little growl of anticipation. “You drive me crazy, Norah Conti.”
They got their wish. After playing all afternoon with the kids, chasing them around the statues and then filling their little bellies with pasta so the carbs would kick in and make them sleepy, they were asleep by eight-thirty.
Norah prepared a light supper of fresh tuna and salad for the two of them and they ate it out on the veranda. Giacomo poured her a large glass of white wine.
“Trying to get me drunk?”
“Always.” He leaned over and kissed her. “Thank you for the meal, mio caro.”
She smiled at him. “My pleasure. I thought a light meal would probably be better if we’re going to be playing late.”
“Ha,” Giacomo laughed, “I like that. Playing late …playing hard.”
Norah grinned at his wicked smile. “Hard, eh?”
“So hard.”
They both chuckled. “Seriously, we are like teenagers, I swear.”
Giacomo shook his head. “No, you would not have gone for me when I was a teenager.”
Norah looked skeptical. “I bet I would.”
“No, I promise. I had a huge afro, zits, and I wore hideous clothes.”
Norah was giggling furiously. “Giacomo Conti, I have seen the pictures …you looked like a Roman god. You still do …except a little scruffier.”
Giacomo laughed. “Scruffier?”
“Now you have kids …but I like it. I like your scruffy face.” She stroked the stubble on his chin, then his wild dark curls. “Oh, yes, I like it very much …”
Supper was forgotten then. Giacomo pressed his lips to hers and her arms wound themselves around his neck. He lifted her easily into his arms and carried her back to the villa, to the cool bedroom, and the huge four-poster bed.
They kissed for a long time, slowly and tenderly, before Giacomo began to unbutton her dress, pulling the cotton aside to kiss her skin as he did. Norah, love drunk, gazed up at her husband, drinking him in. “Ti amo, Giacomo …”
“Ti amo, il mio amore …” His lips were on her belly and she felt his deep voice vibrating through her as he spoke. His mouth was on her sex then, tongue flicking around her clit, which was already hardening and becoming ultra-sensitive merely at the thought of him. She gasped as his tongue delved deep into her, the sensations he was sending through her body almost unbearably pleasurable.
Then she was tugging at his clothes. “I want you inside me,” she gasped and he chuckled, pulling his t-shirt over his head.
“Impatient girl …” His cock stood against his belly, thick and long, and she couldn’t help but stroke the length of it. “You want this, baby?”
She nodded and he grinned, hitching her legs around his waist. “Quiet, now. We don’t want to wake the whole house …”
She grinned but gasped as he slowly, too slowly, pushed into her. She moaned and Giacomo chuckled, pulling out and tormenting her while placing his hand gently over her mouth. “Sssh, il mio amore.”
He thrust into her hard, hearing her muffled cry of pleasure, then teased her by pulling out again. She wriggled, annoyed but so turned on, and tightened her legs around him, digging her fingernails into his buttocks. Giacomo laughed and began to thrust into her harder, with longer, more deliberate strokes that were masterful and controlled. Norah moved with him, her brown eyes fixed on his. Giacomo moved his hand and covered her mouth with his own as they fucked, his tongue rough against hers, tasting her sweetness.
Norah’s back arched as she came hard, shuddering and moaning softly. Giacomo’s mouth curved up in a smile against her lips as he watched the flush of her cheeks and the sweat dewy on her lovely face. Norah tightened her thighs around his waist, urging him on, wanting him to find as much pleasure as he’d given her, and he came, swallowing his groan, his breath shaky as hic cock shot out hard, burying his seed in her belly.
Norah pulled his head onto her chest as he panted for air and he nuzzled her full breasts as he recovered. There was no need for words between them. Like this, connected in the human, feral, yet pure way, they could guess each other’s thoughts. When he’d got his breath back, he looked up at her and she stroked his face as they began again where they had left off.
***
No. I will not be that mother, the one who frets as soon as her children are out of her control. I will not. Norah hugged her daughter, who clung to her; her two sons had given banshee yells and l
aunched themselves at their grandfather as soon as they got out of the car, completely forgetting their parents. Enrico Conti gathered the two boys and laughed with them, delighted to see them. Norah smiled. She and Enrico had become good friends over the years, since his early reticence about her.
Vittoria, Giacomo’s mother, stepped out of the car and came to greet her son and his wife. She kissed Norah’s cheek and bent to pressed her lips against Sophia’s hair. Sophie was still a little shy with her grandparents, but Vittoria smiled down at her.
“Every time I see her,” she said, in broken English, “She grows more beautiful, like her mother.”
Norah flushed. Vittoria was the epitome of warmth and comfort. Both very intelligent, she and Norah had bonded over books early in Norah and Giacomo’s relationship, and when Norah had been badly injured, Vittoria had helped her recover.
Vittoria studied her. “Enrico and I have made a wager. He says you’ll burst into tears before we’ve even got down the driveway. I say …it’ll take until you know we’re in the air. Make sure he loses, will you? He’ll be unbearably smug otherwise.”
Norah and Giacomo laughed and Norah nodded. “I promise.” Enrico rolled his eyes, but then winked at his daughter-in-law.
In fact, it took until she and Giacomo had taken off in his private jet before she got emotional, but even then, she didn’t cry—just felt a little tug of sadness. Giacomo saw her staring out of the window.
“They’re fine, Principessa, I promise.” He gave her a flute of ice cold champagne. She smiled up at him.
“Oh, I know. It’s weird, I don’t feel that concerned for Seb and Ando—I know they’ll be just fine. But Sophia’s so little. So quiet.”
“Yeah,” said Giacomo dryly, “She’s very quiet when she jumps on our bed in the morning.”
Norah laughed. “You have a point. Did you tell your parents the monsters will wake them every day at five a.m.?”
Giacomo’s mouth hitched up in a lop-sided grin. “You know, I might have forgotten to mention it.”
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