by Mia Madison
Reaching Rico
An Adamo Story
Mia Madison
Contents
Prologue
1. Bossy Men
2. Never Touches Me
3. Drive Him Crazy
4. Better Than That
5. Progress
6. Getaway
7. Live A Little
8. Wouldn’t Be Them
9. Christmas Every Month
10. One Cousin To Another
11. Thought You Were A Dude
12. Don’t Even Think
13. Cold And Empty
14. Just Me
15. Not In This Life
16. Forget Vows
17. Eye Of The Beholder
18. Ecstasy Again
19. Keep Counting
20. Alone And Horny
21. Behave Yourself
22. Backup
23. Don’t Worry About It
24. Damsels In Distress
25. Right Behind Him
26. War
27. Sandwich
28. Ache In My Core
29. Electric Fans
30. Frantic
31. Congratulations
32. Ways Of Being Quiet
33. Here’s Where I Belong
34. Enough
35. Thank You
Epilogue
Also by Mia Madison
About the Author
REACHING RICO
Copyright 2017 Mia Madison
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author or publisher except for the use of brief quotations in critical articles or reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, businesses, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, actual events or locales is purely coincidental.
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
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Prologue
Four years ago
The first thing I smell is oil. The second is men. Revved Garage is an uncompromisingly masculine environment, in stark contrast to the café where Victor Adamo started my new-employee orientation.
It’s a big space, the garage, and every bay is filled, with more cars and bikes lined up waiting their turn. Mechanics swarm over the vehicles, doing … whatever it is mechanics do. Rock music blasts from speakers mounted high on the walls.
“You’ll be trained to work anywhere — the café, the parts store, or here,” Vic explains. “But usually, our girls wind up having one spot that they work most of the time.”
I hope I end up as a waitress. As the youngest of four girls, I don’t have a lot of experience hanging out with crowds of guys. All the testosterone in the air here makes me a little nervous.
“Rico,” Victor calls, and a man turns away from the car he’s working on. The question I was about to ask dies a quick death. As he approaches, all I can do is stare.
He looks like a fallen angel … if angels were built like gladiators. He’s huge, well over six feet, with the broadest shoulders and chest I’ve ever seen and arms as big around as my legs. His face looks like it’s carved out of granite.
Really sexy granite.
But he’s intimidating, and it’s not just his size. It’s his intensity. Everything about him is dark — his hair, his eyes, his clothing, his mood.
Not that he’s scowling. On the surface, his expression is neutral. But his deep brown eyes seem to hint at a fathomless pit inside him — one that might swallow me if I’m not careful.
Oblivious to my discomfort, Victor makes the introductions. “Mickey, my brother Rico. He runs the garage. Rico, this is Mickey Gunn, our new hire.”
Those dark eyes fix on me and I can’t look away. My skin prickles; I feel like a rabbit in the woods who’s just caught the scent of a predator. If Rico is the big, bad wolf, I’m in trouble.
A part of me I didn’t know existed is stirring, drawn to this beast of a man with a deep, instinctive hunger. The rest of me wants to run as fast as it can.
We stare at each other, unspeaking. I’m too far out of my comfort zone to find words, let alone polite ones. A fragment of memory from one of my classes rises to the surface and whispers, Dominance.
Right. I’m locked in a staredown with an unmistakably dominant man. I need to submit. Break eye contact. Give him the victory.
An instant before I blink, a weak, tiny yip pierces the tense silence. A few cars away, a puppy is stumbling toward us. Even as my hand goes to my mouth, Rico goes down on one knee.
“Here, girl.” His deep voice rubs against my nerve endings. The puppy comes right to him, and he scoops up the tiny animal with gentle hands, cradling her against his massive chest. She whimpers and licks his face … and my heart melts into a massive puddle.
Standing, he says to Vic, “Gotta get her to the vet.” His eyes go to me, and for a moment I have the strange sensation that he’s sifting my soul, searching for something only he can see. But he doesn’t speak, just gives me a chin lift before he strides away with the puppy.
I spend the rest of the day on orientation and initial training, but whenever my mind has a moment’s freedom, it veers back to Mr. Tall, Dark, and Disturbingly Delicious. Not until the end of the day does Vic tell me where I’ll be tomorrow.
Rico wants me in the garage.
1
Bossy Men
Present day
It’s six o’clock on a frigid January evening when I reach the house where my friend and fellow Revved employee, Gina Driscoll, lives with Carlo Adamo. It’s pitch black, the winter sky heavy and sullen, the air cold enough to bite. The wind whips my hair against my face as I hurry up the porch steps.
Gina opens the door before I can knock. She let me through the gate onto the property, so she knew I was here. “Come on in. Everyone else just got here, too.”
I move inside and hold out a baking dish. “Berry cobbler.”
“Oh my god, I love you. Let me go put this in the kitchen. You know everyone, right?”
“Thanks for coming,” I tell the three other women in the living room. The house is like a mountain cabin, wood everywhere, only bigger.
“You know we’re always up for sexy alpha talk,” Caitlin Miller says. She’s a curvy little brunette who waitresses at Revved Café and lives with Antonio Adamo, another one of Rico’s cousins.
“Anytime, anyplace,” Erin Grant agrees, imbuing the words with all sorts of naughty connotations. Like Cait and Gina, she works at the café. She’s a tallish blonde with hazel eyes, and she lives with Kosta Adamo.
Frankie Zanetti’s mouth quirks up. “I may be new to the Adamo alpha fandom, but I’m catching up fast.” She lives with Vic, who runs the café, but she works for Carlo’s private investigations and security company.
“More like zooming into first place,” I assure her. “Congratulations, by the way!”
“Thanks.” She holds up her left hand, adorned with a gorgeous ring. “I swear I look at it about ten times a day to make sure I’m not dreaming.”
The Adamos are an enormous Italian clan. There’s not much that goes on in this town — or this state — that they don’t either run or know about.
And the men? Holy hotness. Tall, dark, built, and bossy. They can drive a girl right up the wall, or fulfill her deepest, darkest fantasies — or
, according to some of the rumors I’ve heard, both at the same time.
And that’s why I asked Gina to host this little get-together. Since all my best friends are living with Adamo men, and I’m in desperate need of wisdom and advice from women who understand the rules for dealing with that particular brand of alpha male, asking them for help was a no-brainer.
Cait says to me, “You should have been there at Christmas. The looks on our guys’ faces when they realized Vic had beaten them to getting engaged!”
She and Erin snicker as Gina comes back from the kitchen carrying a big bowl. “Popcorn,” she announces. “Carlo made us a lasagna; it’s in the oven.”
Adamo men like to cook. It’s a nice bonus, to say the least. Gina curls up in a recliner, and her cat, Verdigris, jumps into her lap. Curling up, he watches us through brilliant green eyes. “Is Carlo here?” I ask.
“No, he and Luca are out doing surveillance tonight. He won’t be back until late.”
We settle down on the comfortable furniture, and for a few moments, the only sound is contented munching while we make a dent in the popcorn. Finally, Erin says to me, “So what’s up? Give us the lowdown.”
I try to arrange my thoughts into some sort of coherence. “Basically, I need you all to tell me if I’m crazy.”
“Adamo crazy?” Erin says. “Because you know we’re all right there with you.”
“Fill me in,” Frankie says. She only came to town a few months ago. “How long have you worked at the garage?”
“Four years. And, well … you all know how Adamo men are. You met your guys, they made up their minds, and that was it.”
“Once they decide you’re the one, they don’t give up,” Gina agrees. “No matter how much you try to convince them otherwise.” Four pairs of eyes fill with mingled amusement and affection.
“So that’s the problem.” I cross my legs, propping my elbows on my knees. “I think I’m crazy because I can’t shake the feeling that there’s something between me and Rico, even though, in four years, he’s never shown any signs — at all — that he thinks of me that way.”
“He totally does, though,” Frankie cuts in.
2
Never Touches Me
I blink. “Wait, what? Did Vic say something?”
“No, not about that. You know that one day I was at the garage, when I first got to town?”
“Yeah, sure.” Frankie grew up fixing cars with her dad, so Rico let her work in the garage that day while her situation was getting sorted out.
“Well, I knew you had a thing for Rico. Whenever he wasn’t looking, you were watching him.”
My face heats. Frankie leans forward, her pretty face animated. “But then, there was that customer who was hitting on you — remember?”
I shrug. “Not really. I mean, it happens. I try to keep things professional.”
“That’s exactly what you did. You weren’t encouraging him at all. But Rico? He looked like he wanted to tear the guy’s head off.”
My faint tingle of hope quickly fades. “He was probably just being protective, though. Like a big brother.”
Frankie shakes her head. “He didn’t look concerned, hon. He looked pissed. In my experience, that equals jealousy.”
“Maybe.” I’m not convinced.
“Definitely,” Gina counters.
I turn to her. “You saw him looking jealous?”
“Not jealous. That day you helped out in the café, when my thing with Carlo was going on?” I nod. “You were laughing, and Rico came in from the back.”
Her expression softens with the memory, her hand stroking Verdigris’ sleek black fur. “Oh my god, Mickey. The look on his face. Like you were his next breath … or his next meal.”
My heart stops. For so long, I’ve been afraid to believe it could happen. “Then why?” My voice cracks. “Why is he hiding it?”
Gina shakes her head. “I don’t know, but he is hiding it. When he saw me watching him, his face went blank and he turned around and left again.”
“Shit,” I mutter. “Am I that ugly?”
“Please.” Frankie bumps my shoulder with hers. “You’re adorable. He’s not hiding it because of you, he’s hiding it because of him.”
“Damned sneaky man,” I mutter. We’re all silent for a few moments. I look up when Frankie clears her throat.
“About that. I asked Vic about Rico once.”
I cock my head. “Asked him what?”
“I didn’t mean to pry or anything.” Her lips press together. “Just, that day at the garage … Rico told me that Vic’s a good man, and I told him so is he.”
I frown. Of course he is. “And?”
“He acted like that … hurt him.”
The room goes still. “Hurt him?” I repeat finally, my brain struggling to make sense of her words.
Frankie nods. “Like deep down, he doesn’t believe he’s good at all, and it hurts to be reminded him of it.”
My mind goes back to the day I met him. How my first impression of Rico was that he was intimidating to the point of being scary. “I wonder what he thinks he’s done,” I muse. “Because I’m pretty sure he’s not a secret serial killer or anything.”
“Is that what you asked Vic about?” Erin says to Frankie. “Not the serial killer part. But him not thinking he’s a good man?”
She nods. “I asked him if something had happened to Rico, in the past. He wouldn’t give me any details, but he said Rico had been through hell. The worst kind a man like him could suffer.”
There’s another long silence as we process that. “Whatever it is he’s had to deal with,” Frankie concludes, “maybe it has something to do with why he hasn’t gobbled you up like a tasty appetizer.”
That makes me smile, despite my worries. “I can’t believe he’s been so stealthy about it. You know how Adamo men are always calling women ‘babe’ and ‘doll’ and all that, even women they’re not interested in?”
“Yes,” they chorus, well familiar with the phenomenon.
“He never does that with me. Ever. And he never touches me, either.”
3
Drive Him Crazy
“At all?” Cait says. Her response is understandable; the Adamos are a demonstrative bunch. Women and men alike, they’re not afraid to show friendship and affection on a physical level.
“At all,” I affirm. “I’ve never gotten so much as a pat on the shoulder,”
Her eyes get big. “Girl. He’s got it bad for you.”
What? That’s crazy talk. Did she bump her noggin and I didn’t notice? I shake my head. “What are you talking about?”
“For him to do those things — or, rather, not do them — requires a total suppression of his natural instincts. Do you realize how much willpower that takes? It must have been excruciating for him to have stayed away from you all this time, and not given you so much as a hint of his real feelings.”
“I agree,” Erin says. “If he thought of you like a little sister, he’d be ‘doll’ this and ‘babe’ that and be hugging you all the time. That’s how all the Adamo men I’ve seen treat their sisters.”
“That’s a … hopeful interpretation,” I say cautiously.
“How old were you when you started at the garage?” Cait asks.
“Sixteen.”
“Well, no wonder. You were total jailbait!”
“I was then, sure. But I’m not in high school anymore. I’m not even a teenager anymore.”
“Still,” Frankie says, “Rico’s a lot older than you. And I don’t know him as well as the rest of you, but I gotta say he strikes me as a man with a strong sense of honor. He might still see you as off limits.”
“If you want to force his hand,” Cait says, “you’ve got to show him you’re not a kid anymore.” She went through that with Tonio, so she knows what she’s talking about.
Erin leans forward. “Whatever obstacles he’s set up in his mind, they’ve endured for four years. Which, in Adamo terms, is an e
ternity. You’re gonna have to out-stubborn him, Mickey.”
“Challenge him,” Cait adds. “Provoke him.”
“Crack his shields,” Frankie chimes in.
“And then be ready for the consequences,” Gina finishes. “Because if he’s been wanting you, and holding it in, for four years …”
“Oh yeah.” I give a little shiver. “You don’t even know how many fantasies I’ve had along those lines.”
That gets me four appreciative grins. “Nothing better than bossy men in the bedroom,” Erin says, and the other three sigh their agreement.
“So all I have to do is drive him crazy.” I smile. “Should be fun.”
4
Better Than That
Operation Rico commences the following Monday morning. My wardrobe options are limited; all the Revved girls wear custom-made smock tops to work. They’re pretty cute as such things go, and we have a choice of colors, but they’re not exactly the sexiest clothes ever.
I need comfortable shoes since I’m on my feet a lot. That leaves pants and makeup. I have a new pair of jeans I’ve never worn to work that make my ass look fantastic, so that’s an easy choice.
Once I’m dressed, I spend a little extra time on my hair and makeup. Nothing too fancy — I can’t go into a garage looking ready for a night on the town — but I put some gunk in my hair that gives my waves and curls extra body, and add a hint of blusher and a swipe of lip gloss to my face.
That’s the easy part. I’m a bundle of nerves about the rest of it. Challenge Rico? Provoke him? That’s asking for trouble, to put it mildly.
Which is exactly the point. If he still sees me as a kid, I’ve got to change his mind. Show him I can handle whatever his bossy alpha maleness wants to dish out.
