“And then you bring that woman in here, shoving her in my face, taunting me. All of a sudden, she gets everything. All your money. Everything.”
Enzo is incredulous. “This is about money? Anna I know this has been going on much longer than Ava has been around.”
“I deserve you Enzo. I’ve worked hard my whole life. I keep your business running smooth. She doesn’t know you like I do. She doesn’t live in your world. I keep myself thin and pretty. What does she have that I don’t? She’s not even skinny. Why couldn’t you ever just stop and give me a chance? So yes, I took money from you. It’s the only way I thought I could hurt you.” Tears fill her eyes but pure venom spills from her mouth.
I can tell even from here that Enzo is shocked. All of this was about trying to get his attention, and if she couldn’t she would try to hurt him the only way she knew how. And what the hell does she mean I’m not skinny!
“This is ridiculous Anna. Exactly how did you think your plan was going to work out? I would just forgive and forget?” His voice hardens even more. If I were Anna right now, I’d be scared shitless.
“This isn’t about Ava. I knew you were up to something, and it would just be a matter of time until I found out. I just didn’t have proof.”
She crosses her arms and glares. “Well you still don’t Enzo. You can’t prove anything.”
“I can.” I step out from the hallway and show her my phone recording the entire conversation. She pales. She looks back at Enzo whose eyes are cold and hard.
George is still frozen behind the desk.
“And you George.” Enzo’s eyes fill with disappointment.
George looks ashamed. “She made me Enzo. She has dirt on me. Bad stuff.”
Anna glares at George once more.
“What kind of dirt?”
“She caught me having sex.”
“So?”
“With a man. She has pictures. I can’t let my kids see that.” George drops his head.
Enzo’s mouth falls open. Blackmail. Nice. Suddenly, his demeanor switches into action mode.
“George you’ll be transferred to another property. Anna you’re fired. If you ever come near me or any of my properties again I’ll make your life hell, do you understand me? And if you ever come near Ava, you’ll pay dearly.” His eyes burn with anger.
“I expect the pictures overnighted to me by Monday Anna. You can keep the money.”
I’m shocked. We aren’t calling the cops? She gets to keep the money she stole? I’m confused but remain quiet. Anna is glaring at me as she walks back to the store. Enzo follows her and stands in the doorway. Stephanie stands behind the counter, stunned. Anna stomps towards us, and I move to avoid her.
Enzo grabs her arm. “You better take me seriously Anna.”
She nods and quickly leaves the building.
“Stephanie,” Enzo walks to her. “How would you like to be the new manager of Sassy?”
257
Turn Towards the Sun
CHAPTER FIVE
Stephanie’s mouth falls open. “Me? You want me to be the manager?”
“You’ve been an effective assistant for over a year now, and I hear nothing but positive things about you. But the experience with Miss Bradshaw made my decision.”
She looks at me wide-eyed, and smiles.
“Regardless of the situation with Anna, I was going to find you a management spot. It just so happens, we have a sudden opening here at Sassy.”
A slight smile crosses Stephanie’s lips. “What happened to Anna?”
“Anna, will no longer be employed with Sassy or any other Disegno Inc. property.”
“I would love to run Sassy. I have some ideas that Anna wasn’t open to, if you’d like to hear them.”
“I would but not tonight. I’ll be back in the morning to discuss your new salary and responsibilities.”
Stephanie darts out from behind the counter and throws herself on me in a hug. Surprised, I giggle but hug her back. Enzo stands back, amused. “Thank you Miss Bradshaw.”
“It’s Ava. And I didn’t do anything other than let him know what a great job you were doing. You did the work Stephanie.”
She’s smiling so big her face might crack. Enzo makes another statement. “I don’t want to hear Anna’s name from this point forward. She did a good job for a long time but now she’s history. Got it?”
Stephanie nods her head. He turns to me and I smile, cocking my head a bit.
“Not just yet.” I mouth the words to him. He frowns. We say goodnight to Stephanie and head back to the car. Enzo makes a quick call to security and explains what they should be aware of.
“Enzo I’m confused. Why didn’t you call the police?”
“The police? Oh no no my bella. Something like this can’t make the news. Can you imagine how my guests would feel knowing they were staying in a resort with a criminal, possibly having interacted with her? And the media would embellish it trust me. No, better just to ruin her life for a while.”
I didn’t think about that.
“But she gets to keep the money?” I really don’t get that.
“Yes. It’s nothing to me, and she was willing to ruin her career for it. So let her have it. Besides it will ease her transition until she finds a new job.”
“I don’t understand why you are being so compassionate to someone so evil.” I huff.
“Ava, she’s not evil. She’s broken. Besides, it’s not compassion at work here, it’s good business. Trust me, I feel nothing for her. She is dead to me.”
“I’m not so sure that she’s not evil. The way she treated me was pretty bad and what she tried to do to you was worse. You trusted her.”
“Anna was a good manager for many years until she made the pass at me, and I rejected her. She’s been dealing with the rejection ever since. I’m sure the skimming started a couple of months ago but what pushed her over the edge was seeing a woman in my life. She hasn’t had to deal with that before. Ever.”
“But what she did to George was cruel. And why does he have to transfer?”
“Yes it was cruel. But again, this was a woman grasping at straws to survive. George just needs a fresh start without the whispers of his colleagues.”
“How can you trust that neither of them will go to the media directly?”
He cocks his head, then smiles. “I forget sometimes that you are new here. I’m very well-known in this town, and I have a reputation for being quite the ass if I’m crossed. Anna and George are both well aware of that reputation. They know I would make their lives miserable. I have a team of lawyers I call my pack of pit bulls.” He smiles ruefully. “No one is going to fuck with me and they make sure of it. They’ll be briefed in the morning.” He pulls into my apartment complex.
I don’t know why but his coldness and anger towards her is making me hot. Mr. Super Sexy.
“Are you hungry Ava?”
I nod. “I have pasta sauce from Paolo. Francesca brought it.”
“Perfect.”
I put a pot of water on to boil and get the sauce and pasta out. Enzo is sitting at my dining table watching me putz around my new kitchen, a huge grin on his face.
“What?”
“Come here.”
I walk towards him, and he wraps his arms around my hips pulling me into him, rubbing his face on my stomach. I feel my blouse rise and kisses across my bare stomach. I close my eyes and revel in the sensation. His tongue circles my belly button, creating the most divine sensation. Then his tongue traces my belly to the tip of my bra and back down around my belly button. His hands roam up my skirt to the tops of my thighs. I pull back and look into his eyes.
“Let’s not start this again.” I whisper and smile, referring to his comment the night before. He smiles back and sighs, releasing me. I walk back into the kitchen and throw the pasta in the boiling water. I pour the sauce in a saucepan to warm it. I grab the wine from last night and get two glasses. He’s still staring at me.
“Ava, I ca
n’t believe what you’ve done for me tonight.”
“I didn’t do anything except help a little.”
“You more than helped. Your actions saved me a lot of trouble and money. You were really looking out for me.”
“I could just tell that something didn’t seem right Enzo. And I felt that I should at least say something to you. The least I could do was interact one more time with The Bitch.”
He laughs. “You’ve got a mouth on you Miss Bradshaw.”
I swing around. “Oh you have no idea Mr. Milano.”
He stands and walks towards me, pulling me in his arms.
“I don’t want you to call me that anymore. My employees call me Mr. Milano. I want you to call me Enzo.” He kisses my lips. “I’ve never had a woman who was looking out for me, outside of my mother and my sisters. I can’t tell you how important this is to me that I know I can trust you and that you care about me.”
“Enzo I do. I do care for you.” We kiss deeper this time, the splashing of pasta water hitting the stove breaks us up.
“Let me finish dinner.” I pull myself away. I plate two dishes of pasta and bring them to the table. Enzo pours two glasses of the robust Nero D’ Avila wine. He stands and unbuttons his shirt and removes it, draping it over the back of his chair. I stand frozen, trying not to gawk at his physique. Again.
“What are you doing Enzo?”
“I’m never able to keep a red sauce from spotting my white shirts. I really don’t want to ruin another hundred and fifty dollar dress shirt. The safest bet is removal.”
An amusing thought crosses my mind. “Okay then. That sounds reasonable.” I pull my blouse over my head and drape it across my chair.
“What are you doing?”
“Solidarity dear Enzo.”
He laughs again. I love that sound. Then his mood shifts, softening.
“I can sleep here with you tonight?”
“You better.”
For a man of his power, he can be very vulnerable and insecure at times. He seems to need reassurance in a relationship. I wonder what caused this.
“I came back Ava. For you. Just like I said.”
“I know.” I’m grinning as wide as my mouth will stretch.
“I need to take a shower.” Enzo announces. My body tingles remembering the last one together.
“Would you like me to join you?” Please, please say yes.
“In the interest of water conservation I think that would be appropriate.” He says, with his sincerest tone. Then we both start laughing.
I gather the dishes and take them into the kitchen running hot water in the sink. Enzo stands to the side watching me as I quickly wash our plates, silverware, and wine glasses.
“Is this somehow interesting to you Enzo?” I smirk.
“A beautiful woman like you shouldn’t have to wash her own dishes.”
“It’s not hard to wash a couple of plates Enzo.”
He walks over and takes a plate to dry it. “I didn’t say it was hard Ava. I said you shouldn’t have to. That’s different.”
I look away.
“Ava you better just get used to the fact that I am going to give you the world. You can have almost anything you want. I can tell you’re not used to someone taking care of you. But I’m here now. And it’s my job to protect you, to take care of you, and to make sure you are happy. Your physical comfort is just as important to me as your emotional comfort. Do you understand?” He’s holding my hands in his now. I nod.
“Do you understand?”
“Yes Enzo, I do. And you’re right, I’m not used to it. And it’s all very nice, but I don’t know how to react to the money and the gifts.”
“Are you happy Ava?” He’s holding me close now, looking into my eyes.
“Yes.”
“Have I made your life a little easier?”
“Definitely.”
“Do you like me being around?”
“Absolutely.”
“Then can we stop all this nonsense? I’m going to keep giving things to you. I want you to feel like the most amazing, most special, most beautiful woman on the planet. Because to me you are.” He pauses, looking down.
My heart swells with emotion. I want to blurt out that I love him but there is no way I will. We’re not there yet. That’s impossible. Isn’t it?
He continues. “I know I’m falling for you. I know that meeting you has changed my life for the better. I only hope you feel the same about me.” He’s still looking down. And suddenly this very powerful man looks very fragile.
“Enzo.” He looks at me. “I feel the same way about you. I do. I’m a little overwhelmed but in a good way. I have no negative emotions here. I’m completely open to my feelings for you.”
He smiles. “You have feelings for me?” Again, sounding like a wounded child.
“Who hurt you Enzo?”
His eyes fill with surprise. He shakes his head like he’s trying to rid himself of the memory.
“I don’t want to talk about that right now. I just want to enjoy the rest of the evening. I want to strip you down and wash your gorgeous body. Then I want to pull you in my arms and sleep knowing I’ve found my dream girl.” He flashes his brilliant smile.
“Nice distraction technique.” He’s not ready to go there yet.
“Okay you win. Let’s hit the showers.”
I turn on the water as hot as we both can stand it and undress as the bathroom fills with steam. Enzo gets in first and holds my hand as I step in.
“Turn around.”
I feel his hands travel up my back and into my hair. He washes my hair, massaging my scalp in the process. It feels so good, and I want to return the favor. He leans back against me as I run my fingers through his hair rinsing out the shampoo.
He uses the sponge to wash me being careful not to touch me directly with his hands. I do the same to him mirroring his actions. It’s very difficult not to just jump him. I’ve never had a relationship with a man where we didn’t have sex right away except when I was a virgin back in the day. This is new and odd and strangely erotic.
We step out of the shower and go back to the bedroom. We dry off and climb into bed naked. I reach over to my nightstand and hand Enzo a bottle of lavender scented body cream.
“The weather is so dry here.”
He grins and gently pushes me onto my stomach. I hear him open the bottle and rub the lotion between his hands before applying it to my back. I’m reminded of the sunscreen moment except this time, I’m butt naked.
He moves in slow circular motions across my back and shoulders. He pours more cream on his hands and glides them over my ass and down my thighs. He bends each leg at the knee and massages my feet.
“Turn over.” I do as I’m told. He starts again at my shoulders and goes down the length of each arm. I’m breathing heavier now, hoping his hands will finally touch my aching breasts. Oh, he’s getting closer, come on, touch them please! He doesn’t. Dammit!
He moves across my stomach instead and down my legs.
“Enzo please.” I plead and squirm. He leans down and kisses me quickly. Straddling me, he pours more cream on his hands, rubbing them together. I love the feeling of his bare flesh touching mine, his erection resting on my stomach. I’m breathing so hard I might buck him off. He says nothing but starts to glide his hands over my shoulders again. Finally, he moves across my breasts, softly at first, then firmer, pinching both nipples as he moves. He squeezes them together and continues rubbing the cream into my skin. I’m moaning loudly at this point.
“Damn Ava.” His mouth finds mine in the faint light from the bathroom. His kiss is amazing, his mouth hot, his tongue sensuous. The faint hint of his stubble brushes across the delicate skin of my face. It’s delicious. Oh how I want to feel him inside me right now. I just can’t get enough.
He pulls away and rolls off of me. Quickly, he pulls me to him, my back to his front, and I can’t help but squirm a little when I feel the telltale hardnes
s pressed against the back of my leg.
“That’s enough. You’re going to get us both in trouble.” I feel his smile against my back. I move away just a bit to put some distance between me and the object of my desire. Still not time. I have no idea how he controls himself when it’s obvious he’s just as turned on as I am. He nuzzles his face in my wet hair and moves it to the side to kiss my neck.
“Ava. You’re so special to me.” He whispers. “I’ll tell you all about my past soon.” I nod my head and fall into a restless sleep, agitated with desire.
“Ava?” I open my eyes to see Enzo standing above me, dressed and chipper as usual. “Are you going to get up?”
I sit up startled, afraid I overslept. I blink and realize it’s not quite light out.
“What time is it?”
“Five.”
“Five? What the hell? I don’t have to be at work for three hours.” I flop back in my bed, exasperated.
“Bella, amore, please get up. Drink coffee with me.”
“Grrr.” I try my best growl and mean face. He’s not scared.
“Ava, if you get up earlier you can ease into your day. No rushing.”
“But I like sleep.” I whine like a child. He pulls the blanket down.
“Up.” He insists.
I grudgingly get out of bed and put my robe on. I walk sullenly to the kitchen and sit at the dining table while Enzo pours me a cup of coffee.
“I thought I told Checca to get you an espresso maker.”
“I told her I don’t drink it.”
“Well I do. So we’ll get you one.” He sips his coffee, eyes teasing me over the top of the cup.
“Am I going to have to get up at five every day with you around?”
“Not every day. We can sleep until seven on the weekends.”
“Ooh seven. You hedonist.” I smile even though I’m still cranky. He smiles back. He’s staring at me again. I don’t understand how he can be so sensual and seductive and somehow maintain such control. It’s clear he’s attracted to me, but he can just turn it off and on when he wants to. I wish I had his control. Mr. Contradiction. I shake my head.
“What are you thinking?”
Turn Towards the Sun Page 13
