The Crime of Protection

by Gloria Martin

“Where are we headed again?” She asked.

  “Paris, France,” Jack answered.

  “Then I think I was in the right place at the right time,” she told them happily. Whatever happened, she knew her life would never be boring.

  THE END

  Bonus Story 7/40

  The Date

  Enrico

  “No dad,” I answered firmly, determined to stick to my guns with this one. My father might be the powerful sort of man that can boss the rest of the world around, but I’m not having it. I flatly refuse to. “I won’t do it.”

  “Son, don’t be so ridiculous. It’s just one date – a few hours. If you do this right, it will secure things between me and Mr. Bellingham.” Then he landed the final shot. “This is your future we’re talking about here, your inheritance. Don’t you want to work towards that now, to make it great before you even get it?”

  This was what it always came down to – the business that my father ran, the one that he wanted to pass onto me. The one that I wasn’t even sure that I wanted.

  I knew that my father’s company was a well-established front for something more – he was pretty open about that with me, but I’d made it clear for a very long time that I wasn’t even slightly interested in anything he did that involved breaking the law.

  He kept telling me that I needed to grow up, that I couldn’t escape it forever, but I wasn’t certain that I actually wanted to follow in his footsteps. I was secretly harboring a secret desire to make a better life for myself. One as an artist, but of course I couldn’t tell him that.

  If only my mother hadn’t died in childbirth. I often found myself wondering how different my life would have been had she been around.

  “But dad I don’t even know Bella…” I protested a little further.

  “Don’t give me that.” He gave me a wry smile. “You’ve been on plenty of dates in your life young man, you know how to treat a lady.”

  He was right of course. Girls seemed to go wild for my dark skin, my hazelnut eyes and my tall muscular figure. It was safe to say that I was a bit of a stud in high school – but that was just something else that I’d been changing as I’d grown older, and of course dad hadn’t noticed. He only saw what he wanted to see.

  “But…”

  “There are no buts,” he finally commanded, ending the conversation. “I need you to take her out, and I need you to show her the time of her life. I don’t know what is holding her father back from this merger, but I need you to either find out, or give such a damn good impression that she goes home talking you up to him.”

  “Do you really think that this will work?” I asked doubtfully.

  “Of course it will,” he replied, waving his hand dismissively at me. “I trust you.”

  And there it was. Those words sending daggers through my heart once more. How could he trust me, when he didn’t even damn well know me?

  “Here’s her number, text her now.”

  As he handed me the slip of paper, I noticed a little something in his eyes. Something that showed that maybe, just maybe he didn’t quite trust me after all.

  “Okay, okay.” I muttered, feeling more and more like a petulant teenager the more I spoke.

  I quickly wrote, feeling stupid the entire time, and hit send before I could talk myself out of it.

  Hi Bella,

  It’s Enrico Abattelli. We briefly met around Christmas time when our fathers were meeting, I’m not sure if you remember?

  Anyway I just wanted to know if you’d like to go out for a drink sometime?

  E

  I felt like an idiot as I re-read my words, but then I forced myself not to care. I wasn’t actually trying to impress this chick – in fact, it would get me out of it if she said no! It would save us both a big hassle.

  I mean, it wasn’t like she wasn’t very good looking with her long auburn hair, her violet colored eyes and her rocking body – but I wasn’t interested. I wanted my next date to be serious, to be with someone I actually wanted to be with. I felt like I was done fooling around with everyone that walks. I felt like I’d moved on from that version of me – and that this dumb date would push me backwards.

  Plus, Bella was a prissy bitch.

  When I met her, she seemed to stick her nose up at me, almost as if she knew that I was beneath her. Sure, she came from old money, whereas my dad earned his money recently… in his own unique way, but that was no reason for her to pass judgment on me!

  I would just have to hope that she refused, because the more that I thought about it, the more a night in her presence seemed like a bad idea.

  One that would not end well.

  *****

  Bella

  “Urgh, daddy no,” I whined, praying for him to look at me. “He’s dreadful. I don’t want to go on a date with him. I only told you because I thought you’d instantly see how inappropriate it is, and that you’d finally realize that the Abattelli family is not one that you should be going into business with.”

  I wasn’t even sure why my father was giving these vulgar people the time of day. They were crass, rude, and had a terrible reputation in the community. Sure, we’d been losing money recently, and I knew that he was worried about what the future held for us, but there had to be another solution, surely?

  “Bella, I just want you to spend an hour with the guy, find out more about him and his family. I’m not asking for the world. You’re very perceptive, and I know you think that they are bad news – if you can prove that to me, then I’ll halt what we’re doing.”

  Even as he said that he was hesitant, like he really didn’t want to give up this merger – it was the only thing that would keep his business afloat in his eyes.

  “Why can’t Pru go?” I whined. “She loves going on dates,” I finished cruelly. My sister was famous for her… open behavior, but of course daddy didn’t want to see that side of her. He wanted to believe that she was sweet and innocent, his little princess.

  “Your sister is engaged,” he snapped back, causing me to roll my eyes. Engaged for the third time in as many years wasn’t something to celebrate as far as I was concerned. “Enrico obviously wants to go out with you. Come on Bella,” he pleaded. “Just do this for me?”

  And then he killed me by giving me the puppy dog eyes – the ones that showed me that if I didn’t do this then I was never going to hear the end of it.

  “Fine,” I finally replied. “Whatever.”

  Thanks Enrico,

  That sounds lovely. Friday at 8pm?

  Bella

  There. At least if I did it early on a Friday, I’d be able to go out afterwards. This shitty ‘date’ wouldn’t have to ruin my entire evening.

  “Done. Happy?”

  But of course daddy didn’t answer. He was involved in his paperwork once more, so I stormed out of his office and stomped up into my bedroom.

  Of course, I wasn’t going to get the privacy that I so badly needed, because I could hear mum and Prudence arguing in her room, just across the hallway from mine, and I had to find out what was going on.

  “…I just can’t understand why…”

  “What’s going on?” I went around the door with a gleeful look on my face. Me and my sister had been raised by an army of nanny’s – which it seemed that mother had finally started to feel bad about (nineteen years too late in my opinion), and because of this she kept trying to instill discipline. Pru was twenty-three, she was an adult now, she’d already been everywhere and done everything. There was no way my mum was going to win this never ending battle with her.

  Luckily, Pru was terrible, so much worse than me, which meant that she needed much more attention than I did, leaving me to live my life in relative peace.

  “Just fuck off Bella,” my sister snarled, shooting me an evil look, which just made me happier. Sure, she was my sister and I loved her because of that, but our disjointed childhood, plus my underlying jealousy because of how much prettier and smarter than me she’d always been, had
led to an extremely competitive relationship between us.

  One that simply grew nastier as we got older.

  “Don’t speak to your sister like that,” mum snapped, starting to grow weary. “And Bella, keep your nose out.”

  “But mum, I need to talk to you,” I improvised. “Dad’s being really unreasonable again.”

  “What is it this time?” she asked, sounding like she wished that she’d never started any of this.

  “He’s making me go out with Enrico to find out information…”

  “Oh good lord!” Pru jumped in. “He’s making you go out on a date! Shock, horror. Although I suppose for someone as frigid as you…”

  She smirked, sending humiliation burning through my body. She was referring to my status as a virgin, which pissed me off more than anything else. I’d confided it to her one night when we’d actually been getting along, and we’d been drunk on peach schnapps, and she’d held it over me ever since.

  I just hadn’t found the right person, that was all.

  There were so many things that I wanted to yell back. But I wouldn’t. I might make snide comments about Pru’s slutty behavior, but there was no way that I’d just drop her in it in front of mother. Even if she did do it to me. I would remain classy, always.

  So instead, I turned and stalked from the room.

  *****

  Enrico

  I rolled into the bar at twenty past eight, knowing that turning up fashionably late was going to piss off this stuck up bitch, but to my surprise she wasn’t anywhere to be seen. I ended up searching the place high and low, before sitting at the bar and ordering myself a drink.

  At first, I was a little put out – I’d never been stood up before in my entire life – but then I quickly realized that this was actually good news. It wasn’t like I had any interest in my dad’s end game, so at least I could say that I’d turned up and that she hadn’t bothered.

  But just as I was getting to the end of my beer, just as I was about to leave at quarter to nine, she breezed in under a cloud of sweet, floral smelling perfume.

  Urgh, what a posh, annoying cow!

  “Oh,” she said, shocked as if she hadn’t expected me to wait this long for her. Clearly she didn’t want to do this either – I wondered if she’d been talked into it too. Both of our dads keeping an eye on one another, through us. I thought the game playing stopped when you grew up, but clearly not. Adults were still just as bad. “Hello.”

  “What can I get you to drink?” As I asked her this, I could see her eyeing the joint with distain. It wasn’t a rundown, shit hole, it was actually a really nice establishment, but she clearly didn’t want to see that. She just wanted to be a bitch as always.

  And that was the exact moment that I decided if everyone around me was going to play games, then I would too. I was going to tease and rile up this chick, make her mad and horny, see how far I could push her, then I would leave her all alone. Crazed and by herself.

  “Cider?” I teased. “A lager?”

  “I think I’ll have some champagne,” she replied snootily, looking me up and down. If she wanted to look at me with disgust too, then she failed miserably. I could see the familiar spark of desire behind her eyes – one that I was very used to seeing – and I realized that she didn’t want to admit it, but that she did actually like me.

  Hmmm, that was interesting.

  “So…” I handed her a drink, about to ask her something about herself before she jumped in, interrupting me.

  “Look, I’m not going to beat around the bush here, I don’t want to be here – and I’m pretty sure that you don’t either.” Okay, she was perceptive. That was good to know. “So maybe we should just finish this drink, and head home. Then we’ve both performed our obligations without ruining our entire evening.”

  “Performed our obligations?” I found myself exclaiming. “Wow, that’s real nice for me – the guy who just wanted to get to know you a little better.” I wasn’t sure why I was arguing – she was basically offering me exactly what I wanted – but the way she went about it just got my back up.

  “Oh come on…!” she tried to respond, but I was having none of it. I’d affected her now, and that was too much fun to back off from.

  “No, do you know how hard it is to work up the courage to ask someone out on a date?” I started to really get into my role. “And then for you to treat me like that… well, it’s just incredibly hurtful.”

  “I…”

  There was no way I was allowing her to get a word in edgeways now. This was far too much fun!

  “And now I don’t even… if you don’t want to be here…” I could tell that I was actually getting to her, that my stupid little speech was cracking her ice cold veneer, so I decided to land the finishing touch. “I had such nice plans for us too…”

  A girl like her, one that had the entire world handed to her on a plate from the moment that she was born, she wouldn’t be able to resist my offer. I knew that she’d be intrigued, and if I combined that with the desire she felt for me, then it wouldn’t be long until she was putty in my hands.

  I grab hold of her fingers, noticing a spark of electricity flowing between us, and I turned my tone to sincere. “But if you want to go, I completely understand.”

  She was conflicted. She’d spent all week wanting this date over with as quickly as possible, and now that I’d told her to leave, she was too intrigued to do so.

  “No, no,” she answered vaguely, as if she wasn’t quite sure what she was saying. “No, I’ll stay. That sounds… yes, it sounds nice.”

  “Great,” I grinned, showing her my dimples.

  Now I only had one problem. What was I going to do that was special?!

  *****

  Bella

  “So, what are we going to do tonight?” As I heard myself asking those words, I wondered what the hell had happened to me. All of my intentions to come right in being a bitch had just flown out of the window after his rant, and now for some reason, I found myself actually wanting to stay, to spend more time with him.

  I’d been so convinced that he was being pushed into this as much as me, that it was a bit of a shock when all of that seemingly genuine emotion came spilling out.

  Sure, I didn’t have much experience with guys – as Pru liked to remind me constantly – but I was pretty sure that I was accurate with what was going on here.

  Enrico actually liked me!

  “We’re going dancing.”

  He smiled at me, making me melt inside far more than I wanted to. I didn’t like the reaction he caused within me, it conflicted with what my brain knew was best for me.

  “Dancing?!” I exclaimed, taken aback by how unprepared I was for that. “Where?”

  “I know this great little club…”

  “Oh wonderful.” I practically snarled. “A nightclub.”

  But he didn’t react to my snarky comment, he just sent me another smile, and gulped down the rest of his drink.

  I imitated him, wanting the alcohol to hit me quickly. I had the feeling that if I was going to be expected to dance, then I would need to be more than a little tipsy to make it work for me.

  I wasn’t much of a dancer. Sure, I could move well, but I always felt a little self-conscious that people were watching me, and I didn’t like that.

  As soon as my glass was empty too, Enrico gripped hold of my hand and led me out of the bar. I kind of wish we could have stayed there. I tried to act otherwise, but I actually really liked it in there. It had the exclusivity of the sort of venue that only caters for the super-rich, but it also had a nice chill out vibe, that most of them miss out on.

  Enrico continued to hold my hand as we walked down the street to wherever he was taking me, and I didn’t actually mind. The guy that I’d briefly seen all those months ago – I realized that I’d made a snap judgment about him without even speaking to him. Just because I knew that his father wanted to buy out our company, and because I’d heard about his reputat
ion, I’d made a decision about Enrico too.

  Maybe I’d been wrong about everything. Maybe I wasn’t quite as perceptive as I liked to think I was.

  “Here,” he finally announced, as we stood outside of a building so small that it could have been someone’s home.

  “Here?!” I asked stunned. I’d been expecting to go to one of the tacky, over the top nightclubs with lame VIP areas that were supposed to be for people like me, but that were always filled with giggly, airhead groupies that drove me mad.

  He didn’t say anything. Instead he just tugged on my arm and I quickly found myself in a cool, tiny jazz club that had only a few people inside.

  As Enrico went up to the bar, he was greeted like an old friend, which left me wondering what sort of person he really was. I’d assumed so much about him, but now I was finding myself surprised at how different he seemed. He wasn’t like anyone I’d ever met before, and I wasn’t sure what to do about that. I liked being in control, knowing exactly where I stood, and all of this was throwing me completely off balance.

  “Come on.” He sat two glasses down on the table in front of me, and held out his hand.

  “What?” I asked dumbly, wondering why he wasn’t allowing me to get drunk.

  “Come on, I said we were going dancing, so let’s dance.”

  “But…” I wanted to protest, but as there was hardly anyone there I couldn’t see what I could say. It wasn’t like I was going to be under the scrutiny of the bitchy upper classes anyway, so maybe I should give it a go. “Okay.”

  Instead of standing across me on the dance floor like I’d expected him too, he pulled my body close into his, molding me against him, and we swayed – even though it didn’t really fit in time with the music.

  This allowed me to feel comfortable. If we were dancing out of time on purpose, then that was fine.

  But as I relaxed, I realized that my heart was fluttering ferociously, that my fingers were trembling under his touch, and that a hot fire had burst into my stomach.