A Starlet in Venice

by Tara Crescent

  Twelve years back, I hadn’t asked for help. I had kept it all bottled up inside me. But right now, at this moment, the only person I wanted was a phone call away, and I knew that if I reached out to him, he would be with me as fast as he possibly could.

  Liam would be there for me.

  Three was a number that had echoed throughout my life. There had been three of us in the orphanage. In my childhood, I had felt abandoned three separate times. I had three secrets, all revealed to Liam.

  I had run from Liam twice. After we made love for the first time, I’d sneaked out of his apartment like a thief in the middle of the night. When he’d tied me up, I’d retreated into myself, an involuntary reaction to something that had been done to me.

  Yet Liam had never turned away. He’d never been angry. He just waited for me.

  I wasn’t going to run from him a third time. This time, I was going to ask for help. My hand reached for my cellphone, and it was shaking as I made the most important phone call of my life. “Liam,” I said when he picked up. My voice sounded thin with fear and almost unrecognizable. “Liam, I need you.”

  ***

  Liam:

  I extracted a few key bits of information from her. She wasn’t in immediate danger. She wanted me. Something had happened that she wasn’t ready to talk about over the phone.

  Dingle was a difficult place to get to this late in the evening. There were no more flights out of Venice. I checked schedules and grimaced. It would be tomorrow afternoon by the time I got to Tia, and that just wasn’t acceptable. I called my boss, Antonio Moretti. Head of Thieves Guild, owner of Casanova, and probably half of Venice. And at that moment, what was most important was that he also owned a private plane.

  “Tia just called for help,” I told him. “I need to borrow your plane.”

  You had to hand it to Antonio. One of his employees called and asked to borrow his plane, and he didn’t even bat an eyelid. “Is she alright?” he asked me quickly. “What’s the matter?”

  “She didn’t say. No immediate danger.”

  “And she reached out for help?” He sounded both astonished and worried. “Tia never asks for help. You guys are dating, yes?”

  “We are.” Tia was like family to Antonio, I knew that. I had three sisters. I understood his protectiveness. But I also liked Antonio, and I didn’t think this was going to be a pissing match.

  It wasn’t. “Good,” was all he said. “Are you going to Dingle?”

  “Yes.” I was too worried about Tia for polite chitchat, and given his focus on the details, so was Antonio.

  “Keep her safe. I’ll call and have them prepare the plane. It will be ready for you by the time you get to the airport.”

  “Thank you, Antonio.”

  He ignored that. “Tell her to call me and let me know what’s going on, for fuck’s sake,” he grumbled instead.

  “Will do.” Despite my worry, I had to smile a little. I recognized that tone. It appeared on the surface to be irritation, but it wasn’t – it was thinly disguised concern. They were family, Antonio and Enzo and Tia. They worried for each other.

  Chapter 14

  Liam:

  I’d taken Antonio’s private plane and arrived in Dingle, and I’d headed instantly to her bed-and-breakfast, and it wasn’t until I had her folded into my arms that my worry dimmed a little. Then I heard why she’d called me and I was furious all over again.

  But she had called me. If she had wanted Mark Driscoll killed or hurt, she would have called Antonio or Enzo. So, I held her against my body, and she snuggled into my chest, and I swallowed back my rage at the asshole who had hurt Tia once, and then dared to walk back into her life again.

  “What do you want to happen to him?” I kept my voice steady with effort.

  Hers was thoughtful. “I don’t want him to end up in the canal floating face down. I don’t want him to be beaten to a bloody pulp. Not that I don’t think he deserves either of these fates, but I also know it’ll just haunt me.”

  With difficulty, I nodded. I hated letting this jerk walk free.

  “I just want to move past this. I can’t work with him every day.”

  “And if he is fired?”

  “Just that? No violence?”

  “Tell me why, Tia.” My voice was hard and insistent. “Tell me why he gets to walk away after what he did to you.”

  And so she did. She told me, her voice soft and remembering, of the number of times she’d watched Antonio and Enzo being beaten at the orphanage. Of how she never had any power to stop it, and how she never wanted to be exposed to violence again. She just wanted to forget it all and live. She just wanted to reach for the light.

  I looked at her. “You are the light, rabbit. Okay. Fired it will be.”

  She drew a deep breath of relief. “How?”

  I hadn’t been idle on the plane. I’d done my research, found out who just bought the show Tia was working on. It was owned by an Irish company, and I had contacts up and down Ireland, England and Venice. “I know people,” I shrugged. “I can call in some favours.” I grinned at her to lighten the mood. “Claire went to school with the guy who owns the production company that just bought your show. He used to have a huge crush on her. He’s going to be broken-hearted when he hears about Christophe.”

  Donal was also a Dom and he was a frequent attendee of a club I’d worked for in London many, many years ago, but I didn’t mention that to Tia. I knew people’s secrets; that was a by-product of what I did. The reason Donal would pick up my phone call in the middle of the night was because I also knew how to keep them.

  Her voice was very quiet. “Thank you, Liam. Thank you for doing this my way.”

  I kissed her. “You are my girlfriend, rabbit. Your opinion is never inconsequential. What you want is always going to be the most important thing to me.”

  ***

  I walked away to the dining room of Tia’s B&B to make my phone call. When Donal answered, I just laid it out for him. “He raped my girlfriend when she was seventeen.” My voice was flat. I didn’t mention the pregnancy or the abortion. That was Tia’s secret to keep or reveal.

  Donal exhaled into the line. “Sadly, I’m not entirely surprised. There have been rumours, but I’ve been reluctant to act on rumours. You want him dead?” His voice was matter-of-fact.

  “She doesn’t want him harmed, and I respect that. Fire him instead.”

  “Done,” Donal said promptly. “And Liam, your girlfriend might be the sweetest person in the world, but I don’t let assholes like that walk away without consequences.”

  “I want what she wants.” No matter what I personally thought about Tia’s decision, externally, we spoke with one voice.

  “He’ll never work in the industry again, and there’ll be charges brought up on something. Tax evasion, maybe. He’ll see a minimum of ten years if that’s the last thing I do.” Donal’s voice was seething with suppressed anger. In the club in London, Donal was known as a hard Dom. Tough but fair. But everything between him and his submissives was consensual. What Mark Driscoll had done to Tia wasn’t.

  Donal hated jerks who preyed on women. I could tell that he was personally offended by this, and I could understand. Donal felt that his judgement had failed. He would do everything in his power to make amends. Tia didn’t know it, but her desire for peace was truly the only thing standing between Mark Driscoll and death.

  “Works for me,” I replied. I only promised Tia that he wouldn’t be beaten or killed. As far as I was concerned, I’d kept my promise. The louse could go to jail, where he’d be unable to harm another young defenseless girl again for a long time. And if there was any fairness in the universe, prison wouldn’t be kind to him.

  ***

  “Done,” I told her when I went back to her room.

  She gave me a peculiar look. “Just like that?”

  “Should I have drawn it out more, rabbit? I called a friend.”

  “You called Antonio too to borrow his
plane,” she said.

  I eyed her. There was something in her tone. “I can’t do everything by myself, Tia.”

  “And I can’t either.” Her voice was very soft. “It’s a learning experience watching you reach out and ask for help. My parents didn’t want me. Antonio and Enzo left, and I thought it was just me making decisions for me.”

  “Maybe it was true once, rabbit,” I said to her gently, “but it isn’t true anymore. Antonio and Enzo will walk into a burning building for you. Antonio almost literally just handed me the keys to his plane because he was so worried about you.”

  “And you?” she teased. “Will you walk into a burning building for me?”

  “Does it need said, Tatiana? Nine months of aching celibacy, and you have to ask how much I love you?”

  “Wait what? Nine months of celibacy? Explain,” she demanded.

  My lips twitched at her tone. “I’ve been in love with you for months.”

  “But you didn’t approach me?” It was a question disguised as a statement, and I answered her, because despite how utterly beautiful and perfect and sweet and kind and clever she was, my rabbit didn’t believe that people could fall in love with her. In lust, maybe, but not in love.

  “That’s what every single guy who sees you does. If this was going to be real, you had to want me.”

  She tilted her head and considered my words, then she honed in on the other part of what I’d said. “When did you know you were in love with me?”

  I groaned. Women. “Rabbit, if we are going to do this, I insist we do it naked. Take off your clothes.”

  “Yes Sir.” She winked at me, but sweetly and obediently, she followed directions.

  ***

  When the immediate distraction of a naked, wriggling Tia had been dealt with, we lay back on the bed, our skin flushed and sweaty. “Okay, tell me now,” she insisted.

  I kissed her knuckles. “It was the first time you came over in a t-shirt and shorts. You looked embarrassed, and all I could do was think – god, this is the most beautiful woman in the world, and she’s shown me a little bit of herself that the outside world doesn’t get to see. And it felt so special.”

  “Do you want to know when I fell in love with you?” she asked when she’d finished kissing me.

  “Sure,” I said easily. “But I’ll settle for you just saying the words.”

  She looked stricken. “I never did, did I?” She sounded horrified. “Liam, I’m so sorry. Of course I love you.”

  I chuckled and hugged her. “I was kind of assuming that when you called me for help, rabbit.” I dodged the kick she aimed at me. But I was greedy for the details as well. “When?” I asked.

  “I’m considering not telling you,” she threatened, but it wasn’t a serious threat. She was too sweet for that. “It was the first time you cooked for me.”

  “That was months ago,” I protested.

  She grinned. “Right then, I knew.”

  “That’s all it took? A meal?” I tried not to sound disbelieving.

  “The way to my heart is through my stomach,” she said smugly. “Are you sorry we didn’t get together sooner?”

  I considered it. “I don’t know,” I told her finally. “Here, now. I’m exactly where I want to be. If we’d been involved sooner, would we have flamed and died? Who can tell?”

  “True,” she conceded. “I know that I’m not just tits and ass and pussy to you.”

  I winced. I hated that phrase. I hated how it reduced my girlfriend to her fuckable parts, when she was so much more than that. “You forgot mouth,” I teased her though, like I always did, and she laughed too, like she always did.

  “Let me correct that,” she breathed, before she slithered down my body to my cock. Her tongue reached out and licked my head delicately, and my cock stirred instantly to attention. Before we got too distracted though, I pulled her back towards me.

  “Thank you for calling me.” Antonio was right; Tia didn’t ask for help. It had mattered that she had reached out to me.

  She looked at me quite seriously. “I’m learning,” she said. “You’ll have to be patient with me.”

  I’d been in love with this woman for months. Patience? I had it in spades. Tia was worth every bit of the wait. “I can do that,” I told her. “Now, I believe you promised me a blowjob?”

  “Yes Sir,” she winked, before lowering her mouth onto my dick again.

  Epilogue

  Liam:

  For a few moments, I watched my vision of a girlfriend juggle her plate, her drink and her purse, before I went to help her out, grabbing the glass of champagne from her hands.

  “Thanks,” she said gratefully. “I was in complete danger of spilling it down my dress.”

  My eyes slowly surveyed her, from her face, tracing a path to her lush breasts, going down the curve of her waist, and the sensual drape of her hips, before coming up to meet her eyes again. Lust shimmered in her eyes when I was done. “Liam,” she chided, though I could hear the heat in her voice. “Stop that.”

  “There’s a bathroom around the corner,” I told her. “Want a quickie?”

  She laughed. “Tempting,” she said. “But I’m pretty sure that Antonio and Lucia would kill both of us if we miss their wedding reception.”

  I glanced around. I saw Antonio watching Lucia with the same possessive heat in his eyes that I felt in my heart every time I looked at Tatiana. And when Lucia looked over at him, she looked at him with the same gaze.

  “It’s worked out pretty well for the three of us,” Tia’s voice was thoughtful. “Who would have thought it?”

  “Who would have thought what?” Enzo’s voice interjected, and we nodded cordially to each other.

  “Look at us,” she replied, her hand gesturing to the glittering room. It was lit with crystal chandeliers and the light of a thousand candles. The air was fragrant with the heavy scent of roses and lilies. The gold trim on the plates sparkled, and the light caught the glassware. “You, Antonio, me. It’s a far cry from the orphanage.”

  Enzo surveyed the room as well. “Crazy,” he said.

  “Insane,” she agreed.

  “A toast?” I asked, feeling less like an interloper as Alice walked up and wound her hand through Enzo’s.

  “We’ll need Antonio,” Enzo said, raising his hand to draw Antonio’s attention. I saw his dark gaze run over the assembled group, and he smiled, whispering something to Lucia before they both threaded their way to us.

  “All the troublemakers, in one spot,” Enzo said dryly. “Liam suggested a toast.”

  “An excellent idea,” Lucia smiled. She looked radiant. I’d never seen her look happier. Come to think of it, I’d never seen Antonio look happier either.

  We raised our glasses and took sips of champagne.

  ***

  Tatiana:

  Liam had protested about resuming my submissive training. But I’d begged and I’d pleaded, and I’d pointed out that I wanted to be trained.

  He’d insisted that he was going to be responsible this time around, and so I went back to a therapist, who helped me work through any lingering issues. Largely though, telling Liam my secrets had been the catalyst to healing. Wounds fester only when they are covered. When my wound met air, the healing process had taken root.

  Eventually, there was submissive training again. There was delicious, dark, stinging punishment and there was glorious longing and clenched desire, and there was sweet reward. There was rope, and there were ties and there were cuffs, and my obvious dripping lust had finally convinced Liam to stop taking it easy on me.

  I took one sip of my champagne, before handing it back to him. One sip was okay, and only today, just to toast two of my best friends on a new journey. Liam’s eyes widened slightly as he noticed that I wasn’t drinking, and he gave me a probing look. He didn’t miss much, Liam.

  I nodded slightly. He’d been away all day, and I hadn’t had a chance to talk to him before we rushed to the wedding. He paled and
gulped down my unfinished champagne.

  “Wow,” he whispered into my ear, when some guests had distracted the others. “Really?”

  “I peed on a stick today, but I haven’t seen a doctor. It could be a false alarm.” I eyed him. “Is that okay if I’m pregnant?”

  He laughed, a sound of pure happiness. “Far, far more than okay,” he said. “But you do realize you have to marry me? I mean, the Callahans, they’ll deal with their lesbian daughter, they’ll deal with their unmarried children sleeping with their significant others under their roof, but if I don’t marry you, I will get disowned.”

  “Is that the only reason you want to marry me?” I teased him. We’d been dating for almost a year. We’d talked about marriage, and when we’d stopped using condoms, we’d talked about the possibility of children. I knew he’d be ecstatic when he heard that I might be pregnant, and I was thrilled as well. Liam would make an amazing father.

  “Pretty much.” His voice was amused, and he winked at me. His hand pulled me into his body, and he kissed me briefly, before letting me go. “I love you, Tatiana,” he said huskily.

  “I love you too,” I said. I laughed as a thought struck me. “Can you imagine Enzo and Antonio as doting uncles?”

  “Funnily enough, absolutely. They’ll be utter mush. This kid will be the most spoiled kid in all of Venice and Cork.”

  ***

  There’d been three of us, together at the orphanage.

  Enzo, who had taken the beatings for all of us, had become a policeman who protected those that couldn’t protect themselves.

  Antonio had run away when he was thirteen, and gone on to become the head of Thieves Guild.

  My TV show had been picked up for the third season. The reviews were gushing. We were all the rage on Netflix. I had my own Wikipedia page, and an offer of a Hollywood role. And now, I was pregnant.