Dark Masquerade: A Bad Boy Billionaire Romance

by Michelle Love

  Why was he at the party in the first place? Why had Indio looked at her like that? If he didn’t want to speak to her, he could have just smiled and nodded, then walked away. She would know, then, that he was happy and safe—that he still cared, but he still had to go away from her. That would have been fine, Elli thought. But the anger in his eyes …what had she done to deserve it? Why does he hate me?

  And then there were the phone calls. Her stalker was back, and his threats were ever more violent and descriptive. Aldo reported it to the police and even had his own people try to trace the calls to no avail. It was remarkable how much her tormentor could say in under a minute, the threats keeping her sleepless and scared.

  Elli finally decided that she needed to be proactive. She went to Maceo Bartoli’s gallery and asked to see him. People obviously couldn’t just stroll straight in and ask to speak to such an important man, but as soon as the receptionist gave Maceo Elli’s name, he hurried downstairs.

  Maceo was surprised but delighted to see her. He gave her a hug and kissed her cheeks. “Elli, please, come in. I’ll make some coffee.”

  She went into his plush office, the one he shared with Ori, and there was artwork everywhere, both desks piled high with papers. Maceo brewed some coffee, and they sat on one of the velvet couches next to the huge glass window, overlooking the Lagoon. The beautiful afternoon light reflecting off the water almost brought Elli a sense of peace, as it once had. Almost, but not quite.

  They chatted informally for a few minutes before Maceo got to the point, obviously busy. “So, what can I do for you, Elli? I’m sorry Ori isn’t here, but she’s gone to Milan with Lucia to see an artist, despite the fact she’ll give birth any moment, the crazy woman. She never stops. She’ll be sorry she missed you.”

  “And I, her, Maceo, but it’s you I’ve come to see.” Elli took a deep breath. “I need to ask you about one of your guests, and I hope it’s not overstepping, but this guest and I go way back.”

  Maceo’s smile faded and he sighed. “Indio.”

  Elli was shocked. “You …you know about Indio and me?”

  Maceo nodded. “I have been friends with Indio for the last few years. He doesn’t often come back to Venice; once, when we were drinking, I asked him why. He told me that the woman he loved was in Venice and that if he saw her, he would break her heart again. I saw you two staring at each other at the party and guessed who that woman was.”

  Elli’s heart was beating out of her chest and she almost stood up from the couch, so wired were her nerves suddenly. “He loves me?”

  “Completely. But he’s also haunted, I think, by his past. There was another woman, a woman he loved. I’ve never known the whole story, but I think she died.”

  “Yvetta.” Elli’s heart was sinking and she closed her eyes. God, it couldn’t be true that Indio would kill another person, a woman …but the hatred she had seen in his eyes that night at the party …

  “Elli? Are you okay?”

  Maceo leaned forward as she opened her eyes, his handsome face creased with concern, and Elli nodded.

  “Maceo …was there something going on between Indio and Aldo at one time? A business deal, or a friendship perhaps?” It was a question she desperately needed an answer to, while simultaneously dreading it.

  Maceo looked uncomfortable. “Elli, you should know that I don’t know Aldo all that well. He sought me out about a year ago, wanting some paintings for his house and also to commission an artist for a painting. We got to talking and he mentioned his fiancée had been murdered, and that he knew Ori had been attacked a few years ago, and did I have any advice? I just told him that it never gets easier, losing someone you love. Thankfully, Ori survived, but the man who attacked her killed three of my friends. Aldo seemed a little …lost. When we saw him with you, he looked like a new man.” He smiled at her and Elli felt the tension lift a little. “Elli, all I can tell you is to follow your heart, whether it be Indio or Aldo. Don’t be afraid to get hurt because it’ll happen anyway.”

  He got up and went to his desk, scribbling something down on a piece of paper. “Indio will probably kill me for this, but here.” He handed it to Elli. It was an address out in the countryside. “It’s where Indio is hiding out. He still designs and builds houses, except now he doesn’t have to advertise his business. Go to him. Talk. Be happy.”

  Elli stared at the address, thoughts tumbling through her, before she got to her feet. “Thank you, Maceo. I mean it. And good luck with the baby.”

  Maceo grinned. “Thank you. I can’t wait to see him or her. I’ll let you know when the baby arrives.”

  They exchanged a goodbye kiss on the cheek and Ellie departed, feeling lighter as she walked home from the gallery through the streets and over the bridges, breathing in the smells of the canals, the street food, and the people. She would go and see Indio and finally have it out with him—seek closure so she could give herself entirely to Aldo, as he deserved.

  There was a small hope inside her that Indio would beg her to stay with him, to love him, and Elli knew, in her heart, she would go.

  No, stop it. You’re going to him for closure and that’s it. Aldo loves you and you love him. Elli drew in a deep breath and when she got back to her apartment, she was happy to see Aldo waiting for her outside. He smiled at her, but it didn’t quite cover the hurt in his eyes.

  “I haven’t seen you for days,” he said lightly. “So, I thought I’d come to you. I was about to text you to see if you were nearby.”

  Elli took his hand and led him upstairs. She made him sit with her on her couch. “Aldo …I haven’t been honest with you and I’m sorry. Please know this first …I love you. You are the best man for me in this world.”

  “Why do I sense a ‘but?’” Aldo’s eyes were wary even though he stroked her cheek with his hand.

  “But,” she smiled to soften the blow. “For years now, there has been someone who I have been …preoccupied with. My brother’s best friend. As you know, I saw him at the party, and since then, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about ‘what might have been.' I need closure. I need closure so that I can finally put him behind me and give myself entirely to you.”

  Aldo was studying her. “Why haven’t you told me this before?”

  Elli chewed her lip. “Right now, I can’t tell you. I suppose I never thought this would be an issue. I’m going to see him, to talk things over, to put it to rest.”

  Aldo was silent for a long moment, his big body tense. He looked at her. “Elli, you have to do what you think is right. Go see him, seek the closure. Then come back and tell me if you want me. Whatever happens when you see him stays there. Whatever happens.”

  Eli was a little shocked. “Aldo, I’m not going to do anything but talk to him.”

  He looked at her a little sadly. “Are you sure?”

  No. “Of course I am.” She leaned forward and kissed him, trying to ease some of that tension; it was a little frightening, seeing his huge, muscled body so tense. Elli realized he could easily break her in two without even trying.

  Why would you think that right now? She shook her head and wrapped her arms around Aldo’s neck. “Take me to bed, Aldo. Let me show you how much you mean to me.”

  He pulled her roughly into his arms, kissing her fiercely, and rolling her under him on the couch. He pushed up her skirt and ripped her panties away, Elli gasping as the cotton snapped against her skin. Aldo was rock-hard as she freed his cock from his pants, and then he was driving his cock into her, hard and mercilessly. Elli gasped at the violence of it, but was turned on by his lust. She clung to him as he fucked her, ramming his hips against hers. then pinning her hands above her head. His eyes seemed to darken from hazel-green to dark brown as they bore into hers, his face almost angry.

  Elli arched her back as she came, and Aldo withdrew, moving down her body, biting at her breasts and belly, then clamping to her sex and teasing her clit until she was almost weeping with desire. Then his cock was back
inside her, punishing her, slamming into her with such force the couch was moving. Finally, Aldo came hard, groaning her name again and again and pumping thick, creamy semen deep into her cunt.

  “God, I love you. I love you,” he said, burying his face in her neck. “Don’t ever leave me. Please don’t leave me …if you do, I’ll …god, I love you, Elli, Elli, Elli …”

  Eli held him in her arms, shocked at the emotion he was displaying—the vulnerability. How could she think of Indio when this man in her arms loved her and needed her so entirely?

  And yet …when she fell asleep that night, it was Indio poised above her, his cock driving her toward orgasm, his face masked. And when she came, he stabbed her again and again before tearing off his mask and telling her loved her as he watched her die. This time, when Elli woke crying from the nightmare, she stayed very silent, making sure not to wake Aldo.

  The nightmare was still fresh in her mind as she drove the rental car out to Indio’s farmhouse. She parked way down the hill and walked the rest of the way, not wanting to give away her presence just yet. As she approached the farmhouse, a little ramshackle but rustic and charming nevertheless, she heard hammering out in one of the workshops to the side of the main building.

  Nervously, she smoothed the skirt of her lilac dress, worn deliberately because she knew it was Indio’s favorite color, then walked to the door of the workshop. It was open slightly and she peeked in.

  Indio, dressed just in shorts, was hammering nails into a table he’d obviously built. The ferocity with which he banged the hammer down was daunting. An unlit cigarette hung out of the corner of his mouth, three days of beard on his face. His hair was as wild as she remembered, not tidied for a party, with long curls and waves in a shock about his head. His thick eyebrows shaded those incredible green eyes of his, his brow furrowed both in concentration and anger.

  Elli watched him for a few minutes, all that feral beauty and rage. His body wasn’t sculpted from working out, but rather from working with his hands—muscled arms, taut chest, flexed back, and a flat belly. He once was, and still remained Elli realized, the handsomest man she’d ever seen. Yes, even more so than Aldo, she thought guiltily. No one could touch what Indio did to her, just by being a few feet away.

  She suddenly smelled cigarette smoke and opened her eyes. Indio stood, gazing at her, his expression unreadable. Frozen momentarily by that intense gaze straight out of her darkest memories, Elli mustered up her courage and cautiously stepped into the workshop.

  “Hello, Indio.” They were the first words she’d spoken to him in years and they didn’t come close to saying anything of value. But he was watching her … watching her … and she couldn’t find the breath to form more words, suddenly.

  Silence. Indio dragged a long toke on his cigarette, still gazing at her. Finally, he spoke. “Hello, Elli.”

  Oh, dear god, that voice. All chocolate and raspy and low—sexy didn’t begin to cover it. Elli stepped toward him, her eyes searching his.

  “How have you been?”

  God, how lame. Indio didn’t answer her at first, then he looked away. “You shouldn’t be here.”

  Ouch. Elli tried again. “Indio …it’s been years. Can we talk?”

  “About what?”

  About how much I fucking love you, you asshole. Elli felt tears spring into her eyes and pressed her palms to her thighs to keep from reaching out physically to him. “Indio …please.”

  “Whatever it is you want, Elli, I can’t give you. It would be …dangerous for you and I won’t have that. And if you had any sense you would realize that Aldo Constanza is dangerous for you too.”

  Elli stood her ground. “I’m a big girl, Indio. I can make my own decisions.”

  Indio gave a mirthless laugh. “And your decision was to come here today and what? What is it you want, Elli?”

  Elli drew in a breath and decided to go with the plain truth. “You, Indio. I want you.”

  Indio dropped his cigarette on the ground and crushed it out. “You want me? How? How do you want me?”

  Elli was trembling, but she was too far gone now. “With me. Inside me. I love you, Indio. I’ve always loved you.”

  In two steps, he was with her, crushing his lips against hers. Elli gasped at the ferocity of his kiss, and when he pulled away, the desire and anger in his eyes. “You want me inside you?”

  She nodded, everything and everyone out flying out of her mind as Indio pushed her skirt up and tore her panties from her. Her hands moved as with a mind of their own, cupping his hard-on, then freeing it and touching it at last, the silky skin belying the diamond-hard muscle beneath.

  And then he was inside her and Elli sighed with the release of eight years of tension. His mouth was on hers again as they fucked, Indio forcing her back against the rough stone wall. Sharp stones dug into her back but she couldn’t have cared less about the pain. Indio, her Indio, was in her arms, his green eyes fixed on hers, his cock, huge and thick, driving her on to the most sublime orgasm of her life.

  “I love you. I love you,” she whispered over and over, crying with happiness, and when he tumbled her to the dusty floor and fucked her again, Elli knew that this was where she wanted to be. As Indio came, he groaned her name and came long and hard. Elli didn’t want him to pull out, but he did, rolling away from her and putting his head in his hands. Elli reached for him, but he ducked away.

  “Go. You need to go, Elli. Now. And don’t come back. Please trust me in this. If you stay, you’ll be in danger. Please …”

  “Indio …”

  “Go!” He roared and stood, hauling her to her feet and marching her to the door. “You got what you wanted. Go!”

  Elli was shocked to her core. “No, Indio, please don’t …”

  He tried to shove her out of the door, then seemed to realize how violent he was being and let her go. He leaned his forehead against hers, his eyes squeezed shut.

  “Please, Elli …please go. I can’t do this.”

  Tears poured down Elli’s cheeks—how could she have gone from heaven to hell in a few seconds? “Please don’t send me away …I love you so much, Indio. I always have …”

  Indio’s face creased in pain and he wouldn’t look at her. “I can’t be with you. Not when …he’s around. You’re not safe.”

  Somehow his words got through to her, and as she wiped her face from her tears, she asked the question she didn’t want to know the answer to. “Indio, it’s not true …please tell me it’s not true …tell me you didn’t kill Yvetta ...did you kill Yvetta?”

  For a long moment, Indio squeezed his eyes shut, then, with haunted eyes, he gazed at her. “Yes,” he said simply and closed the door in her face.

  Hollowed out and empty, Elli drove straight to Aldo’s home, not really registering where she was going. She found him in his study, working. He looked up and smiled, but Elli didn’t return the expression.

  He stood and reached for her, but she backed away. Indio’s scent was still on her. She could still feel his arms around her and see the despair in his green eyes as he shoved her bodily away, shouting. “Aldo …did Indio Navaro build this house for you?”

  She saw his shoulders slump. “Yes.”

  “And did he and Yvetta have an affair?”

  Aldo nodded, his eyes wary. “And then he murdered her. In this house. In your bedroom. Where we make love. Is that correct?”

  Again, Aldo nodded. “Elli, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you knew him.”

  “I went to see him this afternoon and I fucked him.” Elli felt dead inside, but she was still shaken by the look of hurt in Aldo’s eyes.

  Aldo drew in a deep breath and took a step back. “I did say what happens there, stays there.” He rubbed his hand over his eyes. “But, damn, Elli. Why did you have to tell me?”

  “Because you would have wondered and I want to be honest with you. If you want me to go, just say. I never wanted to hurt you, Aldo, but I can see that’s what I have done. I cheated and I’m so
rry.”

  Aldo shook his head, sitting down heavily on the couch. For once, Elli didn’t feel like she could sit beside him. “No. I said you were to do what your heart told you to. I don’t count that as cheating.”

  “He told me he killed Yvetta.”

  Aldo’s eyebrows shot up. “He confessed to it?”

  Elli nodded. “Aldo, why didn’t you have him arrested?”

  “You sound angry at him.”

  “Please answer my question.”

  Aldo sighed. “Because there was no evidence that he had done it, apart from their affair. The police questioned him, but for some reason, he was released without charge. I have no doubt he stabbed Yvetta to death.”

  He got up then and came to her, and Elli let him pull her into his arms. It felt right … and yet so wrong. “He’s a dangerous, sick man, Elli. When I think of you alone with him—god.”

  Elli wanted to protest, to tell Aldo that Indio would never hurt her, but inside, she didn’t believe it herself. Indio was so changed. So angry. She stood in Aldo’s arms for a long time before Aldo made her look at him.

  “Just tell me. Do you love me?”

  Elli nodded. “Yes, Aldo, I love you.”

  “Do you love him?”

  She hesitated, then nodded again. “I’m sorry, but, yes, I do. I’m trying not to.”

  Aldo stroked a finger down her cheek. “I know. I know.” He sighed, and Elli watched as a million emotions went over his face.

  “Aldo, if you wanted to end things with me, I wouldn’t blame you.”

  “God, no,” he breathed. “That would kill me, Elli. Just kill me. Elli, you have no idea how much you mean to me. I want to be with you forever. I was hoping your …obsession …with Indio would be dampened by meeting with him, but I can live with it.”

  “I’m not obsessed,” Elli said, a little stung. “Indio and I just have history.”

  Aldo gave her a soft smile. “Was he your first?”

  Elli shook her head. “No, it was more than sex, it was …” She struggled for a moment. “We didn’t have sex at all. We were just very, very close friends. Indio was my brother’s best friend. That part I didn’t lie about. But I fell in love with him—completely. He was my world. Then something happened between him and my brother and he went away.”