Dark Masquerade: A Bad Boy Billionaire Romance

by Michelle Love

  We have reached out to Mr. Constanza, who briefly told us that he ‘wished the couple every happiness’ and that it was time he ‘started a new life somewhere else.’

  “Well,” Elli said. “Apart from being labelled a gold-digging whore again—don’t worry, I’m getting used to it—that is a bunch of B.S. You and I both know …Aldo won’t just leave us be.”

  “Agreed.” Indio sighed. “I have an idea.”

  “What?”

  Indio smiled a strange smile at her. “I’m going to see him.”

  Elli gaped at him. “What? Why the hell would you do that?”

  “To threaten him, of course. To tell him ‘congratulations on the move’ and that if he wants his life to remain the same, he’ll go and never come back.”

  “You’re going to call his bluff?”

  “Yep.”

  Elli sighed, shaking her head. “I don’t know what good it will do.”

  “It can’t hurt and it’s better than you using yourself for bait.”

  Elli looked away from his gaze. “You already said no to that.” She sighed and went into Indio’s arms. “Let’s just get tonight out of the way, then we can talk again.” She smiled up at her husband. “Are you looking forward to it?”

  Indio rolled his eyes, grinning shyly. Venice was bestowing an award on Indio tonight at a gala held in his honor, celebrating his work. It coincided with the Masquerade Ball, but Elli had balked at that. “No more masks,” she said, and Indio agreed.

  “Actually,” he said now. “I have a surprise for you. After the gala tonight, we’re flying to a private island in the Med.”

  He laughed as she bugged at him. “You’re kidding?”

  “Nope.”

  “Indio, please tell me you didn’t buy an island?”

  Indio grinned. “No …just a villa on it. We need a holiday home, right?”

  Elli started to laugh. “God, our adventures are a lot more expensive than they used to be.”

  Indio shrugged good-naturedly. “Elli, I worked for the money I earned. I think what drove me to work so hard was the thought of one day being able to provide for you and our family, even when it seemed impossible for us to be together.”

  Elli stroked his face. “Our family,” she whispered, and he nodded.

  “So …”

  “So, I can’t wait. Something about hot weather makes me frisky.” She grinned and kissed him. “Come, husband, let’s go practice before we have to get ready for your coronation tonight.

  Elli was trembling as she saw Indio walk on stage and shake hands with the man who was giving him the award. Ori Bartoli, her young infant daughter, Lucy, in her arms, nudged her. “You can cry now, Elli. It’s okay.”

  Elli laughed, but her eyes were full of tears and her heart full of love for the man so shyly accepting the congratulations and gratitude of his city. He made a short speech, stumbling over some of the words, but when he looked out into the audience, he gazed at her, his eyes soft with love.

  “And to my beautiful wife, my best friend, and my reason for being, Elli. I love you. Without you, none of this means anything.”

  Elli did cry, then, and she saw Ori wiping away a tear too. Ori hugged her. “I’m so happy for both of you.”

  There was a drinks reception afterward, and Indio and Elli sat, hands clasped, laughing with their friends. Indio kept being borne off to meet new people, but Elli didn’t mind. After so many years working incognito in the wilderness, it was time for Indio to take his spotlight.

  Ori, wrestling with a wriggling child, stood. “Someone made a stinky,” she said to the amusement of her table. “I’m just going to change her diaper.”

  “I’ll come help.” Elli stood, signaling to Indio where she was going. He grinned and mouthed, “Ti amo.”

  She laughed and blew him a kiss. She went with Ori to the bathroom, followed at a discreet distance by her bodyguard, Mario. Ori grimaced as she dealt with her daughter’s diaper. “Why did I sign up for this again?”

  Eli chuckled. “You’re a masochist. Haven’t you trained Maceo to do this?”

  “Ha. I tried, but he immediately sold Dario out by telling him it was his job. Dario, as you can imagine, doesn’t want anything to do with dirty diapers.”

  Elli chuckled, tickling Lucy’s belly. “She is so beautiful.”

  Ori smiled. “I know, isn’t she? Your turn soon, maybe?”

  “Maybe. We haven’t actually discussed children, but I know we’ll have a ton.” Elli blew a raspberry on Lucy’s stomach, making her giggle. Ori washed her hands.

  “Would you mind just looking after her while I pee? I’m bursting.”

  Elli immediately handed her a fresh diaper from the bag, and Ori laughed. “Ha ha. Won’t be a second.”

  Elli picked Lucy up and bounced her. She was such a happy little baby. The door of the bathroom was pushed open and her bodyguard, Mario, appeared. His gun was drawn, a long silencer screwed to the barrel, and Elli turned in shock as he levelled it at her. “Mario, what the hell are you doing?”

  Aldo pushed his way past Mario and smiled at her. “Your husband really should vet his employees more carefully. Hello, Elli. What a gorgeous baby.”

  The toilet flushed, and Ori appeared, at first not seeing the men as she washed her hands, then as she looked up, her face was one of horror.

  “Hello, Ori, lovely to see you. Your daughter is beautiful. Such a shame.”

  Elli handed Lucy back to Ori and stepped in front of them. “No. Don’t hurt them, please Aldo …if you want me, I’ll come with you.”

  “No, Elli,” Ori whispered, her voice breaking and her eyes riveted to the gun pointed at Elli. “Please, no.”

  “It’s okay, Ori …” Elli was very calm. “I assume you’re here for me …so take me, Aldo. Do what you want with me, but leave them alone.”

  Aldo put his head to the side as if thinking. “You seem to think you’re in charge here, Elli, but I’ll give you a break. I’ll let the lovely Mrs. Bartoli and her child live …if you’ll play a little game with me.”

  “Whatever you want …”

  Aldo made a face. “Of course, I don’t want my little game to be interrupted by the people Mrs. Bartoli would surely warn.”

  Oh, god, no. “Please, Aldo …”

  Aldo looked at Mario. “Wound, but don’t kill Mrs. Bartoli, would you please?”

  “No!” Elli screamed, but Aldo pulled her out of the way, and Ori, knowing what was going to happen, shoved her daughter into Elli’s arms. Mario shot Ori, the bullet slamming into her shoulder and knocking her back against the cold tile. As she fell, her head cracked against the hard marble of the sink. Ori slumped to the floor, bleeding. Elli whimpered, and Lucy began to cry. Mario checked Ori’s pulse.

  “Alive.”

  Aldo nodded. “Good. Take the child, Mario.”

  The guard stepped forward to take Lucy, but Elli was ready for him. Stamping on Aldo’s instep, she kicked out of his hold and drove her knee into Mario’s groin. The bodyguard buckled, and she used her knee to smash his forehead.

  Aldo grabbed her and Elli felt the sting of a hypodermic needle in her neck. No …he was drugging her again. The effects were almost instantaneous. Aldo took Lucy from her arms and placed her next to her unconscious mother. Elli slumped to the ground, and Aldo picked her up just as Mario came around. Aldo bent down again and retrieved the bodyguard’s gun. He shot Mario without hesitation, putting a bullet into the man’s head. “Loose ends.”

  As she finally gave into the drugs, Aldo smiled at her. “If only your death were going to be that merciful, Elli, my darling.”

  Not knowing if she would ever wake up again, Elli’s last thought was of Lucy, Ori, and her darling Indio.

  Indio excused himself from the host’s wife and went to find Elli. He found their table and saw Maceo talking to another friend. “Hey, where did Elli and Ori go?”

  Maceo grinned. “Diaper duty.” He glanced at his watch and his smile faded. “Qu
ite a while ago now.” He got up. Indio tamped down the feeling of panic. Elli’s bodyguard was gone, so he was with them, and they were okay, right?

  Indio and Maceo walked quickly to the bathroom, and just as they drew close, Maceo heard his daughter screaming. He shared a panicked glance with Indio and both men started to run.

  They burst into the bathroom as Ori, her head bleeding and her shoulder gushing blood, reached for her daughter with her good arm. “Ori!” Maceo dropped to her side and she leaned into him as he put his arms around her. She looked out of it, but she gazed up at Maceo, then Indio, who was checking Mario’s pulse and trying to quell the scream inside him. Where was Elli?

  Indio knew even before Ori managed to choke out the words. “He took her, Indio. Aldo Constanza has Elli.”

  Elli came around, her mind whirling and her breath shallow, just as Aldo had finished dressing her. They were in the back of a van with darkened windows and outside she could hear the sounds of revelers. The Masquerade Ball had spilled out onto the streets of her city. She looked down at her body—he had dressed her in a wedding dress, and Elli could see now, with a jolt of terror, that it was identical to the one Yvetta was murdered in.

  This was it. She was going to die and she’d never see Indio again.

  Aldo kissed her, and she spat in his face. “True colors,” he laughed. “You always were a little savage.”

  He hauled her into a sitting position. “Now, Elli, we’re going to play a little game. A game of hunter and hunted. I’ll give you a fair head start, of course, but the moment I catch you, my dearest, sweet Elli, is the moment I will end this and kill you. And I will kill you, Elli. You know that. But I will give you a fair head start. Give you the slightest hope, just so I can snatch it away the second my knife slices into your beautiful body. So, go …”

  The drugs in Elli’s system were making her senses whirl and she couldn’t concentrate on what he was saying. Her vision was doubled. Her chest felt tight with fear and terror …what was he saying?

  “Go …go now, Elliana …and just remember this …you won’t see me coming.”

  He pushed her from the back of the van into the crowd of people, who carried her along in their throng. Elli was in the midst of a full-blown panic now, terrified that Aldo would kill her; more terrified that she wouldn’t find her way back to Indio before he did. She had no way of knowing that at that same moment, Indio was frantically watching the CCTV from the security room of the hotel.

  “There.” Indio pointed at a blacked-out van, watching in horror as he saw Aldo carrying an unconscious Elli to it and throwing her into the back. He isn’t even trying to hide now, Indio thought. And that’s what makes him lethal. They managed to track the van to the edge of Piazza San Marco and Indio was staggered to watch Elli being released—wearing Yvetta’s wedding dress. In a few moments, he watched Aldo, wearing a grotesque cupid’s mask, get out of the van and follow her. In his hand, a glint of steel.

  Cursing loudly, Indio and the security team at the hotel set off at a run, the host shouting that he would call the polizia for them.

  Indio didn’t hear anything but the roaring of blood in his ears. Aldo was going to kill his Elli. He was hunting her down and would butcher her publicly, not caring if he was arrested or killed. All Aldo could see now, Indio knew, was Elli’s blood on his hands.

  Indio could barely breathe as he raced through the night to save his love.

  Elli grazed her arms as she stumbled down another alleyway. Her head was beginning to clear and she knew she would have a better chance of surviving if she hid back amongst the revelers. She staggered down the alleyway, almost sobbing as she saw a crowd at the end of it. But as she reached the end, Aldo stepped into the light. His mask was a grotesque, malevolent cupid’s face and his large body filled the entrance to the alley. Elli ran straight into him, and he grabbed her and pushed her again the wall.

  Behind him, revelers danced and sang, leaving no one to hear her agonized gasp as Aldo, without hesitation, drove the knife into her belly. All the breath was knocked from her lungs as he ripped the knife from her and stabbed her again. Elli looked down in disbelief to see her blood pooling across her dress, gushing from the vicious wounds. As her killer stabbed her again, she cried out, and he put his free hand over her mouth.

  “Ssh, ssh, beautiful Elli. It’s all over now.”

  Weakening, Elli reached up and pulled the mask from his face. Aldo Constanza, his face one of utter cruelty, held her as he plunged the knife into her again and then lowered her to the cold ground. Elli’s chest felt tight and she could smell the blood. She moaned, and her back arched as he stabbed her again. Aldo laughed, but his face twisted into a snarl.

  “You shouldn’t have loved him, Elli. You were mine, just as Yvetta was mine. When I found out that his one true love was alive and living in Venice—I had to have you.” He touched her face. “From the first moment, I wanted to feel your blood on my hands, but I had to play the long game, make Navaro feel as if he’d won—that he could love you and be happy. The fool. I intended to kill you from that first moment, Elliana. That first moment when my car drove straight at you and you slipped on the ice. It was so easy. Fucking you was a bonus. But this, my sweet girl, this was always the end game. Goodbye, Elli.”

  And he raised the knife to finish her.

  Indio, desperate now, raced through the streets of Venice, frantic to find her. Everything went through his –mind—what if she fell into the Lagoon? What if she slipped and hit her head?

  What if Constanza found her before he could?

  God, no. He rammed his way through the crowds, down dark alleys, and over bridges to find her.

  When he turned into the final alley before rejoining the throng, his blood froze. Elli was on the ground, and Aldo Constanza, his weapon raised, was about to kill her. Even from this distance, Indio could see her red blood stark against the white dress. Oh, please, no …Indio snatched his pistol from his waistband and, without hesitation, he aimed the gun at Aldo.

  “Constanza! Drop the knife, now!”

  Constanza looked up and grinned. He stood, dropping the bloody knife. Keeping his gun trained on him, Indio stalked forward.

  “She’s already dead, Navaro. I did what I intended. I killed the love of your life. Look at her bleed, Navaro …she died in agony.”

  Indio knew he was trying to get him to shift focus—but Indio knew if he did, they were both dead.

  Hold on, my love, please …

  “It’s too late, Navaro …you’ve lost. She’s losing too much blood. You can’t save her. Admit defeat.”

  “Shut the fuck up, Constanza.”

  Aldo Constanza was gleeful now, giggling like a child. “You know I fucked her, right? God how I fucked her …in every room of the house you built me. She sucked my cock, and I ate her cunt …whore …”

  Indio shot Aldo between the eyes without warning and Aldo dropped, his big body slumping over Elli, who moaned softly. God, she’s alive. Indio dropped to his knees and pushed the dead man away from his love. He didn’t waste time talking, knowing every moment counted now. He simply scooped her up with the words, “Hold on, my darling love. Hold on for me, please.” Then he was running through the crowds—running to save her life.

  Every moment he expected the doctor to come and tell him, “We did everything we could, but I’m afraid she didn’t make it.”

  Every moment he expected to sense the moment that Elli died. Indio closed his eyes, praying, exhausted and desolate. He tried to reason—tried to tell himself it was a longshot and that she was too hurt. To distract himself, he’d called the police and told them everything, and now there was a detective with him, relaying all the information his detectives had found. Aldo Constanza was confirmed dead. His fingerprints all over the knife that had ripped Elli apart. The detective with Indio now was empathetic and respectful. Indio knew his own face was a mask of pain now. So many masks. So many lies.

  So much horror. If he’d only g
one against what Enzo Moretti had told him all those years ago and made it clear to Enzo that he, Indio, would love and care for Elli better than anyone and that he was in love with her. He should have tried harder. Elli wouldn’t be so hurt now. Yvetta would be alive, married to someone who truly loved her, who didn’t love someone else, and she would have a whole bunch of beautiful kids.

  He and Elli would be married and he would have given her everything. Their children would be playing in the fields and olive groves around their house in the country. God, Elli …I love you more than life itself …please come back to me.

  Elli drifted back into consciousness, then immediately wished she hadn’t. Opening her eyes to bright white light was agony. Her soul felt disconnected from her body. There was pain—not as much as she would have expected from being cut open—but low-level discomfort and stiffness.

  Her mouth was tinder-dry and sore, and she gave a little moan as she moved. Vivienne came into her field of vision, then, her elegant features thinner and shadowed with grief.

  She smiled down at Elli, her cool hand on Elli’s forehead. “Well, hello again, pumpkin. Good to see you.” The tears in her eyes belied the gentle humor. “Thank God you’re okay, sorella.” She used the Italian word for sister.

  “What happened?” Her voice came out as a croak, and, before answering her, Vivienne held a cup of water to her mouth so she could drink.

  “You were drugged, then while you were trying to get help, Aldo Constanza stabbed you almost to death. Indio killed Aldo and got you here.”