Protecting Her: A Romance Bundle

by Mia Ford

  When I got downstairs, Alessio was standing there. He’d changed his suit from earlier, and he was wearing dark sunglasses that obscured his eyes completely from my vision.

  “If I agree to change,” Alessio said heavily. “You can’t testify against me. How about that?”

  “What?” I narrowed my eyes. “I don’t think I understand.”

  “If I agree to change,” Alessio repeated. “If I become a good man – not a criminal – you can’t testify. Deal?”

  “What?” I shook my head slowly. Strands of wet hair lashed against my neck and I blushed again, embarrassed at how unkempt I looked.

  “I can change,” Alessio said hotly.

  I crossed my arms over my chest, trying to push past the arousal and lust I felt creeping through my body.

  “It doesn’t matter if you change in the future,” I snapped. “You already killed someone,” I added in a low hiss. “You think that just because you change into a better person, that’s going to bring Michael back?”

  Alessio grabbed my shoulders and pushed me against the door. Before I could move, he pressed his mouth to mine and kissed me deeply. His tongue slid into my mouth and caressed my teeth and lips. My knees turned to jelly and threatened to give way as Alessio kissed me passionately. He shoved one of his muscular thighs between my legs, pressing it against my hot and swollen crotch through the thin fabric of my robe. All I could do was moan into his mouth as Alessio’s muscular body pressed against mine.

  When Alessio broke the kiss, he didn’t pull away. He rested his forehead against mine, panting hard.

  “If I change,” Alessio growled. “You can’t testify against me. You have to swear it, Beth.”

  He kissed me again, this time biting and sucking on my lower lip until I threw my arms around his neck and howled with pleasure.

  “Say it,” Alessio growled. “Tell me you won’t testify if I can prove that I’ve changed.”

  “Okay,” I said weakly. The word came out before I could even think about it.

  Alessio grinned. “I thought you’d say that,” he said. He wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me close, dizzying me with his cologne.

  Fuck.

  What I had just agreed to?

  16

  Alessio

  Silvio thought I was losing my mind when I told him what I’d worked out with Beth.

  “Are you fucking nuts?” Silvio threw his hands up in the air and groaned. “You’re fucking losing your goddamned mind, Alessio! You think your father would have pulled a stunt like this?”

  I leaned back in my desk chair and plucked a cigar from the small humidor I kept handy.

  “I’m not my father,” I said. I raised my eyebrows. “I thought you woulda figured that out by now, Sil.”

  Silvio narrowed his eyes and glared. “It doesn’t fucking matter what I know,” he snarled. “You think this is funny, Alessio? You think this is some kind of prank? Some kind of game?”

  “Not at all.” I clipped the end of my cigar and lit it. “It’s not a joke, Silvio. I was being serious.”

  Silvio shook his head. “This is gonna ruin the business,” he said angrily. “What the fuck do I have to do to get your dumb ass to understand that?”

  “It doesn’t matter.” Strangely, I felt calm. In the past, confrontations with Silvio had always made me so uncomfortable. But right now, I felt confident and sure of myself. I was doing the right thing – maybe for the first time in my life.

  “It does matter!” Silvio’s face was red with anger as he leaned over my desk and shoved his face close to mine. “You’re gonna ruin fucking everything, you idiot!”

  I blew a cloud of blue smoke in Silvio’s face. “Last time I checked,” I said idly. “You don’t get to speak to your boss like that.”

  Silvio colored and finally walked away. “I’m just saying,” he said through gritted teeth. “This ain’t the way to go, Alessio. You gotta show that little bitch that we’ll kill her if she tries anything. How the fuck do you think you’re gonna win her over? You killed her fucking fiancé!”

  “I killed her fucking fiancé because you failed!” I yelled loudly, making a fist and slamming it down on the desk. “I had to do it, Silvio! You didn’t leave me with any choice!”

  Silvio bristled, but his silence told me that I’d finally won. He threw his arms in the air and shook his head.

  “Fine,” he snapped. “I give the fuck up, Alessio. I ain’t gonna stand around while Rome burns down to the ground, you get my meaning?”

  I snickered. “Yeah,” I said. “I get your meaning. But you’re gonna feel awful stupid when this works and you look like a paranoid cocksucker.”

  “Whatever, Alessio,” Silvio said. He yawned. “I’m leaving. I’ll call you later.”

  I nodded. Just as Silvio was about to leave the room, something sparked in my brain.

  “Hey,” I said. “Mind giving me a ride downtown?”

  “Why?” Silvio narrowed his eyes. “What the fuck are you getting into now, asshole?”

  I smirked. “It’s a secret,” I said. “Come on, just give me a ride.”

  Silvio stared at me for a long time. “Fine,” he said after a pregnant pause. “Come on. Let’s go.”

  --

  An hour later, I was standing behind the counter of Helpful Friends Food Pantry & Kitchen. It was a dingy, musty basement in a bad part of Harlem, with fluorescent lights, crammed full of smelly, obviously impoverished people.

  “It’s always so good to have a new volunteer!” A round woman wearing a nametag that read ‘Karen’ squeezed my shoulder tightly. “We’ve really been struggling lately!”

  “Uh, yeah,” I said. I looked around, overwhelmed by the disgusting stench of shit, piss, and dried sweat. “Is it always this crowded?”

  Karen threw her head back and laughed. “Oh, no!” She tittered loudly. “This is very light, Mr. Amoruso!” She squinted, staring at my face as if seeing me for the first time. “Say, you’re not related to the Amorusos, are you? That restaurant family?”

  I chuckled. “Actually, I’m the CEO,” I said. I smiled genuinely.

  Karen’s cheeks flushed. “Oh my,” she said. “I had no idea we had such a celebrity in our midst!” She led me past a group of homeless people eating a disgusting, lumpy stew out of tin bowls. “I’m sure you’re not used to the likes of this!”

  I chuckled. “No,” I said, looking around in disgust. “I certainly am not.”

  Karen pulled me behind the counter and handed me an apron. “This isn’t fancy cooking,” she said. “Just forget all about that chichi Italian stuff! Just hand each person some soup, some bread, and a piece of fruit.” Karen pointed to a pile of apples that already looked rotten. “It’s not very difficult,” she said with a smile.

  I tried to disguise the rampant disgust I felt. They call this food, I thought I as I glanced down at the gluey, grey stew. This is disgusting! I wouldn’t eat this if I were starving!

  I looked at my phone. It felt like hours had passed, but I groaned quietly when I realized I’d only been Helpful Friends for less than a half hour. The windowless basement was the antithesis of beauty, and I couldn’t wait until I was back in the relative splendor and comfort of my own home.

  A loud bell rang and a crowd of homeless people in tattered, smelly clothing lined up. I tried not to look into their dirty faces as I landed stew into their bowls and handed them bread and fruit. Some of them stared down at their feet – I guessed they were ashamed – but some beamed into my face and thanked me with heartfelt kindness. I knew that I shouldn’t be feeling as disgusted as I was, but I couldn’t help it. I’d never been around people this poor in my whole life, and it made me feel uncomfortable.

  A camera flashed in my face and I looked up, dazed. “What the hell?” I frowned as I saw a reporter making his way through the building.

  “Mr. Amoruso! Mr. Amoruso! How long have you been helping the homeless?”

  I gritted my teeth and forced a
smile. “I’ve just begun helping,” I said. “I’m trying to change this city from the ground up, and I realized that in order to make that happen, I’ve got to get in myself. I can’t just keep expecting people to support the Amoruso family unless they know what we really stand for.”

  The reporter nodded, scribbling notes on a pad as he filmed me. I smiled and mugged for the camera, wondering who had tipped a news crew off about my presence at the soup kitchen.

  Silvio, I realized with a touch of pride. He may disagree, but damn if that man doesn’t know how to help promote with the best of them.

  The reporter clicked a few more pictures. For the last one, I pulled a couple of homeless people out of line and wrapped my arms around their skinny, shaking shoulders.

  When Karen saw, she shook her head and clicked her teeth. “Mr. Amoruso, we typically frown on news personnel here,” she said sternly.

  I shrugged and grinned. “I didn’t call ‘em,” I said lazily. “Why the hell would I do something like that?”

  17

  Beth

  I barely slept that night. Alessio haunted my dreams – in ways that managed to make me both terrified and incredibly aroused. When I woke up, my panties were soaked through and my clit was throbbing for want of attention. But my sheets were damp with sweat, and my hair was clinging to my head in sodden tangles. I yawned, then wrapped my bathrobe around my naked body and padded into the bathroom.

  A long, lukewarm shower helped me feel more human again. There was a knot in the pit of my stomach that couldn’t be loosened, though. Not even a mug of my favorite peppermint tea mixed with three tablespoons of honey was enough to calm me down.

  By the time Heather woke up, I’d been sitting at the kitchen table for hours.

  “Hey,” Heather said. She sat down and looked at me with concern. “You okay?”

  I nodded slowly. “I don’t know.” I swallowed. Alessio was weighing so heavily on my mind – I was dying to tell her what happened, but I feared her judgment.

  “Oh, Beth, it’ll be okay,” Heather said. She reached over and rubbed the back of my hand with her own. Compared to my icy skin, her touch was almost hot enough to burn.

  “I wish,” I said. I sighed. “I’m sorry to be such a burden all the time. You probably miss your fun friend.”

  Heather shrugged. “It’s not a big deal,” she said. “But I know you’ll get better, Beth. You’ll find someone even better than Michael eventually.”

  Part of me wanted to laugh – Heather thought I was still sad because of Michael? A pang of guilt stabbed my heart as I realized that was exactly how I should be feeling. A normal fiancée would feel guilty for years, I thought. The guilt seeped through my veins like poison. A normal fiancée wouldn’t ever want to give up on the man she once loved.

  “I know,” I said. And I maybe already have, I added silently.

  Heather yawned. She got up and walked over to the door, leaning down and grabbing the paper. “Holy shit,” she said. “Someone sent you something.”

  I laughed dryly. “And why is that so amusing?”

  Heather blushed. “I didn’t mean it like that,” she said softly. “Here.”

  I frowned. The envelope was made from a thick material, almost like card stock, in a beautiful eggshell color. My name was scrawled on the front in spidery black ink that almost looked archaic.

  “Open it,” Heather said. “Come on, I’m curious.”

  My heart sank. The guilt came rushing back tenfold. “What if it’s from Douglas,” I said with a groan. “What if he wants more stuff back?”

  Heather snorted. “That’s ridiculous,” she said. “Besides, you gave him everything you had that was Michael’s.”

  “Except for the presents,” I said flatly. “I even gave him back my ring!”

  Heather nodded. “Well, maybe it won’t be that bad,” she said. “Anyway, if you need anything, you know I’m here.”

  With trembling fingers, I slid open the envelope. A scrap of newsprint fluttered down to the floor, with a note pinned on top of it. My heart was pounding as I squatted down and picked up the piece of paper.

  My jaw dropped. “Oh my god,” I muttered under my breath. “It’s Alessio. I can’t believe this!”

  “Who?” Heather squinted. “Beth, what are you talking out?”

  A low moan escaped my lips. The photo showed Alessio, standing in a homeless shelter and food pantry, with his arms around two homeless people. He was grinning smugly, and the caption read: “Amoruso Gives Back! Local Food Giant Visits Soup Kitchen.”

  The note pinned to the scrap of newsprint read: “Beth – so you think I can’t change? Watch me. Alessio.”

  There was a winky face next to his name. I groaned. My stomach twisted into knots and I sank down on the floor, clutching the piece of paper in my sweaty hand.

  “Wow,” Heather said slowly. “What’s all this about? Beth, what’s going on?”

  I looked up at her and bit my lip. “I slept with Alessio Amoruso,” I said softly. “He’s out of jail.”

  “Obviously,” Heather said. She rolled her eyes. “But what’s really going on?” She squatted down next to me and put her hand against my forehead. “Beth, you can tell me,” she said softly. “I promise – I won’t care.”

  I stared at her. “You…you don’t care that I slept with him? Heather, he’s the man responsible for killing Michael!”

  Heather shrugged. “I mean, it’s weird,” she said slowly. “But whatever, Beth, I don’t judge you. You know that.”

  I sighed. Having told Heather my predicament – or at least, part of it – felt like a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders. Still, it felt a little odd having acknowledged the truth out loud.

  “I don’t know,” I said helplessly. “He made me promise that if he proves that he can change into a good man, I won’t testify against him in court. He said that his lawyer is almost certain he’s going to be pinned for Michael’s death.”

  “Wow,” Heather said softly. “That’s heavy, girl.”

  “It is,” I said. “I wasn’t even thinking when I agreed – I couldn’t believe that he was serious. Heather, this is all so fucked up. I feel so guilty!” Tears came to my eyes and I wrapped my arms around my knees and hugged them to my body. “I just wish I knew what to do. Everything feels like I’m betraying Michael, and I don’t want to do that, but at the same time, it’s not like I can just turn off how I feel.”

  Heather rubbed my back. “It’s okay,” she said softly. “You’re doing the best you can in the best way you know how.”

  Hot tears splashed over my cheeks and I bit my lip. “I just wish I felt like that,” I said. “I wish I could stop feeling so guilty!” That’s when I started to sob in earnest.

  Heather pulled me into her arms and rubbed my back. “There, there,” she said soothingly. “Everything’s going to be fine, Beth. I promise.”

  --

  I cried in Heather’s arms for hours, until I tired myself out. I must have fallen asleep, because it was getting dark when I opened my eyes. My mouth tasted like stale snot, and my sinuses were still clogged from crying so hard earlier.

  “Heather?” I called. “You here?”

  I yawned, then climbed off the couch and flicked on a light. There was a note from Heather, saying that she was out shopping for groceries and that she’d be back soon. I frowned – I wasn’t exactly looking forward to facing her after my little crying jag, but I still wished that I wasn’t alone.

  The buzzer sounded, making me jump. I frowned and walked over to the buzzer.

  “Hey, Heather, did you forget your key?”

  There was a pause.

  “Beth, it’s Alessio,” Alessio said. “I want to take you to dinner. Please get dressed and meet me downstairs in ten minutes.”

  My heart leapt but my brain said no. “I don’t know…” I trailed off. “I don’t know if this is a good idea, Alessio.”

  Alessio’s voice snickered into the intercom. “Co
me on, Beth,” he said. “You’ll like it – I promise.”

  I sighed. My stomach did feel empty, even though I knew accepting a date with Alessio was like accepting a deal with the devil.

  “Okay,” I said. “I’ll be down soon.”

  An hour later, Alessio and I were seated in the dining room of the Russian Tea Room. Despite all my time in New York City that I’d spent hanging out with rich people, I’d never been before. Alessio seemed pleased when I told him, and he wasted no time ordering a lavish spread that included a delicious cold duck appetizer and a full caviar service. He hadn’t even let me look at the menu, but instead ordered almost everything.

  “So you can choose,” Alessio said grandly. His dark eyes shone in his handsome olive face.

  I spooned some caviar and cream onto a blini before folding the delicate pancake and eating the whole thing in one bite.

  “This is incredible,” I said honestly. And it was incredible. I’d never tasted food like this before. Despite his insane fortune, Michael had never developed a taste for dining out. He liked cheap fast food, like Five Guys, but that was about as gourmet as he got. And whenever I’d asked to spend money on a fancy dinner, Michael had always made me feel like a gold-digging criminal.

  Alessio smiled darkly. The look on his face sent a shiver down my spine – even when he looked happy, he was still intense and almost scary. When I felt his hand inching up my bare leg under the table, I had to bite my lip to keep from moaning.

  “I’m enjoying myself, too,” Alessio said. His voice was hoarse with lust. His dark eyes focused on my breasts and I blushed, suddenly glad that I’d chosen such a revealing dress to wear.

  I licked my lips. “So,” I said casually. “You’re volunteering with the homeless now.”

  Alessio smiled ironically. “I have to prove that I’m a changed man,” he said. He raised one eyebrow and I blushed hotly. “And I believe it’s working.”

  “Not a chance,” I lied. “It just seems like such an obvious attempt, Alessio. You’re going to have to work a lot harder if you want to impress me.”