Beautiful Prey 2: The Storm Series (BWWM Romance)

by Phoenix Daniels

  “Welcome home, Mister Storm.” The voice of the valet caught her attention.

  Natasha looked curiously at Gianni and wondered how much time he actually spent in Las Vegas.

  “Thank you,” Gianni responded politely. “This is Natasha. She is with me.”

  “Yes, sir. I’ll pass that along,” the valet responded.

  “Thank you.”

  “Um, sir... Do they know that you’re here?”

  Gianni shook his head and clutched Natasha’s hand. They walked past the registration desk, past the guest elevators, and through a corridor leading to a set of private elevators.

  Natasha asked, curiously, “You have a penthouse?”

  As Gianni nodded, the elevator doors opened and he ushered her in. He pulled a keycard from his pocket and swiped it for access. They rode in silence. When they arrived at their floor, they stepped out and walked a few feet down a short hallway, with only two doors. Gianni stopped at the first set of double doors and swiped a keycard. When the doors opened, Natasha’s breath caught. She had just stepped onto one of the most beautiful suites that she’d ever seen. It was obvious that Gianni owned the penthouse, since it was colored in hues of red. There were fresh cut flowers in every vase, and the windows were floor to ceiling. The view of the Vegas strip was prominent. Natasha stepped closer to the window and stared out into the shimmering lights of Las Vegas.

  “Gianni, this is amazing,” she said, full of excitement.

  He took hold of her hand and pulled Natasha into the bedroom. She first noticed the floor to ceiling windows. But more importantly, there was an enormous poster bed and a super sheik Jacuzzi. He kept pulling until they were in the master bath. There was a huge rainforest shower and a tub that was big enough for at least five.

  Gianni asked, seeking her approval, “You like it?”

  “Yes. I love it. But is this your definition of taking it slow?”

  “It is, sweet Natasha. My suite is next door,” he responded with a seductive smile that made Natasha regret that they weren’t sharing a room.

  “Come. I have something to show you,” Gianni insisted. He captured her hand and led her to the closet. He released her hand and separated the double doors. Natasha stepped into the walk in closet that was stocked with women’s clothing. She ran her hand over the garments, before she realized that the clothes in the closet were for her.

  Without looking at him, she whispered, “What have you done?”

  “I have insured a good weekend for us both.”

  “Gianni, these are enough outfits for ten weekends.”

  “Then you’ll pack them and take them home, like leftovers.”

  Natasha argued, playfully, “Just so you know, I don’t need you to pick out my clothes.”

  “That’s not what Malik said,” he mumbled, before walking out of the bedroom.

  Natasha’s mouth flew open. She turned from the closet and ran after him. “What do you mean, that’s not what Malik said?” Then she asked through gritted teeth, “What exactly did Malik say?”

  But if her intention was to intimidate Gianni, she had failed. Gianni walked over to Natasha and wrapped his arms around her waist. Since he was so tall, he did a slight squat, closing the distance between them. Gianni pulled her body against his, and when he pressed his lips to hers, Natasha forgot all about interrogating Gianni. She allowed her hands to slowly glide up his solid chest and over his broad shoulders. Gianni’s hands caressed and massaged her back as his mouth devoured her. Natasha began to moan as their tongues ignited pure unadulterated lust. Her fingers found his silky hair. She held on tight, subconsciously preventing him from pulling away. Gianni’s hands slid down her back and over her bottom. He possessively cupped her ass. He had every right to be possessive, because at that moment he owned her. Natasha could feel his erection as she wantonly pressed her body to his. But all of a sudden, Gianni pulled away, and Natasha actually whimpered from the loss of contact. Before she could gather her senses, Gianni turned and walked toward the door.

  “Wear the red dress. I’ll be back in an hour,” he muttered over his shoulder, before walking out.

  Natasha stood in the exact spot where Gianni had left her, hot and bothered. She was amazed by the way Gianni governed her with his touch. She was indeed a weak woman. When she was finally able to unglue her feet from the floor, she walked through the bedroom and entered the bathroom. Natasha noticed her toiletries from home. Her own hair products and makeup were on the counter. She opened drawers and pulled out her curling and flat irons. Gianni had meticulously planned their Vegas date, with Malik’s assistance.

  Natasha left the bathroom and walked to the closet. She was almost afraid to see the red dress that Gianni wanted her to wear. She opened the doors and the sight before her made her laugh out loud. She couldn’t believe that she hadn’t noticed it before. All of the dresses were red.

  GIANNI

  Even though he had his own keycard, Gianni knocked on Natasha’s door. A few seconds later, the door swung open and Natasha stood in front of him. Gianni stood in the doorway, unable to move. The sight of Natasha’s curvy body in the tight red dress was crippling. She stood on the other side of the threshold with her hands on her hips. Gianni’s eyes roamed her body, starting with the sexy high heels on her feet. It was only when his eyes made it to her face, did Gianni realize that she was speaking to him. She stopped talking and began to study him, no doubt, wondering why he was standing there like an idiot.

  “W... What?” Gianni attempted to snap out the trance that Natasha had put him in when she opened the door.

  “I said... I see that you and Malik have been plotting behind my back.”

  “Oh. Yeah,” Gianni admitted, without an ounce of remorse.

  “You are something else, Gianni Storm. Let me get my purse.”

  Gianni laughed softly. But his laughter was cut short when Natasha turned and walked over to the coffee table. She bent over to retrieve her purse and the view that he had of her plump ass could’ve very well changed their plans for the evening.

  “You’re staring at my ass, aren’t you?” Natasha asked without turning around.

  “Qui. C’est magnifique.”

  Gianni walked out behind Natasha and closed the door, still staring at her ass. They stood in front of the elevator. Natasha narrowed her eyes at Gianni and said, “I don’t speak French.”

  The elevators doors opened.

  Devilishly, he smiled, “I know.”

  VICTORIA

  Thank God it was Friday. It had been a long week, and Victoria was shocked at how much John did for Storm Enterprises. From vetting possible employees, managing the security team, and investigating corporate espionage; John did it all. Not to mention the personal investigations, given to him by Jack. Both John and Victoria’s plate was full, and she was already exhausted. After all, Victoria had a new baby that didn’t sleep through the night.

  By nine-thirty, she had finally left her office. Jack and Victoria’s new house was thirty minutes from downtown, but her Spyder got her home in twenty. Victoria walked from the garage, and into the kitchen. She dropped her briefcase on the table and headed up the back stairs. She wanted to peak in on Jasmine, but she ran into Jack in the hall.

  “Hey baby,” she said, happy to see him. Only Jack didn’t appear to be very happy. “What’s wrong?”

  “Victoria, it's ten o’clock.”

  “I know, baby. I’m sorry. My new boss is a dictator. He expects all of his employees to perform miracles,” Victoria joked with a smirk.

  “Ha ha. Maybe your boss wouldn’t be such a tyrant if his wife didn’t work such late hours.” As he responded, he lifted Victoria from the floor and tossed her over his shoulder.

  As he carried her to their bedroom, he swatted her behind, causing her to scream.

  “Shh... You’ll wake the baby,” he warned.

  “Then maybe you shouldn’t hit me!” Victoria quietly squealed.

  SMACK!

&n
bsp; “Jack!” she shrieked.

  Jack tossed Victoria on the bed and kneeled down in front of her. He removed her shoes and began rubbed her feet.

  “Do you know how much I love you?” he asked, staring directly into her eyes.

  Victoria nodded and smiled. She did know how much he loved her. He showed her every chance he got. As she stared into his icy blue eyes, she could feel nothing but warmth.

  “If you keep working this late, I will fire you.” Jack’s statement had completely wiped the smile from Victoria’s face. Looking at her husband, she was certain that he was serious.

  Jack kissed Victoria’s knee and stood, holding out his hand. “Come. I ran you some bathwater.”

  As he pulled her from the bed, he leaned down and softly kissed her lips. Victoria happily returned his kiss. She wasn’t angry with him. He had every right to want to see more of his wife.

  Before leaving for her bath, Victoria expressed her submission. “Baby, I know that I’ve been spending a lot of time at the office. But that’s because I’m just learning the job. Just give me a little time to figure out what I’m doing, and I promise that I won’t work such late hours.” She sighed as she thought of her daughter. “I missed Jasmine this week. Maybe I should stay home.”

  “No, baby. You can work. I’ve come up with a solution,” Jack reassured as he wrapped his hand around hers and pulled her close to him.

  “We are going to hire Emma full time and make that empty office next to yours a private nursery for Jasmine. That way, we’ll both be close by all day. We won’t have to miss her.”

  Happily, Victoria asked, “We can do that?”

  “Baby, we own the company. We can do anything we want.”

  “You own the company.”

  “Yes, but you own me.”

  Relieved, Victoria fell into her loving man. “Jack, that’s a great idea. I’ve been feeling like shit for leaving my baby every day.” Then she lay her lips on top of his confessing for the millionth time since they’d met. “I love you so much.”

  “I love you too….Okay, baby. Go,” Jack insisted. “Enjoy your bath.”

  She retreated for the bathroom delighted to discover that Jack had placed candles all over it. She quickly stripped and stepped in a warm bubble bath. She sank further in the tub and sighed. It was the beginning of the perfect ending to her day. With the ending being Jack inside of her.

  Jack walked into the bathroom and grabbed her dirty clothes from the floor. He

  pushed a button on the remote, and soft music flowed from the speakers.

  He smiled seductively. “Don’t be too long,” he muttered seductively as he walked out of the room.

  “What a man... What a man... What a mighty good man,” Victoria sand out loud with a smile. “... Yes he is!”

  CHAPTER 25

  NATASHA

  Natasha rolled over in bed. The first thing that she noticed was the horrible taste of whiskey and morning breath. She stuck her tongue out, gagging. Her eyelashes fluttered open. She was laying on top of the comforter, still in her

  dress and heels. She looked around her Vegas penthouse, trying to remember the night before. But the last thing she could remember was doing shots with the cast from the Cirque Du Soleil.

  Natasha climbed from the bed and tripped over something on the floor. She fell on her hands and knees. She looked back to see what had made her fall. It was Gianni. He was passed out on the floor. When Natasha attempted to stand, she noticed the ring on her finger. It was a simple platinum band, and she had no idea how it ended up on her finger.

  Since her bladder was about to explode, Natasha crawled into the bathroom. She simply wasn’t strong enough to stand. Once inside, Natasha grabbed the counter and used it to pull herself from the floor. She stumbled over to the toilet, sat, and pissed like a man. When she was done doing her business, she wiped and walked over to the sink and washed her hands. Again, she stared at the ring on her finger, trying to jog her memory. But she could remember nothing. Natasha washed her face and brushed her teeth. She walked out of the bathroom, deciding to ask Gianni about the ring.

  Natasha kneeled to wake Gianni, but the sight of a bottle of Dom Perignon on the nightstand caught her attention. She lifted the empty bottle and shook her head. It was no wonder that she couldn’t remember anything. She returned the bottle to the nightstand and gasped at a marriage certificate, with both their names on it. Natasha stumbled over to Gianni. She was trying to shake him awake when she noticed that he too had a platinum band on his finger.

  “Gianni!” She yelled hysterically. “Gianni! Wake up!”

  Gianni slowly opened his eyes. He blinked up at Natasha, but when he focused on her panicked expression, he jumped up.

  “What?! Are you okay?”

  “Gianni! We got married!” Natasha screamed, clutching her head, because she’d aggravated her own hangover.

  Once Gianni was satisfied that Natasha wasn’t in danger, he returned to his spot on the floor, closed his eyes and went back to sleep. Natasha was certain that Gianni didn’t fully understand what she had just told him. She couldn’t believe that he could sleep so easily after finding out that he’d made a life altering mistake. She looked down at his handsome sleeping face.

  Well, as far as husbands went, she could’ve done a lot worse than Gianni.

  GIANNI

  Gianni sat on the edge of Natasha’s bed and waited for her to come out of the bathroom. She had been in there since he stopped pretending to be asleep, and it was obvious that she was stalling. Admittedly, seeing Natasha so distraught about being his wife was beginning to hurt his feelings.

  Gianni couldn’t wait anymore. He walked over and knocked on the door.

  “Yes?” She answered from the other side of the door.

  “Natasha, please come out here.”

  Gianni looked down at the ring on his finger. Reality hit as he realized that here he was trying to coax his wife out of the bathroom. The door opened and Gianni stepped to the side. Natasha walked over to the bed and sat. The miserable look on Natasha’s face was breaking his heart. Gianni sat next to Natasha and wrapped an arm around her.

  “So... It seems that we are married.” He chuckled, trying to make light. Gianni was relieved when he heard soft laughter.

  “How about you and I go out and hit the Las Vegas strip? Then we can come back here, and I’ll cook you a special dinner?”

  “How are you gonna cook dinner? There’s no kitchen in... Wait. You own the place, don’t you?”

  “Well, now, so do you,” Gianni teased, but Natasha wasn’t amused.

  “Gianni, what are we gonna do about this marriage thing?”

  He stood and walked toward the door.

  “We’ll deal with it tomorrow,” he said, over his shoulder.

  VICTORIA

  Victoria was sitting outside on the patio, enjoying a warm breeze, when Jack walked out and placed a pitcher of lemonade on the table. As he walked back into the house, she marveled at how sexy he was in a simple white T–shirt and pair of cargo pants. Victoria looked across the table and realized that she wasn’t the only one admiring her husband.

  “Stop looking at my man like that.”

  “Child, you just better not leave me alone with him. I just might take him away from you,” Grace O’Malley teased.

  “And what of Mr. O’Malley?”

  “What he don’t know won’t hurt him.”

  Victoria laughed at Mrs. O’Malley’s brazen comments. She was still shocked that she had a sense of humor. Because it was just a few months ago, that Victoria referred to her as “mean old bitch.” It wasn’t until after she married Jack that she discovered that Mrs. O’Malley was a protective, thoughtful, mean old bitch.

  Victoria laughed inside as she thought of Mrs. O’Malley’s visits to the hospital when Jack was shot. She would be all smiles until Jack’s nurse walked into his room. In proper Mrs. O’Malley fashion, she would instantly purse her red lips and look at the nurs
e as if she’d committed a heinous crime. Victoria knew the look all too well. She would ask Mrs. O’Malley why she looked at the nurse that way. She would simply reply, “I don’t like people.”

  “What’s putting that smile on your face?” Mrs. O’Malley asked, snatching Victoria back to the present.

  “You,” Victoria admitted.

  “I do have the ability to make folks smile.”

  “No, you don’t,” Victoria scoffed.

  Mrs. O’Malley rolled her eyes and mumbled, “Don’t you be inviting me over here for lunch just so you can insult me.”

  She had a wounded expression, but Victoria wasn’t falling for it. Mrs. O’Malley was as tough as nails.

  “But... I’ll find it in my heart to forgive you if you let me wake the baby.”

  As if on cue, Jack walked out on the patio with Jasmine in his arms.

  “I changed her diaper, but I think she’s hungry,” he said, handing the baby to Victoria.

  She was perfectly swaddled in a soft pink blanket. Victoria cuddled her close, looking into her big blue eyes. She spit the pacifier out of her mouth and began to whimper. Victoria unbuttoned her blouse a pulled her bra down on one side. It didn’t take long for Jasmine to latch onto her breast.

  Mrs. O’Malley yelled hysterically, “Ya’ just gonna pop that right out while I’m trying eat my lunch?!”

  Jack walked into the house, laughing.

  CHAPTER 26

  NATASHA

  Natasha slipped into satiny red pumps and stood in the mirror, admiring one of the beautiful red dresses that Gianni had picked out for her. This one was a lacy, formfitting, knee–length cocktail dress, designed by Christian Seriano. Since the neckline plunged dangerously low, Natasha couldn’t wear a bra. She did, however, have on a pair of the lacy thongs that Gianni bought.