by Reina Torres
“Well, I’ll leave you to your fittings,” she cast a look over her shoulder at the room and the assembled huddle of women in the far corner before she returned back to Natale, “looks like you’re going to need them.”
The bear in him begged for freedom, pushing forward with a need to sink his claws into that woman’s cold heart, but Salvatore held a tight rein on his bear as he kept his focus on Natale. She didn’t move a muscle until Caprice had left the room, the echo of her heels hanging in the charged static of the air. When Natale did move, it was only to take a single breath.
“Natale,” his voice was soft enough that the others in the room wouldn’t hear him, “look at me.”
She was still for another moment and he wanted to pull her into his embrace, but before he could move she turned her head and raised her gaze to meet his.
He saw the pain in her eyes and the indecision. It was a testament to her strength that she hadn’t burst into tears at her cousin’s harsh comments.
“Do you need a moment?” He nodded toward the hallway. “We can go to your office for a few minutes or you can-”
“I need,” he watched a kind of calm settle over her, “I need to get back to work.” Natale swept a hand over her unbound hair, drawing attention to the loose natural curls and managed another breath. “Thank you,” she gave him a tentative smile, “that wasn’t something you signed up for.” She laughed and it almost sounded natural. “You know she might just be more dangerous than the threats,” her smile dimmed a little and then brightened up again, “she doesn’t even need a weapon to cut.”
Lifting her chin, she gave him a little nod.
“You let me worry about my cousin, and you can take care of the big bad guy out there trying to get to me, and everything will be okay.” Raising her hand, she gave him a pat on the arm. He tried not to notice that her hand shook because she was making such an effort to hold it together.
As she turned back to the workroom she clasped her hands together and brightened her expression into a big grin. “Okay, ladies… let’s get things rolling again. We’ve got a ton of work to do and we’re burning daylight.”
He watched her cross the room and take the hand of a model, leading her before a bank of mirrors before he let himself move a muscle. She walked with confidence, she spoke with confidence, and as he watched Natale work with her staff, he found himself feeling a savage pride for this woman who stood on her own two feet even in the face of her family’s scorn.
He only hoped he was worthy of her.
Standing in the shower, Natale touched her forehead to the tile and felt the heat of her skin leech away. Since before her mother passed away, Natale had struggled with ways to find a release for her pent-up emotions. Being the ugly duckling in a family of strikingly gorgeous people wasn’t easy, but she wasn’t one to feel sorry for herself.
At least not around her parents. Giovanni and Seraphina were proud people, they met challenges head on. Problems were fixed, not cried over. So Natale learned not to disappoint them, finding ways to mourn or struggle in the quiet of her room, and if tears were required, she would shed them in the shower where no one could hear how weak she was.
When the soft knock at the door reached her ears, she swept the back of her hand over her eyes, dashing both the water and tears away.
“Not now, Mr. Orsino.” She struggled to steady her voice so he wouldn't know what she was doing. “Please, I just need-”
The door opened in a rush. “Girl, you need a good ol’ romp in the hay or one of those bath wands for a massage.”
Natale pulled the curtain aside and gaped at her friend. “What are you doing here?”
Ericka held up a scarf and a brown paper bag. “I came to tell you that you left your scarf at work, and then on the way I stopped and got you something from the drug store.”
Narrowing her gaze at her friend, Natale shook her head. “Let me finish my shower and I’ll be out in a minute.” Ericka waved her free hand at her. “No need to rush. I'll just step outside and sit with the other hot guy.”
Natale’s brow furrowed for a moment. “Who is outside?”
Ericka fanned herself. “Not that I need a name to jump on that, but he introduced himself as Valerio.”
“Oh, one of Salvatore’s brothers.” She closed the curtain and grabbed for her body wash.
“Well, I’d like their parents’ home address so I can send them a thank you card. Those are some impressive genes.” Ericka laughed, always entertaining them both. “I’ll see you outside.”
Scrubbing the back of her neck, Natale paused for a moment. “Hey, Ericka?”
She heard the soft squeak of the door before Ericka’s voice reached her. “Yes, my bestest friend in the world?”
“That isn’t my scarf.”
A long sigh made its way through the sound of the water coursing from the showerhead.
“I know, I had to come up with some kind of excuse to come over and check out the hotness you’ve got holed up with you.”
Grabbing a face towel off the shelf, Natale pulled back the curtain and whipped it at Ericka, the towel landed smack on her shoulder and dripped water down the front of her blouse.
Ericka stared back in disbelief. “You wench!”
“You started it,” Natale shot back. “Now go outside and flirt so I can finish and get dressed.”
Ericka stayed through dinner, enjoying a glass of wine with Natale while Salvatore cooked. And Natale laughed as she bore up under Ericka’s constant double entendres. It wasn’t until Natale practically pushed Ericka out the front door near the midnight hour that her friend stole a glance at the side table in the hallway.
Natale followed her gaze and picked up the paper bag. “You never did tell me what you brought.”
Shrugging her shoulders, Ericka gave her a slow smile. “Just a few things I thought you might want to have on hand.” Impulsive as always, Ericka rushed at Natale and grabbed her by the shoulders. “Look, I know I’ve been giving you hell all night, joking about things. But I’ve been watching the two of you and, girl,” she blew a low whistle, “you two could power the building on looks alone.”
“No,” Natale shook her head, “that’s just wishful thinking, Ericka. You see what he looks like.” She couldn’t keep the longing out of her voice. Just as she couldn’t smooth out the pinch at the corners of her mouth. “Men like him and women like-”
Ericka shook her and Natale’s teeth snapped together. “You stop that right now.” She blinked back the light haze from the wine. “You are the most amazing person that I know and you have a man who sees that. And-” she pushed on before Natale could interrupt her, “I’ve seen the way he looks at you and I would give my right arm, okay, maybe my left arm since I’m right handed. But seriously, you deserve to give this a try.”
“The show-”
“Will be a success! You and I have been over this a thousand times since you came up with the concept and then a thousand times more after Mr. D gave you the go ahead. You’re going to make Bellezza a huge success, but you have to ask yourself what you’re doing for you. There is a life outside the workroom, sweetie. But you’re going to have to take a chance at it.” She pressed a kiss to each of Natale’s cheeks and whispered into her ear. “And the stuff in the bag? You can thank me later.”
When the door closed, Natale was still standing there in a daze. The click of the lock sliding into place shook her awake and she set the alarm like Uberto had taught her to do. Once that was done, she picked up the paper bag that Ericka had left for her.
She recognized the stamp on the side of the bag as the mark of the corner bodega market and wondered if there had been any pastries left when Ericka had walked in. She was hoping for an éclair or a bear claw. Either one would make her day after the clash with Caprice in the workroom.
Opening the top of the bag she peered in at the contents and hung her head. “What was she thinking?”
“Something wrong?”
She looked up and saw Salvatore watching her from the kitchen, his hands tangled up in a dishcloth.
“No,” she managed to wring the word from her throat even though she was sure she was just a few heartbeats away from melting to the ground, humiliated by Ericka’s gift, “I’m fine.”
He took a moment to look her over before he nodded, perhaps satisfied with the answer. “You should get some sleep. You have a busy schedule tomorrow.”
She nodded and he went back to the dishes, for that alone she wanted to chain him to her kitchen. The thought brought another flame of heat to her cheeks. She was trying to plot a route through her apartment that would keep her away from Salvatore’s prying eyes. The last thing she wanted him to know was that the bag in her hands held what must have been the entire selection of condoms from the bodega. There were half a dozen colors and an equal number of textures. Stepping into her bedroom for a moment, she dropped the bag into the drawer of her nightstand before she left and closed the door.
Chapter Six
He heard the balcony door open down the hall and then close a second later. He tensed, wondering if Natale had gone outside.
“Mr. Orsino?”
He felt his bear grumble in the back of his mind. He wasn’t making the kind of progress that he was hoping to make, bringing them closer together. If she couldn’t even call him by his name, how was he going to convince her to accept him in her life.
Salvatore waited until he saw her step around the corner and into the kitchen. “Yes, Natale?”
He deliberately drew out her name as if he could keep their connection by sound alone.
She stood there for a moment, and he could see subtle movements in her jaw, as if she was chewing on her thoughts. He wanted to say something to encourage her to tell him what was on her mind, but he felt like the very air around them was charged with indecision and the last thing he wanted to do was scare her like a deer in the woods.
And yet he was the one caught in her snare when she looked up at him with what he hoped was longing in her eyes.
“I started to go outside,” she made a vague gesture in the direction of the doors, “but I didn't think that was a good idea. At least,” she was stumbling through her thoughts, “without telling you first.”
He smiled and was rewarded when she smiled back. The simple gesture warmed him like sunshine and he leaned closer, just the fraction of an inch to enjoy the warmth.
“I’ll go with you.”
She stared back in shock and he wondered what she was thinking.
“I'm not here to hold you prisoner like a princess in her castle, Natale. I'm here to protect you.”
Setting down his tablet on the counter, Salvatore moved to join her in the hall, following her back the way she had come. He tried to keep his energy easy and seemingly relaxed as he walked slightly ahead of her.
At the door, he peered out into the night sky first. Then looked from corner to corner of the balcony from his position inside the apartment. His brother had verified the distances from her balcony to others on her side of the building, looked into sightlines from other buildings.
For a moment he wanted to tell her no, turn her around and find something else to occupy her time, but one look into her expectant upturned face, her rich cinnamon-brown eyes and her expression which could only be described as hopeful, he reached out and undid the lock for the door, and slid it open. He took a step outside and drew in a long breath of the outside air.
Even hundreds of feet above the New York City streets, there were some smells that never went away. Salvatore scented the very concrete around him and felt the walls of the city like a rather extensive cage. Up where they were, the scent of trees and flowers was nearly impossible to detect. “Natale?”
“Yes?”
He stepped to the side to give her room. “Come outside.”
She stepped out onto the balcony and drew in a breath the same way that he had, but instead of her lips pulling into a tight line, they relaxed into a smile. “Freedom!”
Salvatore rubbed his hand over his nose as his bear woke grumbling inside of him.
He heard laughter and turned to watch her giggling, her eyes narrowing as she leaned on the balcony for support. “You should see yourself.” She laughed again, her voice coming back from the breathy tones she had a moment before. “You look like you just smelled something bad.”
He wasn’t a man who liked to be laughed at. Few had ever dared, but when Natale looked back at him, her eyes shining with humor, he didn’t mind. “There’s not enough nature up this high.”
She looked around them, her gaze tracing over the city skyline. “True.” Her laughter was nearly gone, her face softening into a more wistful expression. “And where you live?”
The question was genuine, but he knew she was trying to discover more about him. He was happy to oblige. “A building not far from here.” He set his hand on the balcony and turned to face her. “When this is all over, I’ll bring you there to see it.” Salvatore gestured to the sky above their heads. “The trees are tall enough that I can barely touch the bottom branches.”
“You must love the shade.”
He nodded. “It’s the only place in the city that I can truly be myself. Where no one can see me.”
“Except,” she hedged, “for your friends, your brothers?”
“My brothers, of course. We live in the same building, but we don’t have visitors.”
“But you’d bring me there?” She shared a soft chuckle with him. “I don’t want to break your rules.”
A breeze stirred the ends of her hair and he reached out and tucked a loose curl behind her ear. “Because you’re meant to be there, Natale. You’re meant to be with me.”
He saw the way his words affected her. Laughter or shock weren’t her first reactions this time. The set of her lips softened and she touched her fingers to the top of the balcony, tracing her fingertips along the cold concrete in a slow contemplative sweep. “The way you say that,” an indrawn breath seemed to steady her nerves, “I want to believe, but it’s so fast.”
He heard the truth in her words. She didn’t have the experience that he had. She didn’t have a family like his. While the Durante family originated near the village where he’d grown up, he was sure they didn’t know anything about the Orsino’s unique history. The brothers had grown up hearing the stories from their father but the thought of a mate, of a woman, didn’t make sense to three rowdy children. Girls were ridiculous, frilly creatures with sneering looks and ear-splitting giggles. The Orsino clan was insular, rarely leaving their mountain home for other locations. The food and resources had always been plentiful in their village. But it was a rarity to have a girl born into the families that made up their clan. The number of males tipped the scales on the family trees of their people. To continue the line and ensure their survival, the men found themselves venturing out into the world to look for their mates.
Salvatore had always heard the stories, seen the women when their men had brought them back to live, but finding a woman of his own seemed more like a fairy tale than their family history. Now, he knew better.
“It may seem like that, Natale, but you’ll come to see that it's real.”
“Real?” Her voice had been reduced to a whisper. “Real is deadlines. RSVPs. Fabric wholesalers. Fashion reviewers out for blood. I can't let myself believe any of this right now. If I let myself get wrapped up in the way I feel, I'm going to mess everything up. You don't know how important this is, not if you're going to ask me to… ask me to-”
She stopped short and stared at him for a long moment before she shook her head in disbelief. “But you didn't, did you?” She blinked back tears. “You didn't ask me to do anything, it's all in my head.”
He touched her cheek with the palm of his hand and slipped his fingers through her hair until they traced the hairline at the nape of her neck, feeling her shiver at his touch.
“You need to know, that this isn't just a job. I
would do anything to keep you safe, but it goes deeper than that.”
She wanted to believe. She needed to believe. All of her life she was the ‘sweet’ one. The one with ‘personality.’ Taken on their own, those words would be compliments. Pair them with a half-smile and a pitying sigh, and they cut deeper than a knife.
Men like Salvatore Orsino didn't show up every day. They didn't walk into your life and tell you they were going to make your troubles go away. Okay, at least one of her troubles.
It should be easy, she told herself, he says he cares for you. So, he does, right?
Or is he saying that because he thinks it is what she wants to hear. Because it was her Papa who hired him.
It was easier to assume that her fairytale knight in a bespoke suit was only putting on an act. That way, she didn't get her heart wrapped up in the tangle of disappointment when he walked away once the whole mess was over.
But there was something deep inside of her pushing her toward the edge. Something that told her the water wasn't that deep, that she could swim, or at least tread water long enough to give herself the gift of joy. That if she reached out and took a little happiness for herself that the world wasn't going to punish her later.
Ericka made it sound so simple.
But Ericka was the personification of bravery and courage. She would climb a mountain just to do it. She went out and grabbed at happiness because it was what she wanted.
Natale looked up into the night sky, struggling to find the dark amongst the glow of light from the city that surrounded her. She tried to find the stars in the haze of night and found herself dizzy with the possibilities before her.
She reached out, her hands fisting in his shirt, as she struggled to find her balance.
He didn't flinch or pull away. He stood there with one hand at the nape of her neck, holding her gently.
Natale lowered her gaze, watching as the sky darkened before her eyes. Stars swept through her vision and she barely recognized the Little Dipper and a few other nearby constellations before she met Salvatore’s eyes with her own.
