He was also alone.
She thought for a moment, even if it wasn’t like her to be so fanciful, that he radiated so much power that he both drew people to him and kept them away, as if only the daring could approach him.
It made no sense, of course. She didn’t believe in such things.
She shook it off, looked again, and he was just a man. A very handsome man, obviously a very rich one judging by the excellent clothes he wore and everything else about him, but just a man.
A powerful man in his own right, but the kind of power that all rich men held.
Matteo Colombo.
So it was true. He really was there. She hadn’t really believed that he’d be there. His company must sponsor dozens of events, probably hundreds. She didn’t think he usually made an appearance at many of them.
Maybe he was missing a trick by not making an appearance everywhere. It would guarantee visibility. He didn’t look like he had the kind of presence that became less impactful with exposure.
Thinking the word exposure in connection with him made her bite the inside of her cheek. Oh no, she wasn’t going there.
Maybe it was a good idea to keep him away from events. Nobody would pay attention to anything he was selling if he stood there like that.
And anyway, why was he glowering? Sure, the whole brooding thing probably worked for him, but he was at a festival to celebrate his wines and his investments. Sure, there were other labels, but his wines were the main event. Surely he should look happy.
“So, he did come,” said Howie with a whistle.
Alyssa looked up, startled and feeling more than a little foolish. She’d thought, somehow, that she’d been the only one to feel it. Obviously not. She'd been fanciful. Everybody had felt it.
It hadn’t been anything special.
“Makes an impression, doesn’t he?” commented Naomi.
Alyssa shrugged.
“He looks grumpy.”
That drew a laugh from Brianna.
“Grumpy? He’s possibly the handsomest man I’ve ever seen in my life, Aly!”
“Sure, I guess, but he looks grumpy, too. I mean, look at him. I guess he’s here to do the announcement personally. There’s a lot of buzz, isn’t there?”
“That we’re going to be the first to sample the new wine from Colombo? Yes, I heard it,” agreed Howie.
“Well, wouldn’t that make you happy? I mean, really! He looks like he was ordered to come by his evil stepmother or something.”
“Maybe he was,” said Naomi with a giggle.
“What?”
Distracted, Alyssa turned to her friend.
“He does have an evil stepmother. Didn’t you know?”
Alyssa shook her head.
“I’ve only been interested in his wines, remember? And his reviews and recommendations. I haven’t really paid attention to the man himself.”
Which, she was beginning to think, might have been her loss. Sure, he looked like one grumpy, sulky, self-important bastard who wouldn’t know what joy was if it bit him in the undoubtedly very fine ass, but every bit of him looked as fine as his ass did. She had to admit that. She believed in being fair.
“Well, his grandfather started the wine-making, his father got land and started his own vineyard, but he’s the one who expanded it into what it is.”
“Yes, I’ve heard that.”
“It’s not as easy as that, though,” went on Naomi, eager to spill the beans. “Apparently, after Matteo was born, his mother got sick and passed away. His father decided to just focus on his vineyard. He poured all the love and passion he had into his wines, but that got his wines noticed. He never really understood that a woman like Alexandra Tiffany wasn’t in it for him.”
“What?”
“Alexandra Tiffany? Remember, she used to be a pop star? She disappeared after getting married?”
“No idea.”
“Oh, you never keep up with things.”
“I thought this happened ages ago,” said Alyssa, bewildered.
“Yes, but still. He was just beginning to get pretty rich and his wines were winning awards when Alexandra and daddy Colombo met. It was love at first sight for the elder Matteo. Unfortunately, not quite so much for Alexandra. She didn’t mean to get pregnant, and when she did get pregnant, she decided that it would work just fine and married him.”
“Wait, how do you know all of this?”
“It was quite the scandal. My mother still talks about it,” explained Naomi.
“Oh. Well, so he does have an evil stepmother. Though that doesn’t sound very evil to me, it just sounds… I don’t know, sordid.”
Naomi shrugged.
“I guess. Anyway, Alexandra’s son, Gabriel Colombo, is a bit of a… well, I haven’t heard the best things about him. There was some scandal with some supermodel.”
Alyssa chuckled.
“Seriously? Are things like that still scandals?”
“I believe black eyes were involved.”
“Oh.”
That was a scandal, and unacceptable. It should be, at least.
“So what happened?”
“Matteo Colombo swooped in and smoothed things over. Of course, the young woman got a hefty check. I guess it made up for it. Word has it that Gabriel Colombo doesn’t appreciate being sidelined in the family business. World also has it that he doesn’t have Matteo’s nose.”
Alyssa nodded. Now that she could believe.
“I don’t think anybody could have his nose. It's exceptional. He really is good, isn’t he? His father must have been quite the wine-maker to teach him as much as he did. Still, he doesn’t have to sulk like that. What is he, thirty? At least? Old enough to stop sulking about his stepmother, I think.”
So saying, Alyssa put him out of her mind, aided by the bottle that Howie brought to the table.
She grabbed it and checked the label, then nodded approvingly. Of course, it was a Colombo wine, and it was one of the better ones.
“Pour, and don’t be stingy,” she ordered, and she put the brooding billionaire out of her mind.
He had nothing to do with her. She was there to have the time of her life, and she would.
Chapter 3
“You’re gorgeous.”
Alyssa looked up in surprise and just managed to keep herself from doing a double take.
“What?”
“You’re gorgeous. Take a walk with me.”
Alyssa blinked. She wasn’t sure she’d heard right.
“What?”
“I want you to take a walk with me,” he repeated.
“Thanks, but no thanks. This is a meet-and-greet, not a rendezvous.”
Alyssa turned back to the wine she'd just poured for herself and was about to walk back to her table, knowing very well that she was being rude, not caring all that much about it. Because hell, he was being rude, too. And creepy, to be quite honest.
Alyssa was rapidly changing her mind about Matteo Colombo. Sure, he was even hotter up close, but You’re gorgeous, take a walk with me? What kind of clueless idiot walked up to a woman and without even introducing himself, said something like that?
“Stop.”
Alyssa didn’t know why she stopped, but she did know that she was extremely pissed off that she had. Slowly, she turned around and skewered him with a Look. She had a patented Look. No man could stand up against it.
Correction.
No man except Matteo Colombo could stand up against it.
“Tell me who you are.”
Alyssa frowned and tapped the name tag clipped to the lapel of the jacket she’d shrugged on over her royal blue dress.
“Alyssa Benjamin. Pleased to meet you.”
She offered him her hand, expecting him to shake it, like normal people would. Instead, he took it in his, caressing it, and raised it to his lips. The soft, firm contact made her wonder if her insides had just liquefied. Her head spun.
Too much wine. She’d had too much wine. She d
idn’t usually have too much wine, because you can’t enjoy it if you’re really drunk. But now her head was spinning, and she felt as if her legs might give way. Those eyes, such a sharp green, burned into her own golden brown ones as if they could read her soul.
Then take her soul.
“The pleasure is all mine, Alyssa. I’m Matteo Colombo.”
“I… I know who you are.”
Her voice came out a lot higher and squeakier than it usually was. She needed to get a grip. She needed to get her hand out of his grip.
“Then take a walk with me.”
Alyssa pulled her hand out of his and drew herself up to her full 5’9”, which was usually tall enough to look any man in the eye when she had her heels on, but she still had to look up at Matteo. That annoyed her.
She made herself relax and then she laughed, a breezy chuckle of wry disbelief.
“Mr. Colombo, you don’t seem to know how to take no for an answer. I knew who you were when I saw you. I enjoy your wines. They’re some of the best I’ve ever had. I admire your nose. It’s the best I’ve ever heard of. I admire you. But when I said I wasn’t going to take a walk with you now, I did mean it. I’m with friends. And maybe if you didn’t glower at everybody around you, you’d have friends to spend the evening and enjoy your fine wines with, too.”
Alyssa turned around, relieved to find that her legs were working after all, and she walked off, not quite sure where all that had come from, and pretty sure it hadn't been a good idea. He was Matteo Colombo. She'd just snapped at Matteo Colombo and possibly insulted him a bit.
Oh God, she had insulted him more than a bit. She'd pretty much said that he didn’t have friends because he glowered too much. Well, that was just great, then. Just great. She apparently liked to live dangerously and offend powerful men. As if it wasn’t enough that she had Lana out for her head locally, she had to go and annoy somebody who could have her head wherever she went.
Alyssa managed to get to her table and sat down with a thump.
“Aly? Where’s the wine? Aly, what’s wrong?”
She turned to Brianna, her eyes glassy, her smile fixed, her dress and blazer beginning to feel uncomfortably sticky under her arms and on her back.
“I… Ah, I…”
“Alyssa, what the hell is wrong?”
Alyssa winced. Bree had called her Alyssa and sworn. She needed to get a grip and tell her.
“I think I just pissed off Matteo Colombo. Don’t look!”
But Bree was already twisting her neck around.
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know. He was right there, where I was. He showed up and asked me —no, actually, told me to take a walk with him.”
“What?”
“Yeah. I said no. I don’t think he’s used to hearing the word.”
“You said no?”
Brianna sounded frankly puzzled.
“Well, of course I said no! You know what rich men are like.”
Brianna shrugged.
“I don’t, actually. How do you? How many rich men have you known?”
Alyssa sighed. So Brianna was in one of her devil’s advocate moods. Alyssa was not in the mood to indulge it, but still.
“Rich men are used to having their way. They’re used to breaking rules and getting away with it because if you have enough money, most rules don’t apply to you. No, don’t look at me like that, Bree. You know that’s true. You know that with enough money, you can get away with most things. That’s just what life is like. I don’t want to take a walk with the guy who probably owns everything here, not when he’s already shown that he doesn’t like being denied what he wants.”
Brianna paused.
“What a cynical world view to have, Aly! You can’t just assume the worst of people like that.”
Alyssa bit her tongue before retorting that Brianna had done the same about her own husband, and she should really have known better because she knew her husband. But she didn’t say it.
“I’m not required to trust people. I run a business, Bree. Most people do want to scam you because everybody wants to save a few bucks and make a few more bucks. I don’t even blame them, everybody wants to be in control. But that doesn’t mean I’m willing to just give anybody whatever they want, either. I’m sorry that disappoints you, but this isn’t about you. I just said no to a guy who wanted to take a walk with me, that’s all.”
Brianna backed off. “All right, sorry. He’s hot and rich and interested, and you’re single. I mean… You do have that rose quartz in your bra, don’t you?”
Alyssa had gotten used to the poking.
“Do you think it’s to blame? Should I go and fish it out?”
“Do you think Naomi is a witch?”
“Of course not!”
“Then I think you’re safe from everything except some chafing. I… Oh, okay, I see him. He’s over there, brooding. Wow, he really keeps people away from him, doesn’t he?”
“He’s scary. Now do you see why I didn’t want to take a walk with him?”
“What else happened?” asked Brianna, too shrewd for her own good.
“Nothing! What else might happen?”
“Alyssa…”
“Fine,” sulked Aly. “I told him that I have to get back to my friends and if he didn’t glower so much maybe he’d have a few friends to get back to, too.”
Brianna gaped.
“You didn’t.”
“I did. Well, he kissed my hand. That was entirely unnecessary. He absolutely did not have to kiss my hand. So yes, I did, and he deserved it.”
Alyssa crossed her arms and glared at Brianna mutinously.
“Well, you sure showed him. He doesn’t have to worry about friends though, he’s surrounded by people now. Wait, is that Lana?”
“Lana?”
Alyssa craned her neck to try and get a good look.
“Why do you care, Aly? You told him off.”
“But he obviously doesn’t know how to make friends. He doesn’t deserve to have Lana’s claws sink into him. Maybe I should go over there and…”
“And?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then stay here and drink your wine—here, Howie's come back successful in his mission, unlike you, Aly. It’s no big deal, right?”
“Right,” agreed Alyssa, and she tried to pay attention to her friends as they spent the rest of the evening together. People came and went, and Alyssa met more and more people, introduced by Naomi and Howie. Her discomfort melted away, and she managed to have a good time, after all. But she was aware of him all evening.
Was he going to stay for the whole weekend? The whole event? She hoped not! Didn’t he have more important things to do? Wasn’t he an important kind of man?
“Are you sure you’re all right?” asked Naomi as they finally walked back to their cabin, under the starlight.
“Sure, of course. Just a little tired.”
“It’s been a long day. But it’s something more, isn’t it?”
“No, nothing, I promise. I need to check in to make sure everything's fine at the shop.”
“Didn't you call Diane three times already?”
“I did, but…”
“Then let her do her job. And Chantelle said she’d be there if Diane needs any help, too, right?”
“Well, yes, but…”
“There’s nothing to but about, then. Tell me what it is.”
“Nothing. It’s nothing,” insisted Alyssa, and said good night, glad to go inside.
So what if some brooding Italian winemaker had asked her—no, ordered her—to go for a walk? She hadn’t gone, and it was done. He hadn’t noticed her since then. It didn’t matter.
“All right, you can tell me tomorrow. Meet for breakfast?”
Alyssa said yes enthusiastically, and was honestly glad that Brianna wasn’t in much of a mood to talk. Without distractions, Adam was foremost in her mind again. Alyssa left her to it, though it felt mean to do so, and de
cided to use that incredible bath tub.
She meant to congratulate herself on everything she'd achieved that day. She tried out the complimentary bath salts, lit the candles, brought flowers in there, and settled down in the bubbly water. Once she was in, though…
He rose up like a specter.
He didn’t just rise up. He loomed.
He walked out of the fog, a long coat billowing around him. His hair was longer than she’d thought it was. His eyes gleamed green, as if they could see her soul, see how much she wanted him. She sighed as he got closer, his eyes on her. He was powerful. She could see that. He was strong, and he held power in his hands. He had her under his power. She didn’t mind.
“Walk with me.”
This time she didn’t refuse. She didn’t think she could have. Something outside her was pulling her in, drawing deeper as he took her hand and drew beside him to walk along a cliff, until they reached the edge and he stepped off. He didn’t fall. They stepped onto clouds, walked along with calm blue waters under them, until it started getting choppy, the wind picked up, the clouds under their feet became grey and lightning flashed, thunder roared. She turned to him and he pulled her close, and it didn’t matter that a storm raged on around them. None of that mattered because she was in his arms. She looked up at him and everything faded, even as sharp spears of lightning flashed beside them.
Alyssa turned her face up to his for the kiss that she knew would be far more violent than the storm, than the sea, than anything around them. She waited for the moment when their lips would meet for the first time, because she knew it would be a promise. A promise witnessed by the gods and goddesses, the kind of promise that could not be broken. She was ready. She was willing. She was eager.
She was drowning.
Alyssa sat up, gasping and coughing.
“Fuck! Fucking hell!”
She had fallen asleep in the damn bath! Her hair, that she'd clipped up on top of her head so carefully, was soaking wet and coming loose in strands down her back. Water streamed down her dark skin, suddenly far colder than she remembered it being.
How long had she been in there?
Tired. She was just tired and sleepy. She hadn’t had much of a chance to relax, really. She’d been too excited to sleep the night before, and now she needed to get some sleep. Except now she’d gotten her hair all wet and she needed to wash it and dry it and set it, and that would take forever. The candles had gone out, the bubbles had long since fizzled, and the water was so cold that she was beginning to shiver.
The Italian Billionaire’s Nubian Queen (BWWM Romance Book 1) Page 3
