I allowed one corner of my lips to drift upwards. “Hmm… perhaps there is something you can do for me.”
He beamed happily. “That is wonderful. Just wonderful. I would love to help you in any way I can.”
Garibaldi was right, he was pretty pathetic. “Will you join me for a drink?”
“Of course. Of course,” he cried eagerly. “That would be absolutely marvelous.”
“Good. Let’s have it in Soleiman’s study. I believe he keeps his best whiskey there.”
“Oh yes.” He turned to the woman. “Wait here for me, Skye. I’ll be back when I’m finished with the Don.”
I didn’t look at her, but from my peripheral vision I knew her reply had been a wooden nod.
“Let her come,” I said softly.
“Oh no, she will be bored with men’s talk,” he said quickly.
I turned to her and let her have the full force of my gaze. “Will you?”
“I… I… yes, I mean… no,” she said in confusion.
I let my eyes gaze away from her mouth and returned it to the joker in front of me. “There you go. She won’t be bored.”
He forced a smile. “Of course, Skye can come with us.”
“This way.” I turned and led the way towards Soleiman’s study. I knew he wouldn’t mind if I used it, or even finished his rare whiskey. I opened the door and switched on the lights. One wall of the very large room was lined with shelves that were filled with leather-bound books. The books went all the way up to the ceiling. There was a big antique desk in front of the window and a nest of black leather sofas in one corner.
I waved my hand towards the sofas as I walked towards the mini-bar. “Take a seat.”
I poured out three generous measures of Soleiman’s best whiskey into some crystal tumblers and carried them towards the sofas. Salvatore immediately jumped up, as if sitting while I was standing was a direct affront to me.
“Sit,” I said. His eagerness to please was beginning to grate.
And he dropped back down to the sofa. I handed a glass to Skye. Deliberately I let our fingers touch. She jerked back as if I had burned her, her eyes flying upwards to meet mine. Hers were wide and surprised and her cheeks were pink with color. So, we were on the same page.
“Thank you,” she whispered, dropping her gaze hurriedly.
I put Salvatore’s glass on the coffee table and lowered myself onto the sofa opposite him. I raised my glass. “To good times.”
“To good times,” both Skye and he echoed.
I leaned back and took a sip.
“Whoa! This is great whiskey,” Salvatore opinioned.
It was at that point I decided I couldn’t bear another second of his company. “I want your woman,” I said bluntly.
Skye gasped with shock, and Salvatore choked on his whiskey.
“Sorry,” he spluttered.
“You heard me.” My voice was cold.
For a second he seemed totally bewildered. He looked at me, then at Skye, then back at me. He opened his mouth, closed it, and opened it again like a tiny-brained fish. Then he swallowed so hard, his Adam’s apple bobbed. Sweat began to bead his forehead.
I waited.
The silence in the room became so deep I could hear the woman breathing. Fast and shallow. Like a little creature that had been running for a very long time from a predator and finally, at the cliff edge, when running was no longer an option, turned around to confront its enemy. It knew it was doomed, but it was not going to give up. It was going to fight to the death.
I never looked at her. I kept my eyes on Salvatore. He didn’t look at the woman either. Instead he looked down at his clasped hands. I stared at him curiously as he fought a lost battle. He didn’t want to give the woman up, but the lure of working for me was too much.
“Of course. It will be an honor,” he mumbled finally.
“You have made a wise decision. Someone will contact you in the morning with an… opportunity.”
“Thank you. Thank you so much. I will look forward to his visit and proposal.”
“You may go now.”
He shot to his feet. “Have a good night, Don Messana.”
I nodded. “I will.”
At my words, his whole face turned red. I had not thought it possible, but he must care for the woman. As he turned and started towards the door I shifted my attention to the woman. Her face was as white as a sheet and that delectable mouth was trembling.
Fury or fear. I didn’t know and didn’t care.
Chapter 4
Skye
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUT5rEU6pqM
“I’m not a whore,” I said, but I was in such a state of surreal disbelief my voice came out in an unrecognizable hoarse whisper. Never in my life had I been passed from one man to another like this. With me present but having had no say in the decision. As if I was without consequence. Or even a thing.
“I know you’re not,” he said quietly. “But as you clearly detest him, and you need money to pay for your father’s medical bills I’d have thought you’d jump at the chance to kill two birds with one stone.”
I leaned forward, my eyes wide with shock and disbelief. “How do you know I need money for my father?”
He shrugged casually. “I was enjoying a cigarette in the summerhouse when you came in and made your phone call.”
“Oh.” I was too astonished to think properly. I shook my head to clear it. He was inside that summerhouse at the bottom of the garden. I had gone there for just one moment of refuge and he was there. He had seen me when I thought I was alone, and let my heartbreak show. I felt violated. I took a deep breath. “So,” my voice was trembling with fury. “I have no choice. I’m just supposed to come with you tonight and be your mistress instead of his.”
“No,” he said calmly, “you have choices. If you don’t come with me tonight, Salvatore will understandably, and judging by his reluctance to let you go, quickly lay claim on you again.”
The spectacular anger I felt towards him because he had coldly watched me at my most vulnerable and decided to take advantage of it collapsed into a shapeless lump. I couldn’t hold back the shudder of revulsion at the prospect of going back to Salvatore.
“You will be compensated financially,” he added softly.
“What is the matter with all of you?” I exploded bitterly. “Can none of you find a woman without having to buy her?”
He smiled, if that could even be called a smile. It was a humorless twist of his lips. “Buying women is my preference. It keeps the transaction smooth and unemotional. Both parties understand exactly what is on offer.”
“That is horrible,” I gasped in disgust.
He was utterly and totally unmoved by my condemnation. “Here’s the deal. Take it or leave it. I will pay for all of your father’s medical bills until he is given a clean bill of health. In return you will be my mistress for a month.”
Oh, not that again. I was not going to be cheated with that one-month bargain again. “Where have I heard that crock of crap before?” I asked sarcastically.
He frowned.
The action made him look so forbidding, I felt a frisson of fear run up my spine, but I was too far gone to stop. There was a month and five days’ worth of rage inside me. “You take advantage of women who are desperate for money with your offers of ‘I want your body for a month’ and then you just keep on moving the goalposts. A month becomes two and three and—”
I stopped suddenly at the cold fury that filled his eyes.
His voice was deceptively calm, silky even. “If we are going to get on, Skye, then you must remember one thing. Never put me in the same category as that hustler you were with. Yes, you are beautiful, but no more than some others I have had. I can assure you I will not require you for more than a month. As a matter of fact, you will have a written contract of our agreement.”
I stilled. “A written contract.”
He nodded. “You will also have to sign an NDA that p
revents you from ever revealing to anyone, anywhere, anything about me, our relationship, or what you see or hear in my household during the time you are in my employ.”
In his employ. Wow! No bells or whistles there. He was hiring me for sex. A body to slake his lust. He sure knew how to make someone feel really small and insignificant. But in a way it was better. When Salvatore used to call me baby, I wanted to throw boiling water in his face. I was not his baby. He didn’t care about how I felt. He was using my body against my will.
I dropped my head and tried my best to clear the fog in my brain. What were my choices? Let Salvatore swoop down on me again. Ugh… I’d rather die.
I raised my head and looked into those dangerous eyes watching me. Set against the charcoal eyelashes the irises were so light they looked like a wolf’s eyes. The grainy long-lens photos I’d seen of him in magazines did not do him any justice. For a few seconds, I stared into those amazing eyes, intrigued by how beautiful they really were. Not beautiful like a wonderful tropical sunset, or a perfectly formed flower, but beautiful like a highly-colored poisonous snake.
Then my gaze dropped to the white scar running down his left cheek. Were the rumors true? Was it from a tiger’s claws? Probably not. He was so elusive most people didn't even know what he looked like. My fingers itched to run down the raised, shiny skin, but of course, I did no such thing.
His nose was proud and aristocratic. Reminiscent of those marble statues from ancient Rome with their perfectly flared nostrils. I let my gaze move lower down his face. If not for his mouth, his face would have been unbearably cruel. His mouth alone made him human. The lips, full and sensuous, especially the bottom one. I could almost imagine how soft it would be if I went over and kissed him. Obviously, I had no intention of doing anything of the sort.
My gaze travelled down to that strong jaw. So perfectly masculine it should have belonged on a photo-shopped magazine spread. I let my eyes follow that smooth line down to the golden-brown column of his throat. Thick, raven hair grazed the crisp white collar of his shirt.
I followed the broad shoulder of his flawlessly cut suit jacket down his arms all the way to his hands. One big hand lay lightly curled and relaxed on his thigh and the other was cradling his drink. My eyes moved on from the powerful muscles showing under the stretched material of his pants upwards. To the bulge between his legs.
For a second I stopped and stared. Inside me, I tried to arouse the instinctive revulsion I’d felt the first time Salvatore had touched me, but there was nothing. I was quite numb. I let my eyes rise up the belt, up the shirt, and back to those merciless eyes.
“What’s it to be?” he asked.
“You will pay my father’s medical bills until he is completely better?”
“Yes.”
“Even if it costs hundreds of thousands of dollars?”
“Yes.”
“I will have that in writing?”
“Of course.”
I felt my whole body go limp with relief. Would my father finally be cured?
“Are you on the pill?”
“Yes, I am, but we have to use condoms.”
He shook his head. “You will have to undergo some tests. Once the results come back if you are clean we will not use them.”
“What if you are the one with the STD? Will you take the tests too?”
His lips twisted. “I’ve kept myself disease free and you’ll just have to take my word for it.”
Even though he’d refused to take the test, the fact that he needed me to take one before he would sleep with me meant he was extremely careful about his sexual health. It all just sounded too good to be true. Why would a man like him pay that much just to have a woman like me? Especially, as he’d said, he’d had other more beautiful women than me. There had to be a catch and I suddenly thought I knew what it would be.
Everything about him gave the promise of ruthless brutality. Once when he looked down the sooty thickness of his lashes against his cheek seemed to soften the severity of face, almost giving the illusion that perhaps he wasn't dangerous. However, when he looked up again and stared straight at me, the light, almost translucent grey of his eyes was piercing enough to make a shiver run through me.
I swallowed hard. “Will I have to do anything kinky?”
He shook his head. “You won’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”
“I don’t want to sleep with you,” I couldn’t help shooting back.
His watchful expression didn’t change at all. “Are you sure about that, Skye?”
I felt heat rush up my face as I lied to him. “Yes.”
One eyebrow rose sardonically. “Prove it.”
“W-what?” I stammered in shock.
“Come here and prove it,” he taunted softly.
Chapter 5
Skye
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwYN7mTi6HM
-Go Ahed And Jump-
He remained still, but his pupils grew. Hypnotized, I stared into their bottomless depths. Looking into them was like nothing I’d ever experienced. Then without warning, the atmosphere in the room changed. The air became thick and charged. My skin tingled with electricity. Something began to slither inside my belly. A need. It was irresistible. It wanted me to go over and… oh God, mate with him. To my shock I became wet for him.
At that moment nothing else existed, but my clawing need for that cold, calculating monster.
I wanted to tell him to fuck off, or stand and tell him to keep his damn money… but I couldn’t move, couldn’t think, couldn’t even breathe. The breath had been sucked out of my body. I could only stare in utter shock.
“I’ll let this one pass, but no more lies,” he murmured.
I felt my hands clench, but I nodded automatically, dumbly. What the hell just happened?
“Are you ready to go?”
I nodded again, but I did not rise. I was not sure my legs were strong enough. I reached for the glass of whiskey, and downed the bronze liquid in one go. Whiskey was not my thing, but the fire running down my throat was welcome. It reached my stomach and radiated heat into my confused, stunned cells. I put the glass back down and found him watching me. There was cold amusement in his eyes.
“You don’t like whiskey,” he observed.
I frowned. “Why do you say that?”
“Just an instinct.”
I touched my hair self-consciously and something shifted in those startlingly light eyes. He reached out and I froze. Then his warm hand was curling around my upper arm. He turned it slightly so the soft inner side of my arm was exposed. I glanced down at my arm to see what he was looking at and saw the four bluish marks Salvatore had left when he grabbed me hard the night before. He had not been truly rough. I just bruised easily. There were more on my hips, and inner thighs where he had been truly rough.
Our eyes met. Neither of us spoke, then he let go of my arm, leaned back, and regarded me calmly.
“Take your phone out and text me your full name and address.”
“Why?”
“My solicitor will need the information to draw up the necessary contracts.”
“Oh, okay.”
He continued staring at me.
“You want me to do it right now?”
“Yeah.”
Great. That was all that was missing from my life. A man of few words. I fumbled with my purse, opened the flap, and fished out my phone. He called out his number and I texted him my last name and address.
“What should I call you?” I asked.
“Luca,” he said simply.
When his phone pinged from inside his jacket pocket, he rose.
“Let’s go. I’ve got a long night ahead of me.”
I stood and together we walked to the door. There was at least a foot between us, but I could feel the power and energy emanating from his lean, but tightly muscled body.
He pulled the door open and held it for me. I walked through and we travelled silently through the long corri
dor towards the party. As we got closer the sounds of music and people began to filter into the corridor. As we arrived at the entrance of the main room I saw many heads turning to look at us. First, they looked at the Don, then at me, then back to him.
I couldn’t help it. My gaze looked for the man in the electric blue suit. Salvatore was standing by a pillar. There was a drink in his hand and he was staring at me with a strange expression in his face. It was clear he was not happy.
I thought about how happy he had been that he had managed to snag an invitation to this party. How he had boasted it would be filled with rich and powerful people. That he was rising on the ladder of success to be even considered good enough to be invited.
Well, he got his wish. He was now going to be offered an opportunity of a lifetime.
I felt Luca’s hand touch the small of my back. It was only a light touch, but it was full of possession. I saw the flash of jealousy that crossed Salvatore’s face before he concealed it. He must have thought he’d keep me for a long, long time and now I had been snatched away from him by a bigger predator. I felt a great relief wash over me. Without the Don’s intervention tonight God only knew how long he would have held me trapped in his ownership. Silently, I sent a prayer to God.
Please God, protect me. Don’t let it be that I jumped from the frying pan into the fire.
Keeping my face expressionless, I turned my eyes away from Salvatore, and looked towards the arch that led to the foyer of the house. I never wanted to see him again.
Chapter 6
Skye
As we reached the arch, a man whom Salvatore had introduced as the host, approached us. He glanced at me, and showed a microsecond of surprise to see me leaving with Don Luca, before his face was wreathed in a big smile as he gave his whole attention to the Don.
Beauty and the beast: A Modern Day Fairytale Billionaire Mafia Romance Page 2
