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“Good for her. She’s strong.”
“Yeah. She had a miscarriage, so he got drunk and hooked up with someone else.”
“Wow…jackass.”
“Yeah, I’m not a fan. The guy was really wealthy and she refused to take his money in the divorce, so she’s broke.”
“She’s proud.”
“Very.” I admired that about her, even though I wished she would take her cut of the settlement. “She barely makes ends meet, and she lives in a bad neighborhood…so I worry sometimes. Wish she would get a better job.”
“Does she have any skills? Education?”
I shook my head. “Other than being smart and beautiful, she’s got nothing.”
“And good in the sack, apparently.”
“That gets her free dinners with me.”
She chuckled. “I could find her something at the hotel.”
I stared at her blankly because I couldn’t believe the offer she’d just put on the table. “What? Are you serious?”
“Why not?”
“She’s not my girlfriend or anything. I don’t want you bending over backward.”
“I’m not. Just want to help. It’s hard starting over. It was hard for me, and I had my inheritance and my mother.”
It was still really generous. “What positions do you have open?”
“She could work in the office with me. The assistant office manager just transferred to Rome because she’s getting married, so that’s vacant.”
“She doesn’t have office experience that I know of. She said she married young and became a housewife.”
“It’s not that hard. I could train her and get her up to speed.”
“Again, I don’t want you to do all this work if she’s not gonna be around forever.”
“It’s really not a big deal, Damien.”
Knowing Annabella would have a nice salary and work at a good place made me feel relieved. I would bump into her sometimes when I stopped by the hotel, but I ran into old flames all the time, and we either ignored each other or were civil…with the occasional slap or drink in the face. “I’ll let her know she’s got an interview.”
“Great. And since she is gonna be around…maybe you should keep seeing her.”
I raised an eyebrow. “You haven’t even met her, Sofia. She could be a nightmare.”
“I doubt it. I can tell you care about her by the way you talk about her.”
“I say nice things about people all the time.”
She laughed loudly this time. “No, you don’t. Not ever.”
I walked her back into the lobby of the hotel.
“Thanks for lunch.” She rubbed her slightly extended stomach that protruded from her dress. “It was delicious.”
“It’s the least I could do since I was such an asshole.”
She chuckled. “Well, I hope you’re an asshole more often.”
Both of us stopped when we spotted Hades heading toward us in a deep blue suit with a black tie. His eyes hinted at the underworld.
I slid my hands into my pockets so I wouldn’t punch him. “This should be good…”
Hades reached us, and for the first time in his life, he ignored his wife. His wrath was fixated on me. “Leave my wife alone, Damien.” He spoke quietly so everyone else in the lobby wouldn’t hear the deadly threat. “Get your own damn friends.”
Yeah…it really seemed like he still cared.
Sofia stared at her husband like she didn’t recognize him. “Hades…”
I thought he couldn’t hurt me anymore, but he managed to get that blade right between my ribs. My gaze was hollow, but I was bleeding inside.
He continued that unblinking stare. “Go.” He nodded to the door.
Sofia grabbed him by the arm. “Stop acting like this. Now.”
Hades listened to his wife but still didn’t look at her.
“I’m the one who’s been texting him every day because I miss him,” Sofia said. “He’s my friend, and I don’t give a damn if you don’t like it.”
He finally turned his gaze on her.
“Damien would never hurt me, and you know it.” She started to pull him away. “I’ll see you later, Damien.” She took her husband down the hall so they could talk in private in her office.
I watched them walk away and knew I’d get another earful at the bank.
I’d just finished with a client at the bar, and now I sat alone with my arms folded on the surface. I stared straight ahead, seeing the mirror behind the shelves stacked with bottles of booze.
My phone lit up with a text message from Annabella. I know it’s after hours, but could I schedule an emergency dick appointment?
I’d been in a sour mood before I saw those words. Flashbacks of the hotel lobby came back to me, the fiery look in Hades’s eyes as he stared at me with cruelty. He marched all the way down there to get Sofia away from me…as if I would actually harm her in some way. I should leave her alone, but to be honest, she really was all I had. When I was beaten and broken, she’d nursed me back to health. I saw Hades as a brother, but I didn’t see Sofia as a sister. I saw her as the third person in our group. She was just one of the guys… I grabbed the phone to text back.
A muscular man moved onto the barstool beside me. His tattooed fingers tapped on the surface of the wood, and he quickly got the bartender’s attention. “Old fashioned—hold the orange.”
Nothing about this was funny, but I smiled anyway. “You think showing up everywhere I go is intimidating?”
“How about I ask your stomach?” He grabbed the glass and took a drink.
I chuckled. “I recover fast.”
“But will your father?”
My blood turned cold at the threat. “That’s the kind of man you want to be? Threatening elderly people? Real respectable…”
“You’re one to talk about respect…going to my brother like that.”
I couldn’t believe Balto threw me under the bus. If he ever needed me to bail him out of a jam, I’d let him rot.
“You thought that was going to work?”
“I thought he would remind you that you’re shitty at your job.”
He laughed into his glass before he took a drink. “Now, that’s not true. If it were, I wouldn’t be here right now. I don’t stop until I get my money. You’re a banker, you get it.”
“I don’t go up to strangers and demand money.”
“Oh, come on, we aren’t strangers. I always thought we were friends…in a weird way.” He turned in his stool so he faced me directly. “And just to clarify, Balto didn’t sell you out. He actually told me to go easy on you…because you saved his ass a couple years ago.”
“Then back off. I’m not paying you.” I was so rich that the money meant nothing to me, but it was the principle of the matter. “My friend wouldn’t have been raped if you’d done your job. But you didn’t, and now I have to live with that for the rest of my life.”
“That’s rough, but I let the back taxes go.”
“Not good enough.” I turned my gaze in his direction. “You weren’t there then. How can I trust you’ll be there later?”
“Because I will. The transition was bad timing.”
“Until it’s bad timing again.” I drank from my glass until it was empty. “I’m not paying you, Heath.” I put the glass on the table, upside down.
He turned quiet, his breathing audibly different. “I’m trying to be a nice guy, Damien. But that won’t last long.”
“I’m not a nice guy either, Heath. Not ever.”
He sighed before he finished the rest of his drink. “Your pride isn’t worth what’s about to happen to you. I encourage you to think it over before it’s too late.”
16
Annabella
It took him an hour to text me back. Not tonight. Tomorrow. He wasn’t playful at all, telling he was in a bad mood—again.
Was this guy ever happy?
In the back of my mind, I wondered if he was with Sofia. Jud
ging by the content of that message I saw, it wasn’t the first time she’d texted him. She was desperate to get his attention—and maybe she’d succeeded.
Bitch.
If it bothered me that much, I should do something about it.
But what?
The next day, I got off work and entered my apartment. I smelled like sandwiches and soup, so I washed that stink away before I did my hair and got dressed. When I grabbed my phone, there was a message from Damien. Can I come by?
I hated myself for smiling at his words. Depends. What are you bringing?
His response was immediate. My dick.
Anything else?
You want me to bring something else?
Guys usually bring a woman flowers…
You want flowers?
No…I’d prefer a pizza.
LOL. You got it.
He arrived at my door twenty minutes later, and instead of knocking, he just walked inside.
“Doorbell doesn’t work?” I got off the couch and moved toward him, liking his gray t-shirt and black jeans. In his hand was a pizza box, the smell heavenly.
“You knew I was coming. Why knock?” His eyes roamed over my body, and judging from the intensity of his gaze, he liked the way I looked. A slight smile formed on his handsome lips, enhancing his good looks.
I popped open the top of the box. “Whatcha get?”
He pulled the box out of my grasp. “Whoa, slow down.” He bent his neck down. “I don’t get a kiss first?”
His charm and playfulness always made me melt, especially when he was so hot too. My hands moved to his chest, and I rose on my tiptoes so I could kiss him. It should be an innocent embrace, a welcoming gesture. But once his lips were on mine, I forgot about the cheesy pizza filling my apartment with its appetizing fragrance.
I focused on the taste of his sexy lips.
My arms slowly slid up his body until they hooked around his neck. I felt his bottom lip and then his top, my tongue delving deep into his mouth right away.
He moaned in my mouth and tightened his arm around my back, bringing me hard into his chest like my desire had turned him on. He reached and set the pizza box on the entryway table without breaking our embrace. Once his hand was free, it was deep in my hair, his kiss carnal.
He backed me up to my bedroom, his hands sliding up my shirt so it would come free from my body. He cupped the back of my head as he unsnapped my bra with experienced fingers. It came undone instantly with the simple pinch of his fast fingers. He got my jeans unfastened a moment later, the backs of my knees hitting the mattress by the time he was nearly finished.
I yanked his shirt over his head and stared at his chest for a moment, loving his fitness. My nails dug into his skin right away, admiring the hardness underneath that sun-kissed skin.
He watched me praise him as he got his jeans unbuttoned and pushed them down his narrow hips. He did the same to mine, pushing them over my hips along with my panties. His big cock came free, drooling for me when the fun had barely started.
I knew exactly how I wanted him to fuck me, so I crawled on the bed and arched my back. When I didn’t feel his knees press into the mattress, I looked at him over my shoulder.
His hand was around his dick, and he stared at my pussy like he couldn’t believe what I’d just done. “That’s how you want me to fuck you, Annabella?”
“Is this not clear enough for you?” I shook my ass slightly.
A sexy smirk moved across his mouth, and he fished a condom out of his jeans. He took his time rolling it on, staring at my ass as he left himself a generous tip at the end. When his knees hit the mattress, my heart began to race, the excitement giving me the chills. He positioned himself behind me and pushed his head inside me.
Just that was enough to make me moan.
He grabbed my hips and sank all the way inside, pushing through my tightness until he claimed me from front to back.
“Ooh…” I closed my eyes and widened my knees, giving him all the room he needed.
He grabbed my hair in his hand and wrapped it around his fingers, using it as reins to tug my head back slightly. Then his hips worked hard to pump inside me, giving me his entire length with quick speed.
“Damien…” He was the only man I wanted to fuck me. Only man I wanted inside me every night. He made all those other guys look like inexperienced boys. My ex-husband used to satisfy me, but it seemed like Damien was even better. I couldn’t even think straight because it was so good.
“Fuck, you’re hot when you’re getting fucked.”
“When I’m getting fucked by you…”
He sat beside me on the couch, wearing his black boxers. His chest was still slightly sticky from the sweat that had poured down his body minutes ago. He opened the cardboard box. “Hope you like cold pizza.”
“I’ll take hot sex and cold pizza any day.”
He grinned as he handed me a slice. “Well said, Annabella.” He grabbed himself a piece and took a bite. “Damn, this is good.” Even the way he chewed his food was sexy, all the muscles in his jawline shifting under his skin.
“Don’t eat pizza often?”
“I can’t remember the last time I did.”
“What?” I covered my mouth as I chewed my food. “You can’t be serious.”
“You think I look like this because I eat pizza all the time?” He patted his flat stomach.
“Well, you drink more than would bring down a horse, and you still look like that…”
“I compensate by not eating.”
“Then why are you so muscular?”
“I have a super protein shake for lunch.”
“Every day?” I asked.
“Except when I showed up at your bistro for lunch.”
I couldn’t believe I had been so cold to him when he was buried treasure. “Even then, you just ate a salad.”
“Yeah, I’m pretty boring.”
“Not in bed.”
He watched me as he chewed his bite, affection in his eyes. “Have I told you how much I like you, Annabella?”
“No. But I’m listening now.”
He chuckled then grabbed another slice. “How was your day?”
“Fine. I worked at the restaurant. Some guy left me a big tip.”
“Must be American.”
“Yeah. I wish more Americans would come in,” I said with a chuckle. “He gave me a hundred euros.”
“I’m sure he wanted your number in return.”
I shrugged. “He didn’t ask for it.”
Damien finished his slice of pizza and didn’t comment.
Did he care if other men hit on me?
“Speaking of work…” He closed the box and set it to the side of the couch. “A friend of mine owns the Tuscan Rose and said she needs a new office manager. I recommended you, and she wanted to set up an interview.”
Friend? Was this an old lover? Would an old lover want to provide his new lover a job opportunity? That seemed unlikely. “That’s sweet, but I have no qualifications for the position.”
“She said she doesn’t mind teaching you.”
“Why would she want to waste her time doing that when she could hire someone else?”
He took a while before he answered. “I guess she wants to help me out.”
“How would that help you?”
He gave me a long stare. “Because I don’t want you to keep waitressing.”
“Is there something wrong with it?” I would be hurt if he thought less of me because of the way I paid the bills.
“No. I just want you to make more money. Do you not?”
“Of course I do, but you didn’t have to pull any strings—”
“I didn’t. She offered.”
“But why would she offer unless you brought me up—”
“Because I told her I was seeing you.” He continued to stare at me. “I said you were newly divorced and starting over, and that I want you to be financially stable and maybe upgrade to a better n
eighborhood.”
That answered all my questions, so I didn’t know what to say.
“I would never ask her to do something like that for me. It was all her.”
“That’s awfully nice of her…”
“Well, she’s a very nice person.”
I didn’t want to lose an opportunity to make good money and not smell like sandwiches every day. I’d had lunch at the Tuscan Rose, and it was a really nice place. The lobby was always full of flowers, and that was my favorite part. “I don’t know what to say… That’s really generous.”
“Agree to the interview.”
“Well, I definitely can’t say no.”
“Good. I was hoping you wouldn’t.”
“Besides…my hair always smells like onions after work.”
“I noticed but didn’t want to say anything…”
I smacked his arm playfully because I knew he was kidding. “That’s rude.”
“Whether you smell like onions or not, I still want to fuck you, so you’re good.”
“Good to know,” I said sarcastically.
Now that we were done eating, he placed his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close. “Want to watch a movie or something?”
So, he wanted to stay. “Sure.”
We ended up in bed together again, and this time, it didn’t seem like he was going to leave.
My head rested on the same pillow as his while my leg was hooked over his waist. Our bodies were close together, our chests almost touching. My fingers lightly played with his abs, feeling the hardness even when he was perfectly relaxed. “You are going to stay?”
His deep eyes looked into mine. “If that’s okay.”
“That’s always okay.” It was getting harder every time he left, especially because I had no idea where he was going, if he would meet a woman better than me. She would make him lose interest in me…and I would never see him again. I wasn’t anxious for a commitment; I just didn’t want to lose him. “What happened last night?”
“What do you mean?” His hand moved into my hair and pushed it from my face and over my shoulder.