Brash Boss Read online

  ‘Yes, I’ve always thought it would make a stunning photo.’

  ‘Are you into photography, Barbara?’

  ‘No, I don’t even own a camera.’ I laughed at the question. ‘Maybe in a different life I could have been.’ I trailed my finger on the crystal-clear glass of the passenger window. ‘I used to think how stunning the colours would look against the backdrop of the hills around us.’ Not wanting to mark his pristine car I pulled my finger back in quickly and clasped my hands together on my lap as I tried hard to relax.

  ‘Well, maybe this might be the start of your different life.’

  ‘You think?’ I turned to focus on Nico, while his eyes remained fixed on the road ahead.

  The fact he was driving the two of us had come as a complete surprise. I’d seen his limo with its blacked-out windows and personalised number plate sweep up and down The Boulevard on numerous occasions before and expected to travel in that. He’d informed me in his large private garage underneath the casino, that whenever he could he liked to be in charge of his own fate, and he was also studying to become a pilot. As his words sunk home, I understood just how much I could get used to someone helping me steer my own fate and the thought was sobering.

  ‘Our marriage, this year together, well… it’s to help us both out. There is no reason why you can’t do something for you as well, while you concentrate on getting better.’

  I was momentarily stunned at his thoughtfulness.

  ‘It’s the next right,’ I offered, breaking through the companionable yet contemplative quiet.

  For the first time, he turned his head towards me and without answering me he nodded.

  ‘You knew that already, didn’t you?’

  ‘Yes,’ he answered truthfully.

  ‘Why that doesn’t freak me out… I have no idea.’

  He competently turned the steering wheel of the navy Lamborghini Veneno with absolute precision and the engine roared its disgust at having to slow down.

  ‘The reason it doesn’t freak you out, as you put it, is because the longer you think on this, the more you’re coming to terms with the best decision you ever made.’

  ‘Mmmm.’ I wasn’t convinced I could carry this off in front of Pearl, let alone his overbearing grandmother. ‘Have you ever actually been here yourself before now?’ I asked, suddenly feeling the answer was important.

  ‘What would you prefer me to say?’

  ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘Second lie,’ he challenged with a smile spreading over his gorgeous features.

  ‘Okay, okay. In truth, I’d prefer that you’d only ever had your security here. Them making sure I was alright and reporting back to you somehow sits better with me.’

  ‘Then, that’s the answer.’ He turned his head to look at me and with a broad smile over his face, showing me a dimple I hadn’t seen before in person or in the media, he offered me a quick conspirator’s wink. His usual composed persona had dissolved a little around the edges. Standing next to anyone else in a suit, Nico would have still looked the better dressed and the more perfectly put together. But against his own crazily high standards, little things were beginning to look less than perfect, and God did it suit him.

  I felt my mouth fall open agog. He looked relaxed and could it be said, almost playful. It was as though I’d been allowed to catch a glimpse of the boy beneath the man his well-publicised life had turned him into.

  Close your mouth and stop looking at him.

  As we pulled up outside my scruffy looking condo, I closed my eyes quickly to compose myself. It was one thing having people know just how desperate your life had become, but it was completely different having them see it with their own eyes. The two small windows at the front at least looked a little more decent than they had yesterday. Pearl had hung my new drapes and although they weren’t in a fabric I’d have chosen by choice, I was more grateful than she would ever know.

  Nico pushed a button on his console and spoke loudly. ‘We’re here, area clean?’

  ‘Yes, Boss.’

  ‘Good. Leave a couple of teams local, Fran.’

  ‘Already done, Boss,’ came the very direct reply from a microphone hidden somewhere in the state-of-the-art car.

  He’s staying here with me. I could almost see myself with wide open eyes, like a rabbit caught in the headlights. Don’t be stupid, what did you expect?

  ‘Stay there,’ he demanded without turning his head to look at me.

  I watched him get out of the car. He buttoned up his suit jacket, took a good look around the area, then walked around the front of his prized vehicle and opened up my door. I looked up nervously from the passenger seat as he offered his hand for me to take hold of.

  As his hand hovered there in mid-air, and as I stared at his well-manicured fingernails and the Morello family signet ring on his finger, I knew that by taking hold of his hand I was truly accepting everything he was coercing me into. For a split second, I contemplated my next move, but understanding that he really did seem to have thought of everything, and that we truly could help each other out of the difficult situations we were in, I lifted up my hand and took hold of his fingers.

  Jesus.

  It took all I had not to pull my hand away, as what felt like a jolt of static electricity travelled up my arm and into my very obviously extremely tired body. Instead, I took in a deep breath and offered him a small smile as he closed the door to his Lamborghini behind me. After threading his large fingers in between my smaller ones, he pulled me in closely to his side, so close that his cologne engulfed me. Then he walked us up to the metal fence that surrounded my tiny property.

  Once we reached the gate, he pushed it open and stood back for me to walk in front of him. By the time I reached the peeling paint on what should have been a bright red door, my hand was shaking as I attempted to put my key into the lock. Finally, I managed to drive it home and hoped he hadn’t noticed my mini breakdown due to nerves and the anxiety that seemed ever present.

  I pushed open the door as quietly as I could, knowing that Pearl would sometimes hear me come home and would pop around to see if I was okay, and it was far too soon for me to face her. As the door closed behind the two of us, I dropped my keys onto the small, fake antique corner table that my aunty had loved so much and strode purposefully into the kitchen.

  ‘Coffee?’ I tried to casually push into the suddenly tense atmosphere.

  ‘Black please,’ I heard him say, as his voice disappeared into the living area.

  ‘That’s lucky,’ I said under my breath as I filled the kettle with water and placed it onto the stove in front of me. I knew there was no milk in the fridge and couldn’t have offered anything other than black anyway.

  Silence engulfed my tiny condo.

  I tried to imagine just what he was seeing as he looked around my sparse living area. Anything that had held any value, I had already pawned in the local shop in Sunrise, the cheap area of Vegas that I resided in. I knew all that would meet his probably disapproving eyes were an almost antiquated reclining chair, a couple of upright chairs against one wall and a low table. Even the walls had rectangular dirty marks on them, left behind from when I had taken down and sold a couple of prints that I’d treated myself to when things were a little better for me.

  The kettle, starting to produce its low whistle to let me know it was nearly ready, made me jump. I grabbed a glass from the cupboard and filled it up with water. As soon I felt the cool glass on my lips my body went into overdrive, my mouth was suddenly more parched than it had ever felt before and I drank it all down, relishing the way the liquid quelled the burning in my throat. The whistle became high-pitched, bringing me to. I hastily refilled my glass and then grabbed an oven glove to lift the kettle off the stove.

  ‘Thank you, Pearl,’ I whispered as I placed a spoon full of coffee into an “I love Vegas” mug. I knew that behind the scenes she was making sure I had the bare minimum in my condo to get by and that she had recently topped
up my coffee. ‘What would I do without you?’

  Tears pricked the back of my eyes as I thought about leaving her behind here for a year. She had become like a mom to me over the years and I knew we relied on each other.

  What will she do without me to look after?

  Trying to lose my melancholy thoughts I concentrated on stirring the coffee, watching as the boiling water whooshed around in its confines. Then, letting out a soft sigh, I picked up the mug and my glass of water and tried hard to walk confidently into the living area.

  ‘Here you…’ I stopped speaking immediately as I took in the sight that met my eyes.

  There resting asleep on the dilapidated recliner chair was the man I had only two hours ago agreed to marry. Even asleep his presence filled the whole of my living space.

  His suit jacket had been discarded, his tie had been loosened and his gun, still in its shoulder holster, was laid out in his lap. I cast my eyes down to see that his shoes were in a heap on the floor beneath him. The man who had most of Vegas at his beck and call, the man who I was sure owned every luxury known to the rich, and who I doubt ever relaxed, looked totally at ease in my tiny, rundown home, in a comfortable but broken armchair. I couldn’t help the smile that stretched my mouth from cheek to cheek.

  But the best of it was his face. I leant myself against my doorframe and studied him a little harder, not knowing when I’d ever get another chance. Still holding the hot drink in my hands, I started to sip at the coffee that I’d originally made for him.

  Nico Morello was attractive in a way you normally only read about in romance books. He was the epitome of tall, dark and handsome, with risk thrown in for good measure. He was over six foot, probably by about a couple of inches. His shoulders were broad, and it was fairly obvious that he took good care of himself by the way his shirt stretched across his firm chest. His face had lost the look of total indifference he normally showed to the world, it was instead peaceful and dare I say it relaxed? His short dark brown hair was messed up and a five o’clock shadow had covered his jaw, which suited him even though it concealed the cleft in his chin. There was no getting away from the danger that surrounded him, but I could also sense that there was a different man residing under the mantle he had created to exist in his world, and the two sides of him totally captivated me.

  I closed my eyes momentarily as I recognised the long forgotten feeling of butterflies in my stomach and my heart was skipping happily, from just being able to look at him. My fingers longed to touch him, so I made myself stand stock still and hoped that the feeling would ebb away soon.

  I took another sip of the strong coffee, knowing that it would most definitely keep me awake today.

  I shook my head laughing silently at the excuse.

  I had been lying to myself for years about my addiction to gambling, so I recognised another lie as soon as the thought swept through my head.

  Be truthful.

  I probably wasn’t going to be able to sleep this morning anyway, knowing he was in here, because I already knew that spending a year with this man would most definitely prove to be an even greater challenge than giving up gambling.

  I knew without a doubt, even after only spending a few hours in his company, that if the man continued to surprise me with his kindness and concern for my well-being, Nico Morello could prove to be my greatest ever addiction.

  Chapter Nine

  Nico

  I cracked open one eye and took in my surroundings.

  The tiny room, which was badly in need of decorating, met my eye and feeling a crick in my neck I immediately remembered where I must have fallen asleep.

  How the hell had I even slept?

  I moved one hand from behind my head feeling the inflexibility that a night in the chair had given it and placed it over the top of the gun on my lap. Pausing to listen to anything I could make out in the small space around me, I pressed the hard comfort of my gun and the leather that housed it into my morning wood, just trying to get a moment of reprieve before I saw Barbara again.

  I listened for a few seconds, to find to my relief that the condo was completely silent.

  Time to make a couple of calls.

  I knew I needed to put a few plans together before she woke up and panicked at our impending marriage. I moved to the side to reach for my jacket and cursed under my breath at the state of it as I picked it up to retrieve my cell. Hearing the chair underneath me groan and reverberate its protest into the silence of her small living space put me on edge, worried that I just might have disturbed her too. The screen flashed on and I saw it was a little before one in the afternoon, which surprised the hell out of me. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d slept for over four hours straight and I’d never passed out in an old reclining chair.

  Not wanting to disturb Barbara before I’d put some of the plans I knew we needed into place, I eased myself off the chair, not bothering to close it up in case it made even more noise. I wrapped my gun up inside my jacket and left them on top of my shoes and then made my way out to what I thought must be the kitchen.

  The door I pushed open revealed I was right. I flicked my eyes around rapidly to find the coffee machine, desperate for some caffeine. It became obvious that the kitchen was not very well equipped and the realisation that this was how she’d been living was painful. The few tatty bits of furniture in her living area had seemed bad enough, but right now the kitchen seemed even worse. I’d been keeping tabs on her from afar, making sure she had a job and still had a place to live, but I realised, as my eyes found the bare worktops, that “living” was hardly the word to describe what she’d obviously been experiencing for a while. This, her life, was an existence and nothing more.

  You’ve done a crap job, Morello.

  I should have stepped in sooner, but in truth when I searched deep inside myself for any ounce of feelings I might still have, up until last night I had believed she was truly better off without my input. Because, if I was being honest, I had always thought she was one of the most naturally beautiful women I had ever laid eyes on. She didn’t need a bastard like me in her life, controlling it and taking it over with my demands and offering her nothing in return.

  But now she did need me, and I needed her, so we had come to a crossroads.

  Not finding a coffee machine, I unlocked the back door and stepped out into her yard. It was the hottest time of the day and the heat was already intense. After pressing a few buttons and with my cell to my ear as it dialled the call, I unbuttoned my shirt and pulled it free from the waistband of my pants. Then without thinking it through, I pulled off one sock at a time, dropped them down beside me and gripped the long grass with my toes, relishing in something I hadn’t done in a long time.

  ‘Hey, Trip.’

  ‘Well, if it’s not the Italian stud.’ His words teased and I laughed. At the same time, I heard Kendall talking to their son Bruce in the background.

  ‘I have some news that I think will surprise you.’

  ‘Interesting, get on with it then.’ Then his voice changed as he informed Kendall that he couldn’t hear what I was saying so he was stepping outside for a few minutes. I could imagine him stood by the ocean outside their home in Florida, with a fresh breeze blowing off the sea and in my head I cursed the hot as hell, dry heat I was standing in and flexed my toes again onto the grass underfoot. A feeling not unlike homesickness rushed through me and I knew without a doubt that Crete was where we needed to take our vows.

  ‘First of all, what are you doing with your sad little semi-retired life in about, well say ten days’ time?’

  ‘As little as possible… how about you, workaholic?’

  ‘Well, I need some asshat to fly me and the future Mrs. Morello over to Crete. I also need a best man and Barbara will need a witness.’ My statement was met with complete silence for a few seconds and I let a grin spread over my face when it appeared I had rendered him speechless.

  ‘Barbara? Well fuck me sideways.’


  ‘No thanks, I prefer blonde beauties with perky tits.’ Trip’s wife was a pretty blonde and I knew he occasionally called her perky, due to his love of her breasts, and I loved being able to wind him up just a bit about his perfect life.

  ‘Shut it!... Seriously, I don’t know what to say.’

  ‘Don’t say I’ve rendered you speechless, Trip?’

  I laughed out loud and then reined myself in, as I reminded myself I was supposed to be trying not to disturb Barbara or her neighbour.

  ‘Yes, Boss… I hate to say it, but you have… Although I have some questions… How and when did all of this happen and does this poor woman actually know she’s marrying you or will Franco have to kidnap her just before the plane takes off?’

  ‘Ha-ha. We’ve known of each other for a few years and no she’ll get on the plane willingly.’

  The conversation went on, with him mainly taking the rise out of me and finally, after we’d discussed the arrangements he needed to make with flight plans, I hung up and dialled the other number I needed. It took about a minute for the international call to go through and while I was waiting, I walked around in a circle on the small patch of grass I was stood on.

  ‘Nipote.’ I could hear the glee in her voice as she answered. ‘How lovely of you to call.’

  ‘Nonna, I have some news.’

  ‘Good news?’

  ‘Yes, extremely good… in fact it’s the best.’ I tried hard to take the business-like tone out of my voice and let the warmth of being able to help Barbara fill me up with happiness. I knew if I conducted this phone call in any other way my grandmother would see right through my carefully made up ruse.

  ‘Well, then let me sit down, hold on a minute.’ I could hear her heels clicking on the marble flooring underneath her feet.

  I can’t wait to show Barbara my home.

  I looked up at the clear blue sky and closed my eyes as the heat of the sun found my face. I was seriously messed up; it had been a strange night/early morning after all.

  ‘I’m sitting, what do you have to tell me, Nico?’