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Connecting With Liborio
Connecting With Liborio
Presley left the dining room aware Cruz, and her father were furious with her for walking away and her mother was sitting helplessly caught in the middle.
However, as if she’d conjured him with her last comment, she noted Liborio Bartoli exiting the elevator. The urge to duck under the reception desk hit her hard but he’d made eye contact with her, and she knew there
was no escaping.
“Good morning, Presley. You look lovely this morning.”
“What’s so good about it, Mr. Bartoli? I’m having a rather bad day. Couple of days actually.”
“Well, would you care to join me?”
“In what?”
“Breakfast.” He gave her a half smile. “I’m not keen on eating here at the resort but there is a lovely bistro not far from here. Come. Let’s go drink rich coffee, eat fresh baguettes and delicious cured meats. You will love it.
“Do you have our rooms bugged?” she blurted the question out before she could stop herself.
He chuckled at her blunt question, “what do you think, Presley?” He leaned closer to her and whispered in her ear, “you can’t scare me off with a black nipple.”
“Oh man!” she threw her hands up in the air frustratedly as he openly laughed.
“Come on,” he extended his hand.
“Presley!” Cruz’s voice called from the door of the dining room. “Don’t you dare.”
“Seriously. He bullied you for twenty–two years and you willingly f**k him?” Liborio gave a grunt.
“More like fifteen. It only started when I was seven.” She sighed, “and the heart wants what it wants.” “Presley,” Cruz was approaching. “We need to talk about this.”
“Where is this bistro?” she asked Liborio ignoring Cruz despite the way her heart was thundering against her rib cage and her eyes filled with tears. She put her hand in Liborio’s and was immediately aware how the several men formed a wall to block Cruz from approaching her. In seconds she was put into the back seat of a vehicle, and it was pulling away from the curb. She forced herself not to look over her shoulder out the back window to see if Cruz chased her out of the hotel.
“What is on your mind?” he asked after they’d been driving a few moments.
“There are millions of women all over the world. Why me?”
“Because Presley, you caught my attention. When Odin came to me to borrow money to pay off his extortionist, one of the first things I do when I decide to indulge such requests is to do a thorough background check. During the check, you were brought to my attention. When I asked your brother why his family could not lend him the money, he revealed at the time they weren’t aware of his proclivities for drag queens. I told him you, based on my research, did not appear to be the judgmental type. My defense of you brought out a slew of rage from your brother which, while it didn’t bar me from lending him money, it did make me dig far deeper into him and you. I had a sister once and it annoys me he treats you so callously.”
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Connecting With Liberia
“You did? What happened to her?”
“My father killed her.”
She blinked at the cool tone and the blunt comment. “Oh.”
“My father was a cruel bastard. My sister was sixteen and kissed a boy. My father was hoping to use her in a marriage contract, and she dared to kiss a boy instead of saving her first kiss for her husband. He backhanded her across the face, and it caused her to fall backwards and when she fell, she struck her head off the corner of a cabinet. It was the way she hit her head which killed her. He didn’t even realize he’d killed her. He was still yelling at her, telling her to get her ass off the floor.”
“How old were you?”
“Twenty.”
A tear rolled down her cheek as she looked out the window. “Would you want to arrange marriages for your
daughter?”
“f**k no. If I can’t do business without the use of my daughter’s v****a, what f*****g kind of businessman
would I be?”
“And yet, you’re using mine.”
“Ah, I want to rent your womb, Presley. I’m not looking to make a life connection.” He passed her a handkerchief from his pocket.
She wiped her tears sadly, “I don’t know if I can walk away from children I have grown in my belly.”
“Then don’t. We can marry. You can raise the kids instead of the nanny. I’m sure the s*x will be fine and when it’s not you can take lovers as long as you’re discrete.”
“And you will take lovers?”
“Of course.”
“Of course,” she mocked and sighed. “I don’t want to do any of this.”
“Yet here we are. We both know you’re going to do it.”
“Where is Odin?”
“Ah, your sorry excuse for a brother is resting quite uncomfortably after our conversation last evening. I personally didn’t think the damage Cruz Hawley did to his face was quite enough.”
“He’s not dead?”
“You almost sound disappointed.”
“I’m not,” she turned to face him angrily. “I don’t really want him dead. I mean I hate him but killing him seems awful. I could never live with myself.”
“What would it take to get you there?” He asked curiously. “He is a vile human being. He’s cruel. He’s manipulative. He’s self–centered. He thrives on your misery. He’s inherently evil, I’m sure of it. Did you know he told me he didn’t care how I put a baby in you? He told me if I wanted, I could chain you up and rape it into you.” When she paled, he held her gaze, the scar on his face reddening with his anger, “I am the head of my family. I took my seat by force when I was a mere twenty–five years old. I murdered my own father in cold blood. I have done countless terrible things in my life, and do you know,” he gave a toss of his head, “Odin
Connecting With Liborio
Brookmore might be the first human being I consider to be worse than I am?”
“Why did you kill your father?”
“For murdering my sister. It took me five years to get the revenge, but I did it and I made sure the son of a b***h knew exactly why I was taking the family from him.” He pointed to the scar on his face, “he gave me this when I was twelve with a wine bottle. My back is littered with the scars of his whips. My foot,” he pointed to his ankle, “has pins in it from when he ran it over, purposefully, when I was eight.” He held up his hand,” this tiny scar right here, though, is my favorite one. I got this one when I stabbed him in the heart. The knife slipped back just a hair and I needed a couple of stitches but whenever I’m having a bad day, I look at this scar and remind myself of how far I’ve come and how f*****g strong I am. I feel if you developed a scar from ripping out Odin’s tongue, you would also look at it daily with pride.”
“You’re a cold man.”
“Who can f**k like a rockstar. When we’re done breakfast, if you’re not stashing oatmeal,” he pointed to her panties, “perhaps you’d like to give it a try?”
“No.”
“It was worth an ask.”
“Is all of this a prank?”
“A prank?”
“Yes. Is this another one of Odin and Cruz’s pranks on me? Make me fall in love with him. You break us up. I feel forced to make a tough decision and then suddenly you’ll tell me it’s all a big joke.”
“No. It’s not a prank, Presley. My life is far too busy and too complicated for such things.”
“Is it bad I’d rather wish it was a prank than reality?”
“Don’t be daft. It’s a couple of babies.”
“Do you think you will love them?” she asked sadly.
“I am sure I will hold some form of affection for them. Love is not in my vocabulary.”
“You want me to give you children you can never actually love so you can train them to be mercenarily cold as you, walk away from them knowing they will never feel love and be okay with it?”
“I’ve told you. You can stay. Just, don’t embarrass me. If you f**k around, make sure it’s not anything which gets out.”
.
She was incredibly frustrated but then the car was stopping at a little row of restaurants, and he was quickly getting out and walking to the one he wanted to attend. Her footsteps stumbled as she walked along with
hair him when she caught sight of the man sitting at the bistro. Dressed in an immaculate three–piece perfectly styled and looking incredibly dapper, Algernon was sitting across from a lovely, yet very nerdy, young woman. The woman was in a pretty sundress, her chestnut–colored hair rolling down her back in vivacious waves and most of her face hidden behind thick black frames.
“Oh, Sloane is going to be so disappointed.” She muttered expecting a comment from Liborio, but he was staring at the woman. Presley rudely snapped her fingers in his face. “You like?”
“Don’t be stupid,” he cleared his throat and moved towards a table but then Presley was dragging him
< Connecting With Libono
towards Algernon.
“Hey. What is the meaning of this?” Presley looked at Algernon.
“Presley! Well look at you out with the enemy already. I’m impressed you caved so quickly.”
“I didn’t cave. Cruz was being his caveman self and I used Liborio as an escape.” She ignored the hiss of fury from the man beside her. “Where is your wife?”
“We are getting divorced.” He grinned unabashedly. “This is Mina. She is my personal assistant and get your mind out of the gutter, Presley. An expression I learned from one of your North American movie stars, I do not s**t where I eat. Ever. She brought me my divorce papers and some other documents from my business. Mina, this is my new friend Presley. Alas, she wouldn’t sleep with me because she’s with a man who has two
c***s. Two.”
Mina giggled a sound which reminded Presley of the peel of church bells on a quiet Sunday morning.
“Oh, you are absolutely darling,” Presley smiled and took her hand. “It’s very nice to meet you. Algernon, how is it you look so polished?”
“Work. I am working and for work, a man must be put together. You should see me in my pilot’s uniform. I’m sexy as hell, Presley.”
“I’m not interested but Sloane is.”
“Your pretty friend?”
“Both of my friends are pretty.”
“Yes, but one of them I wouldn’t dare look at because Anderson would gut me like a fish. I will have a vigorous discussion with Sloane about whether she likes a man in uniform.” His eyes were wicked as he wiggled his eyebrows at Presley in the creepy way she’d come to appreciate. He looked to Liborio, “would you like to join us?”
Presley thought Liborio would deny it and be standoffish but wordlessly he grabbed a chair and sat down opposite Mina. Algernon and Presley exchanged looks and Presley looked at Mina curiously as a thousand ideas floated through her brain.
“Mina, are you married?” Presley asked the woman and when she shook her head, Presley almost bounced in her seat at Liborio’s angry hiss at her. “Boyfriend? I bet you have a boyfriend back home?”
“We broke up,” Mina sighed exaggeratedly. “I wanted to wait until our wedding night to be intimate and he was too impatient.”
“Did he hurt you?” Liborio’s voice was gruff.
It sent happy shivers down Presley’s back. Oh, this man was immediately struck by the sweet little innocent woman. And to think her friends said her life wasn’t a romance novel. The bad mafia man and the innocent waif? She almost chortled with glee. She was going to make this happen.
Mina’s delicate blue eyes flitted to his with a sad smile, “I caught him with his stepsister a month before the wedding.”
“Is Algernon sending you right back home after your meeting this morning?” Presley was plotting. She half–expected Liborio to tell her to stop being so obvious and yet the man was wordless as he pinned the younger woman to her seat with his gaze.
< Connecting With Liborio
“I’m not sure. He snaps his fingers and I come running.” She gave Algernon an affectionate smile. “He was truly wonderful after the catastrophe. Did you know he got all my money for the wedding reimbursed to me from my ex’s family? He is a good friend and a good boss. I am forever grateful.”
“I think you should stay a few days. You don’t know if Algernon might need you again if his wife refuses to sign the papers or tips them up or something.”
“She wouldn’t dare. She f****d that bartender who flirts with you.” Algernon’s usual charming façade faded off angrily. “She is lucky she will get the contents of her prenup. Mina, we can arrange you to have a room at the hotel. It might do you well to mingle with some people your own age after the hell of the last several months.” The look he gave Presley told her he knew what she was plotting.
Algernon, Presley decided, might be the cleverest man of them all and perhaps Sloane was onto something.
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