by Nana Malone
His aunt put her hand to her mouth and her eyes welled with tears. She shook her head in disgust and stormed off in the opposite direction.
“Zia! Zia, wait! I’m sorry.” Niccolo called after her. All his life he showed nothing but respect and care to his aunt. But Mya’s death had changed him. Since his return, all he had were angry words. It wasn’t the man he wanted to be. He shook his head. He returned to his cramped bedroom still smelling of sex and perfume from his night of passion with Aniyah and slammed the door. It could be a mistake. All of it. And he knew his heart was too fragile to take another hit. But it was already too late. He liked Aniyah. He wanted more of her.
Chapter 7
Aniyah woke. She stretched a bit before rolling over to her left side under the thin sheet. The morning in Italy came with sounds. Soft chirps of birds, someone talking fast in Italian and the honking horn of a motorbike that must have arrived at the gate. She opened her eyes and the sun blinded her. She sat up and put her hand up to shield the heated glare from her face. When she’d finally returned to her room last night, the night breeze was so nice she slept with the windows open. Now she regretted her decision. The sun’s rays poured in from both sides. And the air was frigid. She smiled. Last night was wonderful.
Niccolo was wonderful.
Aniyah stretched again. After making love, he’d walked her to her suite door. She nearly drew him in. And when he didn’t push for more, she was a little disappointed. But she respected how much of a gentleman he had remained. After all, she’d only known the man a few days.
The phone beside the bed rang. She frowned. A call to her room seemed odd. She hadn’t given anyone the number. She pushed aside the sheer drape that surrounded her canopy bed to answer.
“Hello?”
“Signora Jones?” the woman asked.
“Ah, yes, it’s me,” she said still uncomfortable using Denton’s last name. Besides, Niccolo knew the truth. She could drop the entire charade now.
“Can you please come down to the front desk, signora? The manager needs to see you. Per favore.”
“Oh, um, okay. I’ll be down in twenty minutes,” she said and hung up. Niccolo was the owner. Was he the manager, too? What did he have as a surprise for her next? Aniyah got out of bed and hurried with her shower. She didn’t have time to deal with her hair. It had frizzed up something awful from the night of sex and sweating. She groomed it into a ponytail, braided it and pinned the hair into a neat chignon. She put on a dab of makeup and splash of perfume. She stopped to look herself over. The strapless coral-pink summer dress was very flattering to her figure. It even had a split on the left side that reached midthigh. Maybe it was too much considering the season, but she decided to go with it.
When she walked out of her room and down the stairs, the burdens of the past two weeks all seemed to fade away. She felt relaxed and even excited about the prospects of her new friendship. With Niccolo she felt a renewed sense of freedom. The realism of her financial straits had slipped her mind. Instead of focusing on her future as her aunt would’ve liked, her mind once again slipped into romantic fantasies. She could pursue her acting career or maybe even take up traveling through Italy. The world was hers to enjoy.
At the front desk, a young woman and Niccolo’s aunt Gabriella waited. They looked up at her approach and glanced at each other. She found their polite smiles to be forced. Had she done something wrong? Yes, she had. She’d spent the night doing something wrong with Niccolo, and it felt so good.
“You wanted to see me?” she asked.
“Si, signora. Ah, your bill has come back declined,” the young woman informed her.
“What bill?” she asked.
Gabrielle shoved the paper across the counter. “The credit card company has contacted us. A Mr. Denton Jones has disputed the charges on his account. He claims it to be fraud.”
Aniyah’s heart dropped. She looked down at the bill—close to three grand—and felt sick. Denton had to have found out that she decided to take the honeymoon. For him to cancel the trip on her was just cruel. Especially after all the money she’d lost on the wedding.
“If you could please call your husband and correct this matter, it would be appreciated.” Gabriella put the phone in front of her.
Unable to speak, Aniyah stood there frozen.
* * *
Niccolo expected an early delivery. He had eight hours to turn this place around in time for the judging, even though he had little hope that he could pull it off. Without his cousin Elaina to manage the decorating and celebratory events for the evening, he was certain to fail.
Lost in thought, he walked through the lobby with his head bowed. And then he heard his aunt’s raised voice. He paused. Aniyah stood there staring at his aunt with a wide-eyed expression of fear. Something was wrong. Had his aunt gone after her because of what she thought she knew about them? Livid, he approached the women.
“Signora, I will need you to make the call now. Or please provide another form of payment. Now!” Gabriella insisted.
“Zia? What is the problem?” Niccolo demanded.
“The problem is her husband has accused us of fraud. The credit card company has rejected payment for her stay.”
He looked to Aniyah for an explanation. Her large brown eyes began to well with tears. Confused, he looked to his aunt and employee. He wasn’t aware she’d been using her ex-fiancé’s credit card. That made no sense since the two were separated.
“I’m sorry. I... I’m so embarrassed,” Aniyah said in her softest voice.
“It’s okay, we can get it sorted out,” Niccolo said.
“No.” She shook her head and tears dropped. “We can’t.”
“Where is your husband? This is a couples’ resort. Will he be joining you or not!” Gabriella asked.
“Zia! Basta!” Niccolo said. He turned his attention back to Aniyah. She was wiping at her tears. “She’s not married.”
“She’s not?” his aunt gasped. “And you knew? She’s a thief. A fraud! She lied and stole this man’s credit card.”
“No. No. I didn’t lie. I... I didn’t steal it. We—he, ugh—he paid for it, and then he canceled, so I didn’t know.”
“I’ve heard enough,” Niccolo said. He grabbed Aniyah’s wrist and pulled her with him. He walked her into the back office typically used by the staff. Though he intended to speak to her alone, he turned to find that his aunt had joined them. Out of respect he didn’t send her away.
“Aniyah, tell us the truth. What happened here?”
“We will call the polizia!” Zia Gabriella interjected. “Do you know what they do to Americans caught committing fraud and theft in our country?”
Aniyah put her face in her hands. She shook her head with shame. She then looked up to them and began, “It’s like I told you last night. Denton Jones isn’t my husband. He was my fiancé. We were supposed to be married on the eleventh, but he dumped me before the wedding. I was so upset I... I decided to keep the honeymoon. It was prepaid. The credit card company can’t claim it’s fraud. He’s doing this to be evil. I swear to you, I am not a thief.”
“I understand,” Niccolo smiled to comfort her.
“You should have said this the day you arrived. Instead of making up a story of your husband coming later!” His aunt threw her hands up in disbelief. She began to rant in Italian about crooks coming in and out of the town. “Niccolo!” she barked. “What are you going to do about this?”
“I want to speak to you outside, Zia. Now,” Niccolo said.
His aunt shot Aniyah a hard glare and then marched out of the room, slamming the door behind her. He wiped his hand down his face. “Can you cover the bill?” he asked.
Aniyah shook her head no, slowly. “I can’t even afford an early flight back home. I don’t have much money.”
&nb
sp; “You came to another country with no money?” He frowned.
“I know it sounds crazy. The things I do sometimes don’t make sense. But I needed to escape. I guess once again I didn’t think it through.”
“No, you didn’t,” he said. “Wait here. Let me speak with my aunt.”
“Niccolo!” she said.
He looked back at her.
“Your aunt is right. I should have come clean the day I arrived. I feel like I deceived you again.”
“Wait here.” He winked before he left.
When he walked out of the office and closed the door behind him, his aunt went on full attack. She charged at him and pointed angrily at the door behind him. “Get her out of here! Now!”
“No. She made a mistake.”
“She’s a fraud! It’s no mistake. And to make it worse, you knew she was lying. What is going on with you, Niccolo?”
“Where’s your forgiveness? I’ve seen you be kinder to thieves in the market than you are with her. You heard her story. She was jilted by her fiancé. Left at the altar. Yes, I knew she wasn’t married. I’d never take a married woman to bed. But you thought me capable of it. Is it her you are mad at or me? For leaving? For coming home and not wanting to grieve again with you? Is that the reason for your anger?”
“Does she know that she looks like she could be Mya’s twin? Does she? Have you moved on from grieving your wife, or just replaced Mya with another black woman?”
Niccolo jaw clenched with tension. His aunt had hit her mark. And she knew it. “It’s my business. I say she stays, she stays!” he said.
His aunt shook her head in disbelief. “You return home and rip into us about letting people visit here with discounts. Forced poor Elaina into an early delivery...”
“She was nine months pregnant...”
“We didn’t hear from you over a year. You abandoned us, Niccolo. And we thought you had finally come home. If she stays, she pays the full amount! Full price!” His aunt turned and stormed away. Niccolo waited until his temper cooled to return to Aniyah. He found her in the office pacing.
“I will call my family. I can have them wire me money and then I can go. But it may take a day or two for my aunt to send it. Please don’t put me out on the street.”
“You think after what we shared last night I’d throw you out of here on the street?” he asked.
“What happened last night wasn’t planned.” She sighed. “Plus, it’s the second time I deceived you. Are you saying that doesn’t matter?”
“No. It matters more that you were desperate enough to take the risk and come to Italy. I know what heartbreak can make you do.” Niccolo didn’t even dare explore why he wished to be Aniyah’s hero. He knew it was a role he could easily fill. So he stepped up and decided to save her the embarrassment of calling her family.
“What is your real name?” he asked.
“Aniyah Marie Taylor,” she confessed.
“Well, Aniyah Marie, my zia is right about one thing. I don’t let people stay here for free.”
“I understand. You expect me to pay you back?”
“No. This isn’t a bank and I’m not a lender.” He smiled. He took a step toward her. His hand traced from her ear down her jaw and neck to the end of her shoulder. She wrinkled her nose as if confused. He fought hard not to reveal how amused he was.
“What do you want from me, Niccolo?” she asked.
“It’s not what I want but what I can do for you,” he countered.
“And what is that?”
“Offer you a job,” he said.
“What?”
“Do you know what today is?”
“Valentine’s Day,” she replied.
“This is the most important day of the festival. We have an opportunity to turn this place around for profit,” he said. “What I mean to say is I lost my event planner, Elaina. Remember her? You were at the birth of her daughter.”
She smiled for him. Niccolo loved how pretty she looked when she smiled. “I need some help. I need all the help I can get.”
“What can I do?” she asked.
“You tell me. You’re an actress, a nurse, an interior decorator. Are you an event planner, too?”
She laughed and went for him. Her arms wrapped around his neck and her body pushed up against his. His hands went down her back and he gripped her butt.
“I can be anything to anyone—it’s one of my talents,” she said.
“Mmm.” He lifted her. The split in her dress was enough of an opening for her to lock her legs around his waist. “Can you help me turn this into a lovers’ paradise?”
“I’m not the best person for the job considering my recent affairs,” she said and kissed the side of his neck. His grip on her butt tightened. He put her up against the door. His hand eased under her dress and she lowered her legs so he could drag down her panties. He kept her pinned to the door as he kissed her face and neck.
The moment she kicked her panties off her feet he had gone to the cabinet in his office. He brought out a box of condoms.
“For the guests?” she asked.
“For the guests,” he chuckled.
She smiled. He freed himself from his zipper and slipped it on. He returned to her. He helped her lift her lovely legs to his waist, and without warning he pushed forward and sank into her tight heat. She gasped.
“Will you accept the job?”
“I’m not qualified,” she moaned.
Intense pleasure shivered all the way to the base of his spine. Niccolo pulled out slowly and thrust up into her once more. Her vagina clenched and tension sang through him. Like a man possessed, he began to deliver several jerking thrusts. He caught one of her knees and pinned it back as far as it could go so she could be fully open to receive him. He kept grooving in and out of her until he was empty and his penis flaccid. He rolled his hips in small swirls and dropped his head back with his eyes closed as he continued to release. He was so damn turned on he wished he could do it again.
When the aftershocks subsided, he realized the uncomfortable position he had pinned her in against the door and released her left leg. He kissed her brow.
“Why come to the most romantic place in the world if you weren’t in love with the idea of falling in love? That’s what these people want me to sell them—love. And like you, lately I’ve been no expert on the subject.”
She nodded. He let her go and she hiked her dress to her waist. He had a lovely view. “I need to clean up. We can’t emerge from this office like...like this,” she said and walked to the bathroom in the back. He removed his condom and wrapped it in a sheet of paper to dispose of it. He heard the water running. He exhaled deeply. He picked up her panties and went into the bathroom as well. She flushed a handful of tissues and accepted her underwear. He watched her slip them on, finding it sexier than watching her undress. He got rid of the condom and stepped to the sink and washed his hands and cleaned up.
“My answer?”
“Do I lose my room? It’s really nice,” she asked.
“Do you mind if I pay you a visit?” he asked. “Later tonight?”
“Depends. You need to smooth things over with your aunt.” He glanced over at her. “I could hear you two arguing. Even with the door closed. I wish I could speak Italian to understand. But I get the picture. She doesn’t want to see you hurt. She’s much like my aunt.”
“I’ll handle her. This is my hotel. I make all decisions and she obeys.”
“Is that what it’s like working for you? You make the decisions and I obey?” she asked.
“Is that a problem?” He turned and looked at her while he dried his hands.
“I’m not sure if it will look good to your staff if they find out I’m sleeping with the boss,” she half joked. “Plus, I�
�m only here for a few more days after tonight. Why upset everyone?”
“If we pull this off tonight, you will be their hero, and mine. Besides, what’s your hurry to return home?” he asked.
“Are you serious?” She frowned.
“Don’t I look serious to you?” he asked.
She chewed on her bottom lip. Her arms crossed over her lovely breasts. It would be hard to keep his hands off her. She was right. He needed to be mindful of how his employees viewed this little arrangement.
“Deal.” She extended her hand to offer a firm handshake.
“That is not our way. When we make deals we don’t shake hands.” He took her hand and pulled her to him. “This is our way,” he said. He kissed her left cheek. He then kissed her right cheek and looked into her eyes. “Deal.”
She pushed up on her toes and captured his mouth in a sweet yet innocent kiss. “Grazie, Signor Niccolo.”
“Don’t thank me yet. We have plenty of work to do. Andiamo. Let me introduce you to your team.”
* * *
Together they left his office. They found several members of the staff had gathered nearby. The word must have spread that they had an American fraud in their midst. She guessed they expected Niccolo would have her arrested or thrown in the street. He stopped in front of them and waited for her to step to his side. The staff exchanged curious glances. His aunt Gabriella watched from behind the reservation desk. No. She glared from behind the desk. To Aniyah’s surprise, she wasn’t glaring at her but at Niccolo. Why would his aunt be so angry over his generosity? Wasn’t her anger misplaced?
“Listen up. This is Aniyah Marie Taylor. She will be taking Elaina’s place. We have plenty to do. I want you all to make sure she has whatever she needs,” Niccolo said.
The staff exchanged confused glances. Aniyah could only stare at them all in silence. What could she say? What should she do?
“You hired her?” his aunt shouted. “You are unbelievable,” she said in disgust.
Niccolo ignored her. He turned his gaze to two other women. “Carla and Mary, please take Aniyah with you to decorate the gardens. Tonight the judges visit. Raphael, you and Anthony are to pass out as many of the flyers as you can to invite everyone to the event. Marco, come with me. We have deliveries and the plenty of other things to do.”