by AA Lee
She nodded and eagerly exited to the full-sized terrace. There was an utterly magnificent view of the water, and the waves crashing along the beach could easily entrance her for hours. Then she turned to Angelo who walked up behind her. “What floor are we on?”
“Floor thirty-five, so if you’re thinking of jumping, I seriously doubt you would survive.” His flat statement made Ella’s eyes roll and turn back toward the ocean.
“This view. I have never seen anything like it.”
“Yes.” Angelo neared closer and tenderly slipped his arms around her waist. “I haven’t either.” Ella smiled at his affection, until Angelo added to his previous statement. “But the beach view is nice too.”
Her eyes opened with shock when he pushed her hair aside and rested his chin against her neck. They were both enjoying the scenery, until Ella’s stomach growled, snapping them back to reality. It made sense that she would be hungry since neither she nor Angelo ate that morning.
“I guess it’s time to show you the restaurant,” he said and squeezed her hand that rested on the rail.
“I suppose so,” came her reluctant response. Even though Ella felt hungry, it was such a rare pleasure to see Angelo so relaxed. She would have almost rather starved a couple of hours than to give up this moment with him. Then she considered that he needed to eat too and readily took his hand.
When they entered the restaurant, a hostess immediately approached them, smiling from ear to ear. “Mr. Tomassi, we have expected you. Please follow me right this way. We let no one disturb your regular table.” Angelo held up his hand and interrupted her.
“Is the veranda occupied at the moment?” He pointed through an open door to the deck. Outside set several round tables covered with silky white cloths. It also had a lovely view of the beach.
“No, sir.” The hostess gave a bright smile and seemed genuinely happy about his change of preference. Please, follow me.”
Once on the deck, Angelo very subtly pulled Ella’s chair for her. She could not help but capture the hostess’s eyes sparkle at the display. While Ella saw Angelo as the man she wanted for so long, maybe others saw him as the lonely owner too. His change of scenery seemed a welcomed change to the hostess when she spoke.
“The chef has prepared a special for you, but if you prefer, I will bring you menus.”
Angelo thought for a moment. “No, I would hate to disappoint the chef. We will have what he has made, but bring a menu anyway. I’d like her to see the regular choices as well.”
“Of course,” The hostess nodded and left the couple alone.
Before long, a sommelier approached and poured a small amount of wine in one glass and handed it to Angelo. Out of respect for the wine, he swirled the contents to catch its aroma; then he tasted and gave the man a nod. The sommelier filled Angelo’s glass halfway and followed suit with a second. Angelo gestured for Ella to try it.
“It’s excellent,” Ella replied.
“Fantastic! Enjoy,” said the man.
“Wow!” Ella exclaimed. “This is some hotel you own.”
Angelo responded, “Anyone could accomplish as much if they keep their employees and guests happy.”
Ella smiled. “Yes, that certainly helps. Your employees look happy to be working for you.”
Angelo grinned at her compliment. “Well, I’m glad you like it.”
“Would you mind if I walked to the rail?” she asked. Angelo lifted his hand and casually waved her to the edge of the balcony. She looked down. They were on the lobby floor, so the beach stretched in front. She enjoyed the breeze off the waves and the sun reflecting from overhead even though the veranda itself was enclosed. Ella had started to turn around again when a man dressed in a black suit approached the table where Angelo sat. His back faced her as he acknowledged Angelo.
“Mr. Tomassi,” a man said. Ella noticed that Angelo appeared bothered as his eyes focused on the man. Maybe Angelo did not want anyone to interrupt him right now. “What an unexpected pleasure to have you arrive a day early. I’m pleased to be the first of my company to greet you.”
That was when Ella turned completely around at the man. That voice sounded oddly familiar. The man heard her heels click against the floor and glanced back, noticing her in passing as he continued with his small talk. When Ella did not move, the man finally turned all the way around to look at her.
“Tell me, who is this beautiful woman accompanying you this afternoon?”
Ella deemed his notice more a formality than an actual interest, but then he looked at her closer; the man froze with surprise.
“Ella!” He stared as though he saw a ghost.
“Mr. Sullivan!” Her reply was equally shocked.
“Jacob Sullivan?” Angelo interrupted coldly and grabbed Ella’s hand.
CHAPTER 32
Angelo immediately gave Ella’s hand a constricting squeeze, cautioning her to say no more, but Ella could not speak a syllable. In her state of shock, she looked at the muscular man in his early thirties with sandy brown hair and dark eyes. If Sullivan was there, so was her father.
“Yes,” Sullivan started. “I was a trusted agent of Ella’s father. He appointed me as her personal caretaker until she left the city about a year ago. I used to guide her through all of her father’s travels. I am surprised to see her here.” Sullivan looked at Ella. “Does your father know you are in Miami?”
Angelo swiftly redirected the conversation and did not let Ella speak. “We will let her father know of her arrival as soon as we’ve settled. When should we expect him?”
“Oh.” Sullivan seemed confused. “He accepted the request to attend the banquet. He did send confirmation that he received the notice and would arrive sometime tomorrow.”
“Very good, thank you,” Angelo replied. Sullivan nodded, and Ella and Angelo found their seats again.
“Rafa,” Angelo mumbled. “I can’t call him. He’s finishing the details for the banquet.” Angelo looked at Ella while pulling out his phone. “Jim, Sullivan just left the restaurant here. You and Ray follow him.” When he hung up, Angelo looked at Ella. “Were you going to tell me you have been here before?” He crossed his arms.
“Well, I considered telling you.” Ella looked down at the table and nervously fidgeted with the hem of the tablecloth.
“So you are already familiar with the establishment?” Angelo asked. His eyes seemed a touch hurt and disappointed.
Ella slowly shook her head. “I am only familiar with floor twenty-nine and the theater on the same floor.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means Mr. Sullivan was given strict orders not to let me out of his sight, and they almost never let me leave my room. When he wasn’t too busy, he would take me to the theater. That was all that my father allowed me to do. My father stayed in a separate room.”
Ella looked out to the ocean. Sullivan had said her father would arrive the next day. She had so many words that she wanted to ask him and say to him, yet her mind went blank. Her body tensed with nervous anticipation of seeing him again. She was afraid of the confrontation at the same time. “What am I going to do when I see him?” she asked.
“Nothing, Ella. You are going to let me handle the situation. You are going to let your worries be my responsibility now.” To Ella’s surprise, he pulled her to his body and hugged her in the middle of the deck. He did not care who saw. His affection made her happy to be with him. “I have a feeling that your father cares about you more than you think.”
Ella thought about it and nodded. Her father may not have cared, but Angelo made her feel better anyway. His words made her hopeful of their truth.
After they finished their meals, the server walked out and set down two portions of chocolate cake in front of them. Angelo grimaced as the server left and pushed away the cake. His disgusted expression made Ella laugh.
“Do you not like the dessert?” Ella jokingly mocked Angelo’s loathsome face and took a bite. “You do not know w
hat you are missing.”
“No,” he spoke, repulsed. “I know exactly what I am missing. You would think with as many times as I’ve sent the dessert back untouched, they would get the hint.”
“Do you not like chocolate?” she asked.
“It’s not only chocolate but sweets in general.”
“Shame,” Ella shook her head. “A life without sweets? I don’t know if I could do it.”
Angelo blew out a puff of air. “Who needs sweets? I have you.”
Ella smiled. “So subtle,” she whispered and pushed her plate back. “I am finished now. Will you still take me on a tour?” Her eyes lit up with excitement.
“I suppose, but you had better stay close to me, or I will have to restrict you to floor twenty-nine.” Angelo stood up and held out his hand.
Her mouth opened. “That’s not nice, Angelo,” she said.
“Who said I was nice?” he joked. “I have heard plenty of words that referred to me. Nice was never one of them.” Ella shook her head and grabbed his hand anyway. At least he showed her a small part of his nicer side. That was all that really mattered.
Ella toured several floors in the hotel. Floor three, which was one level below the main lobby, contained every type of store to accommodate the guests. It included apparel, accessories, and personal necessities.
Floor two turned into a large banquet hall as soon as the elevator doors opened. They would hold the banquet celebration there.
Floor one housed the grand casino that Angelo bragged about. This casino was four times the size of the one at the club, but it also opened at six. Nobody was there right now. Ella walked around for a few minutes and admired the room. It seemed large, but she could not imagine what it would look like filled with customers. Maybe he would take her when it opened.
“We are going back to the banquet hall. I have to talk to Rafa for a minute, and then we can go back to the suite.”
The elevator took them to floor two again, and Angelo led her down a long, narrow hallway. At the end was a door with a pad for a code. The room they entered looked like a large, boring conference room; then she followed Angelo through a door to the side—a room lined with tables much like the one at the club.
“That room at the club…the one I found…”
“Yes.”
“Do you use the club as some sort of exchange center?”
“We actually bring those items here for our clients. There is a preferred customer list for the wealthy, and those people can request specialty items. As we come across those novelties, we send out postcards with dates and times, letting them know that their requests are ready. It’s simple. We help them spend their cash.”
“And what do you do with the money?” she asked.
“Sorry, sweetheart, I can’t tell you everything.”
As Ella followed behind Angelo, he opened another door that led to an office. Rafa sat behind the desk with a pair of glasses on. Ella never saw him in glasses before. They made him look smarter than he already was. He lowered the glasses long enough to acknowledge Angelo and went back to the sheets in front.
“Rafa, look for Robert Collins on that list. We sent Ella’s father one of our invitations to the banquet, and I just met Sullivan.”
“You did? Where?”
“He greeted me in the restaurant. Can you believe that? I have Jim and Ray on him now.”
“Well, isn’t that how it works out? We have men scouring every real estate company that Collins owns, and Sullivan shows up on our front step.”
Angelo pointed at the list. “Is Collins on there?”
Rafa flipped through the pages and flipped through them again. “No, Collins is not here,” he said.
Angelo held up his hand. “I would have rather had Collins greet me earlier than Sullivan. Maybe Jim will turn up something.”
“Or you could take me to my house in Orlando if he doesn’t,” Ella said.
“Honestly, Ella. I thought of that, but your father won’t be there. If he had unwanted visitors in the past, he will stay far away from your house. He probably felt the same for you. That’s why he hasn’t talked to you since you moved to Key Biscayne.”
“It was a thought.” Ella shrugged.
“Rafa, I’m going back to my room for a while. Call if you need anything.”
“Of course.” Rafa spoke with an agitated tone. “Leave me to work and enjoy yourself.”
“I fully intend to do just that.” Angelo matched his sarcastic tone. “Try to remember that I pay you an awful lot of money for your services, and I doubt you would make half as much elsewhere.”
Rafa mocked him with a laugh. “As if you would let me leave your side alive.”
“True, very true, Rafa. You know way too much,” Angelo agreed.
CHAPTER 33
When the two entered their room again, a bottle of wine and several small complimentary bottles of liquor were arranged on the table. Along with those were sodas and a container of ice.
“Thank god! A moment of privacy before the crowds,” Angelo muttered to himself as Ella made her way back to the terrace. He set two glasses on the counter, filling one with juice and vodka and another with bourbon. “I am going to need this before I attend the pre-celebration party in the banquet hall.”
Ella smiled and took the glass. In truth, she did not mind socializing half as much as he did. “So, what time are they expecting you?”
Angelo responded, “What time are they expecting us.” He took a big swallow at the thought.
“You don’t think people will wonder about me if you bring me in with you?”
“What do I care what they think? There is no way that I’m leaving you here by yourself anyway. Imagine the trouble you would get into without me watching out for you. You’re either letting a man kiss you or you are trying to put yourself in the line of fire.”
Ella huffed at his comment. “I wish you would forget that ever happened.”
Angelo looked up and smirked. “How am I supposed to forget that another man’s lips touched yours?”
“Really? Something that I didn’t even know would happen? Are you worried?”
“Worried? About what?” His eyes scanned over her body. “You are with me and I will take good care of you.”
Ella’s face turned pink; his words caught her completely off guard, but she could not deny that that she felt slightly aroused by them too. “So, do you normally attend alone, or do you always have a date?” She hinted while taking a drink, wondering about any other women in his life.
“Are you jealous of other women around me?”
“No,” she said too quickly to be true.
“Sure you aren’t,” he laughed, “but no. I have always attended alone, and this is how I get through it.” Angelo held up his glass and took a drink.
“Is it really a good idea for the owner to drink?”
“No, but I hold my liquor pretty well. There have only been a couple of mishaps, but those weren’t recent.”
“Oh.” Ella looked over at him. “What happened?”
Angelo shook his head at her interest. “I doubt you really want to know.”
“Maybe I do.” Ella waited for him to continue.
“Okay.” Angelo gave her the blunt truth. “I ended up in some woman’s room two different times.”
“All right then.” Ella nodded and emptied her glass’s contents. “You were right. I really didn’t want to know.”
“Be careful about the questions you ask, sweetheart.”
“I suppose.” She slouched against the terrace rail.
“Jealous again?” he vexed her further, but she resolved not to give in to his jives and answered simply.
“No.”
“Right,” he said, seeing right through her façade. He wrapped his arms around her waist. “I wasn’t drunk when I had you. Doesn’t that count for anything?”
Ella looked at him, disapproving of his words. “That was a mean thing to say.”
; “Then you must like calloused, insensitive men, because that never stopped you from liking me.” Angelo chuckled but Ella let out a sigh. He could definitely be insensitive. On the other hand, he was rather tame when it came to women, especially compared to the lewd ventures of most of his members under him. “I can tell you one thing that will make you feel better,” he began.
“You think so?” she replied and looked at the ocean. He needed to make her feel better. She did not feel very special to him right now.
“No other woman has ever been in this room.” His lips kissed right below her ear. How unfair to use his power of touch to convince her.
“Go on,” Ella helplessly muttered.
“And you are the first woman to wear my ring,” he continued lower after sliding the strap of her dress off her shoulder. “Actually, you are the first woman to ever capture my interest at all.”
Angelo spun her around and immediately took advantage of her, parting her lips with a long, passionate kiss. It was all Ella could do to keep her footing, and she grasped the loops around his slacks. After several intoxicating minutes, she pulled away in a daze, having completely forgotten how that moment began. Her jealousy was gone, but she glanced at the sky and realized it was quickly becoming night.
“Wait, when does the party begin?”
“You’d rather go to a party than be alone with me.”
“No, but –”
“Then…” He grabbed her waist and brought his lips underneath her chin.
Ella moaned softly, almost giving in to his attention. “But Angelo, you’re the owner.”
“Fine,” he groaned and forced himself to pull away. “The party starts at seven.”
Ella quickly checked her appearance in the mirror. When she came out of the restroom, Angelo waited at the door with his suit jacket over his shoulder. Ella stood still and caught her breath. He looked poised and confident—sexy. She envied every stare she knew he would receive.
When she did not move right away, Angelo walked up to her and kneeled down. His hands touched the inside of her thigh, pulling on the strap and making sure it was still secure. After his kiss, her body reacted to the way he touched her skin. She started to rethink going to the party.