His Beautiful Revenge: A Bad Boy Billionaire Romance

by Michelle Love

  The night was warm, so they drove back to Norah’s apartment with the top down. Norah enjoyed the feel of the cool air on her skin. Giacomo’s hand was on her bare leg as he drove and she smiled over at him.

  This whole night has been a dream, she thought, a total dream.

  Giacomo kissed her tenderly before he let her go. “Goodnight, mio caro.”

  Norah floated back to the apartment. Ziggy gave a delighted woof and padded out of his dog bed to greet her. She sat on the floor with him and hugged him. “My other best man,” she murmured, but then nearly jumped out of her skin as Zulika’s voice came out of the dark.

  “Oh, yes?”

  She flicked a lamp on and grinned at a blinking Norah. “You look as if you’ve been fucked professionally. Can I assume you and the billionaire have been knocking boots?”

  Norah flushed scarlet, but couldn’t help the smile that crept over her face. “Am I a slut?”

  Zulika’s eyes widened. “No, but it’s true? Yes, yes, yes!” She punched the air triumphantly. “Was he as good as he looks?”

  Still burning, Norah sat down next to her friend. “Better.”

  “Was he huge? He looks huge.”

  “Zul!”

  “Norah?”

  Norah chuckled. “Yes, all right? Yes he is …blessed in that department.”

  “Eggplant or butternut squash?”

  “And that’s all the detail you’re getting,” Norah got up, giggling, but Zulika pulled her back down.

  “Okay, no more details except …are youokay? I mean, after what happened, I’m surprised that you, you know.” Zulika’s eyes were concerned, serious now.

  Norah hugged her. “Me too, actually. But I’m not letting Lucian destroy my life. I wanted Giacomo, so I had him. Now,= that does sound slutty.” She burst out laughing and Zulika joined her.

  “No, it doesn’t. You know what it sounds like, No-No?”

  Norah shook her head. “What?”

  Zulika smiled. “Happiness.”

  Giacomo asked Tara to meet him at her favorite restaurant. After he’d told her, gently, that it was over between them, she stared at him. “And you thought you’d tell me in public so I wouldn’t make a scene?”

  Giacomo sighed. “Yes. Is that what you want to hear, Tara? Honesty? Then, yes.”

  Tara looked away from him and he was surprised to see tears glinting in her eyes. “Tara?”

  “I need a smoke. Come outside with me.”

  They sat on the patio and Tara offered him one of her cigarettes before lighting her own. Giacomo, not trusting this calm, shook his head.

  “Tara …we haven’t been happy in god knows how long. You know this.”

  Tara blew a lungful of smoke out. “I know. I just …hoped we could find our way back to each other.”

  Giacomo toyed with the stem of his wine glass. “Tara, I know about Lucian Hargity.”

  She laughed derisively. “I figured. Lucian means nothing to me.”

  “And yet he was worth cheating on me with?”

  Tara gave him a withering look. “Please, don’t tell me you’ve been entirely faithful to me this all time.”

  “Until I knew it was over, I was.”

  She looked skeptical. “Is that why you hired Lucian’s girlfriend?”

  “Ex-girlfriend, and no. I hired her because she was the best person for the job.”

  Tara’s eyes searched his face. “You’ve fucked her, haven’t you?”

  Giacomo said nothing, kept his face blank, and didn’t look away from Tara’s gaze. Tara made a disgusted noise. “Well, little Miss Pure ain’t so pure after all.”

  That got him. “You don’t know the first thing about Norah, so shut your mouth about her.”

  Tara smirked and Giacomo knew he’d lost that round. He sighed. “Look, Tara, there’s no reason this has to be unpleasant. I’m going to go now. Take care of yourself.”

  Tara watched him walk away from her. God, he was still so attractive to her, even after she’d cheated on him. At the same time …how dare the fucker dump her? Tara Hubert wasn’t dumped. She was never dumped. Who the hell did Giacomo Conti think he was? One thing she did know—she would make him pay for this.

  She smiled to herself. “No, Giacomo, you’re wrong. There’s every reason this has to be unpleasant,” she murmured to herself, throwing back the last of her wine. “And it’s about to get really fucking unpleasant.”

  Norah drove out to Mountain View the next morning, her heart thumping, almost giddy at the thought of seeing Giacomo. Sebastien noticed the change in her as soon as he saw her.

  “What have you been up to?” He tried to get it out of her, but Norah, giggling, wouldn’t tell. He guessed, of course, as soon as Giacomo walked in, his eyes immediately going to Norah. His smile split his face and Norah flushed bright red. Sebastien sniggered, nudged Norah, then disappeared as his boss glared at him. Giacomo took Norah’s hand.

  “Come up to my office, Bella.”

  As soon as the door was closed behind them, he took her in his arms and kissed her. His kiss was so passionate, and so tender that Norah’s head spun. Breaking away for air, they smiled at each other.

  “I am a single man,” he said simply, and she could have cried with happiness when he added, “bBut I hope not to be in the next few minutes. Beautiful Norah, will you be mine?”

  “Yes, god, yes.” As he reached behind her and locked the door, she was already reaching for his fly. He slid his hands under her skirt, pulling her panties down as she freed his cock, already huge and engorged, from his pants. He lifted her up, bracing her against the wall, and thrust into her.

  “God, Principessa, I have been thinking about this all night. The taste of you and your warm, wet cunt wrapped around my cock …”

  Norah kissed him fiercely, wildly turned on by his dirty talk. “Fuck me hard, Giacomo …”

  And he did, making her come over and over, muffling her cries with his mouth. He came explosively, pumping his seed deep inside her.

  They didn’t get much work done that day, and later, Giacomo took her back to his house and they started over, fucking each other in every different position they could think of. Giacomo moved a mirror so that they could watch themselves screwing, entranced by the sight of his thick, long cock sliding in and out of her red, swollen cunt.

  Norah had never known a night like this—wild and uninhibited—he made her feel like a goddess. She had never felt so feminine, or sexy, or so loved. When Giacomo took her from behind, pushing into her ass, she found new realms of pleasure. When he went down on her, she came again and again.

  Finally, exhausted and sated, they fell asleep in each other’s arms and Norah already knew she was lost.

  She was in love with him.

  Tara lay back in her bed and studied Lucian as he got dressed. After an unsatisfactory fuck—her words to him—he was annoyed with her. Tara lit a cigarette.

  “What’s she like?”

  “Who?”

  “Your ex. The bookseller. Your rape victim.”

  Lucian shot her a warning look. “That’s not funny.”

  Tara shrugged. “Neither is rape. Anyway, tell me. What is she like?”

  Lucian sighed. “What does it matter?”

  Tara smiled cruelly. “I just want to know who my ex is fucking.”

  Lucian stopped. “What?”

  Tara stubbed out her cigarette and was studying her own breasts. “He’s fucking her. I thought you should know.”

  Lucian made a disgusted noise. “If you think that, then you’re crazy. Norah doesn’t sleep around.”

  Tara’s mouth set in a thin smile. “Have you seen Giacomo? The man is a god. He could get a Mary Knoll nun into bed.”

  Lucian stared at her. “You’re serious.”

  “Deadly.”

  Tara watched as a myriad of emotions played out across Lucian’s face, then he shrugged, feigning nonchalance. “None of my business anymore.”

  “He knows abou
t you and me.”

  “I thought you said there was no way.”

  “Carmel Price must have told him. She never liked me, the stuck-up bitch.”

  “I thought you said you were taking care of that too.”

  Tara’s smile returned. “Oh, believe me, she won’t get away with it.”

  “Too late now.”

  “For you and me? Yes.”

  Lucian stood and tucked his shirt in. “What do you mean?”

  Tara waved her hand around vaguely. “I mean this. Us. Thanks for everything and all that, but this is goodbye.”

  Lucian shook his head. This was nothing new from Tara. “You’re a fucking bitch, you know that?”

  “As a matter of fact, I do.” She laughed suddenly. “Okay then, Lu-lu, I’ll give us one last chance. Who knows? We may be made for each other.”

  As Lucian left the apartment, his gut began to churn with the thought of Norah in bed with another man. And Giacomo Conti …god …

  He had to get back with Norah …but how? Part of his bail conditions meant he couldn’t go anywhere near her. He needed to get to her via Zulika—which would be a problem because his half-sister hated him even more than Norah did. Still …Lucian was nothing if not a good actor. Turn on the waterworks. Beg for forgiveness.

  Wait for the billionaire to screw someone else, and if he didn’t, if he was truly enamored with Norah, there was no reason that Norah couldn’t be made to believe that he had cheated on her.

  Lucian began to smile. Norah had been his, and he had been dumb enough to throw it away.

  He wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.

  Lucian called Zulika a few days later, begging her to meet with him, crying down the phone. She had never liked her brother much, but even her cynical heart was touched by his grief.

  “I’ll meet you,” she told him in a firm voice. “But I tell you now, I am one-hundred percent Team Norah. Do you understand?”

  “I do.” And he sounded genuine. “Just meet with me and hear what I have to say. If you don’t like what you hear, fine. Please, Zul.”

  She met him at a coffeehouse, well away from their apartment or the bookstore. He smiled at her, but she didn’t return it—just nodded. “I only have a half hour,” she said shortly.

  “Just hear me out. That’s all I ask.”

  “Go ahead.”

  Lucian sighed. “What I did to Norah …it’s unforgivable. It was a dumb mistake. No, not a mistake. It was horrendous what I put her through and I take full responsibility for it. I’ll go to the D.A. right now and plead guilty if she’ll just meet me to talk it through. I don’t want her forgiveness. Just …to talk.”

  Zulika was studying him through narrowed eyes. “Rape, Lucian. You raped her.”

  “Yes.”

  There was a long silence. “I never thought you capable of that.”

  He gave her a half-smile. “Believe me, I had no idea I was. I was just …I don’t know. An animal. A disgusting animal. I’m in AA now. Not that it excuses anything, but it’s a start.”

  “Why should Norah give you the time of day?”

  “No reason …except history. The fact that, because of you, we will always be connected somehow.”

  Wrong tack. Zulika’s face hardened. “I have no problem cutting you out of my life, Lucian. It’s not like we have ever been close.”

  He nodded slowly. “I know. But the thought of losing you both …it’s killing me. I will do my time for what I did to Norah, I swear. I will make this right. Believe it or not, I love both of you.”

  Zulika sighed. “Okay, let’s cut to the chase. Norah isokay. Justokay. That girl has given you more chances than you deserve and she’ll probably do it again. So, if you want to make nice, it would create a better atmosphere for everyone. Norah, me, and your Dad. I still think you need to maintain a distance, but hey, that’s me. I will tell you this—if she says no, she says no. Don’t forget the restraining order is still in effect.”

  Lucian rolled his eyes. “How could I forget?” He sighed and ran his hands through his hair so it stuck up. “Thing is, I know it’s over with Norah. How I thought we could ever make it work—I blew it when I slept with someone else, when I hurt Norah. I’m not stupid. I know that part of it is over. But I miss my buddy, my pal. We had a few great years together.”

  She nodded. “If you think you can be just friends, then God be with you.”

  “I’d like to try.”

  Zulika chewed her lip. “I don’t know what Norah will say. I’ll talk to her, but I’m not going to plead your case—just repeat verbatim what you’ve said here today. Do you understand that?”

  Lucian nodded. “I do.”

  They sat in silence for a few minutes while Zulika contemplated her step-brother. She sat up and nodded at him. “Okay, tell you what. I’ll talk to Norah for you. I will.” She hesitated before continuing. “I’m going to tell you something else, and how you react to it will tell me for sure if I’m crazy for trusting you, okay?”

  She waited for him to process what she’d said. She could see the myriad of questions whirling around his head. Finally, he nodded.

  Zulika took a deep breath and hoped she wasn’t about to make the biggest mistake of her life.

  Giacomo trailed his fingers down the length of her spine as Norah bent over her design table. She shivered with pleasure, then chuckled. “You’re distracting me, Conti. I’m trying to sketch here.”

  “This sundress has no back. How do you expect me to concentrate on anything but your honey skin?” He pressed his lips to her spine and she gave up, laughing.

  “We will never get this job finished at this rate.” She turned and smiled at him.

  “I don’t care.” He bent his head to kiss her. The last month had been the happiest of her life, Working with Giacomo during the day and making love with him all night. Her life had changed so rapidly that it made her head spin.

  She had spent time with him and his friends, and –Zulika—who was once again between boyfriends and so was co-opted by Sebastien as his new buddy—and found her life enriched by all of their presence. The only dark cloud was Lucian. Zulika had come to her and reported what he had said, but Norah shook her head. “No. I’m sorry. I can’t.”

  She had told her lawyer she would drop the charges on the condition that Lucian never came near her again and that she got full and final custody of Ziggy. She didn’t want the court case and she most definitely didn’t want her new relationship brought into the spotlight. Lucian had agreed and now she had a lifelong restraining order and her freedom.

  Giacomo noticed her reverie. “Penny for them?”

  “Nothing,” she smiled, “Just taking pause, reflecting on my life. I have never been happier, baby.”

  He grinned. “You know what we need? A vacation.”

  She grinned. “Damn, boy, you will do just about anything to get out of work, won’t you?”

  He laughed. “Fine. I’ll ask you again, later, when my cock is buried deep inside your delicious cunt …I find you agree to most things then.”

  She broke into laughter. “Such a dirty boy …but,” she grinned wickedly, glancing over at his office door, which was shut but not locked, then slowly pulling up her skirt, “Why wait until later?”

  Giacomo grinned and made to walk to the door, but she stopped him, a sly grin on her face. “No. Leave it.”

  His eyes widened for just a second, then he moved, quick as a cat, his hands under her dress, tearing her panties from her. Norah gasped in excitement as he hitched her legs around his waist, unzipping his fly to release his cock, then thrusting into her. He pinned her hands down on the sloping desk and fucked her hard and fast, his eyes never leaving hers. She came just as they heard voices in the ante-office and he muffled his groan as he came inside her.

  A knock at the door. “Just a moment, please.” Giacomo pulled out and they both, breathless and laughing, tidied themselves up. Norah bent back over her work, trying not to giggle as Gi
acomo strode to the door.

  Sebastian—whoe clearly knew exactly what had gone on—was grinning wildly. “Just wanted to tell you that catering has arrived.”

  Giacomo kept his face straight. “Thanks, Seb.”

  “No problem,” he called over his shoulder. “By the way, I think it’s hot –dogs—unless you’ve just had one, Norah ...” He cackled with laughter.

  “Thank you, Seb.” Giacomo could barely hold it together then and Norah let a giggle out, then couldn’t stop until she was crying with laughter. Giacomo was shaking his head, grinning.

  “I’m going to fire that guy.”

  Norah put her arms around his neck. “Don’t you dare.” She kissed him. “Or I won’t come on vacation with you.”

  “You’ll let me take you away?”

  She grinned. “I will. After we’ve finished this campaign.”

  “Tyrant.”

  “Hot dog.”

  Carmel was absolutely sure she was being followed now, and with Orlando, she went to the police. The officer who dealt with them was kind, but told them unless they could gather some actual evidence to prove she was being followed, there was little they could do.

  “I thought California had pretty stringent stalking laws now?” Orlando asked, his expression wan and concerned. The officer, Det. Lawrence, nodded.

  “But until we can prove definitively that Mrs. Price is being stalked by someone, and who that someone might be, we can’t do anything. Your work as a human rights lawyer, Mrs. Price, may, of course, throw some light on who would be a suspect. Could you make a list?”

  “Of course.”

  They thanked him for his time and he promised that he would follow up with them.

  They went for coffee afterward at a small diner they knew. Orlando was distracted and Carmel tried to cheer him up. “Sweetie, look, maybe it’s nothing.”

  “And maybe it’s something.”

  She touched his face. They had been married for nine years now, and every day they spent with each other just strengthened their bond. They had met in college and they both bemoaned the cliché, but to hell with it, that’s where she had fallen in love with the tall, rangy musician. With her focus on law, they couldn’t have been more different with their passions, but they became inseparable from the first day, when, after a boozy evening in the student bar, they discovered they shared the same sarcastic, dry humor and were equally as disdainful of the pretentious arty set. They had enough in common to have something to talk about and enough differences to make it interesting. He’d had competition, of course. Almost every man at the college, including the tutors, practically drooled when they saw her, but to her credit, she was completely oblivious to the attention.