“Bueno giorno, bella. How are you? Good. Listen, are you free for a drink this afternoon? I’d love you to meet my best friend, Peter Armley. Yes? Great, see you soon, cara mia.”
Arturo was—there really was no other word for it—glowing when he ended the call and smiled at Peter. “You’ll see, Pete. She’s perfect.”
Peter held his tongue. Sometimes it paid to pull your punches with Arturo until the right moment. He usually figured things out for himself first anyway. “And what about this place?”
“I want it, but for myself. Can you get it done?”
Peter sighed, watching his hotel dreams vanish in a puff of Arturo’s fantasies. “Of course, but are you sure? There’s no rush with this; it’s been on the market for five years without a taker. Take some time. Think about it.”
Arturo shook his head. “I want it. Give the owner what he’s asking for and get the paperwork through as soon as possible. I want to bring Hero here and show her what I have planned.”
“Jesus,” Peter hissed under his breath.
It was only an hour later when they walked into a bar in Como and saw Hero Donati waiting for them that Peter understood. He took one look at the beautiful woman sitting elegantly, her long, dark hair pulled over her shoulder, her large brown eyes shining at them, and immediately saw the striking—no, not striking—the almost uncanny resemblance to Flavia, and he turned to Arturo, horror in his eyes.
“Arturo,” he said, “what have you done?”
Chapter Ten
Hero liked Peter Armley very much, but she was a little bemused by the way he kept staring at her as if he knew her from someplace. Arturo, if he noticed it, didn’t say anything, and all three of them chatted lightly.
Peter stayed until the early evening and then excused himself. “Dinner plans.” He kissed Hero’s cheek. “It’s wonderful to meet you, Hero. Welcome to Como.”
After he’d gone, she and Arturo lingered over a pre-dinner aperitif. Arturo stroked her face. “Are you hungry?”
She shook her head. To tell the truth, all Hero wanted was to be wrapped up in his arms, feeling safe and cared for. He pressed his lips to hers. “I have an idea.”
“Oh?”
“There’s a moonlight boat trip out on the water tonight. There will be other couples there, but I thought you might like it.”
Hero smiled. “I would love that. This really is a beautiful town, Arturo.”
“I’m glad you like it.” He kissed her again. “Hero…I don’t want to come on too strong and scare you away, but I would really like to see where this goes. You and I. Cards on the table…I haven’t felt like this, perhaps ever.”
Hero smiled, but the desire to ask him about Flavia was in the forefront of her mind. She had to be the girl in the pictures she had been sent, and even Hero could see the likeness between them. Knowing Arturo had loved the dead girl, and now someone was threatening Hero’s own life…could she trust him?
Was Arturo the man behind the threats? Hero knew she should end this thing between them and yet she couldn’t. “What time is the boat trip?”
“Nine.” Arturo’s green eyes were intense on hers. “We have a few hours to kill.”
Hero felt his fingers stroke the inside of her thigh and she moaned softly. God, why did he have this effect on her? He was addictive. She nuzzled his ear and whispered, “Arturo. Take me home and fuck me into next week…”
Arturo grinned widely, and in twenty minutes, he was stripping her dress from her body as they kissed, clawing at each other. “Don’t wait.” Hero gasped, and Arturo thrust his cock deep into her cunt, fucking her furiously until they both fell from the bed, laughing and teasing each other. Arturo gathered her to him and slid back into her, and their lovemaking slowed. They took their time, building the intensity between them until Hero came, her back arching up, her belly against his, her head thrown back as she cried out.
“God, you’re intoxicating,” Arturo groaned as he came, then they collapsed together, panting for air. “Hero…il mia amore…”
There was such tenderness in his voice that Hero kissed him and rolled on top of him. “I want to taste you.”
He grinned up at her. “Darling, I would like nothing more. Just let me deal with this condom.”
As he used the bathroom, Hero waited, stretched out luxuriously on the bed. Every time she was naked with him, she felt so…what was the word…? Sensual, feminine…he made her feel beautiful. As he came back into the room, his magnificent cock already half-erect again, she gazed at him, blatant lust in her eyes. He approached the bed, and she sat up, taking his cock into her mouth, running her tongue along the length of it, feeling the hardening muscle under the silky skin. Arturo groaned as she began to suck, tease, and draw on the sensitive tip, her fingernails digging into his buttocks.
As he came, shooting thick creamy cum onto her tongue, she swallowed it down and then smiled up at him. Arturo pushed her back on the bed, and hitched her legs around his waist, kissing her passionately. “You drive me crazy, Hero.”
His cock nudged at the entrance of her cunt then buried itself deep inside her. Arturo’s lovemaking was almost frenzied now, his domination over her body complete, and Hero came again and again as he fucked her, his cock pounding at her until he, too, came.
As they recovered, Hero groaned. “We did it again. Shoot.”
“What?”
She sighed. “Forgot the damn condom. Jesus.”
He stroked her back as she sat up. “Cara mia, you do not have to worry. I have a clean medical record as far as STDs go. If you don’t believe me, I can have you call my physician for confirmation.”
Hero relaxed a little. “It’s not just that, though. There’s pregnancy to consider too.”
Arturo sat up and kissed her shoulder. “Would that be the worst thing?”
She gaped at him. “A week, Arturo. A week. No, don’t.” She wriggled away as he tried to wrap his arms around her. “This is all too much.” Hero rolled out of bed and shook her head. “First, you mention marriage and now this? Slow the hell down.”
She ran her hand through her hair, pacing up and down. Arturo watched her. “I’m sorry, Hero. I get a little overexcited sometimes, and I guess…I’m spoilt. I’m used to getting what I want when I want it, and sometimes I forget about other people’s feelings. I’m sorry.”
Hero was taken aback by his honesty and her panic, so overwhelming just a moment ago, faded. Talk to him. She sat back down on the bed. “Arturo…I’m just not ready for something so serious, so…final. There’s a lot going on in my life and, well…I just got here. That’s not to say I don’t love being with you. I do, I really do, but we need to slow down. Please.”
“Of course. I really am sorry.” He sighed, but gave her space, not reaching for her again immediately. “I never thought I could feel like this again.”
“After…Flavia?” Hero said quietly.
A long silence. “Yes. So, you also Googled me, I take it?”
Here we go.
“No.” She looked at him. “I had lunch with George Galiano today.”
She watched his expression go from shock to anger to jealousy to acceptance. “I see.”
“Just as…acquaintances. We met at the auction.” So, a little lie, but it didn’t matter. “He was kind enough to tell me all about your beef with him.”
Arturo snorted. “I bet he did.”
Hero half-grinned at him. “You don’t have to worry…he’s kind of a creep.”
“You’re not wrong.” Arturo laughed, looking relieved. “So…he told you about Flavia?”
She nodded. “Arturo, I’m so very sorry. Why didn’t you say anything? Especially after I told you about Tom and Beth.”
“I didn’t want to freak you out,” he admitted.
“Because we look alike?”
Arturo nodded. “You do. When I saw you that first time, I thought I’d seen her ghost. But, Hero, listen. You are two totally different people, and I know that.
Your resemblance to Flavia is incidental to how I feel about you, I swear. I swear.”
She nodded but wanted more than that. “What kind of woman was she?”
“First of all, let me say this. You are a woman. Flavia was a girl. She was eighteen when she was murdered. And she…I loved her, I truly loved her, and she loved me. But she also loved men and loved sex, and after her death, I found out she had been sleeping with George, too. He was my friend at the time, and I believe he enjoyed telling me that my sainted girlfriend had been a cheater. As you can imagine…we’ve rarely spoken since.”
“What an asshole,” Hero shook her head. “What a spiteful, needless thing to do.” She put her hand on his face. “You’re a million times the man he is, Turo.”
Arturo smiled. “I like that. You calling me Turo.” He leaned in slowly, and she met him halfway, giving permission for the soft kiss, but then his smile faded. “They never caught the killer, and I never found out why she died. Maybe it was another jealous lover? I don’t know. The polizia found nothing.” He shook his head. “I still have nightmares about her end…her terrible fear and pain.”
Hero felt sick. Tell him. Tell him about the notes, the threats…but she couldn’t do it. Couldn’t give him that kind of worry again. She kissed him softly. “I’m so sorry, Turo.”
Arturo wrapped his arms around her. “You make it better, cara mia.”
She leaned into him and sighed. “I hope I do. You make my pain go away, Turo. I hope, one day, I could do the same for you.”
“You already have.”
They made love again, and this time, it wasn’t the frenzied fucking of before; it was something more, the forging of a deeper connection, their gazes never parting.
At nine o’clock, Arturo took her on the boat trip around the lake, and they snuggled down in their seats, enjoying the night, laughing together, hands clasped. It was the perfect end to an intense day, and Hero felt herself relaxing with this man. She still had to tell him about the apartment, but she had decided if he really wanted it…she didn’t want to lose him over it. They could work something out.
From the other end of the boat, he watched them. There was something different about the way they were together now: a new understanding, a new closeness.
Perfect.
He wondered if Hero Donati would scream when he drove his knife into her over and over and over again…
Chapter Eleven
Hero packed the last of her things into her bag and threw it over her shoulder. She glanced around the hotel room which had been her home for the last ten days and felt nervous. Today, she would move into the Patrizzi apartment, and later, she would tell Arturo what she had done. She couldn’t justify spending any more money on hotel rooms now. She had a five-million-euro apartment, and she had to live there.
The cab took her to the apartment, and she opened the door and stepped into her new home. It echoed with silence, but with the furniture in place, it had the beginnings of a real home.
She pushed open the doors to the small balcony and stepped out into the air, breathing in great lungfuls of air. Home. She couldn’t help the small thrill that ran through her, but it was tempered with sadness. Tonight, she would tell Arturo, and it would either be the end of them…or the beginning of something else.
Her cell phone rang.
“Finally.” Hero said as her sister said hello.
“Don’t be a pain, my phone got dropped in the bath.”
“You mean you dropped it in the bath.”
She grinned as Imelda sighed. “Fine. How are you?”
“Good. I moved into the apartment.”
“Good. That’s good. Is everything else okay? You sounded…weird on the voicemail you left.”
Hero hesitated. “I’m fine. I just wanted to touch base. How’re Mom and Dad?” A spike of adrenaline ran through her when her sister hesitated. “Melly?”
Imelda sighed. “Don’t panic…but Pops had a little heart thing. He’s okay, he’s fine, but…”
“Oh God, Melly.” Hero walked back inside and dropped onto the couch, her heart racing, her insides frozen. “I’ll get on a plane. I’ll book a flight this second and—”
“No, you will not. I said don’t panic. He’s going to be okay; they’re just keeping him in for observation. He’s fine, sis. Honestly. It was just a little bit of a scare.”
That lessened Hero’s panic only marginally. “How could you not tell me?”
“Because Mom said not to. Because she says—and I agree—you need this. You need to be away from Chicago, making your own life. Dad is fine, I promise, and I will absolutely call you if anything changes. But you stay there, Hero. You need to do this.”
Hero was silent for a long time. “You promise you’ll tell me if he gets worse?”
“I promise.” Imelda let out a long breath, and when she spoke again, her voice was softer. “Hero…are you doing okay?”
Hero choked back a sob and steadied her voice. “I’m fine. It’s beautiful here.”
“Made friends?”
More than that… “A couple.”
“Good. Sweetheart, you did the right thing. I’m proud of you.”
Hero was too shocked to reply, and she heard Imelda’s soft laugh. “Take care, little sister. And believe me, I do actually care. I’ll see you soon.”
The phone clicked off before Hero could reply. She sat for a moment, trying to take in her sister’s words. First, the news about her dad, and then just now…that had been the closest to ‘I love you’ she’d ever gotten from Imelda.
The world is shifting on its axis.
Hero shook her head and before she could change her mind, she called Arturo and got his voicemail.
Arturo checked his voicemail an hour later as he sat in his office and frowned. “That was weird.”
Peter looked up at him, putting down the sheaf of papers he held. “What?”
“That was Hero. She wants to meet later…at the Patrizzi apartment.”
Peter frowned. “Why on earth?”
“I have no idea.” Arturo tried calling her back. “Hey, it’s me. Look, of course I can meet you there, but what’s going on, Hero? Well, call me back if you can, but I’ll be there at six.”
He ended the call and put his phone down on the desk, chewing his bottom lip. “That’s very strange.”
Peter half-smiled. “Maybe Hero’s the buyer?”
Arturo rolled his eyes. “Yeah, because she has millions of euros just laying around.”
“She might.”
Arturo looked at Peter over his glasses. “Really? You think so?”
“No. Listen, can we get back to this? Villa Claudia is yours as soon as you sign. I can’t believe you got it for a half-million.”
Arturo grinned. “By the time I’ve finished with it, it’ll be worth ten times that. Not that I’ll be selling.”
“Still planning your marital home with the lovely Hero?”
“What’s your problem?” Arturo looked up at the cynical tone in Peter’s voice, his eyes narrowing. “Don’t you like Hero?”
“I liked her very, very much, Turo. She’s sweet and smart and beautiful.” Peter fixed him with a hard look. “And she looks just like your murdered girlfriend. Jesus, Arturo, just how fucked up are you?”
Arturo sat back and sighed. “She’s a completely different person, Pete.”
“How?”
“She’s Hero and not Flavia, for one,” he said dryly and rolled his eyes at Peter’s look. “She’s also American, you know. Versus Italian. Big difference there. And she’s softer somehow, yet at the same time, more assured. Wiser. She’s a woman. Flavia…” Arturo felt the usual sadness at the memory of such a beautiful young life cut short. “Flavia was just a kid. Hero was married, you know, with a child.”
Pete’s eyebrows shot up. “Was?”
“They died in a car wreck two years ago.”
“Jesus. How old is Hero?”
“Twenty-eight.”
“Yup.” Arturo leaned forward. “And I told her about Flavia, including the fact that they resemble each other. Sadly, I didn’t get there first. George told Hero about Flavia.”
“She knows George?” Peter looked bemused.
Arturo chuckled.
“Yup. She thinks he’s a creep.”
“She gets points for judging that character right, at least.”
Arturo smirked. “Anyway, he took her to lunch, tried to pull his usual con job, but she saw straight through him. But, yeah, he told her about Flavia.”
“And she wasn’t scared off?”
Arturo didn’t hide his smile. “Nope. But she did tell me to slow down.”
“Good.” Peter sighed. “More points in her favor.”
Arturo nodded, his face becoming serious. “Pete…she’s special. I know you think it’s because of Flav, but it really isn’t. She’s…very dear to me. Yes. Already.”
Peter studied his best friend. “You’re in love with her.”
“Yes.”
“Does she know?”
Arturo took a deep breath in. “I haven’t said it. The whole ‘slow down’ thing, you see. But yes, I’m in love with Hero Donati.”
And he could see that, finally, Peter believed him.
At six p.m., Arturo drove into town and parked outside the Patrizzi. He spoke to some of his contractors, noting the work already done, then headed up to the apartment. It was quiet on the top floor, and he strode around the corridors. The apartment was in the farthest corner away from the elevators, and as he approached, he could see the door was open. He frowned. Why the hell was Hero here?
He stepped into the apartment and then recoiled in shock at all the blood. At the body. “Oh God, no…no…NO!”
Chapter Twelve
“Hero? Miss Donati? Can you hear me? If you can, please open your eyes or squeeze my hand.”
Nothing. The paramedic looked at his partner. “She’s really out.”
Arturo gritted his teeth, holding back a scream of frustration. From the moment he’d walked in and found her passed out on the floor, he had cradled Hero in his arms as he waited for the emergency services, and he’d called her name over and over, but she’d refused to wake. His clothes were drenched in her blood, paramedics were all over the place, and still she refused to wake.
Under Her Skin Page 6