Adored: Book 1 (The Beloved Series)

by MJ Masucci

  “My name is Nina Caro. You can call me Nina,” she said with a sideways smirk.

  Julian couldn’t help smiling as she looked at him.

  “I’m not really sure where to start.”

  “Let’s start here.” He handed her the brush and when it was in her hand, he put his over hers and dipped it in the paint tray. A few strokes to get her started. His nose was practically in her wonderfully scented hair and he almost lost sight of what he was doing.

  “Thank… thank you,” Nina said seemingly affected by Julian’s closeness as he was with hers.

  He cleared his throat and moved on to the next student, but Nina’s scent remained in his nostrils. After he finished moving about the room, he went to his desk. The school had given him a folder with printed profiles of each student including their skills and previous artistic endeavors. He furiously paged to hers and read.

  Nina had taken a couple of art classes in high school and one previously at the Annex. He wondered why she looked so familiar and thought back to a class where he had substituted two years ago. Interestingly enough, she and the young dark haired woman she came in with earlier were late to that class, too. He remembered that the brunette had been snapping her gum and Julian had politely asked her to spit it out. She scowled at him but complied. That one’s name was Madison.

  The other young woman, Nina, smiled at him back then, apologized and took her seat before he went back to teaching. He had them read a chapter on Impressionists as per the regular teacher’s notes. His eyes were continuously drawn to her and he watched her lips move as she read. She was very attractive, but absolutely off limits.

  That was a senior class and maybe she would be eighteen, but possibly seventeen. He was twenty-three and even though a substitute, he was still her teacher. Regardless, he watched her from the corner of his eye. She had delicate features, high cheekbones, big dark eyes and full kissable lips. His mind started to wander to illicit activities with her and he shook them away. It was totally inappropriate.

  At the end of class, Nina had walked out without so much as a glance in his direction. It was better that way. If she had shown Julian any type of interest, he might have considered asking her for coffee. It was the last time he saw her until now.

  He looked up and she was peering around her easel at him. When she saw him, she ducked back around. He inwardly smiled not wanting to give his reaction away. She was lovely and someone he would like to get to know. Julian calculated in his head her age since he substituted class and guessed she was probably around twenty or twenty-one. Was it to large an age gap to date someone five or six years younger? He thought not.

  Towards the end of class, he circulated the room to view the student’s paintings. Some were very talented; others not so much. He stopped behind Nina’s, noting she was skilled. Though she had a hard time getting started, the painting looked well done.

  “Very nice. You have talent,” he told her with a smile.

  He moved on to Madison’s painting, which was horrible. The young woman had no eye for color or her subject matter. He just nodded at her and walked onto the next student. After class, he made his way out to his car and was startled in the dark by the approach of Nina and a large, heavyset man.

  “Mr. Gennaro?”

  “Julian, please.”

  “Julian, would you like to have coffee with me? I have some questions to ask you about class.”

  His heart skipped a beat. He never expected her to ask him anywhere but then he became confused.

  “Who is this?” he asked as he gestured to the man.

  “This is Frankie. He, um, is my driver.”

  The man tipped his hat and walked a distance away, but his gaze never left the two of them.

  “We can go across the street to Sloan’s,” she suggested.

  Sloan’s coffee house was a hip little shop where a lot of the college kids went. They had comfortable couches, cozy little nooks and delicious brews.

  “Sure, just let me put my stuff in my truck.”

  Julian opened the door to his truck and tossed his bag inside.

  “Is he joining us?” Julian asked in a low voice while gesturing to Frankie.

  “No, but he’ll wait for me outside Sloan’s.”

  Nina began walking through the parking lot ahead of him and he followed closely. When they got to the street, he stopped next to her, waiting for the traffic to ease so they could cross. As they approached the sidewalk on the other side of the street, Nina stumbled, the toe of her shoe catching on a crack. Julian quickly grabbed her and pulled her against his chest to prevent her from falling. His first thought was that she felt so good in his arms.

  “Are you okay?”

  “You can let me go. I’m fine.”

  He hadn’t realized his arms were still around her.

  “I’m sorry,” he said sheepishly as he released her.

  Frankie, who had driven the car into Sloan’s parking lot, approached them while giving Julian a menacing look. “Everything alright here?”

  “It’s wonderful, Frankie. Go back to whatever you were doing.”

  Julian noted that Nina sounded exasperated. He held the door for her as they went into the shop. It smelled wonderful with the rich aroma of brewed coffee and cinnamon.

  They placed their order with the barista and waited. Julian felt like a kid on his first date. He looked down at his blue converse and shoved his hands into the pocket of his worn jeans. Nina broke their awkward silence.

  “You’re kind of young to be teaching a class, aren’t you?”

  “It depends on what you mean by young. I’m twenty-six.”

  “Oh, you look younger, but I guess that would make sense.”

  “How would it make sense?”

  “I remember you when you subbed for my class in high school. It was like a few years ago, I think. If you were any younger, you wouldn’t have been much older than us. How old were you then, twenty-two?”

  She had noticed him. “I was twenty-three. I graduated from college a couple of years earlier.”

  “Order for Julian,” the barista called.

  Julian handed her one of the cups of coffee and they went to a couch in the corner to talk. The place was only half-full for a Thursday night.

  “What do you need to ask me about class?”

  “Nothing. I just didn’t want Frankie to go snitching to my father.”

  “You’re father doesn’t let you talk to men?”

  “Actually, no. In fact, he interrogates them so that they never come back.”

  “But you’re an adult. How old are you?”

  “I’m twenty-one.”

  “And you’ve never had a male friend or a boyfriend?”

  “I’ve had them, but they get fed up with all the security and my brothers don’t help the situation.”

  “Nina, is your father some diplomat?”

  “No, my father runs a few businesses.”

  “What type of businesses?”

  “Julian, my father is Vito Caro.”

  He vaguely remembered the name from an article he read about a court case involving intimidation of some dock workers.

  “Is your father involved in organized crime?”

  “I guess you could call it that. He lives in Brooklyn with my brothers, Joey and Tony. I live here with my mother. He assigned Frankie to watch me. It’s really annoying.”

  “Your parents live in separate places?”

  “My parents are divorced, so yes, that would be the standard arrangement.”

  “Oh. I guess it would.”

  “Does knowing who my father is make you uncomfortable?”

  “I would be stupid if I said no.”

  “Please don’t be. It’s been a long time since I was interested in someone.”

  She’s interested in me? His heart did a little flutter and he narrowed his eyes.

  “I can see you’re not keen on the idea of getting involved with me.” She rose, thanking him for the
coffee.

  Julian grasped her wrist, “Don’t leave. I think no such thing but you do have to know someone to get involved with them. I don’t know you, but I would like to.”

  Nina sat down and smiled widely. He realized he was still holding her wrist and quickly removed it.

  “I’m sorry. It’s been awhile since I’ve spent time with a woman.”

  “I find that hard to believe. I notice that most of your class was of the female persuasion.”

  “That is true, but they don’t know me. One thing you should know about me, I live a life of solitude.”

  “Why?”

  “I could tell you my story but it might scare you away.”

  They looked up to banging on the window. Frankie was standing there and pointing at his watch. Nina glanced at hers; it was nearing 10:00 PM.

  “Fuck, ah, excuse me. I have to go. My mother prefers me in the house before ten and it’s almost that now.”

  She looked up and noticing that Frankie was walking to the car, she leaned down and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

  “We’ll talk more on Tuesday after class. I like you, Julian Gennaro and I want to get to know you better.”

  He watched her walk out the door and get into the car with Frankie. The car pulled out of the parking lot and headed south. Her perfume lingered in the air and clung to his clothing where he had held her against him. Nina didn’t leave me her number? He wondered if any of her contact information was on the forms he had in his truck for the class members.

  Julian got up and walked across the street to his truck and was in a daze as he drove home. She was the first woman who held any interest for him in a very long time. The last one was over a year ago and it had been that long since he had sex. Carly Wesson, his last girlfriend, had told him that he was unobtainable. When he asked what she meant by that, she told him he was emotionally closed off and she couldn’t break through.

  Thinking back, Carly wasn’t wrong. He was closed off, but who wouldn’t be with what he had to deal with the past few years. Being alone does that to you. You don’t invest in people because you’re afraid they’ll disappear from your life. The only person who knew his true feelings was Maureen. She knew him inside and out, probably better than he knew himself.

  Julian navigated the six miles up the mountain road to his home in the woods. He was safe here and no one bothered him. His closest neighbors, the Tallmans, were over two miles away. Mrs. Tallman often stopped by to check on him as she went to do errands and would drop off some freshly made goat cheese. It wasn’t his favorite, but she was so kind that he didn’t have the heart to say no. He reminded her of his mother.

  She had known his parents before they died. Years ago he used to play with her son, Thaddeus. Thad was now in the military and he surmised this was the reason why she stopped by to see him. She missed Thad and treated Julian like her surrogate son, but even her he closed himself off because eventually she would die, too.

  He wasn’t always like this. He was a pleasant child, loving and sweet. His family gave affection and encouragement. They were his world and he was secure and happy until the accident just shy of his eighteenth birthday. His parents, sister Beth and brother Adam, had gone to do some shopping. He chose to stay behind after he had come home in the wee hours of the morning from hanging out with Maureen.

  Julian was awakened by the phone, a call that would change his life forever. His family had been in an accident. By the time he got to the hospital, all that remained breathing were Beth and his father. They were hanging on by a thread and it broke less than an hour later when first Beth, then his father died. He was officially an orphan and all alone in the world.

  As if his father had some idea, he had prepared for something like this if it happened. His will was in place and Julian got everything because there was no one else. The large house had a small mortgage and instructions were left for their attorney to pay that amount. He was amazed at the amount of money his parents had amassed.

  However, money didn’t make up for the loss of his family. Julian shut down to anyone new in his life. Maureen would always remain as the stable factor and she was the only one to whom he showed emotion. He had a few other friends, but once they went to college a few weeks later, the divide started.

  In the years that passed, Julian still hadn’t learned to open up to other people. It was part of the reason he lived in the woods. The other part was that it made him feel close to the people he lost. His grandfather and father had built the cabin many years ago; it passed from father to son and father to son again.

  It was one of the things he kept. He sold his house in town as well as his father’s share of his contracting business and a vacation home on the shores of Cape Cod. The other thing he kept besides the cabin was a small cottage on the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. He didn’t need to work, but he did pursue a degree in art.

  Julian stopped reminiscing when he pulled into the long dirt driveway of the cabin. Nina was someone who might be able to bring him out of his shell, but how long would it take and would she have the patience. Only time would tell.

  Chapter 3

  Julian anticipated the arrival of Tuesday. It would be the next evening he would be teaching the art class at the Annex. He wanted to see Nina and was having a hard time concentrating on his projects at home. Rarely would he go into town for supplies more than once a week, but over the four days until class, he went several times.

  He was hoping to meet Nina by accident. If Madison weren't such a bitch, he would’ve asked her for Nina’s cell number when he had seen her in the pharmacy on one of his trips to town. But he preferred not to alert any of Nina’s friends to the fact that he was interested in her. It would have to wait until class.

  On Tuesday, he found himself overly happy from the time he got up until the time he drove to class in town. However, he was let down when class started and the seat where Nina usually sat remained empty. It put a sour note to his teaching so he assigned a project and did very little circulation throughout the room.

  That is until Nina breezed through the door over twenty minutes late. Though Julian was annoyed since he told her last class to be on time, he was also excited to see her. She sat at the same easel and started to paint. Julian circulated the room and stopped behind her, leaning in close to her ear.

  “I thought I told you that class started at seven,” he whispered.

  Madison looked over and scowled at him as he softly spoke to Nina.

  “I’m sorry. I’ll tell you why after class,” she whispered back.

  Julian was satisfied with that and went from student to student, critiquing their work. At the end of class, he stayed at his desk, saying goodbye to all the students as they filed by him, all except Nina who remained seated. When everyone had left, she leaned around her easel.

  “Do you want to tell me why you were late?” Julian asked.

  “Because of you.”

  “Me?”

  Nina approached his desk and squarely looked him in the eye.

  “I wanted to see you. I fought with Frankie and my father to allow me to drive here by myself.”

  “You didn’t need to do that. We could’ve had coffee at Sloan’s again. I’m sure Frankie would have waited like last time.”

  “If Frankie were with me, I wouldn’t be able to do this,” Nina leaned in and brushed her lips against his.

  Julian was surprised at her forwardness and put his hands on either side of her face to draw her towards him. He kissed her harder, willing her to open her mouth so he could probe it with his tongue. Nina tasted of strawberries and he wanted more.

  By the time she pulled away, he was breathless. What was she doing to him? They stared at each other.

  “I wanted to do that since last week. I like you Julian.”

  “I like you too Nina. I wanted to tell you that your last name means beloved in Italian. Did you know that?”

  She shook her head, leaning in again to kiss him, this
time her tongue speared into his mouth and he gently sucked on it. Nina positioned herself between his legs and wrapped her arms around his waist. Her hands dug at the hem of his shirt and his hands tangled in her hair.

  Minutes ticked by and their passionate union was broken only by the chiming of her phone. She pulled away leaving Julian wanting for more and feeling empty at the loss of her against him. He waited while she answered her phone, the conversation growing heated as she moved off to a corner of the classroom. Nina was arguing with someone about her leaving.

  When she turned back to him, her face was flushed. Julian wasn’t sure if it was from their kissing or her anger at the caller.

  “I have to go. My father isn’t very happy with me right now. He said I should’ve let Frankie drive me.”

  “I thought your father lived in Brooklyn?”

  “He does but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have control. Sometimes I feel like a prisoner. I want to leave this place.”

  Julian felt his heart drop, “Where would you go?”

  “Maybe California. Anywhere but here.”

  “I’m sure you can figure something out. Your father just wants to protect you.”

  “Julian, there’s a lot you don’t know about my family. I’m afraid that when you find out, you’ll change your mind about me. Please give me a chance.”

  He was speechless and he chewed on his bottom lip trying to choose his words. What could be so bad about the Caro family? Nina leaned in and kissed him softly, then left as fast as she had breezed in earlier. He was disappointed because he wanted more time with her.

  His mind was elsewhere as he walked to his truck in the darkened parking lot.

  “Hey, kid.”

  The voice startled Julian and he whirled around, coming almost face to face with Frankie.

  “Shit, you scared me Frankie. How are you tonight?”

  “I’m going to give you a word of warning. Nina is very precious to a lot of people. Her father will do everything to protect her, especially when it comes to her heart. Don’t hurt her or you’ll have to answer not only to me, but Vito.”

  “I’m not sure I know what you mean.”