Tuscan Heat (SoBe Heat Book 1)

by Anise Storm

  Because Lania owned and ran ‘Basilico’, one of the most exclusive Italian restaurants in South Beach, her condo was the most common meeting place. She didn’t mind, though. She’d grown up in an Italian household, and her mother never missed an opportunity to entertain the masses in their mansion on Jupiter Island. If she hadn’t decided to take up cooking as a career, Lania was sure she would’ve taken after her mother and become a party planner instead.

  Thinking back to those parties, a familiar face was always there, and she crinkled up her nose as she thought about the De Palmas and one in particular, their son, Mario. Lania usually didn’t think about the jerk at all, but after reading about him in an article today, memories of the playboy came rushing back, including the one time the two of them had sex. “Asshole,” she muttered under her breath.

  Shaking her head, she grabbed the rest of the prosciutto and some goat cheese out of the refrigerator. She needed to finish this salad so everything would be ready for her guests. As she sprinkled the thin pieces of meat on top of the salad greens, her face flushed thinking about that one night in the pool. It was the biggest mistake of her life, and outside of her obvious mortification, thankfully it didn’t have any lasting ramifications.

  The sound of her doorbell chiming snapped her out of her thoughts, and she grabbed a nearby dish cloth, wiping off her hands as she walked into the living room to get the door. Hoping that the normal coloring had returned in her cheeks, she flung the door open, smiling brightly at Niles and Olivia. “Hey, you’re both early.”

  At least she thought they were until Olivia laughed. “Actually, we’re right on time.”

  Niles leaned in to Olivia and whispered loud enough for Lania to hear, “We should probably give her some time to say goodbye to whoever she has in there.”

  Smacking her friend with the dish towel, she giggled. “There’s no one here. I just lost track of time. Come on in.”

  They entered, and she shut the door behind them. As she followed Niles and Liv into the living room, she caught a glimpse of her reflection. Mio Dio. She looked horrible. Her face was still flushed a deep shade of pink and her hair was disheveled. As her friends took a seat on the couch, she stepped into the hallway powder room to splash some water onto her face. She also grabbed a brush and ran it through her hair.

  She was in the process of touching up her makeup when she heard the doorbell again. “Someone get the door. I’ll be out there in a minute,” she yelled out behind the door. The sound of female laughter soon followed, and she could pick out Kimara’s accent, so she knew that she was there at last.

  Finally satisfied that she looked somewhat presentable, she remembered the fig salad. She hadn’t finished it yet. After spritzing on some body spray, Lania emerged from the bathroom and re-entered the living room. Not only was Kimara there, Arielle was too. She waved and then hurried into the kitchen.

  Rachaela was also there and currently pilfering a few of the stuffed artichokes. “Hey, save those for later.”

  Rachaela stuck her tongue out at Lania. “We’re hungry, and you’re running late.”

  Lania knew they were right. Eyeing the bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon and cheese platter, she handed them to her dark-haired friend. “Here, take these to the girls and let me finish up in here. We’ll eat when Jade gets here.”

  “If we’re waiting for Jade to arrive then we’ll all perish,” Arielle said from the doorway.

  Lania smiled, knowing that her feisty redhead friend was probably right.

  “I tried to tell Lania not to move so close to the mall. Jade is drawn to those places like metal to a magnet,” Kimara said when she entered the space. Olivia and Niles both entered the kitchen too, and Lania realized that there was no getting rid of them now.

  Since they all intended to stand there and distract her, she slid the bowl of fig salad closer to herself and then grabbed the big chunk of goat cheese. Breaking it into small pieces, she crumbled it over the lettuce. Finally, she was done with all the food. Dessert was chilling in the refrigerator and the wine was out.

  Lania looked around, trying to see if she was missing anything else. Ever since she read that earlier article about Mario returning to the Miami area to open a restaurant of his own, she’d been flustered, if that was even the right word. When everything looked to be done, she heard the doorbell again. “Can you girls bring this into the living room while I get the door?” she asked her friends and then went to let Jade in.

  When she flung the door open, her friend was on the other side, holding up a few bags. The others had correctly guessed that the reason the brunette bombshell was late was because she was shopping. Shaking her head, Lania stepped aside so she could enter and then followed her into the room with the other girls.

  Everyone took their seats except for Lania. She stood near the doorway and looked over the motley crew of women in her living room. Having met while in school at the University of Miami, they formed the most unlikely group, especially Niles Bennett. The beautiful blonde was the resident badass. She worked as a bartender at a local club called Delirium and the rest of them often witnessed her dancing on the bar. She was heavily inked and cursed like a sailor. Despite her bad girl persona, the group all knew a different side of her.

  “Earth to Melania! Are you planning to join us anytime soon?” Arielle asked, even waving her hands in the air to get her attention.

  Lania smiled and moved into the living room with the rest of them. She looked over at Arielle McNalley, whom most would describe as a free spirit. She lived her life by her own set of rules, which at times was something she wished she could do too. The gorgeous redhead was a photographer and her work often took her all over the state and sometimes even farther.

  Sitting beside her was Rachaela Reyes, a beauty mixed with Hawaiian and Filipino roots, who hailed from Maine. She’d always said that the sand and ocean was what lured her to Miami, and the sisterhood she found with all of them was what kept her there. Whatever the reason, Lania was grateful as the two had become really close over the years.

  Her gaze traveled from one dark-haired beauty to another as she grabbed a flatbread. Kimara Reynolds was also an exotic hybrid that immigrated to the States when she was a child. She hailed from Puerto Rico and had worked two jobs to put herself through nursing school. Lania had always respected her friend’s dedication, and to see her finally accomplish her childhood dream and land a nursing job at Jackson Memorial Hospital was definitely a cause for celebration.

  Remembering that graduation weekend, she smiled fondly at the antics the seven of them got into on that trip to Cancun. “Are you sure you’re okay, Lania?”

  She looked over at Olivia Anders, a waitress and hostess at Basilico. She was the youngest of the group and had only joined their pack in her freshman year of college when she transferred to the U from Florida State. The others were seniors at the time and would jokingly ask her what colors she bled since the schools were such fierce rivals. All the fighting between sports teams were strictly between them. The other girls adored her as much as Lania had and when she opened her restaurant, she gave her friend a job while she finished school. Liv had one year left before she graduated.

  She’d become an invaluable member to her staff as well as a great friend. The problem with Olivia was that she worried too much, like she was doing right now. “I’m fine. It’s just been a long day. Is someone going to open that wine or are we going to stare at the bottle all night?” she asked, laughing when Jade jumped up to go fetch some glasses.

  When she returned, she handed each girl a glass and then they all poured themselves some of the red wine. Lania was the last to fill her flute and when finished, she handed the half empty bottle back to the gorgeous brunette. Jade Flanagan was the one she was closest to out of all of the girls and it was probably because they came from similar backgrounds. Her green-eyed bestie grew up in an affluent neighborhood just north of Baltimore, Maryland. She wanted to party originally, which was what brought her
to Miami. After taking a slew of classes over a three-year period, she still couldn’t decide on a major and finally saw something on television that made her decide to be a realtor.

  And she was a damn fine one too. When it came time for Lania to buy her current condo, Jade had managed to get it for about fifty thousand under asking. It was well below the area comps too, so she knew she had gotten quite a steal. She loved her condo that was situated right off of Ocean Drive, and because it was a corner unit, she had almost three-hundred-and-sixty-degree views of the Atlantic Ocean from almost any room.

  Her eyes were then drawn to the large floor-to-ceiling window across the room. The view of the beautiful blue sky and equally stunning ocean seemed to go on for miles. It truly was the biggest selling feature of the unit, and after she poured about thirty thousand into the place for renovations, Lania knew it was most likely the best condo in the entire building.

  As her friends chatted about a variety of things, she stood up and walked over to the window. When she looked down, the view of the landscaped pool brought back a flood of memories she’d rather not think about at the moment. Pushing them back into the recesses of her mind was easier said than done. There was just something about the man that not only infuriated her, but aroused her as well. She shouldn’t have teased him that humid night in Italy or maybe she shouldn’t have drunk so much wine.

  Snorting at the thought of going without wine, she returned back to the others and picked up her glass. She had learned a long time ago that in life there was always something for every situation and nine times out of ten, that something was wine. She finished her glass and then reached for the bottle to refill it. “What?” she asked as the other six women were all staring at her.

  “You need to go ahead and spill whatever has you acting all strange,” Jade told her while popping a cube of cheese into her mouth. The others nodded in agreement, and Lania frowned, not realizing until that moment that she had been so preoccupied.

  “Okay, I admit that my mind has been somewhere else for the past few hours,” she began, shaking her head at the way they all seemed to hang on to her every word. Talk about an attentive audience. Finally, she continued. “Do you remember that guy, Mario De Palma, that I told you I grew up with?”

  “Oh, the stiff from the pool in Italy,” Niles chimed in, and Lania couldn’t help but giggle. That was one way to describe him.

  “Yes.” The group nodded and then shifted in their seats so they could get comfortable for any juicy details she might share. Unfortunately for the drama loving crowd, what she had to say would make most yawn.

  “What about him?” Kimara asked as she refilled her glass of wine.

  “Well, I read an article in the newspaper today about him returning to Miami and get this,” she said, already feeling herself fume again. “He plans to open an Italian restaurant right here on South Beach too.”

  There. It was out in the open, so she took a sip of her wine and let the information sink in to the others. Any minute now, the six of them would be just as angry as her and ready to help run Mario De Palma out of town. Any fantasies she had of her girls helping her lead some lynch mob against him were dashed when two shrugged and the others went back to eating.

  “Did any of you hear what I just said?” she asked incredulously. “He’s encroaching on my turf and probably hopes to shut Basilico down.”

  “Nah,” Rachaela said, finally being the first to speak up. “I don’t think so, and even if he did, what makes you think it will work? Basilico is a local institution. People come to SoBe from all over the globe for sun, surf, and a plate of your lobster carbonara.”

  “Mmmm,” Kimara added. “You need to make that again for us next week.”

  “Rachaela is right, you know,” Niles said. “Fuck him! There’s only competition when you allow it.”

  Lania nodded, knowing they were all right. This was one of the reasons she loved these girls so much. They had a solution for everything. Deciding that he wasn’t worth any more thought at that time, she was about to change the subject when Arielle giggled.

  “I think she’s already done that, Bennett.”

  Lania tossed a nearby throw pillow at the redhead.

  “Besides the fact that it happened three years ago, it was also a huge mistake,” Lania told them.

  “Well, you know what they say about mistakes, don’t you?” Jade replied. “Any good ones are worth making two or three times.”

  Lania rolled her eyes, and Olivia snorted. “Who said that, J?”

  Jade flashed an impish grin. “I did, but it still applies. No?”

  The entire group burst out into fits of laughter. Soon her earlier worries began to fade, and she was finally able to enjoy the rest of her evening. After they had dessert and made plans for next Thursday, she saw them all out and closed the door. As she walked back into her living room, she could see the mess left behind. This was the worst part of their girls’ night in. Gathering as many of the glasses and plates as she could, she brought them into the kitchen and then returned to retrieve the rest of them.

  There wasn’t much food left, but what was there, she’d give to Leroy, the building doorman, on her way to work in the morning. She spoiled the man, but then again, it came with its own perks. She hadn’t had to open the door to the lobby since she moved in.

  Chapter 2

  LANIA WASHED ALL THE dishes and had her kitchen sparkling clean before she walked down the hallway to her master bedroom. She slipped out of her yoga pants and T-shirt, padding barefoot into the master bathroom to start her shower. While waiting for the water to reach a scalding temperature, she walked back into the bedroom and caught her reflection in the mirror and had to admit that she looked good.

  Thankfully for her, she had a really high metabolism because being Italian she obviously liked to eat and the unhealthier a pasta dish was, the more likely she was to scarf it down. She also worked out religiously, and she could see the payoff from all that hard work in her toned physique. Not a lot had changed since she last saw Mario, except the fact that her breasts had become fuller.

  She remembered the night in the pool when he put his mouth and hands on them. It was hard to forget a night where she felt so much pleasure and then so much irritation afterward. Scowling about him leaving her there in the pool and walking off still had her fuming years later. It was the ultimate brush-off, even though she shouldn’t have been surprised. In all the tales she heard about him between high school and then college, never once did she hear about him cuddling with anyone afterward.

  “You were a fool, Lania,” she told herself as she turned and walked back into the bathroom. She quickly stripped out of her black lace bra and panties and then stepped into the stone shower enclosure.

  After purchasing this condo, the first renovation she made was to her master bathroom, turning it from cookie cutter builder grade to true luxurious spa, including upgrading the shower to one with a river rock bottom and Tuscan tile from floor to ceiling. She also added six jets, including a rainfall showerhead. It completely transformed the room, making her feel like she was in a five-star resort.

  It was hard work opening and then running her own restaurant. Most people looked at her age and automatically associated that with inexperience. More than one executive chef came in and tried to alter one of her sacred family recipes. They usually found themselves on the unemployment line right afterward. She was a bit of a hard ass but respected by her staff because she would back up her words. More than once, she found herself rolling up her sleeves to help cook and clean.

  Basilico was her baby, and she would do anything to make sure it succeeded. That was another reason why Mario De Palma’s return to Southern Florida had her more on edge than normal. Well, maybe that coupled with the fact that she hadn’t had sex in weeks. Even before that one night of weakness with him while in Tuscany, Lania often fantasized about what it would be like to be with him.

  The expectation and reality didn’t quite m
atch in her mind. How could he be everything I dreamed he would be but then at the same time everything I didn’t? The more she thought about it, the less surprised she should’ve been. He was the proverbial player, and she hardly doubted that three years changed that.

  Still, she felt heated, and not just from the scalding water pouring down over her. She was aroused, and with no prospects to call, she would have to remedy that herself. Bringing her hands up to her breasts, Lania cupped them at first and then squeezed. If she closed her eyes and pictured someone’s face, usually it would help get her into the right headspace. The problem with that was the only face that came to mind was one of the dark-haired demon with a lethal smirk.

  “Cazzo!” Even his image wasn’t enough to tamp down her arousal, so she dropped one hand to her thighs before slipping it between them.

  Lania stood there with her back pressed against the wall, one hand on her breasts and the other slowly working her clit from beneath its hood. Her fingers moved tentatively at first and then increased in urgency as she worked her body nearly to a frenzy and then stopped. For some reason, self-pleasuring herself wasn’t working tonight.

  After growing frustrated, she reached out for the faucet and turned it all the way to cold. It only took a few seconds to turn her steamy sauna like shower into what felt like the deep freezer at Basilico. Still, a cold shower was exactly what she needed to cool herself down. Grabbing one of the handheld jets, she ran it up and down her body before finally raising one of her toned legs. Aiming it at her aching clit, she moaned as the coolness of the water pounded on her sensitive flesh.

  “Dammit,” she groaned out in frustration when even that didn’t help. Lania was starting to face the realization that she was going to have to go to bed in her current state of arousal. She knew it was all Mario’s fault. The man needed to stay the hell out of her neighborhood, and if he knew what was good for him, out of her life too.