by Simply BWWM
He was growing irritated that she was still playing her little morality game, and his desire for her had grown even more intense as she stood there before him denying him. He was as hard as a granite rock, throbbing with need, and she was going to give him the satisfaction that he so desperately craved.
Gabriella’s face contorted in anger and she tried to pull her arms from his grip. “No! Julian, I said I’m not going to sleep with you and I’m not! That’s it! Take everything away from me if you have to, but you are never getting me into your bed!”
Julian saw the defiance and fierce anger in her eyes and he knew she meant what she said. He was never going to have her, and his leverage of her work and her career was not enough to tip the scale and make her say yes to him. Furious with her choice, he yanked her suddenly toward him, planting his mouth on hers and kissing her hard as he took his hands off of her arms and curved them around her face, holding her to him.
Stunned into stillness for a moment, Gabrielle found herself frozen as his mouth moved over hers and he tried to pry her lips open. Rage flooded through her and she shoved herself away, breaking their connection, leaving them both breathless.
“You go to hell,” she growled at him. She turned on her heel and stalked into the living room and he followed close behind her, calling after her.
“Gabriella, do you see this? Do you know what this is?” he snapped, standing beside the table and picking up a thick stack of papers.
She turned and looked at him. She knew what it was the moment he held it up before her. Her heart sank like a stone in the ocean, falling forever before it left her body through her feet.
“Look at your face.” He laughed coldly. “You do know what this is. This is your contract, and this is the cover of the April issue. I chose you. I have gorgeous shots of you ready for it. Kathy hasn’t put anyone on it because I have her waiting to hear from me on the final decision. This is it. This is your job, your career, and the April cover, right here in my hands. You get your ass over here and take your clothes off or this is going in the fire right now.” He took a few steps and was standing directly beside the fireplace.
She stood there in silence for what felt like forever. All of the years that she had worked so hard building her dream flashed before her eyes. All of the auditions, the photography sessions, the beauty procedures and products and healthy lifestyle that she had clung to in order to make herself the best that she could be.
All of the exercising, the eating right, the studying of fashion, design, modeling, and acting. The classes. The lines. The hopes and fears. The successes and failures. The first time she saw herself in print. The first time she walked down a runway. All of it became an avalanche in her mind and she knew that she was looking at the end of it, if she chose not to go have sex with the bastard before her who was going to end her career.
Possibilities slipped through her mind. She could sleep with him. She could give him what he wanted. She could keep her career and her job and she could have the cover of the magazine. At what cost? She wondered. At what profound cost could I keep those things I had worked almost all of her life for?
She considered that it would probably be just this one time. It would probably be just this one day that she would have to give in to what he wanted, and then she wouldn’t lose everything. She seriously considered it. What was one day in the face of what she had sacrificed almost her whole life for?
Then she wondered if once would be enough for him. If one day would truly satiate his lust for her. She wondered what would happen if he wanted her over and over again, and if he made her come to him again and again any time he wanted, knowing that all he had to do was threaten her if she didn’t. She would be trapped as his sex slave anytime he wanted her, and she knew by his vindictiveness that he might never get his fill of her.
She thought of Antonio and her heart nearly broke. She loved him with everything in her, and if she gave in to his brother’s demands in order to save her career, she might well be hurting him just as much as she was hurting herself. She couldn’t bear the thought of it, and more than all of those thoughts, she couldn’t bear to let herself down. She would be betraying her own deepest morals and values, and she would be letting go of the things that truly mattered most to her; her integrity and her self-worth, and no man was worth losing that.
There was only one answer that she could give him, and nothing he could threaten her with would change it. She lifted her chin and narrowed her eyes at him. “Never,” she answered coldly, steeling herself. She knew the worst was coming.
He glared furiously at her and with a flick of his hand, threw her contract into the fireplace. Her heart stopped in her chest as she watched the edges of it catch flame, and the paper turned dark brown and then black as the edges curled and smoke rose from it. It was done.
She looked up at him and he shook his head. “Get your things out of the studio. You’re done.”
Gabriella didn’t say a word. She couldn’t speak. She turned her back to him and walked out of the room, leaving him behind her as she closed the door on everything she had worked most of her life for.
Tears streamed down her face as she went to the elevator and pressed the button. She tried as hard as she could to hold it all in. The last thing she wanted was to leave the hotel sobbing. Holding her hand to her mouth, she stepped into the elevator and rode it to the ground floor, unsure of anything in her future. All of it had just been wiped away.
The elevator doors opened and she hurried through the lobby to the front door. She had never been so grateful to see a waiting cab in all of her life, and within moments she was in the backseat, giving the address of the studio to the driver.
The city passed by her outside of her window, and somehow it looked completely different to her. It was for the first time in her life, terrifying and wild; there was no rhyme or reason to it, and it looked like the concrete jungle that people said it was. She was blinded by her tears which would not be held back, and when she reached the studio, she could barely see to pay the cab driver before stepping from his taxi and heading into the building.
She stood stock still as she opened the door to her dressing room. The last time she would ever open that door. She looked around at everything in the small space. Clothes hanging on a rack. Clippings from her published work hanging on the wall. Her makeup and hair styling tools set about on her vanity. Dried roses from Lila in a vase on a shelf. So many trinkets and tidbits that she had collected over her time there. Photographs of her and her friends that worked there.
She felt a sob erupt from her chest and she could not hold it back. It came at her like a force, and she barely made it to the chair in front of her vanity before she lost all of her self-control and wept bitterly, burying her face into her arms.
A long while later, she finally lifted her head and stared at her swollen eyes and lips in the mirror. It was done. It was all done. She wiped her hands over her face, trying to dry it and failing. Slowly she turned and surveyed the room again. Standing carefully, she walked to the far corner of the room and lifted up a box that she was going to use to mail several things to Lila in. She began to fill it with her possessions: the leftover memories of the time she had spent there, living, working, dreaming, hoping for the best that was just somehow a little out of reach.
Little by little she cleared the room, setting each piece of memorabilia in the box, or throwing it away sadly, not wanting to hold on to anything that would hurt her from her time there. After what felt like forever, the room was empty and the box was sitting in the doorway waiting to be carried to her car.
She stood in the doorway beside the box and looked around the room one long last lonely time. It seemed like a hollow shell with all of the important things missing—all of the things that gave it life. It was nothing more than a hollow box staring back at her—a soulless void.
Wiping at her tears once again, she sniffed and reached her finger to the light switch, flicking it downward and tu
rning the light off. The room was instantly dark, and it felt much colder to her than it ever had. She reached for the door handle and pulled the door closed behind her. When she heard the click of the doorknob, she felt that it was completely done.
She bent over to pick up her box and lifted it to her chest, holding it against her, carrying her memories and her most precious moments with her as she made her way out of the back of the building. It was late; there was no one there except the guard who wasn’t anywhere around.
She walked to her car and set the box carefully in the trunk, looking up at the building one last time. She was leaving a place that she had called home for years, and it was one of the most heartbreaking things she had ever done.
Gabriella opened her car door and climbed in, not sure what to do or where to go. She rested her arms on the steering wheel of her car, burying her face in them one more time as tears streamed down her cheeks. After another short cry, she wiped at her face again and sat back in her seat.
Only one thought came to her, and she reached for her bag, searching for her phone like it was a lifesaver in the sea of oblivion. Pulling it out, she touched the screen a few times and the phone sprang to life and the sound of a ringing tone could be heard. It was the only thing to be heard in the car, other than Gabriella’s gasping breaths.
“Hi honey!” Lila’s sunshine voice came through the line crystal clear. “What are you doing today?”
Gabriella closed her eyes and bit her lip. She was going to have to admit defeat to her best friend. She had fought and she had lost. It was hard to say out loud.
“I just packed up my dressing room. It’s over. It’s all over.” She breathed haltingly, hating the sound of the words in her ears and the feel of them in her mouth.
Lila gasped. “No… oh my god, honey I am so sorry. How can I help you? What can I do?” she asked desperately.
“Can I come stay with you for a little bit? I just need a break. I don’t want to be in Los Angeles right now.” Gabriella’s voice wasn’t much more than a whisper overflowing with emotion.
“Sure, of course, honey, you come on home. You know there’s always a place for you here. You go pack a bag and get on the road. I’ll get dinner on for you, and don’t worry about how late you get here. I’ll be up waiting for you. It’s no trouble at all, you know that. You get packed and come home. I’m here, honey,” Lila told her gently.
Gabriella felt the dim light of relief hug her broken heart. “Thank you so much,” she managed to say through her tear strained emotions. “I love you. I’m on my way.” She ended the call and slipped her phone back into her purse, buckled her seat belt, and tried to dry her eyes again.
Reaching for the gearshift, she put the car into drive, and pulled away from the building, forcing herself to look forward at the road ahead, and not once looking back into her rearview mirror as the building and her life up to that moment grew smaller in the distance behind her.
The Final Chapter
Antonio felt himself wake up, but he didn’t open his eyes. He wanted to see her as long as he could, sitting there with him on the beach down behind the house, her long braids pulled up, her dark skin glistening with salt water in the sunshine. He was so close to her, watching her, holding her hand, listening to what she had to tell him, but the more he woke up, the quieter she spoke, until he could not hear her any longer, and nothing she said made sense, and at last she vanished from him.
She vanished from him every morning when he awoke; his dreams drifting from him like a precious fog that he could not grasp or cling to. Sighing, he opened his dark brown eyes and looked around the room. It felt empty. She had never been in it in person, but she was in it so often in his thoughts and dreams that it felt like she was missing from it, missing from him, whenever he was awake in it.
He pushed himself from the bed and headed to the shower, waking more fully as the hot water cascaded over his muscled shoulders and back. He sighed and washed his face and body, trying to think of anything other than Gabriella. It was a struggle for him.
He dressed and readied for the day, although it was a day he had been dreading for a long while. He straightened his tie and pulled on his jacket, looking in the mirror once to make sure that his suit looked just right on him. It was tailored, so it fit like a glove, but this day was different, and he wanted to look his best.
This day was the day that the board had chosen to tell Julian about the changes in the company control. Julian knew that there was a business meeting, but he was under the impression that it was a standard meeting and was nothing more than one of the few meetings during the year where his presence was mandatory. He rarely went to any of the meetings if they were not mandatory attendance for him.
Antonio went to the kitchen for breakfast and was almost done eating it when Julian walked into the kitchen in slacks and a pullover sweater. He poured himself a cup of coffee and glanced at Antonio.
“I don’t know why you think you have to get dressed up for these stupid meetings. No one cares what we wear,” he said flippantly.
Antonio looked at him hard. “I don’t know why you think you don’t need to get dressed up for these meetings. What you wear reflects who you are inside and what you think of the environment that you put yourself in. Dressing up shows respect and dignity. You should know that… but I contradict myself.” He put his plate in the sink and walked out of the room with his coffee cup in his hand.
Walking into the garage, he passed his brother’s new Lamborghini and settled into his BMW. He pulled away from the garage and looking back, saw that Julian was nowhere to be seen. He knew that his brother would be late to the meeting. He was always late. He had complete disregard for anything that required his responsibility. When he was younger, Antonio used to be a little jealous of that fact, feeling like he might be missing out on the wild fun freedom that his brother seemed to exude with a passion in every aspect of his life, but the older they got, the more he detested it.
Antonio walked into the board room and saw seven members sitting around an oval table. Marcus was among them. He rose up and greeted his cousin with a strong hug and a pat on the back, and the other members all rose up and shook his hand, thanking him for being there.
He sat with them, pouring himself a glass of water, waiting in the room with them for Julian to arrive. The room was walled in. There were no windows. The walls were completely lined with bookcases and all of the bookcases were filled top to bottom with books.
There was a simple contemporary chandelier hanging from the ceiling, and at regular intervals around the room there were tall pedestals each topped with the bust of a famous Italian artist, composer, or philosopher. The Medici family, and the board, were extremely appreciative of the arts, literature, and deep thinkers of old.
The grandfather clock that commanded the attention on the far wall ticked slowly as the minutes passed by. No one spoke. Everyone waited. Finally, at thirty minutes after their original meeting time, Julian walked into the room as if he was coming into a party. He was smiling and completely indifferent to the fact that he had made every person in the room around him wait for half an hour.
Marcus looked sternly at him. “I’m so glad you could make it. I will be buying you a watch for Christmas this year.”
Julian chuckled and took a seat at the furthest end of the table, kicking his feet up on it as if he was in his living room. The board members looked on him with disapproval and Antonio shared a quick glance with Marcus before looking away from his brother toward the other members of the board.
“Well!” Julian said with a grin. “Let’s get this party started. I have a hot date in an hour that I’d like to get to.” It was true, he smiled to himself as he thought of Lea, the model who replaced Gabriella. Lea was a foxy little redhead with a large chest, long legs, and full lips. She was also all too glad to do anything and everything he wanted her to do, and while he wasn’t as turned on by her as he was by Gabriella, it pleased him to have someone wh
o was so willing to give him orgasm after orgasm and never tell him no or make him wait.
Marcus sighed and cleared his throat, and all eyes went to him. “Julian, this board has been very concerned with your behavior, your business practices, and your continuing legal problems for some time. When your father passed away, the ownership of Medici Corp was split three ways; one third of it went to the board, one third of it went to you and one third of it went to your brother Antonio.”
Antonio looked down at the glass of water before him. The mention of his father leaving the company split between him and his brother reminded him yet again of how his father wanted things to be for them—shared equally, with no problems or quarrels. There he was sitting in a meeting about to shift that balance, and take away from his own brother what he felt was rightfully his. There was nothing to do about it at that point, but the guilt and sorrow of having to do it rested heavy on him.
“We spoke to you recently about changing your lifestyle and your business methods and practices to better suit the ideals of this company, and you have not done anything that this board is aware of to make those changes. What you have done is continue to live your life as if you had no rules, no standards, no code, and no consequences. You are driving your portion of this company into the ground, and you are risking a takeover by the Fanelli family who have been keeping close tabs on your every move, waiting for you to screw up enough that they can sneak in and take what is yours. You’re letting them do that. What’s worse is, you’re helping them to do that.” Marcus looked at him gravely.
“The other board members and I are not going to let you do that any longer. We all have a responsibility to keep Medici Corp running strong, and we are going to do that with you or without you. Your recent choices have given us no choice but to do it without you.” Marcus leaned forward in his chair and clasped his fingers together.