Chapter 6 #2
“Use the wedding plans to win her over,” my father commanded. “Use them as an excuse to spend time with her. Play this right, son, and have her walking down the aisle willingly.”
That seemed to be what my father wanted most of all.
Enthusiasm for his plans. A desire to achieve his goals as if whoever it was under his thumb had come up with the idea themselves, even if they hadn’t.
Another form of control on my father’s part.
When he knew what someone truly wanted, my father could make that person do anything.
And if a person wanted exactly what my father wanted, that made it all so much easier for the old man.
Unfortunately for him, I was his most difficult son.
My father knew that I wanted leverage and he knew that I would be loyal to him until the end, but he didn’t know what I truly desired independent of all that.
Nobody did. I would keep those cards close to the vest at all times, even after I was married.
My future wife didn’t have to see into my heart any more than anyone else did.
“Well, consider it done, like everything else,” I said, then hung up.
~~*~~
I DRAGGED MYSELF TO bed, waking up before sunrise.
Like most days, I had a full schedule, including work on a real estate deal.
But I got up early to exercise in my home gym, shove breakfast down my throat, shower, and get dressed in another one of my immaculate Italian suits.
This one was dark red—a warning to anyone foolish enough to think they could cross me today.
I was going over the day’s schedule when a commotion from outside my condo grabbed my attention. It sounded like a woman yelling, followed by a gruff male voice trying to shut her down.
Fucking hell. I knew that voice. I ducked out of the condo heading toward the commotion at the other end of the hall.
There she was. Cherry. No last name because that was against the rules at her job and the first name she gave the patrons was fake anyway.
I knew that because I’d run a background check on her.
We’d met at a high-end nightclub. She’d been one of the bottle girls who had thrown herself at me when she’d climbed into my lap and figured out that I had managed to get my gun into the club past security.
We’d had our fun that night a few weeks ago.
Now, she was back in my apartment building without any fucking warning.
Cherry was at the end of the hall, arms crossed, glossy mouth forming a pout. Meanwhile, the security guard was berating her and telling her to get the hell out of the building.
I strode over to them.
“I’m sorry Mr. De Luca,” the guard said quickly when he saw me. “This won’t happen again.”
“What won’t?” I demanded, jamming my hands into my pockets as I gave them both a severe look.
This was likely petty bullshit, but I had to project total dominance when dealing with underlings like the security guard.
Even though I liked the guy, it was easier to get people to follow orders when they had a mix of fear and respect for you.
Affinity didn’t get the job done like good old-fashioned fear.
“You have my word that it won’t,” the guard promised. “This trespasser was just leaving.”
“Why don’t you mind your business, pal?” Cherry snapped.
The security guard opened his mouth to start berating her again, but I held up a hand for his silence. Best for me to figure out what Cherry was up to since she’d made it this far into the building.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I demanded, scowling at her.
“You haven’t returned my calls, even though you said maybe we could see each other again sometime,” she answered, her voice desperate and shrill.
I dismissed the security guard with a hard look and a jerk of my head. I’d deal with him later.
As the guard retreated, I frowned at Cherry. Cherry, who was lucky I even remembered her at all.
“I said we might run into each other if I ever went to the club again. But we never made real plans for anything beyond that night,” I reminded her through clenched teeth. “We agreed it was casual.”
“Yes, but that’s just a line every guy uses before they decide if they like the girl.” She leaned closer which was when I noticed she was chewing on bubble gum. Cherry flavored, naturally. “And you seemed to like me a lot that night.”
“You can’t show up at my building like this,” I said sternly.
She popped her gum, the sound irritating the hell out of me. “You wouldn’t take my calls. How else was I supposed to see you again?”
“I’ve been busy,” I muttered, glancing at my watch.
“I’m here now, you can drop all that for me. I’ll make sure it’s worth your while.” Suddenly, she was wrapping her arms around my neck as she snapped her gum. The sound was putting me in a mood way beyond irritation.
I didn’t have time for any more of this bullshit. Cherry’s drama was one of the reasons why I didn’t do relationships. They were too distracting, and in my line of work, a distraction could get you killed.
“You’re already wasting my time.” I paused, mildly interested in how she’d managed to get up here. “How the hell did you even get to the top floor?”
“Oh, I let the guards think I was delivering a package. I snuck off when they were tearing the box open,” she said. “Plus, I had your name and apartment number.”
Based on what Cherry was saying, building security had done their job. Typically, my one-night stands knew to be discreet and to stay away without an explicit invitation. Not Cherry.
Which meant that I was going to have to order building security to be even more heavy-handed.
A change I wasn’t going to like because I already had digital security for the whole property.
My own luxury condo was locked down like a fortress while the rest of the apartments were much easier to access because, aside from the valet McClain who often required a place to stay to complete his duties, nobody lived in them, and they counted as an insurance policy in case I ever needed to escape.
I owned the entire building, including all of the apartment units.
Good security was one thing, but a whole army of security guards would just draw unnecessary attention to the place.
Not ideal when I used the place to break at least a dozen laws on a regular basis.
The last thing I needed when living a bachelor lifestyle was letting on that I was also running a criminal enterprise.
I didn’t want my conquests knowing about my actual job and a place overrun with security would just raise their suspicions.
Though with Cherry dropping by uninvited, an army of security didn’t seem like a bad tradeoff right now.
I unwound her arms from around my neck and steered her toward the elevator. “Like I said, I’m a busy man.”
She pouted and sighed dramatically the whole way down to the ground floor. It was only when I led her out of the elevator toward the front desk in the lobby that she actually started whining again.
“Do you have any idea how many men ask for my number every night at work?” she asked, clearly trying a different tactic. Looked like inspiring jealousy was her next trick and I really didn’t have the fucking patience for it.
“I’m sure it’s scores of men every night,” I said. “You’re a beautiful girl.”
“Exactly,” she said, winding her arm around mine, sliding her body against me with zero fucking subtly. “But you’re the only man I’ve given the time of day in weeks, Enzo. Men want me but the only man I want is you. We’d be a gorgeous couple, don’t you think?”
“We can’t see each other again,” I said flatly. My patience was wearing thin. I’d tried to prevent further drama by being civil to Cherry, but if she wasn’t going to accept a fucking hint, I’d have to kick her out of the building for good.
“Why? You were into me that night and now you’re all cold,” Cherry said, childishly stamping her foot on the marble floor. “Why are you so eager to get rid of me all of a sudden? Were you using me?”
I wanted to remind her that we had both used each other pretty thoroughly that night, but she went quiet all of a sudden, averting her eyes.
Suspicious, I followed her gaze, my chest tightening when I realized what it was that prompted Cherry to jump to the most insane conclusions.
“Oh, so that’s it,” Cherry said, then, looking out at the ground floor entrance. “Were you stepping out on your girlfriend, Enzo? I should have known you were cheating. Now’s my chance to spill my guts and tell her the truth.”
This was shaping up to be far worse than some jilted woman who couldn’t stand to be told no.
Because, waltzing through the metal detector like she owned the place, was my enemy.
The woman who had nearly pulled on gun on me last night.
My fiancée and future wife. Valentina Romano.
With a furious look on her face as she strode toward Cherry like she was prepared to kill her.