For Angelo (Full-Length Standalone Italian Billionaire Romance) (18 page)

When he reached her, she stood up from her warden’s chair and snarled, “I never thought you could be this much of a bastard, but you’ve proven me wrong.” She wanted to say more, but she was so mad, her English failed her and she simply spat the rest in Italian.
 

When she was done, Angelo only said in a mild voice, “Good night, Julieta.”

Dio, she wanted to kick his balls hard, the way he still acted so cool. “You know, don’t you?” she demanded. “She’s probably halfway to being in love with you—”

“I’m quite flattered you think so,” Angelo murmured, “considering she’s only been here for two nights—”

Julieta’s temper exploded, and she stepped on his foot, hard. “Stop being such a jerk! Just stop it, okay?”

His jaw clenched.
 

“You know it’s possible,” she gritted out. “
You know
because that’s how it happened for you with Jaike. You took one look at her and—”

He said evenly, “According to Jaike, I didn’t love her enough.”

“But you
respected
her,” she snapped, “and that’s a lot more than I can say with how you’ve treated Lane—” She stopped speaking, aghast to find herself inexplicably close to tears. But goddammit, even now she could remember the way Lane kept telling her she wasn’t sleepy, she wasn’t crying, she wasn’t—

“I don’t care if you fire me after this, but you’re an ASSHOLE, Angelo Valencia.” Hearing herself choke out words like a horribly girly girl was gross, but she was determined to finish what she had to say. “You respected and cared for your ex despite knowing she loved someone else.
Lane only has eyes for you and you LIED to her.”
Feeling like she was about to explode again, Julieta stomped on his foot hard once more. “Lane doesn’t deserve your shit, and I hope she makes you pay.”

Angelo watched Julieta leave, listening to her continue to curse him while descending the stairs.

Lane only has eyes for you and you lied to her.

He slowly opened the door, and he flinched when he saw the sunlight streaming from her windows, the golden rays a mockingly beautiful taunt of how long he had made Lane wait for him.

Closing the door behind him, he took another step forward and almost tripped over…

His eyes widened.

Lane.

She was curled up and asleep on the floor, her hair spread out on the carpet like chocolate silk.

Lane only has eyes for you and you lied to her.

But looking at Lane now, he knew the truth was much worse.

She had fallen asleep believing he would still come.

Lane stirred as he lifted her up in his arms, and by the time he gently laid her down on her bed, she was rubbing her eyes groggily.

“Angelo?”

He tucked her in before joining Lane under the covers, aware all the while of the way she was gaping at him. Turning to face her, he murmured, “I’m here to tell you a bedtime story.”

He waited for her to tell him off, to accuse him of standing her up and breaking his promise. He waited for her to treat him the way he deserved to be treated—

But she did none of those.

Instead, Lane smiled shyly at him. “Thank you.”

Fuck.

She turned to her side, facing him, and she whispered, “I’m ready whenever you are.”

Slowly, he took hold of her hand. “Then here we go.”

Angelo took a deep breath. Several possible scenarios entered his head. He thought about telling her how he first felt when he saw her, or about the time he had the urge to kill the convenience store boy just for being in her life before him.

But when he finally spoke, it was about none of those things.

“Once upon a time, there was a boy who looked up to his uncle. Because he had no father figure in his life, this uncle was the one who taught him everything in life about being a man. But everyone in the family knew that this uncle was not completely right, that there were days when he was too dark. The boy knew this, but despite it, he loved his uncle, and his uncle loved him right back. When his uncle died, the boy was devastated, and the pain became even more unbearable when he learned the truth about his uncle.”

Angelo drew his breath roughly.

“The boy’s uncle turned out to be a monster in disguise, preying on women he knew he could control, and his depraved pleasures eventually caused a young girl to lose her mother and her innocence. She had seen what the boy’s uncle did to her mother, and it had changed her completely.”

“The girl’s name is Jaike, and she’s the other girl in my life who—”

Suddenly, there didn’t seem to be any words that could describe the woman who had redefined the meaning of pain and loss for him.

When he looked at Lane, she asked seriously, “She’s the other girl in your life who also drinks milkshakes?”

Ah.

The words made him want to smile, but the words also made him feel like they were both bleeding.

“I can see it in your eyes,” Lane whispered. “It’s her, right?”

He nodded.

“Did you – the boy – go to her to say sorry?”

“Not right away.” A crooked smile that didn’t reach his eyes touched Angelo’s lips. “At first, the boy only thought about her as a blood debt he needed to pay, so he made sure she was taken care of, financially. But then one day, he took the chance to meet her, without telling her who he really was, and that changed things.”

Lane knew that she should let it go at that. But she couldn’t, and she said a little coolly, “You mean, the boy fell in love with her.”

“If it comforts your masochistic heart,” he returned evenly, “she believes until this day the boy never truly loved her.”

Oh.
“Didn’t he?”

“He thought he had then, but there were things the girl said that also made more sense. The entire time they were together, he had never shown her the truth about him. The truth
you
, my Lane, know—”
 

Her face glowed at his words, and he grinned. “Someone looks smug.”

Oops.
“Umm, continue with the story please.”
 

“There’s not much left to tell. The girl left him for her first love – her only love, actually, - and the girl and the other boy lived happily ever after.”

Her jaw dropped. “That’s it?”

“If you want me to elaborate, there came a time the boy realized that the girl was only with him because she thought the other boy would hurt her more. So the boy forced her to leave him so she could give the other boy a chance. Eventually, the boy took the risk of telling her the truth about his uncle, and she forgave him, but by then it was too late for both of them. And so,” he finished, “the girl and the other boy lived happily—”

But Lane surprised him by shaking her head vehemently, and he broke off.

“That’s not it,” she protested. “Can’t you see?”

“No, I can’t see, actually.” He was genuinely perplexed. “What exactly do you want to hear?”

She sputtered, “T-this is supposed to be about
the
boy.”

“But it is—”

“No, it’s not, and if this were a real book, I’d have asked for a refund!”

Her ferocity made him smile, and he said soothingly, “Let’s add an epilogue then.
The
boy you’re talking about also lived happily ever after, on his own, because the girl’s words had freed him, and now he’s able to be himself.”

“That’s it?”

“Cue music.”

She made a face, but Angelo only laid his hands open in a typical Italian gesture of surrender. “It is what it is,
tesoro
.”

Lane’s brows furrowed. “Tell me this at least. Is the boy—” She swallowed. “Is the boy…still in love with the girl?”

His eyes bored through her. “You really think we’d be in the same bed if that were true?”

She winced at the look in his eyes, realizing that Angelo Valencia was more like a fairytale prince than a fallen angel, and right now she had just offended the fairytale prince’s sense of honor.

She flashed him a peace sign, saying in a small voice, “Sorry?”

“Forgiven, my Lane,” he said easily, “but I’ll add this to the list that I’ll have to punish you for.” Before she could protest, he checked his watch, asking, “Do you feel like going back to sleep?”

She shook her head, biting her lip hard.

He glanced at her, murmuring, “I can sense you holding back. What is it that you want to ask?”

“It’s not really a question, it’s more, like, a book review—”

“
Tesoro
.” Angelo sounded exasperated. “There’s not even an actual book to review.”

“But I still want to give my feedback,” she insisted.

“And you won’t be able to sleep until you say your piece,” he drawled. “Is that it?”

“More or less?”

“Then…” His hand moved languidly, the fairytale prince silently granting her the right to proceed.

She almost smiled at the thought but didn’t dare do so, knowing Angelo would kill her if he found out she thought of him like that.
 

Clearing her throat, Lane said, “First, I’m sorry that the boy was hurt, but I hope the boy doesn’t hate the girl for it.”

“He doesn’t.”

“Because,” she continued, “the girl just wanted someone who’s more than a prince. The way I see it, the girl only wanted someone who could love her enough to be true to her, because then she’d have the courage to be true to herself, too.”

“So you’re saying,” he said silkily, “it’s the boy’s fault he lost the girl?”

Oops.

“What I mean is,” she said quickly, “maybe the boy needs another girl.”
 

“Ah, this would be interesting. Would she be curvy perhaps?”

“Oh, yes.”

“And…mm…with hair and eyes the shade of caramel?”

She forgot her role for a second, mumbling, “Wow.” Angelo sure had a way with words. She had never heard her features described that way before.

“Am I right so far?”

She nodded eagerly. “Yes.”
 

“So this other girl might be the one for the boy?”
 

“Uh huh.”

“Even if the boy made her cry?”

Oh.

“Because,” Angelo said tautly, “if the boy could turn back time, he would have—”

She cut him off, whispering, “Yes. Even if the boy made the other girl cry, she still thinks he’s the one for her.”

They stared at each other, Lane’s eyes not hiding anything even when everything Angelo felt remained buried.
 

He asked slowly, “The boy wants to ask something.”

“W-what is it?”

“Can the boy kiss her now?”

Oh.
Her lips curved in a tremulous smile. “The girl says…”

He sucked in his breath.

“Her masochistic side likes it better when he doesn’t even bother to ask.” There was a rustle of movement and the next thing Lane knew, Angelo was looming over her, and she was trapped under his powerfully muscular body. In the blink of an eye, the bedroom that once felt too beautiful and too vast for her became nothing but a mist of faded colors, and the only vivid thing she could see was him.

Her fallen angel, who was a fairytale prince even as he insisted on seeing himself as a villain.

The devilish smile on his lips was more than her heart could bear, and when he crooned, “Does this meet the girl’s approval?” she just about expired on the spot.

“Yes,” was all Lane managed to whisper. The hot, throbbing feel of him scrambled all her senses, and she couldn’t keep her body from going stiff under him. She was terrified that if she made the tiniest movement and had more contact with his body, she would just…explode.

“Relax,
tesoro
.” One hand swept over the side of her body, a touch that she supposed was meant to comfort but only made it harder for her to breathe. The move of his hand was languid and almost deliberately caressing, and she had to bite back a gasp as his fingers lingered on the side of breast.