Her Tender Tyrant (14 page)

Juliette was once again fighting back tears. Thankfully, they were happy tears this time around. She watched with fascination as he slid the diamond ring onto her finger, noting that it fit her perfectly. “Are you sure?” She sniffled a bit and using her other hand, wiped the tears away from her cheeks. “I mean, I’m not really in your social circles. I don’t know how to be...”

“You’re perfect. You’re perfect for me.”

She smothered her laugh as she said, “I’m very far from perfect. But I do love you. And I think I can love you better than any other woman could.”

“So is that a yes?” he asked, prompting her for an answer to the most important question he’d ever asked in his life.

Juliette once again threw herself into his arms. “Yes!” She finally answered him. “And in answer to your other question, the one about the apartment, yes it does have a bedroom. The bed isn’t nearly as big as the one at…”

She didn’t have a chance to finish that statement because Marcus swooped down and kissed her – capturing her lips with his. This kiss wasn’t gentle or tender. It was urgent, a powerful statement sealing the proposal.

Marcus ran a hand down the front of his dark suit, wondering if he should’ve worn a tuxedo. Juliette had told him not to, but an event like this should require a tuxedo.

“Relax,” Dylan said, laying a hand on his shoulder.

Davis reached out to teasingly punch his younger brother as well. “Yeah, this is going to be a great day.”

Dylan chuckled softly. “And if you think that payback is not going to happen, think again.”

Marcus heard Davis and Dylan laugh softly at that quip, but he didn’t have time to figure out what they meant. The music started and Marcus turned to watch his older sister, Adriana, start walking down the aisle. She looked beautiful in her yellow gown. A moment later, Juliette’s friend Mindy started walking down the aisle as well, followed directly behind her was the other woman that he’d vaguely remembered seeing at the bar that night so long ago. He was trying to remember her name but then the music changed and he saw her. Juliette stepped into the aisle, looking more glorious than he’d ever seen her. His sister-in-law, Georgette, had really outdone herself yet again on Juliette’s wedding gown. His eyes couldn’t seem to move away from her as she slowly approached. The white and silver gown looked almost magical on her lovely figure. If there hadn’t been anyone else here, he would have walked down to meet her so he could take her somewhere where he could enjoy looking at her all by himself, alone, without any interruptions.

But since this was their wedding day, he could dig down deep and find a little bit of patience. If it meant making her his wife, officially his own, then he could wait to have her alone.

Twenty minutes later, the minister declared them husband and wife, Marcus pulled her into his arms and kissed her so deeply and for so long that the rest of the congregation started laughing and clapping.

Marcus didn’t care but Juliette buried her face against his chest, still laughing and embarrassed. Marcus thought she looked adorable, but he wrapped his arm around her waist and practically carried her out of the church.

The reception was being held in his parents’ backyard. The beautiful spring sunshine made everything seem to almost glow. But as the first toast began, the words of Dylan and Davis came back to him. “Oh no,” he said as he remembered the things he’d done to his two older brothers after their wedding.

Juliette heard the worry in his voice and looked up at him. “What’s wrong?” She asked.

Marcus pulled her onto his lap and kissed her neck. “I just have to say in advance, I’m sorry. I honestly didn’t think that I would ever be in this position, getting married to a woman that I truly loved. So,” he grimaced as he thought about all the possibilities, “if something really bad happens, just understand that it is all my fault, and I’m sorry.”

Juliette had no idea what he was talking about but Damien Alfieri had finished his toast and she turned to raise her glass in appreciation for his comments. She was only slightly embarrassed to be found on her new husband’s lap instead of her own chair.

The dancing started after that and Juliette happily moved into her husband’s arms, gliding to the music. “So, what were you talking about back there?”

Marcus squeezed her gently, looking around to ensure that his brothers were still in the reception area. When he found the three of them leaning against one of the bars, he relaxed only slightly. “Nothing. Just enjoy yourself.”

Marcus continued to watch them carefully throughout the entire reception. He didn’t trust them even a little. But he also knew that whatever they did to him, he deserved. At the earliest possible moment, he would sweep Juliette away so they could change their clothes and be alone. He felt only a little bit guilty about pulling her away from such a great party. But when they were finally alone in his bedroom she smiled up to him and said, “About time.”

She changed into a pretty white suit and he enjoyed watching her. He only took off his silver tie, tossing it onto his bed. When she was changed he grabbed her hand and pulled her out of his bedroom. “We need to hurry.”

Juliette had no idea why he was hurrying like this, but she didn’t really care because she wanted to be alone with him as well so she kept pace with him.

When Marcus looked out the front door of his mother’s house, he saw all of the guests lined up, ready to toss the flower petals. He also saw his driver standing beside the limousine, door open and ready for them to dive in. Nothing looked amiss, which bothered him even more. Something was wrong but he couldn’t figure out what it was. He looked around and saw his three brothers with Adriana standing to one side. Dylan had his arms wrapped around Georgette, his wife, while Davis was holding Kate who was, in turn, holding their infant son Grayson. His niece, Ella, was waving towards him, holding Julia’s hand and Zane, his nephew, was looking strangely innocent. Even Antonio was waving goodbye. They were all here. Yes, something was very wrong.

He took a deep breath, looked down at Juliette and accepted his fate. “Just remember, I’m sorry.” Juliette was just about to say something but he shook his head, held her hand tightly in his and rushed through the throng of waiting guests.

Juliette paused for a moment at the door to the limousine, and Marcus looked back at her trying to figure out what was going on. She looked around, smiled, then through her bouquet into the air. There was a bunch of screeching and excitement as several women tried to catch the bouquet. But Marcus had to laugh when the lilies and roses were caught by none other than Antonio. The youngest of all of them looked horrified at the bouquet in his hands.

Marcus didn’t wait around for any further reaction. He took Juliette’s hand and pulled her into the limousine. The door closed behind them and Marcus looked around, frantically trying to figure out what his brothers had done to him. There had to be some prank, the look on their faces told him that they had done something evil.

But the limousine pulled smoothly away from the curb. No pranks? Marcus leaned back against the soft cushions and pulled Juliette onto his lap. “I think we got away too easily.”

“What do you mean?”

Marcus wasn’t interested in trying to figure out his brothers’ latest prank. Perhaps the absence of the prank was their retribution. He’d been worrying about it the whole time but now, as he relaxed with his new wife in his arms, he figured that they had actually won even though his brothers hadn’t done anything to him.

By the time the limousine pulled up outside of the hotel where they were staying for the night, Marcus was more than ready to get this white suit off of his wife. The manager of the hotel greeted him effusively but Marcus simply accepted the key card from the man and hurried off, eager to be alone with his wife.

As soon as the two of them entered the beautiful suite that he’d reserved for the night, Marcus instantly knew what his brothers had done. Although the extent of their prank took him several moments to fathom. All of the cushions from the sofa were gone. All of the chairs around the table were gone. And when he entered the bedroom, eager to make love to his wife, he groaned as he realized that his evil brothers had stolen the damn bed.

He sighed and pulled Juliette’s giggling body closer. “I think I’m going to have to kill my brothers.” Which only made her laugh harder. “You’ll still love me when I’m in prison, right?” he asked as he lifted the phone and dialed the manager.

Juliette couldn’t answer because she was doubled over with laughter.

“Yes, this is Marcus Alfieri. I’m going to need another room for the night.”

There was a pause before the manager asked, “Is there a problem with the Presidential Suite, Mr. Alfieri?”

Marcus looked around, his mind cursing his brothers for this prank. “It would probably be fine except for a few missing essentials. But that is the fault of my brothers. I just need another suite, room, anything you’ve got.”

Another long pause and Marcus could hear tapping as the man searched through the hotel database. When he answered, Marcus could hear the strain in his voice. “I’m sorry Mr. Alfieri, but it seems that all of the available rooms have been…” he wasn’t sure exactly what to say, “well, there are no other rooms available.”

Marcus closed his eyes. “Don’t tell me. My brothers bought up all the other rooms, didn’t they?”

“I’m afraid so, sir.”

Marcus turned Juliette so that her laughs were smothered by his chest. He sighed and ran a loving hand down Juliette’s back before spanking her on her adorable butt for finding amusement in this situation. Which, of course, only made her laugh harder. Unfortunately, he’d told his driver to take a vacation so he wasn’t available to get them out of this bed-less hell. “I understand. We’re going to need a cab. Can you have one standing by? We’ll be down in a few minutes.”

“Of course, sir.”

Marcus hung up the phone and grabbed Juliette’s hand, dragging her behind him. “Come on, woman. We’re finding a bed.”

Juliette was having a hard time walking because she was laughing so hard. “Where…where are we going?” she gasped out.

Marcus thought frantically. “Your old apartment is a half hour from here, isn’t it?” He thought about trying one of the neighboring hotels but he suspected his brothers would have thought about that too and bought up all of those rooms as well. He probably shouldn’t have substituted the champagne in Davis’ get-away limousine with the apple juice.

“Yes. But everything is packed up. I don’t even think there are sheets on the bed.”

He looked down at her beautiful face, still glowing with laughter. “I’m glad you’re not traumatized by this.”

Her smile widened and she slipped her arms around his lean waist. “I love you,” she told him with heartfelt sincerity. “And your family loves you a whole bunch. We might be heading off to a dinky apartment with sheets and blankets sealed up in a storage box, but I don’t care. I just want to be with you.”

Marcus bent down to kiss her. “I love you too.” He never thought he would marry. Never even suspected he could love a woman like he loved Juliette. Which is why, when the doors to the elevator opened and a very nervous hotel manager stood waiting for them, all he saw was two people kissing as if the rest of the world didn’t exist.

The manager had no idea how to tell them that there were no cabs available. Never had anything like this happened before. Apparently, someone had ordered a hundred cabs to a residence out in the country.

“Oh darling, isn’t that one pretty?” Shannon Flemming said, grabbing Antonio’s arm so she could surreptitiously press her breast against his strong bicep and remind him of her attributes.

Antonio barely glanced up, irritated that she was interrupting his concentration as he texted instructions to his vice president. He didn’t give a damn about the stick thin model traipsing down the runway or whatever outrageous outfit she might be wearing. “It’s fine,” he replied with an unconsciously bored voice, looking back down at his cell phone to finish the message. He could care less what she bought. Her whining, needy tone of voice was getting on his nerves lately, not to mention her attempts to manipulate him.

Antonio Alfieri realized that Shannon had become more tedious over the past few weeks, demanding more than he was willing to give her. She wanted permanence. He wanted a seductive mistress to take his mind off of business for a few hours. Shannon had fulfilled that role initially, but lately she had been wheedling for more. He suddenly decided that whatever designer dresses she chose today would be her send-off.

He didn’t mind spending money on a woman as long as they understood that money was all he would give them. His heart would never become involved. He’d done that once and he’d vowed that he would never become emotionally involved again.

“Goodness, she’s short!” Shannon snorted maliciously, laughter rising from her sneering comment. “And she’s fat!”

That caught Antonio’s attention. A short, fat model on one of the most illustrious catwalks in the industry?

Looking up, he turned to watch the next model. The woman walking down the catwalk startled him. She was not fat, not in his opinion. She was….shockingly beautiful. Her dark hair slid down her back like a caress and not even the garish stage makeup could detract from her delicate features. Yes, she was significantly shorter than the other women who had come before her in the show, but Antonio instantly realized why St. Luc, one of the biggest designers in the fashion world, had chosen a woman like this. She wore the finale dress, the dress meant to wow the audience with its outrageous design. And yes, it was shocking. While most models starved themselves to achieve a painfully slender figure with no breasts and hip bones that stuck out like a starved animal, this woman was all softness. In contrast to the other models, her breasts, while not overly large, were absolutely perfect for her figure. The more defined curves definitely showed off the sinful dress to perfection, he thought as his eyes moved down the model’s figure with more than a spark of interest.

Antonio watched intently as she took delicate, almost hesitant steps down the catwalk. His eyes watched her face, amused that she was practically smiling. The other models all looked angry, probably because they hadn’t eaten anything in the last three years. But this woman smiled at the audience as if she were excited to be wearing St. Luc’s “
piece de resistance
”.

Her full breasts were almost completely visible through the mesh fabric of the dress, but all the interesting parts were covered, just barely, with strategic bead work. The seductive image of the model in the see-through dress and impossibly high heels caused an instant reaction in Antonio. She was wearing almost nothing but her smile, and instinctively, he knew that many of the other men in the audience were eying this lovely little woman. She was a scrumptious dessert surrounded by celery stalks. She was sweetness and instant gratification, while all the other women were tasteless roughage.

He wanted her, he thought. He wanted to feel those soft breasts in his hands, to discover the nipples that were currently hidden by the beading. And he wanted to see her face without all of that brash stage makeup. Damn, he’d never had a reaction to a woman like this. Not even…

He pushed that experience out of his mind and focused all of his considerable attention on the woman walking down the catwalk. She was almost at the end of the walkway now, but she would stop at that point, pose several times and then make her way back towards him. The other models were already filing out onto the stage for one last look, but he ignored them, focusing only on her.

The stick-figure models wouldn’t have done that dress justice, he thought. The mesh fabric was meant to entice, to display the curves of the wearer. The other models simply didn’t have the requisite curves to show the dress off to its best advantage. Not like this woman.

He recognized the moment she noticed him because she almost stumbled as their eyes locked. She caught herself, but he wouldn’t release her eyes. She walked, staring right back at him until she couldn’t see him any longer. Back at the front of the stage, she turned to the audience again, all of whom were standing while the models reveled in the resounding applause. It might be his imagination, but he sensed an almost palpable anger from the taller models towards the shorter woman who was chosen to wear the extraordinary “big reveal”. He noticed several of the taller models cast furious glances towards the shorter, highlighted woman, sending their envious daggers onto her delicate shoulders.

The audience loved the show and several had audibly oohed and aahed about the final dress. Women were bending heads towards their checkbooks, trying to calculate if they could fit the dress into their budget. Antonio stood as well, but his eyes were on the one woman, daring her to look at him. When she did, he even caught the sharp intake of her breath, her smile wavered and his body reacted harder to her delightful response.

Shannon’s whiny voice broke through his concentration, her tone almost jarring in intensity and irritation. “Come darling, we get to go backstage now and drink champagne.” Shannon grabbed his arm and tugged him along. Normally, he would have turned and left, gone back to his office. He had more important things to do than to act as Shannon’s walking checkbook. Shannon knew this and also was aware that she would only be allowed backstage if she were attached to Antonio’s arm. His obscene wealth and dangerous power in the business world had given her entrée into areas she would never rate on her own, even as an award winning actress.

While beautiful women vied for his attention, the business world shied away from gaining his notice. Over the years, Antonio had earned a reputation as merciless, sometimes even brutal, in business. When he decided to acquire a company, the executive officers trembled in fear. His ability to strategically position and grow his companies was a prodigious boon for both stakeholders and the average worker – creating profit for one and career opportunities for the other. But CEOs and executive personnel lost their jobs, the one thing they were clinging to that gave them status, since their mismanagement created the conditions that Antonio seized upon.

He had no heart, it was rumored. When he bought a company, he went in and slashed costs, eliminated workers who weren’t producing adequately and swept out whatever inept management team was in place. His callous reorganization of the company created results, not sympathy. So yes, he was heartless. And he didn’t care.

Walking backstage with Shannon, he quickly looked around, intent on finding his target. Only the elite were allowed back here where models were still in their finale creations, moving among the wealthy patrons. St. Luc knew how to advertise his clothes, Antonio thought. The shorter woman had stood out on stage because of her stature but backstage, her height was a disadvantage. At least to him and he was more than a head taller than almost everyone in the room. Antonio couldn’t find her amid the chaos and post show excitement. There was plenty of champagne and other, non-legal stimulants, he noticed. Shannon had thankfully gone off to find her own amusement, which left Antonio free to move through the large, well lit area more easily.

His eyes scanned the room, looking for the woman but she wasn’t so easily found. “Ah, Mr. Alfieri!” the designer gushed with a heavy accent, hurrying over to Antonio as if they were old friends. “I heard from your lovely companion that she has selected several designs from my new line.”

Antonio didn’t blink an eye. “Give her what she wants,” he thought, dismissing the expense. It would be about the same as if he fobbed her off with a diamond bracelet, he supposed. “Where’s the woman in the beaded gown?”

George St. Luc, who Antonio also knew was born as George Merrifield of Louisville, Kentucky, smiled with a knowing grin. “Ah, the lovely Ms. Andie Knight should be…” he looked around the mirrors and curtains, “yes, she’s directly behind the stage. I do believe she’s been bombarded with admirers,” he said slyly. “She’s definitely not the ordinary model, is she?”

Antonio looked towards the back of the stage and, sure enough, a large group of men were standing by, all trying to get the woman’s attention. As Antonio observed, she looked stiff and uncomfortable, not sure what to do with all of the testosterone laden attention. “I’m buying that dress,” he told St. Luc without taking his eyes off of the lovely woman. “Tell her to meet me here, at this address.” He handed St. Luc his business card which had the address to his Milan headquarters. “She can deliver the dress in person.”

St. Luc took the card eagerly, already adding up all the delectable dresses the man would be buying today. “Of course, sir. And the dresses for Ms. Shannon?” he asked, worried that his attention on the newest young woman would diminish the sales for the old mistress.

“Just let her have what she wants.” He looked down at the designer with a hard glare, reversing his earlier decision to give her free rein. “Within reason,” he clarified, knowing that Shannon could go a bit crazy with unlimited funds. “You know her allowance. Make sure she stays within it.”

[Just as he was about to exit, the mystery woman looked up and he caught her eye. There was something there in her glance, a startled awareness that he felt as well. His eyes traveled down her body, pausing at her breasts barely concealed by the intricate beading design. He could see all the way down her body because nothing on the sides of the dress hindered his awareness of what was underneath that mesh.

With a slight nod, he gave her silent notice that they would be seeing each other again. Very soon. He already saw St. Luc hurrying over to whisper in her ear. He didn’t stay to see her reaction, just walked out.