Finding Beauty in the Darkness Read online

  We cross over to the other side as he explains the east wing is where all the women stay. I wonder if he’ll ask me to move to this area. I imagine I’m overstaying my welcome, taking up his bed. Then I take that thought back. His ass is forcing me here. He deserves to be on the uncomfortable couch.

  As we make our way through the floor, he introduces me to several women. Some are dressed up, others look like they’re about to go to bed, but all of them are beyond stunning and none of them appear to be nervous in the presence of their boss.

  “How did you come across owning a bordello?” I’m curious how a man who didn’t even go to college became so successful. I haven’t seen the entire place yet, but it’s obvious this club is worth millions, and when I was looking out his bedroom window this morning, I could see it’s on hundreds of acres. It looks more like a mansion than a club. Outside in the back, I spotted the most beautiful gardens and plan to explore them soon whether he likes it or not. Rome or Caesar will just have to join me.

  “My parents moved us here from Italy when my youngest brother was born. My mom and dad used to run this place until I took it over about ten years ago. We also own a few hotels and casinos.”

  His mention of Italy gets me excited. Traveling to Italy is number one on my list of things to do and see. “Wow! Italy? My dream is to go to Italy one day to study art there. I bet it’s beautiful in person. Have you ever been to any of the art museums there? Like the Uffizi Gallery? I have a list of places I want to explore all over Italy, places I want to take pictures of. Ugh! Have you ever visited Cinque Terre? The photos are amazing! I can’t even imagine what it looks like in person. Oh! And the Piazzale Michelangelo, and the Frascati in Rome. If I ever make it there, I’m going to take a million pictures.” Giovanni just stands there not saying anything, grinning at me. “What?”

  “Nothing. I was just listening to you.” His smile is amused.

  “Were you planning to contribute to this conversation?”

  He chuckles and shakes his head. “And interrupt your excitement?”

  “Whatever. Have you been to Italy?”

  “Sì, e hai ragione. È più bella di persona.”

  “What did you just say?”

  “I said, ‘Yes, and you’re right. It is more beautiful in person.’ If you plan to visit Italy one day, you should start learning Italian.” Giovanni taps me on my nose and winks. I don’t bother telling him I’ve taken several classes of Italian. I just can’t understand it when spoken so quickly.

  “Or I can just drag you with me. You can be my personal tour guide,” I joke, and it shocks me that I just insinuated I’d welcome this man to join me on a trip to Italy.

  “Your own personal tour guide to where?”

  I turn to see where the feminine voice is coming from, and find the most exquisite woman gliding up the stairs from the first floor. From her ivory white dress that shows her perfect curves, to the high heels with the signature red sole, she screams class. She reaches us on the landing and up close, she’s even prettier. She has midnight black hair that’s pin straight, not a single hair out of place, and her makeup is done to perfection. She smiles at Giovanni, ignoring my presence. Her lips are full and plump, but look natural. The Kardashians have nothing on this woman’s lips.

  She and Giovanni seem to be having a silent conversation, and the longer they stare, the more fake her smile seems to get, like it’s being forced.

  “Hi! I’m Aria…you are?” I put my hand out to shake hers, trying to be polite and break the tension that seems to be building by the second. She looks down at my hand, not taking it, then slowly assesses me. I can feel the judgement pouring off this woman. Okay, then….

  I make a mental note not to turn around so she can’t see the words Love Pink across the back. For some reason, I don’t think this woman has any pajamas with writing across the ass.

  “Giovanni, where will you be guiding her?” Huh? Oh, right! The tour guide comment.

  “To Italy,” I answer her, since Giovanni has apparently gone mute. He sucks in his bottom lip, as if he’s attempting to hold back a smile.

  “Cecilia, this is Aria. She’s my guest. Aria, this is Cecilia—” Great! How nice of him to join in.

  “His girlfriend,” Cecilia cuts him off. Oh, shit. His girlfriend? I’ve been sleeping in his bed—mentally undressing him—and he has a girlfriend. I mean, it’s not like anything was going to happen. After what happened with Weston and all those assholes, I have no intention of having sex any time soon, plus there’s the fact that he’s holding me here against my will and I might still have a boyfriend, although it’s been nine months since I’ve seen him. But there’s no harm in looking, right? Especially when it’s looking at that sexy-as-sin man. Shit! I’m doing it again. I can’t be thinking about someone else’s boyfriend like that.

  That reminds me…I need to call Antonio. I’m assuming after almost a year of me being gone, he’s no longer my boyfriend, but I should still call him to let him know I’m okay. He and Amber must be worried. I wonder what happened to my dorm room, my classes? Did anyone report me missing?

  “Hey, you okay?” Giovanni lifts my chin and rubs his thumb down my cheek. For a brief second, I allow my face to nuzzle his hand, then I remember he has a girlfriend and is holding me captive.

  Moving back too quickly, I bump into the railing, hitting my side on the wood. “Oww!” I grab my ribs and close my eyes, trying to will the pain to stop. The throbbing is so severe, I’m nearly brought to my knees.

  I feel a pair of hands holding me up and my eyes open. “I’m okay, you can let go of me. I got it.”

  Giovanni looks at me confused, but doesn’t let go of me. “I think you should lie down. I can show you downstairs once you’ve rested for a bit.”

  I look at Cecilia, and if looks could kill, I’d be six feet under. “I know my way back to the room. I can go myself. I’m sure you have Rome or whoever else following me around anyway.” I wave my arms around. “Stay here with your girlfriend.”

  “I’m sure you can, and you’re right, they are around. But I’d rather make sure you get there myself.” Without saying a single word to Cecilia, Giovanni takes my arms and helps me back up the stairs to his room.

  “Does Cecilia live here?” I ask once I’m back in his bed.

  “Yes.” Giovanni sits on the bed next to me. It’s the first time he hasn’t sat in the chair.

  “I can sleep in one of the rooms on the second floor. I feel bad taking over your room. Your girlfriend doesn’t seem too thrilled about it, either. You can just have your guard stand at attention in front of one of those rooms.”

  Giovanni lets out a deep breath. “You aren’t sleeping anywhere else but right here, and Cecilia’s not my girlfriend.”

  Huh. “Does she know that?”

  Giovanni chuckles. “Yes, she does. She just thinks if she tells enough people otherwise, my stance on the topic will change.”

  “Do you have a girlfriend?”

  Giovanni smirks at me. “Why? You want to apply for the position?”

  “What? No! That’s not what I meant.”

  “I’m just joking,” he says between fits of laughter. “Plus, you’re like twelve years younger than me.”

  “And I’m not even sure if I have a boyfriend,” I add. “Hey! Wait a second. It’s a proven fact, women mature ten years quicker than men. Technically, at thirty-one years old—”

  “Thirty-two,” he cuts me off.

  “Fine. At thirty-two…” I emphasize the two, rolling my eyes. “…you’re only twenty-two, which means you’re technically only a year older than me since I’ll be twenty-one soon.”

  Giovanni’s entire body shakes with laughter. “If women mature ten years quicker, I think that means you’re technically thirty-one, putting you at a year younger than me.”

  “Either way, we’re only a year apart.” I shrug.

  “This supposed boyfriend of yours…”

  “Antonio.”

&
nbsp; “Antonio…Were you guys serious?”

  “Yeah, I guess. I don’t know. It was mostly just hanging out. It’s hard to take anything too seriously while in college. Do you think I could borrow your phone to call him? And to call my best friend, Amber.”

  Giovanni thinks on this for a moment. “Okay, but don’t say anything stupid, Aria, or you won’t be making any more phone calls.” He hands me his phone from his pocket after typing in a code to unlock it.

  I first dial Antonio’s number, but it says it’s not a working number. Damn.

  “Not in service.”

  I dial Amber’s number, and after several rings, I hear her voice. “Hello?”

  “Amber?”

  “Oh my God! Aria, is that you?”

  “Yes, it’s me!” Tears of happiness race down my cheeks.

  Chapter Eleven

  GIOVANNI

  This girl is getting to me. She’s making me joke around and laugh, and fuck, when she got excited about Italy, I wanted to call my pilot and fly her to Italy today. Then when she mentioned a boyfriend, my chest tightened and I wanted to lock her back up in the room and never let her out. I need to get myself together. What started as a way to fuck over Weston for nonpayment has turned into something more. I laugh to myself at the idea of seriously holding Aria captive because let’s face it, the entire situation has turned into a damn joke. This woman has been out of bed less than a day and it’s embarrassing the way she’s running circles around me. I’m vomiting out information about my business, assuring her I don’t have a girlfriend, and giving her tours of the place. I don’t know what the hell she’s doing to me but more shockingly, I don’t think I mind.

  I handed her the phone so she could call her boyfriend and friend, but there was no way I was leaving. I played it off like I needed to make sure she didn’t mention anything that would incriminate me, but with Weston already knowing I took her, I’m not really concerned. If he was going to turn me in, he would have already done so. And even if he did, the police aren’t going to do shit about it. The truth is, I wanted to remain in the room to find out where she stands with her boyfriend.

  Her boyfriend’s number wasn’t in service, but her friend answered her phone. Aria’s first question was if anybody reported her missing. I can’t hear what her friend is saying, but Aria’s facial expression is one of confusion.

  “What do you mean?” Aria’s nose scrunches up, making me want to kiss the confusion away. Jesus, I need to get this girl out of my head. I can’t be thinking this way about her. While the age difference might not be a problem for her, after everything she’s been through, she deserves more than a guy who isn’t capable of anything more than a fuck. Nothing can happen between us. I need to separate myself from her. She’s here so I can keep her safe and find out what Hightower is up to, and I need to remember that.

  “He told you I left by choice? Why the hell would he say that? I never told him I was going anywhere… Are you still at UNLV? Okay, hold on.” Aria presses the mute button and turns to me. “Would it be possible for me to visit Amber? Like at a coffee shop near the university? I don’t want to invite her here because… well…” I raise my eyebrows at her, and she huffs out, “I’m not going to run. You’ll have someone with me. Please,” her big green-blue eyes plead, and I give in.

  “Fine, I can have Johnny drive you and stay with you.”

  “Okay, thanks!” Aria gives me a huge smile and my heart tightens. A thought pops into my head and it scares the fuck out of me. I don’t want to see this woman sad. Her smile does something to me that I can’t afford for it to do. I need to figure out what Weston is hiding so I can fuck him over and destroy him for fucking me over. Then once I do that, I can let Aria go, and we can both move forward with our lives.

  “Is Saturday okay?”

  “It should be fine, and it gives you a few more days to continue to heal.”

  “Saturday is good, Amber…I’ll see you then. Bye.”

  She hangs up, frowning. “Amber said when I disappeared, she told Antonio they should report me missing, but he said I wasn’t missing, that I told him I needed to take off to clear my head. She said my entire dorm was cleaned out and a few weeks later, Antonio disappeared. We’re going to talk more on Saturday. It just doesn’t make sense. I need to find Antonio.”

  “Do you know his last name?”

  “Torino.” Why does that name sound familiar?

  “I’ll have Johnny see if he can find anything out. We’ll get this all figured out.” I give her a small smile mentally vowing to myself to make sure this woman is safe if it’s the last thing I do.

  “Thank you…for getting me out of that hellhole and for making sure I got treated. I hate that you’re keeping me here, but it’s a thousand times better than what Weston was putting me through. I guess in a way I owe you.” She shrugs.

  “You don’t owe me anything, Aria. This is business,” I say, hoping to convince her and me of that fact. “Now what do you say you lie down for a nap and afterward I can show you the theater so you can watch a movie down there.”

  She beams excitedly. “I say, hell yes!”

  After she gets comfortable in bed, I turn off the bedroom light and close the door so she can get some rest. Rome is standing outside my door. “Are we really holding her captive, Giovanni?”

  “It’s business,” I say, just like I said to Aria. But as I say the words, I know there is no convincing anyone of this lie. I’m holding her here to ensure her safety, not to hurt her. As much as I should use her to fuck Weston over, I know I won’t do that to her. The problem is, I can’t admit any of this out loud. The woman is already running all over me. If I tell her she’s not being held here against her will… Fuck! She’ll trample right over me.

  As I leave Rome to keep watch over Aria, I look for Johnny but don’t see him, so I give him a call. “Johnny, where are you?”

  “Helping Cici move some furniture downstairs. What’s up?”

  “Why is she moving shit around? Never mind, I’ll be right down.” I get downstairs and sure enough, Cecilia is having Johnny and Caesar move the couches around in the sitting room. “What are you doing?”

  “Oh! Giovanni.” Cecilia walks around the couches and leans in to kiss me. She knows better than to do this shit down here.

  “Stop.”

  She gives me a small pout then looks around. “Where’s your guest?”

  “She’s taking a nap. We aren’t going to have a problem, are we? Aria is going to be staying here indefinitely. You telling her you’re my girlfriend is unacceptable.” I say it loud enough for the guys to hear, knowing it will embarrass her. She needs to be put in her place.

  Cecilia’s eyes widen and her cheeks turn pink, but she ignores my statement. “Will she be working here?”

  The thought of Aria working here makes my blood boil. The idea of her fucking some stranger has my fists clenching, wanting to kill the fucker. Damn it, what the hell is wrong with me when it comes to this woman?

  “No.” I glance around the room, now agitated. “Put all the damn furniture back the way I had it. Don’t move shit around,” I bark out before walking away. “Johnny, my office now.” I get to my office and sit at my desk, trying to calm the fuck down. Aria working here…no fucking way. Not happening.

  “You okay, Boss?”

  “Yeah, close the door and have a seat.” He does so then sits down and waits for me to speak.

  “Where do we know the last name Torino?”

  Johnny thinks for a moment. “The name sounds familiar, but it’s not coming to me. Do we have an issue?”

  “I need you to look up Antonio Torino. He was Aria’s boyfriend before she was taken. According to her friend, when Aria went missing, this Antonio kid told everyone she left on her own then he disappeared shortly after. Her friend said her stuff from her dorm was completely cleared out. Now that part could have been Weston, but why would her boyfriend say she left on her own?”

  “Doesn�
�t make sense. How long were they together?”

  “I’m not sure, but when she tried to call him, his number was disconnected.”

  “All right. I’ll find the kid. What do you want me to do once I find him?”

  “Let me know. I want to personally handle this.” I can’t wait to see what this little punk says for himself.

  “Got it. Anything else?”

  I remember Aria’s request to meet up with her friend. “Yeah, Aria needs to go to the city on Saturday. I’m going to have you take her with Caesar. We need to make sure she doesn’t run and Weston doesn’t get to her.”

  “Saturday is your meeting at the casino with Damian Briar.”

  “Shit. There’s no point in taking two cars into the city. Let’s take the SUV and I’ll have you drop me off then take her to meet her friend. I’ll take Rome with me. I want you to stay outside the coffee shop and have Caesar inside. We don’t have any idea where Hightower is. I don’t want to take any chances, and while Aria seems to be playing nice, she can easily try to run.”

  “We’ll handle it. One more thing…” I look down at my watch. It’s only been a half hour since Aria laid down but I’m already antsy to get back to her. “You said you wanted to handle that stripper’s loan yourself. She’s behind again.”

  “All right, thanks. I’ll pay her a visit soon.”

  After Johnny leaves, I attempt to get some work done. I check on various accounts to confirm payments are being made with the correct interest. I’ve never been in a situation where I’ve needed a loan, so I can’t empathize with the people who come to me needing money, but I can’t imagine being so desperate that I’m willing to sell my soul to the devil for money. Then again, the life I live, the family I’m a part of, I probably never had a soul to begin with.