Page 21 of Lust and Honor

I follow the noise, ending up in another corridor where hulking men stand guard outside rooms. One of them starts toward me, but just then, a door swings open. A man steps out, zipping up his pants, while behind him, a naked woman sprawls on the bed, counting cash.

As the guard gets closer, I quickly turn back, trying not to draw attention, and head down the stairs. The acid in my stomach burns its way up my throat, and the second I’m outside the club, I double over and vomit everything I’ve eaten since morning.

I can’t believe what just happened. Maxim, the man who saved me from assault, runs a brothel. He’s not the hero I thought he was, just another scumbag exploiting women.

I glance up at the club’s sign, the word “Heaven” mocking me, and nausea hits again. Yeah, this place really is heaven for filthy pigs looking to prey on women.

I pull the cash the bartender stuffed in my pocket and hurl it into a trash can, vowing to bury the memory of tonight along with it. The memory of a man I’d built up as a hero in my mind, only to learn he’s just another monster.

What I didn’t know… was that fate had other plans. That night didn’t just tie our bodies together. It tangled our destinies too. With the innocent life born nine months later, a soul nothing like her father. Not born of darkness, but of light.

Aurora.

Six

Ava

A few days before

Aurora’s wearing a cute yellow dress, her bouncy orange curls spilling over her face as she tries to fit animal-shaped puzzle pieces into the right spots. Luca’s helping her, and they’re both completely absorbed in it. Over in the corner, Gabriel’s taken charge of the Lego construction crew, barking orders at Riccardo, Daniel, Simone, and Emanuele as they build a giant Lego castle.

I’m setting the table for lunch when a dull ache starts pulsing low in my pelvis. It’s been building all morning, but I figure it’s just pre-period cramps.

The sound of the kids bickering pulls me away from the table. Before I can get there, Luca snatches Aurora’s giraffe puzzle piece like a little bully and snaps, “This is mine.” Then he bops her on the head with it.

Aurora turns to me, eyes brimming with tears, and reaches out her little arms. Most days, I wish Emily’s bodyguards had at least one daughter to be Aurora’s playmate. I’ve figured out by now that my girl’s naturally shy and her only playmates are four wild boys.

I kneel beside her and let her curl into my arms. Luca sneaks a glance at me, and now that he knows he’s in trouble, he puts on his best puppy-dog eyes.

“Luca, we talked about bullying and hitting, didn’t we?” I gently say.

He pouts and gives me a small nod. Right then, Gabriel abandons his post as Lego crew chief and marches over to his brother.

“Let me handle this, Ms. Wilson,” he declares after giving me a confident look.

He looks so sure of himself that I decide to see where this goes.

He reaches out to his brother. “Luca, don’t you remember what Dad said? We’re not supposed to boss girls around. A Bruni never hurts girls.”

Luca, clearly not fully grasping Gabriel’s words, shrugs and hands over the giraffe.

Gabriel turns to Aurora and offers it to her, “Here, Aurora. Luca’s sorry, right?”

After Aurora takes the giraffe, Gabriel turns to Luca and points at the Lego-building boys. “If you really want to hit someone, go after Riccardo. He keeps wrecking everything anyway.”

Given the green light, Luca takes off running.

I can’t help but laugh at Gabriel’s way of handling things, but I keep a straight face and turn to him. “Gabriel, you shouldn’t hit anybody, girl or boy.”

“But my dad said—”

“I’m sure you didn’t quite catch what your dad meant, sweetie.”

Truth is, I’m not even convinced of my own words. Carlo Bruni, my boss, is one of the strangest, and scariest, men I’ve ever met. A wealthy man who, by his own admission, has a lot of enemies. Now paranoid I might somehow use his sons against him, he’s kept me locked in this hotel for a year.

His two boys come to the hotel with their mom, Emily, every morning and stay until evening. The only other children Carlo allows near his sons are the sons of Emily’s bodyguards. Emily and April were both part of the same charity group, and it was April who introduced me to Emily before she decided to move abroad for good.

When Luca barrels into the Lego structure the boys worked so hard to build, chaos erupts again. I jump to my feet to head toward them, but a pain sharp as a knife shoots between my legs and down my thighs.