AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Ending the call, I tossed the phone on the seat and put the car in drive. I had some shopping to do before my next date with Adele.
Mikey had his ways of discovering the truth, and I had mine.
Adele
Running my rag over the already gleaming wood of the floor-to-ceiling bookcase in the massive library, my mind wandered to the night before. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d fallen asleep feeling so thoroughly… used. My ass still ached from my punishment and every step was a reminder of how brutally he’d taken me.
But like a true Daddy, he’d also been sweet and caring once we made it to his apartment. Even though he’d made me wear the stupid plug all night, he’d taken care scrubbing me clean in the shower. And after, he’d delivered a short but effective spanking when I’d gotten an attitude over something silly, then ordered dessert delivered to the apartment, which he’d insisted on feeding to me while I was perched on his knee.
It really was a shame it couldn’t last. I was under no delusions that our relationship could survive my deceit. Even if he could forgive me, once Giorgio was behind bars, “Adele” would disappear and I would return to my office at Interpol, pushing papers while I prepared for my next assignment. And Cole would return to America, where he’d live out his life with some heiress with no secrets and more money than she could spend in a lifetime.
Would I marry? Perhaps, eventually. If I left Interpol or at least moved to a less demanding position. Undercover work wasn’t really conducive to marriage and kids.
Pausing in the middle of wiping down a shelf, I frowned at my thoughts. What the hell was wrong with me? I’d never really considered a life outside of the job before. A few days with Cole Porter and I was ready to throw away my career so I could, what? Settle down with some faceless man and raise a brood of children?
Distracted by my internal struggle, I knocked a crystal wolf off the shelf I was dusting. It hit the plush carpet harmlessly, but in my surprise, I kicked it and it disappeared under the desk at the other end of the room.
Grumbling under my breath, annoyed at myself for getting so wrapped up in my personal drama, I crawled under the desk to retrieve the silly thing. Why did people need random little chunks of glass sitting around, anyway?
“Well, now, that’s a pretty sight.”
Fear, icy cold and primal, froze every muscle in my body as I reached for the wolf. I’d heard the rough, deep timbre of his voice on enough recordings to know who it was without seeing him.
Grabbing the wolf, I scooted out from under the desk and smiled up at Giorgio Bianchi with as much apology as I could muster. “Excusez moi, je vous laisse la place.”
He returned my smile, but without any apology. Or warmth. The gesture was as dead as his eyes, and another frisson of fear raced down my spine. “You aren’t in my way at all.” I forced myself not to react when he placed a fingertip under my chin and tilted my head back even further. “As a matter of fact, I believe you are exactly where you need to be.”
I watched, my horror growing as he reached for the buckle on his thin dress belt. For three years, I’d managed to go unnoticed by him and his goons, just another one of the many servants moving around the monstrously large house.
“Je ne comprends pas?” It was a gamble, pretending I didn’t understand him. I was under no delusion that it would stop him from whatever plans he had for me, but I just needed a moment to think. The fear crawling across my skin wasn’t the thrill I was used to during a sting. This was a primal, uniquely feminine kind of terror.
Run!
Even as the word echoed in my mind, my body froze. Some evolutionary instinct kicked in, and I became prey, hiding perfectly still in the weeds, desperately hoping the predator stalking me wouldn’t be able to see me if I simply did not move, did not even breathe.
“Oh, I think you understand me just fine, beautiful.” The button on his pants popped open and ice coated my stomach. “The language of love is universal.”
Love? There was no love involved in what he wanted. There was only power, a need to prove he could have whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted, and nobody could stop him.
Just as he was tugging at his zipper, a knock on the door distracted him. “What?” he barked, turning his head to glare at the intruder.
Fueled by that prey instinct, I threw myself backwards, crab-walking as quickly as I could toward the side door. Giorgio swore and lunged for me, but I was faster. Flattening myself against the hardwood, I rolled, causing him to run headfirst into a bookcase.
Then I was up and running. Through the side door, down the hallway, out of the servants’ entrance. I stopped just long enough to grab my purse from the hook by the door, but once I was outside, I didn’t stop running until I made it to my apartment building.
Chest heaving with each greedy gulp of air, I forced myself up the stairs to the third floor. It took three tries to unlock my door, courtesy of my shaking hands. Tears of relief burned at the corners of my eyes when the key finally slid home and I managed to yank the door open.
But my relief was short-lived. If I hadn’t been struggling for each breath, I might have screamed at the unexpected sight of a man sitting on my couch.
“Well, hey there, Dell. Long time, no see.”
Pierce.
Giving myself some time to finish catching my breath, I shot him a glare and tossed my keys and purse on the table beside the door before stomping to the kitchen to pour myself a glass of water. Silence filled the space between us, irritatingly calm and unperturbed on his part, increasingly antsy and expectant on mine.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I finally spat at him, wiping water from my mouth with my forearm.
Throwing an arm across the back of the couch, he settled back against the cushions and grinned up at me. “Came to check up on you. After you almost blew your cover at the restaurant, I wanted to make sure everything was all right.”
