AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Mr. Vieri. Ma’am.”
Committing his name to my memory to be revisited with google later on, if I make it back that is, I step out of the helicopter onto the deck of an enormous boat. It almost dwarfs the helicopter and I stare around me in awe as I follow Mr. Vieri to the front of the boat.
Despite the night sky, this boat is lit up like a firework. Fairy lights and discreet lighting illuminate a palace on the ocean.
When we turn the corner, I’m shocked when I see the table at the front, set against the rail. It’s covered in a white cloth with beautiful flowers mixed with candles. Crystal glasses catch the light and sparkle in the night sky. The chairs have a fur throw resting on the back of them and the silver cutlery is set beside a starter that makes my mouth water.
“Happy birthday, princess.”
My kidnapper pulls out one of the chairs and I drop into it in a state of shock.
As he sits opposite, a waiter dressed in white steps forward and pours a glass of champagne for each of us and then retreats into the shadows.
Before I can speak, soft music plays and my eye travels to a deck above and there’s a string quartet serenading us, and I blink in disbelief as I struggle to wrap my head around what is happening.
“I don’t understand.” I stare at the man before me, and he takes a sip of his drink before setting it down on the table and saying huskily.
“I want your first with me to count.”
“With you?” I am melting inside because this is the most romantic yet frightening experience of my life and I’m shocked when he reaches out and grasps my hand and lifts it to his lips.
“I have been waiting for you, Allegra. I am not letting you go until you fall in love with me.”
“Excuse me?” I’m stunned and he whispers, “I saved you. I told you. You belong to me now.”
Now I’m considering he has escaped from a mental institution and gulp, “Listen. Mr–”
“Shade.”
“What?”
“My name is Shade.”
“Of course it is.” I shake my head as he chuckles softly and I say quickly, “Well, um, Shade. This is all rather amazing and completely over the top, but I’m struggling here. Yes, you saved me, and I thank you for that, but well, you don’t really own me, you know. I’m a free woman. I always have been and aside from the, um, extremely bad experience of the other night, I can look after myself.”
He leans back in his seat and regards me with a hooded expression, causing me to wonder if I’ve offended him. Then he nods toward the food. “Eat. I have employed the services of the finest chef in Manhattan. It would be rude not to enjoy his creation.”
Thankful for the distraction, I set my mind to sampling this stunning cuisine.
It appears to be lobster dressed in a mouth-watering sauce, with intricate salad leaves that taste divine.
I decide to play this to my advantage and say with interest. “Tell me about yourself. What business are you in?”
He shrugs. “I’m in the mafia, Allegra. I think you can guess what that involves.”
The fork hovers halfway to my mouth and I stare at the food as if it speaks in riddles and then I set it down and say weakly, “The um, mafia, as in The Sopranos type of thing?”
“If you like.” He carries on eating, his eyes glinting with amusement, but I fail to see the humor in this situation at all.
He points to the food on my plate.
“Eat.”
I jump as if his words burn and start shoveling the food more as a distraction than anything else because where I hoped he was just a hot billionaire who had fallen inexplicably in love with me like the romances I read, it appears that I lifted the wrong book off the shelf.
CHAPTER6
SHADE
