Beautiful Prey 2: The Storm Series (BWWM Romance) Page 22

  “And you, young lady...” He chuckled, pointing to Natasha. “I think you are much more of a Savelli than a Storm.”

  Frank clutched his chest and roared in laughter, as the bouncer scraped Coco off of the floor and escorted her to the elevator.

  “Ha ha. Well, she is a cop,” Gianni defended.

  Frank roared, “No! She is Soldati!”

  Natasha chuckled. Their laughter was contagious, and Natasha, being a cop, was well aware that Frank was calling her a soldier in the Italian Mafia. She turned to Gianni.

  “I’m sorry that I choked your girlfriend,” she muttered sarcastically.

  “You should apologize to Luca, since he’s the one that brought her.”

  Natasha ignored the laughter around her and placed her hands on Gianni’s chest. She became serious and looked him directly in the eye.

  “I’m really sorry, Gianni. I have anger issues,” she admitted.

  “It’s fine. I know how I would react if a man was all over you. I’m just happy that you didn’t choke me out.” He chuckled. “I’m sorry that she was here.”

  “No, Gianni, as beautiful as you are, there are going to be a lot of women all over you. I can’t just go around choking all of them.”

  “Again with the beautiful?” He shouted, lifting Natasha from the floor and swinging her around. Natasha was giggling like a school girl when she heard Luca shout, “Toast!”

  Gianni put Natasha down and poured more champagne into her glass. After filling his own, he raised his glass. Frank and the other women joined the toast.

  “To my new, cousin, Natasha ‘The Bruiser’ Savelli... Oops, I mean Storm. Welcome to the family. Salute!”

  Everyone shouted in unison, “Salute!”

  GIANNI

  Gianni watched Natasha as she slept, thinking how beautiful she was. He wondered if she enjoyed her weekend. The past weekend was very important to Gianni. His intention was to make her love it there, because he was planning to ask her to quit her job and move to Paris. But, after her run in with Coco, Gianni was afraid that she thought that his weekends in Paris were filled with alcohol and women. When in reality, Gianni rarely left his office when he working. And when Luca walked in with Coco, Gianni wanted strangle him.

  Gianni pulled the blanket over Natasha’s shoulder, and left the small bedroom. He took a seat in the main cabin and rang for the flight attendant.

  “Yes, Mr. Storm?” asked Tyrece, his new flight attendant, recommended by Jack.

  “Bourbon. One ice cube, please.”

  “Right away, sir.”

  Gianni stared out of the window and prayed that he had salvaged the rest of Natasha’s weekend on Sunday, when he took her on a tour of the city. Normally, Gianni would’ve been bored to death looking at things that he’d already seen a million times, but Natasha’s excitement had sparked his own. She really seemed to appreciate the history of the Chateau de Versailles. She marveled at the beauty of the gardens and danced in the Hall of Mirrors. She was delighted by every piece of art in the Louvre, and pumped when he bribed the operator to take them to the top of the Eiffel Tower.

  By the end of the tour, Natasha was exhausted, so Gianni decided to take her back home for a moonlit dinner on the patio. They had a lovely dinner, prepared by one of the best chefs in Paris. They laughed and talked all through dinner, and made love all night. For Gianni the weekend was pure heaven, but he doubted Natasha’s willingness to relocate. If she refused, he’d have to learn to run his businesses from Chicago.

  Tyrece returned with Gianni’s drink.

  “Thank you, Tyrece.”

  “Yes, sir. Is there anything else I can get for you?”

  “Yes, you can go in there and talk my wife into moving to Paris,” Gianni mumbled.

  “Sir?” Tyrece asked, confused.

  “Never mind. That’ll be all, thanks.”

  CHAPTER 34

  VICTORIA

  Victoria walked out of her office, holding her empty coffee cup. She needed a refill, but she wasn’t quite comfortable asking Tyra, her assistant, to fetch coffee for her. After all, she kept the poor woman busy enough. She walked inconspicuously by her desk, but she couldn’t walk fast enough in the pencil skirt and stilettos that Jack begged her to wear while they were getting dressed.

  Tyra quickly looked up.

  She urged, “Mrs. Storm, please, let me.”

  “No, Tyra, I got it. Thanks. Do you want a refill?” Victoria asked, holding up her cup.

  “No. Thank you.”

  “Okay, but please call me Vic or Victoria,” Victoria insisted, for the hundredth time.

  “Okay, Victoria,” Tyra chuckled, finally relenting.

  Victoria smiled and continued on her way to the coffee room. She was halfway down the hall when she heard the voice of Aaron, the director of IT for Storm Enterprises.

  He had no problem addressing her by her first name. “Vic!”

  Victoria slowed her steps, so that Aaron could catch up. She’d had a meeting with him earlier that morning about internet security. When she took on the position of Director of Security, she didn’t realize that she’d be so involved in cyber crimes.

  She asked when he caught up, “What’s up?”

  Aaron walked with Victoria down the hall.

  “You won the bet. I found spyware viruses from Vescorp. I owe you a twenty,” he said with a smirk.

  “And don’t think that I won’t be collecting,” Victoria chuckled.

  She turned into the break room, and Aaron followed her inside. She walked over to the coffee pot and filled her cup, but before she could add sugar or cream, her cell phone rang. She pulled it from the inside pocket of her blazer. It was Jack.

  “Hi,” she answered, happy to hear from him. She hadn’t talked to him since they got to work.

  “Hey, beautiful. How’s your day going?” Jack’s deep sexy voice resonated on the other end.

  “It’s ok so far. Yours?”

  “Fine. I need to see you and Aaron in my office, right away.”

  Victoria figured that he wanted an update on Vescorp.

  “Okay. I’m getting coffee. Do you want some?” Victoria asked as she sprinkled sugar into her cup.

  “No. Thank you.”

  “Okay. Well, I’m on my way.”

  “Thanks,” he said, before disconnecting the call.

  Victoria stuffed her phone back into her pocket and stirred her coffee. She turned to find Aaron watching her intently.

  “It’s Jack. He wants to see us in his office,” she said, as she left out of the break room. He caught up to her, and after rounding a few corners, she wound up in Jack’s outer office. Mary was busy at her desk.

  Victoria asked, always happy to see Mary,“Hi, Mary. How are you?”

  “Hello, Victoria. I’m well. How are you getting along?”

  “I’m getting there,” Victoria quipped.

  “I hear you’re doing a wonderful job,” Mary countered. “Keep up the good work.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Victoria said, walking past Mary’s desk, and into Jack’s office.

  He was standing in front of his window, looking down at the busy city traffic. It was the true picture of power, mixed with more sex appeal than one man should possess.

  “Aaron, I have a decision to make.”

  Aaron asked, “Sir, how can we help?”

  “Well, I’m trying to decide whether or not to fire the best IT guy in the business, because he keeps sniffing around my wife.”

  Victoria was shocked by Jack’s statement. “Are you serious?”

  Jack turned to face Victoria, and she instantly knew that he was. Victoria had to admit that she was getting a lot of extra attention from Aaron. She also noticed that he had a tendency to follow her around, but she had chalked it up to innocent flirtation.

  Aaron was petrified. “Sir, I... I... “

  Aaron was unable to form words, and Victoria was embarrassed for him. But, Jack, obviously wasn’t at a loss for words
.

  “You see, Aaron... I know that my wife loves me, and I know that no man can take her away from me. So, no, in case you were wondering, I’m not an insecure man. I am, however, a business man. And if a man that works for me is bold enough to covet my wife, what’s to stop him from coveting my business?”

  Jack shoved his hands in his pockets, and waited for Aaron to respond.

  Aaron somehow found his words. “Mr. Storm, I have nothing but the utmost respect for your wife. I swear, my intentions are purely occupational.”

  “We’ll see. You can go,” he said, dismissively.

  He muttered quietly, before leaving the office. “Yes sir.”

  Victoria would never argue with Jack in front of Aaron. But once he left the office, Victoria turned to Jack. “Okay, Jack. I understand what you’re saying. But please, just let me handle it. Okay?”

  “Not your job,” he said shaking his head.

  “I know, baby, but I would feel like shit if someone lost their job because of me.”

  Jack corrected, “Because of his actions, not you.”

  “Honey, please, let me handle it,” Victoria urged.

  “No. That’s my job. But, for now, I won’t fire him. I will, on the other hand, watch him.”

  Victoria nodded, settling on the compromise, because Jack wasn’t the compromising type. After all, Aaron did spend a little too much time staring at her ass whenever she walked away.

  “By the way, I stopped by Jasmine’s nursery after my ten o’clock and she wasn’t there. Do you know where they are?”

  “No,” Victoria responded, shaking her head. “Emma didn’t mention that they were going anywhere. I’ve asked her not to leave without talking to one of us first. I’ll check into it.”

  “Victoria, you’ll have to stop asking favors of the people that work for you. You need to be comfortable with giving orders,” he said sternly.

  “Jack, we come from two different places.”

  “Yes, but, we’re in the same place now. You’re a boss, and it’s time to act like one.”

  “Jack, I’m getting real sick of you chastising me. I’m not a child,” Victoria huffed.

  Jack closed the gap between them and cupped her face.

  “I’m sorry, baby. I don’t mean to come off that way. I just worry that you’re trying too hard to be everyone’s friend. Just like Amy and myself, you are the boss. Please understand that they will never look at you as one of them. Not as long as your name is Storm.”

  “Okay,” Victoria answered timidly.

  He reinforced with a smile. “Okay?”

  Victoria nodded.

  “I love you.”

  “I love you too.”

  Jack kissed Victoria and pulled her into his arms, and she was happy to be there.

  NATASHA

  “Walker!” Sgt. Banner yelled from the end of the hall.

  Natasha turned in his direction.

  “The Commander wants to see you.”

  Natasha nodded and turned in her tracks. She walked towards the Commander’s office, thinking that it was funny that a commander, that couldn’t stand her, was requesting her presence. Natasha was exhausted. She and Gianni had just returned from Paris the night before, and they couldn’t keep their hands off of each other all night. And although she was dog tired, she wasn’t complaining.

  She walked into the outer office. The commander’s rude frumpy secretary looked up at her like she didn’t know why she was standing there. She huffed and stood up, wearing a pair of unflattering “mommy jeans”, clearly irritated that she had to get off of her lazy ass and inform the commander that she arrived. Since she worked for someone with a little power, she forgot that she was just a lowly police officer, like the rest of them. Natasha didn’t like the woman, and she didn’t hide it.

  “Send her in,” she heard the commander say from his office.

  Natasha didn’t wait for “Frumpy” to tell her to go in. She simply walked passed her and entered his office.

  “Have a seat,” he said, gesturing toward the chair in front of his desk.

  At that moment, Natasha realized that “have a seat” were the only words the man had spoken to her, since she’d been transferred to his unit. She looked over at the lieutenant sitting on a sofa behind her. She laughed inside, realizing that he didn’t want to be alone in a room with her.

  Getting to the point, he asked, “Do you remember the van that almost ran you down?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, they were all slaves in a human trafficking ring.”

  Duh, she thought to herself.

  “We got an undercover on the inside. Do you know Aurek?”

  “Yes. I know him.”

  Aurek was a Polish officer that worked in Human Trafficking. He did a lot of translating and interrogating for the unit. He was a good cop and a really nice guy, but he was no undercover. He did, however, speak Russian and Polish.

  “Well, he found out that the Russians are running women in and out of Poland. He also says that this group has a fetish for the exotic.”

  “Ooh... kay?”

  “In their eyes, you’re exotic,” he continued.

  “Oh. They like black women.”

  “Yeah. We need to put you in the auction. That way we can catch ‘em and shut ‘em down.”

  “Auction?”

  “Yeah. Aurek is gonna get you in. And, as soon as someone places a bid for you, we’re gonna hit the place.” He explained, as it was the most simple thing in the world.

  She asked, “Will I get to work with my team?”

  “Yeah, but only Aurek will be on the inside. Everyone else will be standby.”

  Natasha wasn’t feeling this new mission. Something about being a black woman, standing in a slave auction, didn’t sit well with her.

  She said, shaking her head, “I don’t know if I’m the right one for this job.”

  “Natasha, I know that you’ve never participated in a mission like this before, but since we no longer have Victoria, you gotta step up to the plate. We’ve been trying to take down this human trafficking ring for years, and with your youthful and innocent face, we could crack this case wide open. Think of the innocent young victims that are being bought and sold into sexual slavery. You have an entire department behind you and we’ll never let anything happen to you. As soon as the deal is done, we’ll get you out of there. You’ll be safe.

  That, I promise.”

  Giving in, she asked, “When is the auction?”

  “A week from Friday.”

  “Okay.”

  “Get with Aurek. He can give you the details.

  “Yes sir.”

  Natasha stood and left the office. She prepared herself for another shitty day of selling herself to nasty men.

  ***********

  Natasha flopped down in a booth, across from Malik. She was grateful that her workday was finally over. Natasha hated prostitution, and she couldn’t wait until her lawsuit was done so that she could go back to narcotics. Her attorney had left a message when she was in Paris, saying that the department had offered to settle. Of course they didn’t want take this case to court; they’ve already swept four other sexual harassment complaints, against the same boss, under the rug. And as soon as Natasha’s attorneys named the previous victims as witnesses, the settlement offers came rolling in.

  “Eww... You’re in a mood,” Malik mumbled. “You’re always such a bitch when you get off.”

  “I hate my job.” Natasha huffed, throwing her head back.

  “Well, quit. It’s not like you need that job.”

  The waiter interrupted, “May I take your order?”

  Natasha was grateful for the interruption.

  “Yes. I’ll have a Long Island ice tea and the chicken Caesar salad.”

  As Malik placed his order, Natasha was trying to figure out how to tell him that she’d been married for months without telling him.

  When the waiter smiled and walked away, Malik p
icked up where they left off. “So, why don’t you quit?”

  “Malik, I don’t want to talk about that right now. There’s something that I need to tell you.”

  He asked, as if he already knew the entire story, “Oh? You’re finally gonna tell me that Gianni’s moved in with you?”

  Natasha wasn’t at all surprised that Malik noticed Gianni’s every day presence at her condo, after all they did live in the same building. When the waiter returned with their drinks, Natasha braced herself for Malik’s reaction to her news.

  “Yeah, but there’s more,” she admitted when the waiter walked away.

  He prompted, sipping his cocktail, “Okay?”

  “We’re married.”

  Malik’s eyes widened, mid sip. He let the straw drop from his mouth as he crumbled his brow. “What? When?”

  “Four months ago,” Natasha mumbled under her breath.

  He shouted, causing everyone in the restaurant to turn in their direction. “What?!”

  She hushed him, embarrassed by the attention that they were getting, “Shh! I can explain.”

  “Explain?! How in the fuck can you possibly explain being married for four months and not telling me?!”

  “Please, calm down. Let me explain.”

  Malik rolled his eyes, leaned back in his seat, and said, “Okay. Explain.”

  Natasha ran through everything that she’s experienced in the last few months without any interruption from Malik. By the end of her story, Malik’s silence was crippling. She pulled the straw out of her glass and gulped as much liquor as she could. Unable to gauge his reaction, Natasha added, “Well... Say something.”

  “Congratulations,” he offered with a smile.

  She asked, surprised by his response. “Really? Congratulations? That’s all you have to say?”

  “Yes, if you’re happy. Are you?”

  “I am.” Natasha could hear the excitement in her own voice.

  “I am.” She repeated. “Gianni is wonderful.”

  “Then I’m happy too. I can’t wait to tell Parker.”

  Natasha, relieved that everyone finally knew her secret, was able to exhale, relax, and enjoy dinner with her best friend. She was finally happy. And laughing and talking with Malik, was icing on the cake. To top it off, she’d be going home to her ‘sex on two feet’ husband. Yes, Natasha’s mood had drastically changed for the better.