Chapter5
Gabriella awoke with dreams of Antonio fading from her mind and she smiled before she even opened her eyes, thinking of his lips on hers; something that didn’t get a chance to happen, though she had wanted it to.
She went about her morning getting ready for work and thoughts of him would come to her intermittently, warming her and making her smile. She picked up her phone and called Lila, and Lila answered right away.
“Lila!” she said with a little laugh and a bit of a helpless cry. “I need to talk!”
Lila gave her a sympathetic sigh. “Sure honey, what’s bugging you?”
Gabriella smiled and traced her finger over the rim of her coffee cup. “It’s Antonio!” she began. “I went to a party at the Medici’s and I was hoping I’d see him there and I did. He took me out on the patio behind the house and we danced and then he almost kissed me, but Julian walked out and got mad and took me home.”
She sighed and smiled wistfully. “I can’t stop thinking about Antonio.”
“He likes you, too?” Lila asked curiously.
“Yeah, I think he does. You should see the way he looks at me. I mean, we hardly know anything about each other at all, but there’s this intense chemistry… it’s so hot, Lila… I’ve never felt anything like it before. There’s just this fiery magnetic attraction… it’s so strange and so… amazing.” She giggled a little and felt like a girl with a high school crush.
Lila laughed a moment and Gabriella could imagine her shaking her head. “You better be careful, honey. You and Antonio might like each other, but you’re dealing with Julian right now and you don’t want to make him jealous.
Not when you’re trying so hard to get the cover of that magazine. You make him jealous of his brother and you’ll never get it. Men are territorial and possessive most of the time. Don’t take chances like that if the cover is what you want most, and I’m sure that it is.”
Gabriella knew that Lila was right. She frowned sadly. “I guess I’ll hold off on Antonio then. Nothing’s really happening with him anyway, it’s just a lot of sparks and electricity… and heat.” She pouted slightly, her lower lip pushed out a little. “I just wish I could have the cover and the brother. Then my life would be perfect.”
“We can’t have perfection in our lives.” Lila sighed. “Otherwise what would we long for and how would we ever learn to appreciate what we have?”
“It’s true,” Gabriella agreed. “We’d never know how precious the things we have are if we didn’t know what it was like to not have them.” She pushed herself up from the sofa she was sitting on and walked into the kitchen to put her empty coffee cup in the sink. “Well, I better let you go. I need to get to work. Love you, Lila.”
Lila said goodbye and Gabriella dressed and headed to the studios.
She had just finished up her shooting for the day and was walking out of her dressing room when she heard a familiar voice and looked up to see Julian standing by the door to the hallway Gabriella was headed down.
“There she is…” he said with a sultry voice, eyeing her with no hint of discretion.
She felt irritation rising up in her and she stopped herself from rolling her eyes. “Julian, what are you doing here?” she asked with a light tone.
He pushed himself from the wall with his shoulder, his eyes steady on her. “I came to pick you up. I wanted to talk with you about the cover of the April issue… I’ve been thinking about how much you want it, and how hard you’ve worked for it, and there are some things to discuss, but I’m headed out and I thought you could come with me so we can talk.”
She frowned. “I can’t just take off with you like that. How do you know I don’t already have plans?”
He chuckled and walked toward her, lifting his hand to her shoulder and running his finger down her bare arm. She jerked her arm away from him and his gaze turned serious.
“It doesn’t matter if you had plans or not. Isn’t the cover the most important thing to you right now? If you have plans, change them, but we’re running out of time right now, so let’s go.” He reached for her elbow and cupped his hand around it, walking her down the hallway at his side, taking her out of the building, and putting her into his car.
She was beyond annoyed with him that he was taking her schedule completely for granted and being so presumptive about her, and she was even more annoyed that he wasn’t wrong; the cover was the most important thing to her and he knew it.
He knew she was willing to do almost anything to get it; anything except sleeping with him, and he was going to push her as far as he could until one of them gave in. She was burning with frustration when he climbed into the car beside her and sped off down the road.
He noticed her irritation with him and he enjoyed it just a little, loving the knowledge that he had power and control over her because of what she wanted. Julian flew down the road, his Lamborghini hugging the asphalt as the engine roared.
It was another form of power that he loved. He thought for a few minutes that he might try to talk with Gabriella, but she was glaring out of her passenger side window again, like she was the night he drove her home from the party, and he wasn’t in the mood to hear her complain.
He didn’t even really want to hear her talking, he just wanted his hands to finally be everywhere that his eyes had already been on her. Stealing a glance at her long legs, he imagined running his hands up them and spreading them, and he grew hard for her.
Julian finally pulled the car into a spot at the boat docks and climbed out. He helped Gabriella out of the car and she turned to look at him with a frown on her face. “What are we doing here? I thought we were going to talk about the cover.” She crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her gaze at him.
“I have a social engagement that I have to attend. I want you with me. We’ll talk about the cover in a bit,” he said shortly, taking her by the elbow once more and guiding her to a huge yacht that was covered with people.
It was a smaller version of the party that he’d had at his own house; everyone drinking, dancing, laughing, talking, and carrying on. The only difference for Gabriella was that Antonio wasn’t at the party on the boat, and she was going to be stuck with Julian until he decided to take her home.
He led her onto the boat and introduced her to a few people before pushing a drink into her hand and downing a drink himself in mere minutes. He talked to everyone but her, pulling her along with him, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and her waist as he went, and every time she pushed his arm away from her, and he’d leave it down for a few minutes, but then it was back around her again, holding her firm against him until she pushed him away again.
He downed a few more drinks before it got dark outside and Gabriella had finally had enough. She took him by the arm and dragged him to a quiet corner in the dining room of the yacht. She turned him to look at her and scowled at him.
“Julian! I’ve spent this whole night with you under the premise that you were going to talk with me about the cover of the magazine, and you haven’t said a word! All you’ve done is party, talk with people, and drink! Take me home! I had other things to do tonight! You’re wasting my time and I’m not going to let you do it anymore!” She was furious with him, though she was trying to keep it quiet, and keep her temper in check.
His eyes glazed over and locked on her, and in a flash his hands were on her shoulders, and his body was pressed up against hers, holding her to the wall they were standing beside. He leaned in close and nestled his nose and mouth against her neck, breathing heavily and moving his lips over her skin as his hands touched the skin on her thighs, his fingers sliding upward toward the hem of her short dress.
“You want to talk?” he asked in a hoarse whisper. “We can talk, Gabriella… let’s talk about what we want.” He closed his lips on her neck and she felt him press his hardened groin against her as his fingers tightened on her flesh. She planted her hands on his shoulders and gave him a hard shove, pushing him away. He looked at her and laughed, shaking his head.
“You are such a tough little girl. So hard to convince… so…” he stepped toward her and slipped his finger beneath her chin, lifting it as he stared into her eyes. “So… tempting. You know, the more you push me away, the more it makes me want you.
Why don’t you just give in to me? We could both be happy, Gabriella… I’ll give you the cover of the magazine, and you could give me…” his eyes slid over her body slowly and he bit his lower lip and shook his head, “…you could give me what I want.”
She glared hotly at him. “That is not how we are going to do this. Do you understand me? I keep telling you; business. That’s all we’re going to have between us!”
He shook his head and laughed at her. “But we could have so much more… between us…” he grinned.
Gabriella pushed past him and turned to look over her shoulder at him. “I’m leaving. You can pay for the cab ride home for me.”
He sighed and his grin faded some. “Fine! I’ll take you. Let’s go,” he said sharply, tipping his glass back and finishing his drink. He tossed the glass away from him and hauled her off of the boat behind him, taking her by the hand and leading her to the car.
“Are you sure you should be driving?” she asked suspiciously, “You’ve had a lot to drink.” She wasn’t sure how much he’d had, and he seemed to be walking just fine, but she wasn’t sure if he should be behind the wheel of a car.
He opened her door and snapped at her sarcastically. “I’m fine. I’m not getting laid right now like I should be, but I’m fine. Just get in.”
She groaned in frustration and turned her head to look out of the window again. She wanted less and less to do with him, but she knew that getting the cover of the magazine wasn’t going to happen now unless he said it would. Kathy would never give it to her without Julian’s consent, and Julian wasn’t going to let it happen unless he got what he wanted. She felt as if she had painted herself into a corner and there was no real way out.
Tears of frustration stung at the back of her eyes as she realized just how deep she had gotten herself into trouble with Julian Medici. Bitterness coursed through her and she folded her arms over her chest, angry that she had cost herself so much by going about her dreams and goals the wrong way. She had no idea how to get out of the situation she had put herself into.
Julian was so frustrated with her that he didn’t even want to look at her. She had turned him on so many times just being around him and then not given him what he wanted that he was getting to the point where he had no idea what to do with her. He’d never had a woman not want him before. It was completely confounding for him.
He sped along the road, careening around corners and squealing the tires, his mind on all of the frustration he felt with Gabriella, and not at all on the road in front of them. He narrowly missed hitting a car and she turned and shot a dark look at him.
“Slow down! You’re driving much too fast! What do you think you’re doing?” she demanded. He paid no attention to her at all, pressing his foot further down on the gas pedal, making Gabriella gasp and clutch the door and the dash with her hands.
“Stop it!” she yelled at him as fear coursed through her. She was about to yell at him again when red and blue lights began flashing right behind them and Julian looked up to see two squad cars closing in on him fast.
He groaned and swore, sighing as he slowed down and pulled over. He yanked his insurance card and driver’s license out and slid the window down just as three officers approached his door at a distance.
They demanded of him that he step out of the car and when he did, it was obvious to the officers and to Gabriella that he had indeed had too much to drink. She was asked to get out of the car as well and one of the officers spoke to her as the other two handcuffed Julian and pushed him into the backseat of a squad car.
The officer who spoke to Gabriella asked her if she had been drinking and she admitted she’d had two drinks, and should not be driving. He asked if there was anyone that she could call to come get her and the car, and she bit her lip trying to think of who might be able to help her, but the only person who came to her mind was Antonio. It was his brother’s car.
She asked the officer to wait a moment and she ducked into the car and dug around until she found Julian’s phone. Hoping that it would work out, she searched through his contacts and found Antonio.
With her fingers crossed, she called him and prayed that he would answer the phone.
It rang a few times, but finally, he did answer.
“Hello Julian,” Antonio said with a hint of irritation.
“This is Gabriella,” she told him right away, understanding his tone completely. She felt the same way about Julian just then. She heard his surprise as it registered that he was speaking to her rather than his brother.
“Gabriella! What… why are you calling me on Julian’s phone? Is everything all right?” Worry swiftly replaced the annoyance in his tone.
She looked at the squad cars with lights flashing behind her, and the officers who were standing around her. “Not really, no. Your brother just got arrested for drunk driving, and I’ve had a couple of drinks, so I’m not really able to drive his car home. Would you be able to come pick up his car and take me home please?” she asked, hoping that she wasn’t asking too much.
He didn’t hesitate for a single moment. “Of course. Just tell me where you are and I’ll be right there,” he answered seriously. She gave him the address and one officer agreed to wait with her while the others hauled Julian off to jail.
True to his word, Antonio showed up in a taxi twenty minutes later. He spoke with the officer for a few moments and then the officer left, and Antonio walked up to Gabriella, shaking his head and looking stressed.
“I’m so sorry that he got you into this. Are you all right?” he asked, looking into her eyes for reassurance.
She sighed and nodded. “I’m fine. I’m embarrassed. I wish I hadn’t had to call you, but his car needs to be taken home and so do I.”
He smiled and reached his hand up to her shoulder to comfort her. “Don’t worry about it. This isn’t the first time I’ve had to bail him out, and I know it won’t be the last. I’m just really sorry that he involved you in it. You shouldn’t have had to go through this.”
She agreed. “Actually, I shouldn’t have even been here. I didn’t want to come with him in the first place. I was at work and he demanded that I come with him to a party on someone’s yacht, and I let him make me go. I never should have even gone. I never wanted to be with him tonight to begin with.” She sighed and let Antonio help her into the Lamborghini. He closed her door and then climbed into the driver’s seat.
“Why did you go with him?” he asked curiously.
“Oh… that’s a long story. Basically, I want to be on the cover of the magazine; it’s a dream I’ve had for a long time, and it’s something I’ve worked really hard for over the years, and I’m so close to reaching that dream. But, your brother has decided that he wants me to sleep with him or he’s not going to let me have the cover.
I won’t sleep with him. He won’t give me the cover. We’re in a power struggle right now. That’s basically it.” She frowned and looked out of the window at the night and lights of the city as the car swept past all of them.
Antonio nodded and tried to hide a smile. “I’m proud of you for not giving in to him. Too many people give him his way too often, and it’s spoiled him. He’s a good man deep down, but it’s been so long since he had to be good for the sake of just being good, that he’s forgotten how to do it. It isn’t required of him, so he let it go.” He turned for a moment and glanced at her. “I’m also really glad to hear that you don’t want to sleep with him.”
“You are?” she asked curiously as a smile spread over her face and she turned her head to look back at him. “Why is that?” she asked lightly. Butterflies began to dance in her belly and she wondered what he was thinking.
He blushed a little and grinned, looking out of his own window and then back at the road. “Well, let’s just say that I have a personal interest in it.” He turned and gave her a wink and a smile as he pulled on to her street and stopped the car in front of her house. She found herself not wanting to get out and leave him.
Antonio helped her out of the car and walked with her to her door. When they reached it, she turned and looked up at him with a grin. “Thank you for coming to get me,” she said with a shy and flirtatious smile.
“Of course.” He smiled back, gazing down at her. He loved looking at her face, into her eyes, and he felt like he could have stood there looking at her all night. “I was glad to come get you.” He hesitated a moment and then reached his arms around her and pulled her to him in a gentle hug.
“I’m just glad that you’re all right. It could have ended so much worse tonight than it did. Instead it’s ending like this…” he said softly, leaning back and looking down at her. His breath caught and he felt warmth growing between them.
She smiled and found herself getting lost in his eyes. “I like how it’s ending…” she said softly.
He stared at her and shook his head in disbelief. “This is so crazy… I hardly know you, but…” he hesitated, not sure how much he should say to her. “There’s just something about you that I’m so… drawn to,” he breathed, his eyes locked on hers.
She knew just what he meant. The chemistry between them was like blazing hot magnetic fireworks, pulling them together and heating everything up between them. It was inexplicable. She lifted her chin a little and looked up at him through her dark lashes, giving him a sweet smile.
“So get to know me,” she said quietly.
“What’s most important to you?” he asked, staring at her and hoping she wanted to get to know him just as much as he wanted to get to know her.
“Family and friends,” she answered right away. “And you?”
“The same,” he said, feeling nerves tense slightly in him. “Favorite hobbies?”
She looked up thoughtfully, grinning as she considered the answer. “Reading, traveling, and being by the ocean. Yours?”
He smiled a little. “Movies, traveling, and being by the ocean. Music?”
“Jazz and swing. You?” she returned.
“Classical, jazz, rock, and swing.” He laughed. “Food?”
She groaned a little and laughed. “Mexican, Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Italian, and Southern. What about you?”
“What you said.” He grinned, enjoying their exchange. “When is your birthday?”
“May. Yours?” She grinned back.
“September,” he said happily. “Favorite color?”
She was having such fun with him. “Blue,” she answered, gazing up at him.
He paused, his breath caught again and he swallowed. “…like your eyes,” he said softly.
Her grin faded as her heart began to beat faster and the butterflies in her belly began to flit about wildly. “Yes…” she whispered.
He raised his fingers to her cheek and touched it gently, stroking it as light as a feather. “You have such beautiful eyes… I feel like I am lost in them every time I look at you.” He breathed softly as his face neared hers.
His heart was beginning to pound as fast as hers was. He felt drawn to her, pulled by an irresistible need, and as he lowered his lips to hers, she lifted her face up to meet him in a soft, sweet kiss.
Antonio’s mouth brushed hers lightly at first; feeling the warmth and the curve of her lips against his, learning her, but as they began to explore each other more, their lips parting tentatively, she felt his tongue touch hers, and fire moved through her as their kiss deepened and their tongues began to twist and turn over one another.
His arms tightened around her, holding her closer to him, and she lost her breath as she melted in his strong embrace. Her heart was racing and every part of her body was racing right along with it as electricity and heat coursed through her. He moaned softly as his lips moved over hers, tasting her, drinking her in, capturing her all at once.
Antonio felt his groin tighten as he began to grow hard, and it made him catch his breath and pull back from her a little. She lifted her mouth from his and looked up at him in surprise. “Are you all right?” she asked with widening eyes.
He nodded and drew in a deep breath, steadying his breathing and his growing desire for her as much as he could. He gazed into her eyes and spoke in a whisper. “I want you too much,” he told her.
She bit her lip and nodded, looking down. He was right. She knew he was right. She could feel her own need for him and it was strong. She knew Julian would be furious if she was with Antonio. “I understand,” she said quietly. “It’s Julian, isn’t it?” she asked him, raising her eyes to look at him again.
He sighed. “Partly,” he said softly. Then he frowned. “Mostly. The rest of it is that we’re still getting to know one another. Don’t get me wrong, the chemistry between us is incredible, but I want to really know you.”
Gabriella smiled at him and reached her hand up to touch his cheek. “That’s so sweet, Antonio. Thank you for that.” She sighed breathlessly. She knew he was right, but that didn’t stem the desire for him that burned in her.
He took a deep breath and leaned close to her once more, kissing her mouth softly, and then he let her go, stepping backward and watching her as she stepped into her apartment and closed the door behind her, giving him one last smile.
She leaned her back against the door and took a long deep breath, trying to calm herself before she pushed off of it and went to her room to get ready for bed. It had not been a good evening at the beginning, but it had certainly ended well, she thought to herself with a grin. She could not stop the butterflies from dancing in her all night, even into her dreams.
Antonio climbed into his brother’s car and gripped the wheel, wishing that the hardness he felt would ease up as he tried to slow his breathing and calm his body. He took a deep breath and drove slowly to the jail, thinking about Gabriella the entire way. He didn’t want to betray his brother, but he couldn’t deny his feelings and growing desire for Gabriella. She had been on his mind often since the party and he had wished several times that he had tried to kiss her sooner, before Julian walked out of the house and stopped them.
Frustration began to build in him as he thought of what it was that Julian wanted with Gabriella, and how much he himself liked her. It was revolting to him that his brother intended to use her and then drop her. He had considered the words that Julian had said to him the night of the party when they’d fought, but he always came back to the same conclusion.
He liked Gabriella, and he wanted to get to know her more, and he didn’t want his brother using her like a cheap one-night stand. The question was, where did the lines of loyalty have to be drawn?
By the time he got to the jail, his frustration had reached a sharp point and he had no patience left when Julian staggered out of his cell and left the building. He was sobering slightly, but he wasn’t yet close to being totally sober.
“What the hell took you so damn long? Do you have any idea how long I’ve been sitting in that stinking cell? What in god’s name were you doing?” Julian shot at him angrily as he climbed into the passenger side of his car.
Antonio ground his teeth as he slipped into the driver’s seat and brought the engine to life. “I was taking Gabriella home. I’m not in the mood to talk with you right now, Julian, so shut it.” He put the car in drive and took off down the road through the wet streets awash in new rain.
Julian turned his head slowly and stared at his brother. “You took her home? Did she get there safely?” he asked, his eyes glazed over as they tried to focus clearly on Antonio.
Antonio shot him a look of utter shock. “What do you care where she got to safely? You were driving drunk with her in the car, and that after trying to get her to sleep with you just so she can have the cover of the magazine you own; a cover which her work has earned her whether or not she gets into your bed!”
He promised himself on the way to the jail that he wouldn’t fight with his brother. Julian was drunk and it was useless to argue with him while he’d been drinking. Antonio looked out of the window and did his level best to ignore his brother, but Julian had taken offense to his comments, even in his drunken state.
He glared hotly at Antonio and narrowed his eyes. “I care because I’m dating her right now!” he shot back. “She’s mine right now! Of course I want to be sure that she got home safely! I’m not even that drunk; I just had a few little drinks and the cops wanted to cause me problems because I’m famous. That’s all it was. I was fine to drive!” he insisted fiercely.
Antonio tried not to take the bait, but he was so annoyed that he couldn’t ignore it. “You are drunk; too drunk to drive and you endangered Gabriella’s life tonight because you’re a selfish jerk and you don’t care about anyone but yourself! What the hell are you going after her for? You have plenty of girls who want to bed you on a regular basis! What do you think you need her for? What’s so important about her? Why can’t you just let her go?” he demanded angrily.
“Because I want her! I’ve worked too hard to get her! She’s mine, and she is going to be mine for a while, and when I’m done with her then you can have her if you still want her!” he growled at his brother.
Antonio shook his head and looked away from Julian. His brother made him sick to his stomach, and he wanted nothing to do with him at all after he realized it; at least, not concerning Gabriella. “Julian, I’m warning you right now. Don’t you say another word to me tonight. Nothing.”
Julian looked as if he was going to continue their argument but then he turned and looked out of the window silently, not really thinking about anything, and before they got back to their home, he was passed out in the passenger seat.
Antonio parked the car and looking over at his brother slumped in the seat beside him, he decided to leave him there. It would be a nominal retribution for Gabriella that Julian would wake up sore and sick in his car. He turned the heat up slightly in the garage and shut the lights off, leaving his brother there before he headed up to his quarters, his mind locked on Gabriella.