Page 25 of His Two Hidden Masks

So much for my message of empowerment. I wanted to rewind and climb back into bed and endure a night of insomnia, looking at the fresco overhead.

I would be exhausted, but at least I would have gotten the message about the meeting change and I wouldn’t be fantasizing about running my hands down the rock-hard abs of a stranger.

Who are you kidding? I thought. One look at that man and my insides melted. Even if I hadn’t slept with him, I was going to fantasize about running my hands down his chest and gripping his throbbing dick in my hands.

James kept his back to me as he talked to my father. I panicked for a moment, wondering if our night of passion was planned. What if he orchestrated our meeting as the ultimate mind-fuck? Fuck the boss’s daughter to even the playing field.

No, I told myself. No one could have predicted I would go for a walk that night, and we’d literally crashed into one another. I could have walked another direction and ended up on the other side of the lagoon.

Besides, James asked me nothing about my family. If he had wanted to only mine me for information, he would have done more than drill me with that enormous and beautiful cock of his.

I stood by the breakfast table holding apan a chocolatein one hand and a cappuccino in the other. I could not tear my eyes away from James.

His suit jacket fit him perfectly and he radiated confidence as he leaned back in his seat. It felt like he was assessing everything and everybody in this room.

Here I was worried about choking on my pastry, or getting crumbs on my sweater and he looked like the model smoking hot executive.

He stood and turned to shake hands with Nico, but I could not help but stare at his gorgeous ass. I was turning into a deranged sex maniac. What was wrong with me?

I took another bite of mypan a chocolate, finding the familiar sweet taste comforting like a cozy blanket or a warm fire. Roberto walked into the room, passing me as if I didn’t exist. I resisted the urge to stick out my leg and trip him.

“Fine, ignore me,” I wanted to shout. “I don’t care.”

My mother, Maria, followed. She wore her hair pulled back in her signature chignon. She sidled up beside me and helped herself to a cappuccino and pastry. “Where were you last night, Bella?” she said, keeping her voice low.

“I went for a walk, Mama,” I said. “I walked and decided to stay at the Mia Sorella.”

She looked at me, eyebrows raised.

“There was room,” I said, avoiding eye contact and getting ahead of her question. “And I thought the meeting was later. Someone could have told me that the date of the board meeting shifted, but I had to find out from Roberto.”

My mother shook her head. “I would have told you if you had been in your room,” she said. “If I had known you were going out, I could have better controlled your father.”

“You shouldn’t need to control him,” I said.

She gave me a look and did not respond to my critique.

“Next time, I’ll let you know if I go out. I’m sorry.”

She stood on her tiptoes to give me a quick peck on the cheek. “I like your lipstick,” she said, surprising me.

My mother’s affection was unpredictable, at best. “Now sit and show your father you can’t be ruffled by his antics.”

Nico’s financial team entered, a rotating team of number crunchers. As far as I could tell, Nico’s business was booming, as he seemed able to be able to hire an army of people to help inform my father, he was running low on money.

Next, Auntie Aurora and Uncle Lorenzo arrived, arm-in-arm.

“Ciao, Bella,” Auntie Aurora said.

She was the head chef in Andiamo, and had been one of the reasons my mother had finally acquiesced and allowed me to attend culinary school. Auntie Aurora had promised her that my life would not be ruined by my choice.

“Buongiorno, mia Bella.” My uncle gave me a quick hug.

My aunt and uncle took a seat at the table, all eyes on my father like everyone else in the room. I took some comfort in realizing that I had more allies than I had thought. Nico, Roberto’s father, of course, ignored me.

“We should begin,” my father said, standing at the head of the table. “Everyone, please sit.”

Running away was not an option, so I put an agenda under my arm, and holding a coffee and pastry in each hand, I took a seat at the far end of the table. I realized after I sat down that I was at a diagonal across from James.

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