Page 4 of Once Upon a Villain

Massimo placed his large hand around my waist, and dammit if my heartbeat didn't speed up. He glanced down at me and whispered on my temple. "You feel good in my arms."

Apparently, my body thought so too. It had coiled itself around his torso, which gave me the chance to take in his scent, a mix of cedar wood and vanilla.

"Sorry." I shook my head and stepped away from him.

"Don't apologize." He pulled out the chair for me.

I sat and surveyed the space. The art hanging on every wall combined with the lavish table in front of us laden with a seafood tower, and a magnum bottle of champagne were something I had more or less assumed would be Massimo's style. What I hadn’t expected was for the place to be empty. I furrowed my brows and turned to him silently asking, what the fuck?

"I figured you'd be more comfortable if it were just the two of us." He motioned to the servers, and they all disappeared. "Your brother mentioned you like seafood. Would you like an oyster?"

Yeah, this meal was my absolute favorite. "Why are you wasting your time with me?"

He leaned forward in his chair and adjusted his Rolex. "Any amount of time spent with an incredibly gorgeous woman isn't a waste of time."

"Cut the bullshit."

"Okay." He chuckled. "I like you. More specifically, I like how I feel around you. I'm doing this for me."

I had to appreciate his honesty. "Okay." I waved away some of the dry ice steaming from the platter and popped a shrimp in my mouth. "Hmmm." A light moan escaped my lips. "These are really good."

"I'm glad you like them." He swallowed, shifting his weight on his seat to pour two glasses of champagne. "So EJ, what is that short for?"

"Oh." I covered my mouth and waited for the shrimp to melt on my tongue. "Everleigh James."

"That's a pretty name. What do you do?" He asked as if we were at some random bar in Midtown.

I took a long swig from my glass. "Okay. I don't want to lie to you."

"Honesty is a high commodity in my world. Hard to find." He cocked an eyebrow.

"Right. My brother can’t get your money—not in thirty days. I know you and your friend hustled him. But that doesn't excuse what he did. He means well, but he’s an idiot." I drank some more. The wine was delicious, plus a little liquid courage never hurt anyone.

"What do you mean?"

"You know what hustling means."

"I do, and we did. But you said he meant well. What was he trying to do?"

"We need the money for something. It doesn't matter. The point is, in a month or two, he still won't have your fifty grand."

I opened my mouth to apologize, but before I could say a word, my phone rang with the ringtone I had assigned to Mom. Biting my lip, I placed my hand on my purse and met his gaze.

"Go ahead."

I scoured through my small bag and fished out my mobile. "Mom?"

"Ms. Holt, this is nurse Paige. You said to call you on this number if anything changed with the clinical trial."

"Yes, thank you for calling. What happened? Are we in?"

"I'm afraid she didn’t meet all the criteria. Um, they went with someone younger."

I squeezed my eyes shut. The new miracle drug was Mom's last chance of beating lung cancer. "Thanks for letting me know."

"I'm so sorry, honey. But you also need to come get her."

Tears spilled down my cheeks as I raised my head to look at Massimo. Before I could speak, he motioned for the server. "Seems our dinner has been cut short. Could you wrap this up?" He reached for my phone and took it from my numb fingers. "This is Massimo Alfera." His features hardened as he listened to whatever nurse Paige was telling him. "We'll be there shortly. Don't move her until I get there."

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