Ice Queen : Echoes of the Underworld (Echoes from the Underworld) Page 4

  As the music comes to an end, she opens her eyes, turning in my direction as though she can feel she has an audience. I move and hide behind the wall before she can spot me. I don’t want her to see that I’d been watching her. I feel almost as though I have intruded in on a private moment, and something tells me she doesn’t get a lot of those. I quickly and quietly walk back inside before I am discovered.

  A small knock-on Nicolai’s office door brings my attention to the beautiful ballerina standing in the doorway. I’d summoned her to come to the office when she had finished her dancing for the day.

  “You asked for me?” she asks, her face void of emotion, but her sad eyes call to me, they unsettle me.

  “Yes, come in. I have the contract ready for you. Santino, my lawyer, will be here in just a moment to witness your signature. I suggest you read over it quickly.” I point to the chair in front of my desk. “Sit.” She does without argument, picking up the contract from the table and beginning to read it.

  After a few minutes, Santino announces his arrival. I had him flown in specially from Italy for this. I simply cannot let anyone know about the details of this contract. I could not risk using Nicolai’s lawyer, for if the details of this contract were to get back to my father, it would end any chances of me ever obtaining the run of the business.

  Sofia looks up at him, and then to me, before continuing to read through the pages. “You have stated here that I am not to have any physical or emotional relations with another man when I stay with you in Naples. Yet, there is no mention of that rule applying to you.”

  “That is because you clearly stated you were not going have sex with me.”

  “And?” She frowns at me.

  “And, unless you have reconsidered that, then I will be seeking it elsewhere.”

  She looks at me perplexed, mumbling something incoherent under her breath and shaking her head. “Why should you be allowed to see other people and I not?”

  “Because, if my father found out you were spreading your legs all over town, he would know our little engagement is not real. Me, however, I have a reputation of being a player, so it will be no surprise to my father that I’d have a fiancé, and also be fucking around. Capice?”

  “You’re a womanizing jerk,” she snarls, glaring at me. I can’t help but chuckle at her remark. If she only knew that the way she is looking at me right now is making me so goddamn hard, making me want to fuck the hate right out of her stuck up pretentious little ass. I raise my brows at her with a smirk.

  “I would like this amended, please.” She turns to regard Santino. “It should state both parties are to refrain from any physical or emotional relations for the duration of the agreement.” Turning her attention back to me, she raises her own brows. “I will not sign otherwise.”

  “What difference does it make to you anyway?” I reply, puzzled. “It is like you actually care. Besides, I did not pick you for the jealous type.”

  “I am not jealous.” She snickers. “Nor do I care who you stick your diseased dick in. I am being humiliated enough as it is. I do not need to be further embarrassed by your lewd and philandering behavior.”

  Holding her glare, I nod reluctantly. What she is asking is not unfair. “Alright, Eden, you have made your point. I will agree to those terms.” I turn to Santino. “Please make the adjustment as Miss Kastrati has requested.” He nods, pulling out his laptop and setting it up on the table.

  Eden continues to read through the contract. I know precisely the moment she sees clause eleven. Her mouth opens wide enough to catch flies, and her cheeks flush a rosy pink as she squeezes the sides of the paper so hard it makes a loud rustle.

  “You expect me to sleep in your bed?” Her wide eyes look over to me with disbelief and question. “I already informed you that I would not have sex with you.”

  I hold up both my hands to stop the backlash I know is still coming. “Before you protest, read it properly. It does not state you have to have sex, just sleep in my bed.” Her mouth opens and then closes, as though she was about to say something but stopped herself. “Despite your presumptions, princess, I don’t force a woman to get into my pants, nor do I pay for them too.

  “Why do you need me to sleep in your bed?”

  “If there happens to be a mole in my staff and they relay back to my father, he will know this is a sham. He knows I would never wait for marriage to take my wife. We need to keep up appearances in and outside of my home.”

  “And what if I don’t agree to this?”

  “Then I will lower the price down from ten to six million dollars,” I say firmly, watching her face redden in anger. “Don’t let my decorum and levity fool you, sweetheart. I am tenacious with my business deals.”

  Standing, I cross my arms over my chest and lean against the desk. Eden’s baby blues dance all over the room as she contemplates my proposal. After a long moment, she swallows her defeat and nods thickly.

  “I will sleep in your bed, Alessio, but if you lay one hand on me, even as much as accidentally in your sleep, you will wake up without your balls.” Santino chokes on his laugh in the corner of the room. It earns him a harsh glare from both of us. He cowers quietly and begins typing on his laptop.

  Returning her attention back to the contact again, I watch Eden’s eyes squint then widen. She clears her throat before looking up at me. “Public displays of affection?”

  “Holding hands, kissing, all the normal things couples do,” I reply.

  “I know what it means,” she hisses. “Why is it necessary for you to add such conditions? Not all couples publicly flaunt their affections. You’re just a pervert.”

  I sigh, shaking my head with frustration. Eden is beginning to grate on my nerves. “It will be necessary for us to show we have some chemistry if we are to convince my father.”

  She chuckles, her lips don’t form a smile even though she is being sarcastic. “My acting skills are not that great.”

  “I can assure you, the heat is already there between us, piccolo tesoro, so you won’t need to pretend at all. The question you should be asking yourself is, can you stop yourself from wanting more?”

  “Fuck you.” She stands, glaring at me as she shoves the contract off the table. “You’re an ass.” I grab her firmly by the wrist as she attempts to leave.

  “And you’re impossible and wearing thin on my patience.” I pull her closer to me. Her chest rises and falls heavily with all her frustration and anger, making her nostrils flare out with every breath, hatred extrudes through every pore of her perfect porcelain skin.

  “First, you will not speak to me like that again,” I inform her. “Second, we both know that we will need to get close to one another in one capacity or another. You are, after all, supposed to be my fiancé. I will be paying you ten million dollars to do so, so don’t act like you are getting the raw end of the deal here, darling.”

  “Don’t call me, darling.”

  “For ten million dollars, I will call you whatever the hell I like.”

  She screws up her nose and huffs like a fire breathing dragon, ready to scorch me to ashes.

  “Let me go. I hate you!” She tries to pull her wrist from my hold. Instead, I yank her backward as I bend down and pick up the contract, then place it back down on the table.

  Holding up a pen to her, I glare at her. “Maybe so, but I don’t see you having any other options. So, darling, sign the fucking contract.”

  “I have not finished reading it,” she hisses.

  “Then sit the fuck down,” I growl, watching as her eyes widen a little, but her face remains still. I am all out of jokes and patience. She does as ordered. If I have startled or scared her, she’s very good at hiding it.

  A few minutes pass before she glares up at me again. “I can’t even tell Sofia?” I know immediately she is referring to the confidentiality clause. I cannot have her telling anyone, especially Sofia, about our arrangement. All it takes is one slip of the tongue from someone who knows the truth, and this will all be for nothing.

  “No, just as the contract states, you are not to disclose our arrangement to anyone,” I firmly advise. Her eyes narrow at me, a moment of silence passes before she shakes her head and continues to read the contract without further argument.

  “You said I only needed to pretend to be your fiancé. You never said anything about becoming your wife!” Eden scowls. “I will not marry you! That was not the deal.”

  I knew this was coming the moment Santino suggested it be added to the contract conditions. Santonio quickly scurries over to the printer, then hands me the update contract.

  “Just like the contract says, Eden, a legitimate marriage MAY be required, and if so, compensation of an additional ten million dollars will be given upon annulment or divorce,” I advise her. “And before you start acting all high and mighty, darling, I don’t particularly want to marry you either, but if it is what my father insists on, then it shall be.” I hold up a pen for her. “It will only be for a short time if it comes down to that, and then you can skip off into the sunset with your twenty million dollars.”

  Snatching the pen from my hand, she scribbles her signature on the bottom of the page and drops it on the table. Her eyes are watery, but her back is straight, chin high, and defiant. She will not let me see her weakness. Turning on her heels, she leaves the room without another word but firmly slams the door behind her.

  Eight

  Eden

  We are only a few hours into our flight, and I already feel free. Although Alessio has not said a single word since takeoff, I can feel his eyes on me. After I signed the contract yesterday and stormed out of his office, one of the housekeepers came up to my room and began packing up my things. It wasn’t until this morning that I was advised I would be leaving for Italy today with Alessio. I have had no time to prepare myself. Not that I would know what to prepare for. Initially I thought Alessio would wait until Nicolai was home. Now that I really think about it, it would have complicated things.

  Staring out the window, I circle the rim of my wine glass with my finger, deep in thought, heart heavy with burden. What will my life look like after all this? I may have money and freedom, but I will still be all alone. I will soon have ten million dollars and a choice to go wherever the hell I choose, and yet, I have no idea where I want to go.

  Yesterday was the first time I’d seen a hint of Alessio’s dark side, and it’s fucking scary. Sofia had mentioned to me when I first moved here, that out of all the Valsetti men, Alessio should be one of the ones I fear the most. She said he has a deadly dark side that he hides underneath all that impertinence. I have a feeling I will see more and more of Alessio’s dark side when we land on his home soil.

  “Penny for your thoughts?” Alessio’s deep voice startles me out of my daydream.

  “More like one hundred million pennies,” I sneer back at him.

  “That’s right, darling. Remember you’re being paid. So, perhaps refrain from being so fucking uptight and rude, or I may just reconsider our arrangement.”

  My eyes squint, and my lips turn in disgust as I swallow the reality of his words. “You are paying me to be your fiancé; that does not mean I have to tell you my every thought. Besides, it’s probably for the best you don’t know what I was thinking. It’s rather unpleasant.”

  He laughs and turns his attention to the flight attendant. She tops off my glass of water and hands Alessio a fresh glass of whiskey before she hurries back down the aisle. I watch Alessio’s eyes narrow in on her backside, licking his bottom lip. Pig!

  “Why is it you hate me so much? I am giving you a chance at a new life. You should be grateful, not an antagonistic bitch.” He doesn’t look at me when he speaks as he is still checking out the hostess.

  “You’re a Valsetti. Doesn’t that paint a vivid picture for you,” I snarl.

  Turning in his seat a little to face me better, he crosses his arms over his chest and shakes his head as though I have disappointed him. “The war is over between our family’s. Clearly though, you still hold some hostilities, and believe me when I say that I can fully understand that. You have lost your whole family, but I am not your enemy, darling.”

  “Luca killed my brother and was involved in my father’s death also. I have no one because of your family. How could I ever get past that?”

  He shakes his head again, frowning. “Juna killed himself the moment he kidnapped Luca. Your father killed his family too. Blood has been spilled on both sides, Eden. The loss is not yours alone.” His thick Italian accent rumbles deep in his chest as he brings his face close to mine. “So, stop playing the victim. It’s tiresome and quite frankly, unattractive.”

  He pulls away, takes his phone out of his pocket, and starts scrolling through it as though he is bored with the conversation.

  “Do you honestly believe that your father won’t see through this?” I point back and forth between us, raising my brows in a glare. “Obviously, we are not in love.”

  Alessio lets out a frustrated sigh and turns his head to regard me. His stare is menacing. “My father will believe it, Eden, because that is what you are being paid for. If this ends badly, you have to go back to America with your little rat’s tail between your legs. Do you think they will happily accept you after you lied to them?” His lips curl in a cruel smirk as he reaches out, taking my chin in his hand firmly, and drawing it up, forcing me to hold his stare. I feel his threat with every pump of blood surging through my body, with every shaky breath as he digs his fingers painfully in. “So, I suggest you start acting more convincingly. Capice?”

  I swallow thickly his insult as tears brim my eyes. His breathing is labored as if he is restraining himself, lips twitching as though he wants to say more. He shows me that even a man so smug and gregarious as Alessio, still has his limits.

  Grabbing his wrist, I tear his hand away from my jaw, but it captures mine before I can pull it away. He squeezes my fingers tight, but not painfully, just enough to gain my attention back to his poisonous glare. “Capire?” he repeats with an impatience that is frightening.

  I nod, but it is not enough. His head cocks to the side with raised brows. “I can’t hear you, Eden. Capire?”

  “I understand,” I say the words only because I don’t want to provoke the angry bear I had awakened. Nodding, he lets go of my hand. “Good, then we won’t have a problem, will we?”

  I shake my head in response. It is all I can muster at this point, feeling my cheeks burn with the humiliation of how quickly I cowered and obeyed him. I don’t know why it surprises me. It is precisely how I have been taught to act my entire life. My father brought me up to believe men are my superior, and I was to obey without question. That being said, I still gave Juna a piece of my mind on occasion. My lippy attitude had earned me a slap across the face or two, reminding me of my place in this world.

  Honestly, I should know better than to provoke him, but something about Alessio pushes all my boundaries; something about him gives me the courage to speak up. Not that I am naive enough to know he is any less dangerous, but I don’t think he would ever physically hurt me. Alessio is smart. He threatens to punish me with something far more valuable than my pride. My Freedom. And that is why he scares me so much.

  I drink the water in my glass, swallowing down the sting of his words with it. The silence stretches between us for the remainder of the flight. When we arrive in Naples, the warm air hits me as soon as we exit the plane. It’s mid-afternoon by the time we get through customs and into our awaiting vehicle.

  “Welcome to my home, Eden.” Alessio points his head towards my window. I follow his urging eyes to the magnificent view of Naples coastline. Weaving along the high cliffs, overlooking the deep blue sea, I take in the cultural scene before me with absolute awe. It’s a stunning mixture of historic architecture and modern arts. Mopeds zip in and out of traffic on the narrow-cobbled streets. Markets brimmed with the villages produce, bars, and cafes in the little alleyways, and they all overflow with tourists and locals alike. It’s such a beautiful old city. Charming and rich in its layers of history.

  “Have you ever been here before?” Alessio asks me.

  “I have been to Rome, but not traveled as far as Naples,” I reply, not taking my eyes off the sweeping views. “It’s simply stunning.” I put my window down and inhale the fresh air, aromas of coffee, food, and the sea mix together to create the most amazing smell. Feeling the breeze hit my face, I close my eyes and smile, being at peace for the first time in a very long time.

  “This is Costiera Amalfitana. The Amalfi Coastline.” He points ahead of us as another dramatically perched port town comes into view. “That is Sorento ahead, where my house is.” For some reason, his Italian accent is so much thicker, more predominant now that he is back in his homeland. “The name Sorento comes from the Greek word for a siren. Back in ancient Greek times, the legendary odyssey of Ulysses sailed by. He managed to overcome the dangerous lure of the seductive sirens, then went on to open up the area to be colonized.”

  I turn to look at Alessio. His passion for his homeland is evident in the way he talks about it. His commentary is almost lyrical, romancing me to the land. Like he is the siren luring me into the destruction ahead by the sweetness of his song.

  Clinging to the vertical terrain, we turn off the road and enter through a green moss tunnel. On the other side, a large garage door slowly opens, revealing a car bay with a half a dozen or so cars parked. Two men dressed in matching black shirts and cargo pants exit a small structure set into the garage. Their protective vest and guns not only display their masculinity but their position as Alessio’s security.