For Angelo (Full-Length Standalone Italian Billionaire Romance) (15 page)

“Day staff?” she echoed.

Julieta nodded. “The night staff starts at six in the evening.”

“I s-see.” The unwanted reminder of Angelo’s wealth made her grimace.
 

“As for me, I’ve been instructed to serve as your personal assistant—”

“But I don’t need—”

Julieta was visibly alarmed. “Don’t tell him that.
Please.
He’s doubled my wages just so I can be your nanny.”

“But—”

“If it’s not me, it would be someone else. You have to know how much he needs to feel in control, right? So if it’s not me, he’s going to pick someone else and you wouldn’t want that because…”Julieta smiled smugly at her. “I’m the
poorest
among his staff.”

Lane couldn’t help laughing at Julieta’s proud declaration.

“It’s true. You can compare my bank account to everyone else’s and you’ll see. I’m
dirt poor,
and that’s supposed to make you feel more relaxed with me—” Julieta clapped her hands over her mouth. “
Dio mio
,” she groaned. “I did it again, didn’t I?”

Lane couldn’t stop laughing. “It’s okay.”

Julieta’s pretty face broke into a smile. “You forgive me?”

She nodded. “And you’re right, I’ll be most comfortable with you.”

Julieta nodded in satisfaction. “I thought so. That’s why I knew he’d be willing to pay me so much.” The evil grin on Julieta’s face made Lane laugh again.

Following a quick shower, Julieta took her to the kitchen, saying, “I thought you’d feel more comfortable here, rather than in the dining room where those jerks—” She turned pale beneath her tan. “I did it again, didn’t I?”

Lane shook her head.
 

But Julieta didn’t appear convinced this time, and her tone was filled with dismay as she apologized, “
Mi dispiace molto.”

“It’s really okay,” Lane said honestly. “I don’t usually have panic attacks like last night. I promise.” She hesitated. “If it’s okay, what exactly did Angelo tell you and the staff about me?”

“That you suffer from a trauma in the past which causes you to be afraid or anxious around wealthy people and rich-looking places…” Julieta hesitated. “Like this house?”

Lane slowly nodded. “That pretty much sums it up.”

“You truly didn’t know Signor V was loaded?”

“No.”

“You didn’t Google him? Or even search for him on Facebook?”

“I try to use the Internet as little as possible. I mean, I know it’s just likely to show me stuff about rich people—”

“And instead of dying of envy like normal folks, all that jazz only makes you want to puke,” Julieta finished.

“I wouldn’t, err, put it in that way but…”

Julieta beamed. “You’re so cute.
Really.
Have I told you that?”

“About seven times in the past hour,” Lane said, laughing.

The kitchen was empty when they reached it, which Julieta explained to her was another precaution. “Signor V wanted me to check how comfortable you’d be first with other people—”

“Oh, but I’m okay now, I promise. I don’t want to disrupt anyone from their work so please, it’s okay to call them back.”

“You’re sure?”

At her nod, Julieta made a call using the intercom and a few minutes later, Angelo’s entire kitchen staff returned. There were about ten of them, and they greeted her with wary smiles, relaxing only when Lane smiled back at them cheerfully.

The chef took charge, introducing himself and everyone else.

When it was her turn, Lane said awkwardly, “I’m, umm, Lane Petersen. Thanks for being so welcoming, and I’m so sorry if I ended up causing any delay in your work.”

The chef, Felicio, shook his head. “
Figurati.
It’s no problem. We will be more than happy to have you enjoy your meal in the kitchen if this pleases you”

“It does,” she assured him.

They went to work then, and her eyes widened when she saw the bulk of food they were tasked to prepare. There were dozens of boxes and bags of ingredients, and they quickly filled up the kitchen’s vast counters.

Seeing the questioning look in Lane’s eyes, Julieta volunteered, “It’s for tonight’s party.” She paused then said uneasily, “And please tell me you at least know about the parties, or Angelo’s really going to murder me.”

“I do,” Lane answered quickly, seeing the genuine worry in the other girl’s face. “He’s told me enough about it, but I didn’t realize his party would have so many guests.” She colored. “I mean, I didn’t know there were that many…”

“People like Signor V?”

She gave Julieta a small nod.

Julieta snorted. “Then you must have led a very sheltered life.”

Lane’s lips twisted. “Actually, far from it.” But now, she was beginning to realize that the darker side of life took on different forms. She might have been raised in bars and clubs, but all of them had been in the country, where folks were simple and their vices had been equally simple.

In those places, both prostitutes and clients would think sadism and masochism a crime and a sin.

As she finished her breakfast in silence, the staff eventually forgot about her presence and began to openly gossip about the guests and their antics. She listened and struggled to conceal her shock at what they were saying.
 

When she had thought of Angelo as a fallen angel, she had never imagined that he had fallen this much into the darkness.

But now that she knew…what then?

****

The first thing Angelo heard was laughter coming from the basement, which had been redecorated to serve as a venue for his parties. He descended the stairs silently, and as he walked farther down the hallway, he heard his Lane’s distinct voice asking eagerly, “Then what happened?”

He frowned. What was she doing here? He had specifically instructed Julieta to keep her entertained while the staff prepared for tonight’s event. He quickened his steps, and when he reached the doorway, he had to pause.

Lane, Julieta, and other female members of his staff were seated in a semi-circle on the carpet, chatting and laughing while they arranged the flowers that would later on serve as table centerpieces.
 

For one moment, Angelo simply allowed himself to gaze at her leisurely. In the past months, he had not allowed himself this privilege at all, thinking that it would only make him more obsessed with someone who already belonged to someone else.

But now that she was his, living under his roof—

He let his eyes travel over her slowly. Her caramel brown hair shone under the bright incandescent lights, and her curves were wonderfully evident despite the hideous outfit she wore, a white, flapper-styled blouse that made her look like a walking advertisement for wedding cakes.

Her eyes were shining with laughter, her face radiant as she listened with rapt attention to whatever it was the bodyguards telling her. She wasn’t just beautiful. More than that, she looked…
happy,
and it was a far cry from how she had looked like last night.

Fico’s voice suddenly rose in volume as he said, “And you know what the boss did?”

Angelo raised a brow.

Julieta, having heard the story already, simply shook her head as she waited for the punch line.
Lane’s going to be shocked when she finds out just how immoral Angelo can be,
she thought absently as she finished tying a strip of black lace around the flowers. She looked up, intending to ask one of the guards to hand her a vase, and that was when she saw the tall, still figure by the doorway.

Oh shit.

She heard Umberto argue, “Let me tell the
signorina
how it happened. I’m better at describing—”

Not wanting the older man to get into trouble, Julieta cleared her throat loudly and said, “Welcome back, Signor V!”

There was a second of stunned silence before Angelo’s fifty-strong staff hurriedly assumed their proper positions. The women scrambled to their feet while the bodyguards snapped to attention. Fico and Umberto were pale-faced and they exchanged worried looks with each other, both of them hoping that the boss hadn’t heard anything that could get them fired.

Angelo’s unexpectedly early return was a pleasant surprise for Lane, and as she quickly came to her feet as well, she tried to think of something cute and flirty to say. The butterflies in her stomach made it hard for her to think though, and the fact that she could barely hear herself over the loud, fast beat of her heart wasn’t helping.

Should she say ‘I miss you?’
She mentally shook her head. Too cheesy, she’d have died of embarrassment before she could finish saying it.

‘What took you so long?’
She wrinkled her nose. Too aggressive, her tongue would likely trip all over itself with those words.

She looked at Angelo, hoping for inspiration, and his silvery eyes immediately captured hers.

Oh.

She forgot about what she wanted to do or say, was only capable of staring at him. Her fallen angel was so beautiful—

She saw him smirk, almost as if he had heard her thoughts, and Lane reddened.
Knowing him
, she thought faintly,
he probably did
.
 

She watched him nod and smile occasionally as his staff greeted him, but then she noticed how everyone else was acting around Angelo, and her brows furrowed. It was so…
strange.
 

“Buon pomeriggio,”
everyone was saying over and over. They had greeted her good afternoon, too, when she and Julieta had joined them, and they had been all smiles while talking to her.

But now—

With the exception of Julieta, who only smiled beatifically at her employer, everyone else was stoic-faced and stiffly formal. It was a complete about-face, not at all like the staff that had welcomed her with warmth and good-natured ribbing.

Their nervousness communicated itself to her, and by the time Angelo reached her side, Lane’s happiness at seeing him was long gone. Instead, she was anxious and fidgety, no longer able to see him as her fallen angel.
 

“Hello,
tesoro
.” Angelo expected his Lane to surprise him by saying something outrageous, but instead she mumbled incoherently, her gaze fixed firmly on the floor. He looked at her thoughtfully.

And then he said, “Fico, Umberto,
un momento, per favore.
”

Lane cringed at the command.
Oh no.
Had Angelo heard them earlier? Were they going to be punished because she had pleaded them to tell her stories about their employer?

Head still bowed, she was only able to see Fico and Umberto’s shoes as they came to Angelo’s side.

Angelo took his wallet out. He counted all the bills he had inside it in full view, and everyone gasped, thinking that their employer was about to give the bodyguards their severance pay.

Oh, gosh.
Lane cringed even more, having seen the same thing as well.
I need to tell him that they shouldn’t be blamed,
she realized. And she would do this, as soon as she could make herself forget that Angelo Valencia was an extremely rich man.

“As you can see, this is all I have in here,” Angelo was murmuring, and her heart dropped to her stomach when she saw him hand most of the bills to Umberto.

Lane whitened.

“Please split it between the two of you.”

Fico and Umberto started to protest and apologize at the same time, but their voices were easily drowned out by someone’s cry.

“No!”

It was Lane, of course.

She had a look of horror on her face, and Angelo was almost unable to suppress his smile. Taking a moment to rein his amusement in, he asked levelly,
“Cosa c’e?” What is it?
 

Lane was thrown slightly off track by Angelo’s words. “I…” Her mouth opened and closed. “I don’t know what that means.” She shook her head, saying hastily, “But that doesn’t matter. What’s important is…” Still unable to meet his gaze, she took a deep breath and said in a rush, “You can’t terminate their employment for their perceived transgression.”