Her Venice Affair (The Albury Affairs) (16 page)

Allan opened the door. “Exactly why I do that, Junior.”

“I won’t let you take what is mine!” he spit out
angrily.

“What? The house? You can keep—”

Anthony rounded the desk like a charging bull. “Fuck
that house! The hotels are mine and I’ll be damned if I let an American son of
a bitch take it from me!”

Allan maintained his façade of calm. Anthony wouldn’t
be the first angry owner he’d had to face down.

“And what exactly can you do to stop me?”

Anthony’s lips curved in a sneer. “Your pretty little
black girl might just end up in all the places she visited in our beautiful
country. Well, she would have to be in pieces to be in all those places at the
same time.”

Allan felt his body shake with rage. Did this little
shit just threaten Riana, to his face?

He cackled, stepping back and far away from Allan.
“Does that mean I have your attention now?”

Allan didn’t answer. He was too angry to speak.

Anthony
tsked
. “The high and
mighty
Signore
Sinclair left
speechless by a stupid Italian idiot like me. How the mighty have fallen. I’m
not so stupid now am I? You have a day to decide between
Casa
Italiano
and that delicious little
doll. It would be a shame to see such beauty wasted.”

Allan wanted to charge him and rip his head clear off
his shoulders. How dare he threaten Riana! But his mind wouldn’t let his body
move. With slime like him, he needed to be dealt with in such a way that would
leave him with no way of retaliation. Allan was going to strip him bare of
everything he had.

Allan marched out, and pulled his cell out of his
pocket, and dialed for Vittorio, his lawyer. “I want a bodyguard for Riana. One
who won’t bat an eyelash about killing a man.”

“Sinclair, has something happened to her?” Vittorio’s
apprehensive voice responded.

“No, and I’m going to make damn sure that it doesn’t.”

He hung up and took the elevator up to their suite,
taking the short time to try and calm his temper. God, the thought of Riana
getting hurt because of him…it made his chest ache.

He got off the elevator when it stopped and quickly
walked to the door. He stopped when he spotted a huge man dressed in black
standing by it.

Was he one of Anthony’s men? Oh God, Riana! Was she all
right?

“Who the hell are you?” Allan barked his fists
clenched tightly at his sides.

“I’m Von. Dante Vittorio sent me.”

Allan relaxed. “Did he tell you what I need?”

He nodded. “Kill anyone who poses a threat to
Signorina
Albury
.”

The giant didn’t even bat an eyelash when he answered.
Good. He was exactly what Allan needed.

Allan slotted his key card in the door. “I’ll
introduce you to Riana. Don’t let her out of your sight for even a second, do
you understand?”

“
Si, Signore
.”

Allan walked in to laughing and female chattering.
Riana was seated in the living room speaking to a woman with purple hair that
matched her lips. Who the hell was she?

“Allan!” she started, jumping off the couch. “Come
meet
Guliana
.”

Guliana
…the
stylist. He let go of the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. After
Anthony’s threat, he was suspicious of everyone.

“Hello,
Guliana
.”

“
Ciao, Signore
Sinclair,” she responded standing up.

Allan took Riana’s arms and pulled her to him so that
he could hold her. Yup. Anthony’s threat had rattled him.

“Riana, this is Von. He’s going to be your bodyguard.
You are not to go anywhere without him, understand?”

Her brow creased in question. “Allan…” she started,
staring hard at him.

He knew it was the right thing to tell her about
Anthony’s threat but he just couldn’t scare her like that. He wanted her to
enjoy the rest of her trip without fear.

Taking his silence as him not wanting to answer, she
nodded. “All right, I’ll do as you say.”

He kissed her. “Thank you. Why don’t you go get ready?
I need to go down and meet my lawyer before dinner.”

He could tell that she was worried and she wanted to
say something but she bit her lower lip instead and nodded. He gave her one
last kiss before he left. Von followed him, opting to keep guard outside the
suite.

Allan headed for the elevator. He was going to wait
for Vittorio and the moment he arrived, they were going straight to Mr.
Torino’s office. The sooner the contracts were signed, the sooner he’d start
his plan on crippling Anthony.

The bastard would rue the moment he dared to threaten
Riana. Allan was going to make sure of it.

* * * *

Riana kept the water running as she tried to throw up
quietly. She thought she’d escaped it when she didn’t get sick that morning.

Why call it morning sickness if it hit you any time of
the day?

There was a knock on the door followed by a loud, “
Signorina
Albury
, are you fine?”
Guliana
,
her stylist and makeup artist for the night sounded worried.

Before she could respond, she felt something come up.
She retched what looked like water and the knock on the door grew to a banging.

“
Signorina
, I should call the
Signore
, yes?”

“No!” Riana yelled out. She flushed the toilet and
lowered the cover before she sat on it. At least she didn’t feel drained and
weak like when she was on the yacht.

She placed her hand over her belly. “Why are you doing
this to me? I’m housing you inside me for nine months.”

“
Signorina
?”

Riana groaned. “I’m coming out,
Guliana
!”

Riana stood up, and the room swayed around her. She
sat back down, and placed her head between her knees. “Maybe calling Allan
isn’t such a bad idea.”

The pounding on the door began again and immediately
stopped. It was quiet for a while before she heard voices—like a man and a
woman screaming at each other in Italian.

She recognized
Guliana’s
voice and the other one she was sure belonged to her bodyguard. What was his
name…Von, Van?

She couldn’t think clearly. She sat up, pressing her
hands over her eyes just in case the room swayed again.

Allan had left the bodyguard with her when he went to
meet up with his lawyer and Mr. Torino right after his meeting with Junior.
Allan had mentioned that Anthony had a proposition to discuss with him, without
his father being present. Riana thought Allan was being paranoid when he left
the giant at the door of their suite but she didn’t argue. He had that guarded
look on his face that only increased the uneasiness she felt after brunch.
Something was up.

“
Signorina
, are you away from the door?”

Riana wasn’t sure if she responded; she was just
thinking how good their English was and sounded really cool with the accent.

She jumped when the door was forced in and the giant
Von…yes, his name was Von she remembered now, came in and crouched next to her.
Allan would have to pay for the door to be fixed right after he questioned her
as to why it had to be broken in the first place. She would try to lie, and of
course he wouldn’t believe her, and then he’d get angry and they would quarrel
over it…

 
Riana sighed
rubbing her temples. She was too tired to think about that right now. She
needed to sleep, nice uninterrupted sleep for a few hours.

“
Signorina
, are you well?”

She nodded. “Just tired. How long before dinner?”

“Two hours,
Signorina
,”
Guliana
responded.

Riana groaned. That didn’t give her enough time to
rest and get ready. She’d just take one of those morning sickness pills the
doctor gave her and hope for the best.

Two hours later, she was primed and her stomach settled.
The pill worked like a miracle.

Guliana
stood before her, her hands clasped at her chest as she admired her work. “You
look
magnifico
,
Signorina
.
Just
bella
.”

Riana turned to the mirror and admired herself.
Guliana
was right—she looked amazing in the ivory halter
gown held up with thin straps that crossed at her back. It exposed her entire
back right to the small of her back. As if that wasn’t enough exposure, the
slit ran right to her lower thigh and had a folded dip at the front that
exposed just enough cleavage. It wouldn’t have exposed any if her boobs hadn’t
grown a size bigger.

Thanks, kid!

She didn’t wear any jewelry except for the yellow
diamond wristlet on one arm and a thick gold armlet on her other arm pushed up
close to her elbow. Her hair was straightened and pinned to the side with a
beautiful butterfly clip and it all cascaded to the side with large curls at
the bottom.

She kept the same earthy makeup and to make it up to
Guliana
for curbing her creativity when it came to makeup,
she allowed the fake long eyelashes. She matched it all with a black clutch
bag, a black shawl, and black, velvet peep-toe heels.

She looked like she deserved a role in
Gold Finger
or in the
Austin Powers
movie next to
Beyonce
. She looked hot in ivory and gold!

Riana smiled. “Thank you,
Guliana
.”

“
Prego
.” Then she sighed making Riana laugh. She held up her
hand. “First, we experiment for
Signore
Sinclair’s reaction, yes?”

“Okay, but where is he? Shouldn’t he have come up to
change by now?”

Guliana
waved off her concern and moved to the living room. “He changed while I made
you even more beautiful. He says he had to speak to
Signore
Torino again so he apologizes for leaving you behind but
Von is to escort you downstairs.”

Riana followed the excited woman behind. She was so
anxious to show off her masterpiece she left her behind in the room.

Guliana
turned around with her hands held up. “
Pronto
?”

Riana chuckled. “Yes, I’m ready.”

She opened the door and announced proudly, “The
Signorina
is
ready Von.”

Von sighed impatiently and scuttled into the suite
only to stop dead when he saw Riana, his mouth hanging open.
Guliana
stepped forward and pushed his jaw up to shut his
mouth.

“Geez, did I look that bad before?” Riana joked—well,
half joked. His reaction seemed a little over the top and it also shocked
Riana.

“
Ah
…” he
started only to stop and quickly turn to the door. “
Signore
must be waiting.”

“
Oookay
.” Riana picked up
her shawl and clutch bag and kissed
Guliana
goodbye.

They walked silently to the elevator, Von following
behind her. She couldn’t shake the feeling he was staring at her ass. She
turned her head to catch him jerking up his pinking face. Riana chuckled and
turned back around. Yup, he was ass watching.

The journey down and to the dining room was quiet. She
wasn’t used to bodyguards, but she was sure she didn’t like how silent they
were. That’s probably why she hadn’t noticed them before.

She turned around to face Von and caught him staring
at her ass again. “
Gratzie
,
Von,” she said laughingly.

He turned a dark shade of pink and nodded. She turned
to leave when he stopped her. “
Signorina
?”

“Yes, Von?”

“You are very beautiful. I understand why
Signore
Sinclair would need protection
for you.”

Riana bit her lower lip to keep from laughing as
Von’s
eyes darted everywhere but at her chest.
The poor man.
“
Gratzie
Von.”

If he reacted like this, Allan was bound to react like
a horny teenager as well…or a possessive Neanderthal, especially around Anthony—and
she already knew how
he
would react.

 
Suddenly, the
dress didn’t seem like a good idea. But she was already dressed and the stares
she was receiving as she walked to where Allan and Mr. Torino stood close to
the bar added a little pep to her step. The men leered and the women glared.
When would she ever get such a responsive audience ever again? In a few months,
she would be wadding around with a belly that might dwarf her size.