Love's Precious Surprise (The women of Landry's Landing and the Fabrizio men)

Love’s Precious Surprise

Chapter One

Antonia Kristine Landry, Toni to her friends and family, had been through a lot in her twenty-two years. After losing her mother when she was younger she was left in the care of an abusive stepfather. A man that was supposed to care for and protect her he’d hurt her in more ways than anyone ever could. If it hadn’t been for London Landry she’d probably still be with that abusive man, or worst he probably would’ve killed her by now.

But fortunately London had rescued her and since then her life has gotten so much better. Not only did she have London and the rest of the Landry sister’s she also has the Fabrizio’s. She has a real family for the first time since her mother died and she couldn’t be happier.

Everything was going just fine in her life well it was until that annoying Daniele Fabrizio showed up and started causing her all kinds of grief. Every time she turned around he was there pushing her buttons and driving her crazy. So what if he was one of the best looking men that she’d ever seen after all he was a Fabrizio man.

Daniele’s soft brown eyes seemed to see right through her at times, that fact alone was disarming to her. His dark brown, wavy hair which he wore in a short crop style looked soft enough to run her fingers through. And his dark naturally tanned complexion made his skin-tone appear even darker than hers, which to her was unusual since she was bi-racial and he was Italian.

Toni couldn’t help noticing that he wasn’t quite as big as the other Fabrizio men but nevertheless his size was still impressive. His slightly muscled but well toned six foot six body always seemed to do crazy things to her senses. She’d never experienced any of the things he made her feel when he was near her.

But thanks to her filthy excuse for a stepfather she was fairly certain she’d never trust any man enough to be intimate with him. So no matter how appealing Daniele was to her nothing could ever become of it. Just the thought of allowing a man to touch her intimately terrified her to the point of full blown tremors.

She has gotten better thanks to her new family, she’s learned to be a strong, and never say quit, fight-til-the-end Landry woman. She’s also learned that the Fabrizio’s were fierce when it comes to protecting their family.

Toni was no longer looking over her shoulder waiting for her stepfather to pounce no she’d be ready for him if he was stupid enough to show up here. He’d find out really fast that she’d learned how to fight back. She couldn’t wait to kick his ass from here to the gates of hell where she knew he had an open invitation. And she’d be more than happy to deliver him to the front doors of the fiery pit.

“
Toni, have you finished proofreading that marketing article? I need to get it to the printers as soon as possible.” Daniele yelled as he walked into the office that they shared.

“
Boy, I know you’re not walking up in here yelling at me, have you lost your damn mind?” Toni yelled back.

“
Sorry about that but Pierce wants me to get it to printers like yesterday.” He said in way of an apology.

“
Then you should’ve given it to me yesterday and not a couple hours ago expecting for me to speed read it while I’m trying to get my own work done, you moron.” She replied sounding irritated.

“
Well if you didn’t want to read it for me you could’ve said so when I asked you, and do you really have to call me names every time I ask you something, it’s been ten months since that stupid article are you going to stay mad at me forever?” He asked gazing down at her as she sat behind her desk glaring up at him through narrowed eyes.

“
Boy you’ve earned every name that you’ve been called, and you should have never added that crap to the article in the first place you big dummy. Now here’s your article stupid, I indicated the changes you need to make before it goes to the printers, can you handle that?” She asked as she passed him the folder containing the article she’d proofread.

“
Thanks Toni you’re the best.” He said as he reached for the folder she was handing him but before he could take it from her hand she hurled at him hitting him in the chest with it.

“
Don’t you ever say that to me again!” Toni yelled as she jumped up from her seat behind the desk glaring at him with her chest heaving.

“
Now what did I do, all I said was…” He began but she interrupted him mid-sentence.

“
Don’t you dare say that again, or I swear I will dive across this desk and strangle you to death.” She shouted angrily.

“
Strangle me for what, I didn’t do anything.” He shouted back.

Moments later London and Gabe walked into their office after hearing all the yelling and shouting.

“
What in the hell is going on in here you can hear the two of you all the way on the other side of the building.” London asked looking from Toni to Daniele.

“
Don’t ask me one minute I was telling her thanks for proofreading my article for me and the next thing I knew she was throwing it at me.” Daniele said sounding confused.

“
Thanking me wasn’t the problem it was what you said after that. I don’t ever want to hear those words again for the rest of my life.” Toni yelled before storming from the room.

London turned to watch her dramatically storm out the door. “That girl has been spending too much time with Asia.”

“
Danny what did you say to her?” Gabe asked with concern.

“
All I said was “
Thanks Toni you’re the best
.” He said repeating what he’d said earlier.

“
Oh no please don’t ever say that to her again. That’s what her stepfather use to say to her every time he drunkenly beat and violated her.

“
What! Damn it I had no idea, I would never say or do anything to hurt Toni, I’d kick my own ass before purposely hurting her. Should I go find her and apologize?” He asked feeling extremely guilty for offending her.

“
No I think you should just let London handle Toni for now, you can apologize later, just give her some time to calm down.” Gabe said as he glanced at his wife before she left the room.

“
I really didn’t mean to do anything to cause Toni any pain.” Daniele said.

“
We know you wouldn’t.” Gabe replied.

“
How could anyone hurt her like that, I wish I could get my hands on that piece of scum for just a couple of hours. First I’d cut his tongue out of his mouth then I’d hang him by his toenails and slowly skin him like a possum then finally I’d douse him in gasoline and set a match to his sorry ass.” Daniele said through tightly clenched teeth.

“
I know Danny, believe me we would all like to get our hands on that creep and when we do he will never be heard from again. You know this family doesn’t let anyone get away with hurting our own, so believe me he’s going to pay.” Gabe said assuring him that the low-life that had hurt Toni so badly would pay for the things he’d done with his worthless life.

“
That’s all well and good you but guys just make sure that I’m in on that when the time comes. I want to make sure he knows that he may have bent her spirit but he didn’t break her will. Because of her new family she’s stronger than ever and she’s loved more than he’ll ever know.” Daniele said with determination in his eyes and conviction in his voice.

“
Don’t worry we won’t leave you out we know how much you care about Toni, just keep being patient with her it’s going to take time for her to trust any man intimately.” Gabe reminded him.

“I know and believe me I understand why she feels the way she does and I’ll wait no matter how long it takes for her to trust me with her heart.” Daniele said with a slight smile.

“Spoken like a real Fabrizio man we know how to care for and love our women.” Gabe replied as he patted him on the shoulder.

London found Toni standing on the patio at the back of the offices looking out over the gardens.

“I know he didn’t and it wasn’t my intention to get so angry but I couldn’t help it hearing Daniele say those words to me made me feel sick to my stomach.” Toni said with unshed tears in her green eyes.

“Why do you think you felt that way? Could it be because you maybe have feelings for Daniele?” London asked sincerely.

“London you know I can’t get involved with a man, there is no way I can trust any man not to hurt me after everything that I’ve been through.” Toni said defensively.

“I know that you’ve been through more than any woman your age should endure in a lifetime. But at some point you’re going to have to learn to trust that not every man is as despicable as your stepfather. And you didn’t answer my question either, do you have feelings for Daniele?” London said as she turned Toni to face her.

“I, I don’t know London, all I do know is that whenever I’m near him I get this quivery feeling in the pit of my stomach. Not only that but my heart starts to race and it gets hard to breathe.” Toni said nervously.

“Whoa, no wonder you’re always so mean to Daniele, it sounds like you have it pretty bad kiddo. Asia was the same way with Luc but eventually he wore her down and she had a few insecurities to deal with of her own. Sometimes all it takes is the right man to help you get to the place you want to be.” London said with an encouraging smile.

“All I’m sure of right now is that I never planned to have these feelings for any man and I definitely don’t like having these feelings for Daniele. It’s hard enough to get rid of him now if he knew that I actually liked him, he’d stick to me like a bug on fly paper. So let’s just keep this between us okay.” Toni said.

“I guess that’s fine for now but I want you to be happy and call me crazy, I think Daniele could be the one to make you happy the way you deserve to be.” London said with a bright smile.

“Yeah well don’t hold your breath sister I just think it’s best for everyone if he never finds out about the effect he has on me.” Toni replied.

“Hey bambina, are you alright?” Gabe asked as he stepped out onto the patio to join Toni and London.

“Yes, I’m fine Gabe now if you’ll both excuse me I need to get back to work. I’ll talk to you guys later.” She said as she left them alone on the patio.

“So dolcezza how is she really?” He asked as he put his arms around London.

“She’ll be okay she just needs some time to sort through things but she’ll be fine.” London said.

“That’s good because Daniele feels really bad for upsetting her. He wanted to apologize but I told him to give her a little time before approaching her.” Gabe said.

“Yeah, that’s probably the smart thing for him to do, give her a little time.” London said as she leaned into him and rested her head on his shoulder.

“And space if he knows what’s good for him, because our Toni has definitely become a true Landry woman, and just as dangerous as the rest of your sisters. So it was also for his safety that I told him to give her some time to calm down.” He said kissing her gently on the temple.

Toni walked into the office she shared with Daniele and was relieved to find that he wasn’t at his desk. She used the time she was alone to think about what London had said. The last thing she wanted to do was acknowledge the feelings she had for Daniele.

Toni had accepted a long time ago that she’d never experience what it was like to be loved by a real man, to be held in the arms of a gentle man, to know what it feels like to be a woman that’s made love to thoroughly and completely. But if she ever had the courage to be with a man then Daniele would definitely be her first and only choice.

She knew that deep down in her heart that she could trust him just by the look into his eyes when he gazed her. It wasn’t lust that she saw in his light brown eyes it was affection and concern. The way he looked at her gave her the strangest sensations Toni could feel her blood heat up as it flowed through her veins and rush straight to the area between her legs.