Page 36 of Dark Masquerade
It was with great relief, after seven tests, that she found she wasn’t pregnant after all. She sat in the bathroom of the small coffee house and sighed. So why was she so irritable and exhausted?
I need to get away. But, as she laid her head back against cool tile of the bathroom, she knew she had to take her chance to find out more about Aldo. He would not take it well when she broke things off with him, and she had no doubt that he could ruin her career with one phone call. So she needed a backup plan. If Aldo was corrupt, she needed to find out before she left him.
But there was pull in her—a growing need. She wanted to see Indio again.Of course,she did. She didn’t care if he yelled at her, but she needed to see his face, his beautiful face, again.
Oh, how I love you.Elli sighed. She knew what she wanted now, and no one was going to stop her fighting for him. She and Indio were meant to be together. She knew that with every cell in her body.
She was still thinking about Indio when she returned to Aldo’s villa that night to find him excited and almost manic. “Did you forget, darling? The party?”
Her hand flew to her mouth. “Oh, god, I did, I’m sorry. I’ll go get changed.”
Aldo smiled and kissed her mouth. “Good girl. We have about a half hour.”
Elli quickly showered, shoving her already-clean hair under a shower cap to save time. She wore the lilac dress she had worn a few months ago. It weirdly made her feel close to Indio—a small victory, perhaps, but it made her feel better.
Aldo smiled at her. “You look beautiful, darling. Shall we?”
They left the apartment and were driven by Aldo’s car service to the party. It was only when they entered the main ballroom that Elli’s heart began to beat faster and her stomach clenched in dismay. This wasn’t a party of their actual friends …it was the masked people from the orgy. Elli looked at Aldo, her distress evident. “I thought you said you only met once a year.”
Aldo’s smile was triumphant. “Usually, we do. This year, we thought we’d have a reunion party, as it’s five years since we began the club.”
Oh god, no …Elli turned to go, but Aldo grabbed her wrist. “Come on, Elli, you had a great time before. Let’s just enjoy this.” He cupped her cheek in his hands. “Lately, I feel you drifting away from me and I thought this could bring us together again.”
“By having other men fuck me?” she said incredulously, and his face changed and grew angry.
“Perhaps if one of these men were Indio Navaro, you wouldn’t object?”
Something made her snap back, “Perhaps not,” but she instantly regretted it, as Aldo grabbed her wrist and hauled her into a private room. This was getting out of hand.
“Please don’t make me angry,” Aldo said. “You’re behaving like a child.”
“Because I don’t want to get fucked by strangers? Take me home, Aldo. Now.”
His smile was humorless. “No.”
Elli stared at him, her anger not dissipating one iota. “Fine. Then you can watch me fuck every man in that room, but you don’t get to touch me. At all. How’sthat?”
She stalked out of the room, but Aldo stopped her. “Wait, Elli …”
For a second, she thought he was going to apologize, but instead, he smiled coldly. “You forgot your mask.”
He handed her the same dark red mask she’d worn before. Elli put it on and didn’t look at him again as she went out into the hallway, slamming the door behind her. She ran quickly down the hallway, away from the party, wanting to cry, but not being able to get tears out. She hunkered down in a dark alcove and breathed deep lungfuls of air into her.
Then she felt a hand on her hair, stroking it, and flinched away.Please go away.But the person didn’t leave, but merely removed their hand and stood quietly in the darkness, waiting. Finally, she looked up at the man in shadow who was comforting her and her heart raced. He was wearing a lilac mask and his dark curls were wild about his head. He put his finger to his lips and pulled her to her feet and into his arms. His lips were soft against hers, tender and loving, and then he swept her up into his arms and carried her to a bedroom upstairs. He locked the door behind them and laid her on the bed.
Elli’s body was on fire as he covered her body with his, pressing his lips to hers, and she pushed the mask from his face, wanting to see his beautiful eyes.
Indio smiled down at her. “Hello, my ElliBella.”
She did cry then, out of sheer happiness. Indio kissed each one of her tears away. “Don’t cry, my love.”
“I can’t believe you’re here,” she whispered, touching his face as if she couldn’t believe he was real.
“I’m here,il amore mia. I’m sorry about what happened the last time I saw you. I didn’t want to hurt you.”
She half laughed, half sobbed. “I don’t care as long as you’re here now. Indio …I love you so very much.”
“I love you, Elli. I have always,alwaysloved you …” and he kissed her again, this time with such passion her head whirled. Elli clung to him.
