Page 27 of Dark Masquerade
“Completely. But he’s also haunted, I think, by his past. There was another woman, a woman he loved. I’ve never known the whole story, but I think she died.”
“Yvetta.” Elli’s heart was sinking and she closed her eyes. God, it couldn’t be true that Indio would kill another person, a woman …but the hatred she had seen in his eyes that night at the party …
“Elli? Are you okay?”
Maceo leaned forward as she opened her eyes, his handsome face creased with concern, and Elli nodded.
“Maceo …was there something going on between Indio and Aldo at one time? A business deal, or a friendship perhaps?” It was a question she desperately needed an answer to, while simultaneously dreading it.
Maceo looked uncomfortable. “Elli, you should know that I don’t know Aldo all that well. He sought me out about a year ago, wanting some paintings for his house and also to commission an artist for a painting. We got to talking and he mentioned his fiancée had been murdered, and that he knew Ori had been attacked a few years ago, and did I have any advice? I just told him that it never gets easier, losing someone you love. Thankfully, Ori survived, but the man who attacked her killed three of my friends. Aldo seemed a little …lost. When we saw him with you, he looked like a new man.” He smiled at her and Elli felt the tension lift a little. “Elli, all I can tell you is to follow your heart, whether it be Indio or Aldo. Don’t be afraid to get hurt because it’ll happen anyway.”
He got up and went to his desk, scribbling something down on a piece of paper. “Indio will probably kill me for this, but here.” He handed it to Elli. It was an address out in the countryside. “It’s where Indio is hiding out. He still designs and builds houses, except now he doesn’t have to advertise his business. Go to him. Talk. Be happy.”
Elli stared at the address, thoughts tumbling through her, before she got to her feet. “Thank you, Maceo. I mean it. And good luck with the baby.”
Maceo grinned. “Thank you. I can’t wait to see him or her. I’ll let you know when the baby arrives.”
They exchanged a goodbye kiss on the cheek and Ellie departed, feeling lighter as she walked home from the gallery through the streets and over the bridges, breathing in the smells of the canals, the street food, and the people. She would go and see Indio and finally have it out with him—seek closure so she could give herself entirely to Aldo, as he deserved.
There was a small hope inside her that Indio would beg her to stay with him, to love him, and Elli knew, in her heart, she would go.
No, stop it. You’re going to him for closure and that’s it. Aldo loves you and you love him.Elli drew in a deep breath and when she got back to her apartment, she was happy to see Aldo waiting for her outside. He smiled at her, but it didn’t quite cover the hurt in his eyes.
“I haven’t seen you for days,” he said lightly. “So, I thought I’d come to you. I was about to text you to see if you were nearby.”
Elli took his hand and led him upstairs. She made him sit with her on her couch. “Aldo …I haven’t been honest with you and I’m sorry. Please know this first …I love you. You are the best man for me in this world.”
“Why do I sense a ‘but?’” Aldo’s eyes were wary even though he stroked her cheek with his hand.
“But,” she smiled to soften the blow. “For years now, there has been someone who I have been …preoccupied with. My brother’s best friend. As you know, I saw him at the party, and since then, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about ‘what might have been.' I need closure. I need closure so that I can finally put him behind me and give myself entirely to you.”
Aldo was studying her. “Why haven’t you told me this before?”
Elli chewed her lip. “Right now, I can’t tell you. I suppose I never thought this would be an issue. I’m going to see him, to talk things over, to put it to rest.”
Aldo was silent for a long moment, his big body tense. He looked at her. “Elli, you have to do what you think is right. Go see him, seek the closure. Then come back and tell me if you want me. Whatever happens when you see him stays there.Whateverhappens.”
Eli was a little shocked. “Aldo, I’m not going to do anything but talk to him.”
He looked at her a little sadly. “Are you sure?”
No. “Of course I am.” She leaned forward and kissed him, trying to ease some of that tension; it was a little frightening, seeing his huge, muscled body so tense. Elli realized he could easily break her in two without even trying.
Why would you think that right now?She shook her head and wrapped her arms around Aldo’s neck. “Take me to bed, Aldo. Let me show you how much you mean to me.”
He pulled her roughly into his arms, kissing her fiercely, and rolling her under him on the couch. He pushed up her skirt and ripped her panties away, Elli gasping as the cotton snapped against her skin. Aldo was rock-hard as she freed his cock from his pants, and then he was driving his cock into her, hard and mercilessly. Elli gasped at the violence of it, but was turned on by his lust. She clung to him as he fucked her, ramming his hips against hers. then pinning her hands above her head. His eyes seemed to darken from hazel-green to dark brown as they bore into hers, his face almost angry.
Elli arched her back as she came, and Aldo withdrew, moving down her body, biting at her breasts and belly, then clamping to her sex and teasing her clit until she was almost weeping with desire. Then his cock was back inside her, punishing her, slamming into her with such force the couch was moving. Finally, Aldo came hard, groaning her name again and again and pumping thick, creamy semen deep into her cunt.
“God, I love you. I love you,” he said, burying his face in her neck. “Don’t ever leave me. Please don’t leave me …if you do, I’ll …god, I love you, Elli, Elli,Elli…”
Eli held him in her arms, shocked at the emotion he was displaying—the vulnerability. How could she think of Indio when this man in her arms loved her and needed her so entirely?
And yet …when she fell asleep that night, it was Indio poised above her, his cock driving her toward orgasm, his face masked. And when she came, he stabbed her again and again before tearing off his mask and telling her loved her as he watched her die. This time, when Elli woke crying from the nightmare, she stayed very silent, making sure not to wake Aldo.
The nightmare was still fresh in her mind as she drove the rental car out to Indio’s farmhouse. She parked way down the hill and walked the rest of the way, not wanting to give away her presence just yet. As she approached the farmhouse, a little ramshackle but rustic and charming nevertheless, she heard hammering out in one of the workshops to the side of the main building.
Nervously, she smoothed the skirt of her lilac dress, worn deliberately because she knew it was Indio’s favorite color, then walked to the door of the workshop. It was open slightly and she peeked in.
