Shattered Dreams (Boys of Bellerose, #3)(68)
My brows rose. “You guys dated?”
His laughter was relaxed as he shrugged. “I mean, there was one moment, but no. I paid her to share any and all Bellerose information with me.” He winced. “That sounds bad out loud.”
It kind of did. But I was mostly confused. “I don’t understand. You…”
“Paid Brenda to break confidentiality? Yeah. I paid well, too.” He had the self-awareness to look embarrassed at this information.
“But why? That seems kind of masochistic, don’t you think? Keeping tabs on the life you missed out on?”
He shrugged. “I guess. But I was convinced Jace couldn’t—or wouldn’t—look out for his own best interests. After you broke up with him, after we let him think we were in a relationship that he had no part in, he was so fucking hurt. So self-destructive. I worried that someone in the music industry would take advantage of his mental state. So I got copies of contracts and deals and ran them through my own legal team before they were ever presented to the band. She also sent through early recordings of their songs, so… yeah. I know them.”
“I’m so confused,” I admitted, frowning. “Brenda doesn’t seem like the type to let you do her job for her just to make a quick buck. She’s way too girl-boss for that, and genuinely seems to care about the future of Bellerose.”
Angelo winced. “Okay, yes… technically she didn’t only do it for money. There was a heavy amount of, um, pressure applied to make her agree to the deal in those early days. Then over the years she grew to trust my intentions were good and we worked more collaboratively for the good of Bellerose.”
I squinted. “Pressure? Like…”
“I threatened to kill her aging parents if she didn’t agree. Then I used the paper trail of our transactions to keep her locked in after they passed. I never would have actually hurt them but, uh, she believed I would. So… yeah.”
I blinked a couple of times, then nodded. “Yeah okay. Jace really would kill you… and probably fire Brenda, which would be stupid because she seems great despite this shady fucking arrangement you two had. That explains why you guys seemed so friendly.”
“You look like you have something else to ask,” he murmured, taking a sip of his wine.
I gulped my own, finishing it again. “Yeah. I do.” Come on liquid courage, help me out. “Why… Fuck. Okay. Why keep tabs on Jace and not me? After all those years of radio silence, you became this scary stranger in my head. After all the rumors and gossip about the Riccis… that night when I saw you kill that guy in the alleyway, I was genuinely scared. I thought you would kill me too.”
“I know,” he admitted with a sigh. “I fucked up. Those first months after the fire, and after Penelope, I put a PI on you, just to make sure you were safe. But my father found out and threatened your life if I didn’t cut ties. This union with Valentina meant too much to our families; the idea that my new wife would think I was cheating on her was too dangerous. So to keep you safe I had to cut ties. All of them. And I’ve never regretted anything more in my whole fucking life, Bella.”
Emotion choked me, and I reached for my wine. The damn thing was empty, though, so I settled for a shocked, “Wow.”
Our food arrived then, and the conversation shifted once more, thankfully, easing the tension and giving us both a chance to relax and flirt a little. It was a first date but also a continuation of our teenage romance. I was quietly confident that Angelo and I were finally on the right path together.
thirty
BILLIE
With the heavier topics of conversation behind us, and many glasses of wine consumed, things got heated. Our flirting turned to casual touches, and before I knew it, we were making out in the back of a limo like horny teens… which seemed appropriate for us, so I sure as hell wasn’t complaining.
Somehow, I’d ended up in his lap, straddling him on the backseat of the moving vehicle as his tongue tangled with mine like we were made for one another. I moaned against his kiss, grinding down on his hardness and plotting how to get rid of the clothing between us. I desperately wanted to fuck Angel, and the hotel was too damn far away.
“Bella,” he murmured against my lips, his fingers achingly close to my core but not quite there. “We should pause this.”
The fuck did he just say? “Why?” Horny-tipsy me had no finesse.
Angelo’s smile was slow. “Because this time we’re doing this the right way. Dating, falling for each other again, learning more of who we are now.”
It was a bit late for the falling for each other part, but I understood the rest. Even if I didn’t particularly enjoy the cockblocking I’d just received.
My disappointment must have been more than a little obvious on my face, as he chuckled and palmed my cheek with his huge hand. “We have time, Bella. All the time. There’s no need to rush.”
“My vagina disagrees,” I said matter-of-factly, and that just got another slow smile.
He kissed me again, a solid, toe-curling sort of kiss, and then deposited me back into the chair next to him. He kept a possessive hold on my thigh with one hand, while the other traced patterns across my body, so when the limo returned to our hotel and he kissed me goodnight at the door of my room, I was a desperately aching and needy mess.