Charmed (8 page)

Adam spent the night with Ella in the cozy bed, snuggled together with her back pressed against his chest. The peaceful breathing of her sleep was a comfort to him. She was safe, at least for the moment. And his mother’s home was secure. He’d seen to that with the number of guards he’d posted, plus all the security cameras and the alarm system. At least for the night, Ella was safe.

But having her in Rio presented a new problem for him. Keeping her out of harm’s way wouldn’t be that easy. It would have worked so much better if she’d stayed in Newport, off the radar. He had to admit he was relieved to see her. Living apart was torture. He’d missed her so much it felt like he was dying inside,
the weeks they were separated.

It would be worth it, though, if she were safe. That meant everything to him. He’d gladly endure the pain of separation if it meant the evil that pervaded his family would never touch her. Now, that option wasn’t available. Having her in his arms again, there was no way he could send her back. Leaving her once took every ounce of strength. Doing it again wouldn’t be possible.

He’d just have to figure it out. The issue with his father would have to be resolved. Not that he hadn’t intended to do that already, hadn’t worked every day toward that end. Ella’s arrival in Rio gave him all the more reason to see it resolved fast, as if he hadn’t had enough reason already. Seeing the effect the situation had on his mother, and even his sister, ripped his heart apart. It had to end.

One thing in his favor was that his father, Claudio, didn’t know about Ella—at least not yet. Adam decided he’d make the most of that advantage by keeping Ella out of sight. He’d keep the knowledge about his relationship with her hidden for as long as he could. Maybe it would be long enough. It had to be.

*****

Breakfast was a family affair. The kitchen was bustling with activity when Ella entered, freshly showered. She wore shorts and a T-shirt, expecting nice weather. A bit bleary-eyed, her hair still wet, she stepped into the warmth of the room. Serena, dressed in a floral dress and low-heeled shoes, was chatting away in Italian with Fiorella. Ella was taken with her classic look: dark eyes, thick dark hair contrasted with pale skin. Noticing Ella’s entry, she glanced over and smiled, but never stopped talking.

The smell of baked bread and strong coffee wafted over to Ella and she said, “Yum, it smells great in here.”

“Ella, good morning. Did you sleep well?” Fiorella asked. She wore trim white pants, a short lace top, and sandals, and even in the casual wear looked classy. Ella was impressed by her easy beauty.

“I did, actually. That bed is very comfortable. And fortunately your brother doesn’t snore, so I was dead to the world.”

“Hey,” Adam called, coming around the corner and entering the kitchen behind Ella. “I do not snore.”

“I said does
not
snore, so don’t get offended,” she said, admiring Adam in baby-blue board shorts and a white cotton shirt. No matter what he wore, he was handsome and devastatingly sexy.

Right behind him, another man about Adam’s age stepped in, and the women broke out in an effusive greeting. Fiorella ran up to hug him. “Adrian.” To Ella he looked like a movie star: dark wavy hair, thick sexy eyebrows, piercing gray eyes, and devastatingly handsome. Not quite as tall as Adam, he still towered over Fiorella, and he exuded charm; definitely an Italian heartthrob.

“Ella, this is our dear friend, Adrian Tomoni,” Adam announced.

Adrian stepped over and kissed Ella on both cheeks, making her blush. “Ciao, Ella,” he said with a wide grin, and of course he had perfect white teeth to match the rest of the picture.

“Ciao,” Ella said, a bit flustered by the genuine show of affection.

“Would you like something?” Fiorella asked him, and his reply was to hold his thumb and index finger in front of his lips about two inches apart. She nodded and grabbed a small espr
esso cup and filled it for him.

It occurred to Ella that the hand gestures she’d seen Adam use weren’t necessarily unique to him. The whole family, Adrian included, moved their hands expressively when talking. Amazing to watch, it was fun; kind of like a sign language
that accompanied their speech.

Serena, standing next to the table, lifted her right hand, pointed her fingertips toward her mouth, and bending them back and forth a few times. Adrian took his seat at the table, and even Ella recognized the “let’s eat” signal, and sat when Adam pulled her chair out for her. The intimate family setting was nearly too much for Ella. Growing up, her family never ate together. Once in a while she’d had a meal with Kaiyla’s family, but even they weren’t as open, friendly, and talkative as Adam’s family.

The table was laden with plenty of food, including sliced papaya, crusty bread with butter, fluffy scrambled eggs, and ham. Everyone poured cream in their coffee, just how Ella liked hers. The taste of the coffee was exquisite, and was like instant pep in a cup.

“This is the best coffee I’ve ever had,” she announced.

Fiorella grinned. “How do you like the eggs?”

“Amazing, what do you put in them? There’s some flavor I don’t recognize.”

“Ah, my secret recipe. I add coconut milk, makes them fluffy and tasty.”

With Adam’s sister in charge of meals, there was no chance of having anything less than gourmet presentations. Ella had only arrived the day before, and already she was crazy about Brazilian food, especially the way Fiorella made it. Both Adrian and Adam ate heartily, refilling their plates a second time. At one point, Adrian tugged his right earlobe and said, “Delicious,” leaving Ella to wonder how pulling on your ear came to mean
that the food tasted delicious.

All through the meal, the family talked and laughed, their hands flying around, accenting their words. Ella watched in amazement, never venturing to say anything, a bit reserved around such energetic discussions. Adrian and Adam both spoke fluent English, but frequently fell into speaking in Italian, so Ella only understood what they were saying about half of the time. She enjoyed it nonetheless. Seeing Adam so animated and happy was a new experience. He was home with his family, and being himself.

In the warm family circle, any danger seemed remote. The relaxed atmosphere made it difficult to conceive that Adam had some evil to deal with, yet she knew he did and resolved to make him tell her about it as soon as they were alone. The evening before hadn’t been the right time. She suppressed a grin, thinking of the night they’d spent together. She’d awakened more than once to Adam’s sensual caresses, and responded in kind.

She choked on her coffee when the attention suddenly shifted to her.

“So, you are with him,” Adrian said, more as statement than a question.

Ella was caught off guard. “Um, yes. I came to visit.” Lame, but that was all that came to mind.

Adrian gently tugged on the lower lid of his left eye and said, “Be careful.” Then he grinned.

“Hey,” Adam said. “Don’t scare her. I’ve been on my best behavior.”

“Yes, you…but what about—”

Fiorella cut him off. “Okay, let’s clean up. Don’t you have a soccer game to go to?”

“Oh, yes, foot-tee-bol,” Adrian said, standing and carrying his dishes to the sink. “Well, Ella, I will be seeing you again I’m sure.” He hugged Serena, Ella, and then Fiorella, before vanishing as quickly as he’d arrived.

“Soccer, or football as Adrian calls it, is his true love,” Fiorella said, smiling at Ella. “I don’t know how it is in America, but in our country soccer is a childhood tradition, starting as soon as a boy can walk. Boys play in the streets and fields of every city and village, before school and after; sometimes even during.” Fiorella laughed. “It’s a hard mistress to compete with. They don’t discover women until later. Oh, sure, they love them. But soccer you cannot compete with. The fans here are the most fanatical.”

“Well, not me,” Adam stated. “My childhood didn’t include the sport. Now, surfing…you may have something there.”

Ella knew that surfing meant as much to Adam as it did to her, but it wasn’t a sport that separated them. Actually, it was the opposite—it was how they’d met. She missed surfing, having been away from it since her mishap; not because she had any fear of it, no, just because of the trip to Brazil. But now that she had arrived, she’d be able to try out the South American swells. She was looking forward to that.

“Can we go surfing?” she blurted out.

Adam smiled. “Yes, amore mia. We are going surfing. Be sure of that. I will plan a trip for us.”

Things were looking up. A surfing trip would be fantastic, and if they could do that, then things couldn’t be that bad; or so Ella thought.

Once the meal was over, Adam took Ella out to sit on the porch. The calm, pastoral setting with mountains outlining the horizon painted a picture as lovely as any postcard. The tranquility was juxtaposed with the guards, visible among the trees, one even standing at the edge of the lawn.

Ella looked at Adam. “We aren’t safe, are we?”

“Oh, here, we are fairly safe. But I regret having to live in a guarded compound.” The joy drained from Adam’s face.

“When Adrian said ‘what about…’ what was he starting to say?”

Adam looked away and shifted in his seat. “I hoped not to involve you in all this,” he said regretfully. “But there is no choice now.” He reached out and took her hand, lifting it to his lips and kissing it sweetly.

“I am glad you came,” he continued. “I missed you desperately. Yet I would have endured it, if only it meant you were safe. Now…you are here. I’d like to send you back, but it’s possible the damage has already been done. So it would do no good. In fact, it would be worse, as you’d be alone in Newport, possibly in danger there, too. And I wouldn’t be with you to watch out for you.”

“Tell me, Adam. What is wrong? You are right, I’m here now. There’s no going back. Whatever it is, I need to know.”

“You remember, right after we met, when I had to go to Los Angeles for a day?”

“Yes.”

“Well, it was a business trip, but while I was there my attorney contacted me. It was about my father, Claudio. You remember I told you all about him.”

“Yes, I remember.”

“Well, he is crazed. When I went away, he didn’t know where I was. At first, he didn’t care, as he doesn’t care about me—not as a son, anyway. Claudio was wealthy. He’d set up business structures from the time I was a child, and had money flowing into his accounts. All from software that rightfully belonged to me.”

“Why is that bad? I would think that would be good, that he would leave you alone.”

“Yes, if that were still the case, he might. But he is not a smart businessman. No, he thrives on the production of others, like all criminals do. And when those software programs ceased to produce money for him, or he spent faster than the money came in, he sought to bleed more from me.”

“Why wouldn’t the programs keep making money for him, so he will leave you alone?”

“Ah, that’s it right there. The advantage of the programs is that they can be used for profit. But there is a disadvantage.”

“What disadvantage?”

“They must stay current. That is the flaw in the technical field. What is hot today is yesterday’s news tomorrow. In other words, in the business of technology, one must continually update, continually come up with new products, more cutting-edge products.”

“Can’t you do that?”

“Yes, I can. But Claudio cannot. He relies on my ability and always has. So when the programs that had been like a golden egg for him became outdated, he was at a loss. What was he to do?”

“What?”

“I’ll tell you. Steal more from me, that’s what. That’s what he wants to do. Claudio needs some of my new programs. He needs something newer, hotter, to keep profiting. So when he couldn’t find me, he went nuts.

“It was a slow process. Money kept coming in for years, but it gradually dwindled. With so many new technological advances every year, it was inevitable. But he never planned for his future. He’s incapable of it. So he pressured anyone who knew me to tell him where I was.”

“And did they?”

“No, they did not. Only my mother, my sister, and Adrian knew. They would never reveal anything about me to Claudio. All of them were with me, all through my childhood, my adolescence, and early adulthood. They know what Claudio is capable of. They are loyal, loving family, and would never betray my trust.

“Of course, my attorney knew, but my father would know better than to attempt to pry the information from him,” Adam said.

“So what will your father do now that you are here? Now that he’s found you, and wants to take more from you?”

“You mean, what
has
he done?” Adam words drifted off, and Ella waited.

“That part of the story is for later, amore mia. As much as I’d like to stay in this safe haven with you forever. Eventually, we have to venture out. It’s time to go home, to my house. Would you like to see my house?”

Ella nodded, puzzled still about the situation Adam described, but knowing she’d have to wait until he was ready to reveal more. “Yes, I’d love to see your house.”