The Billionaire's Island Romance (The Romero Brothers, Book 3.5) (4 page)

“Sorry, miss,” the hotel clerk said
apologetically. “It’s your father. He’s upset again. He’s in the hotel lobby.”

“Oh, no!” Arianna grabbed her keys off the
counter. “I’ll be right down.”

“What is it?” Christian came in from the
balcony, a look of concern on his face.

“It’s nothing. Just something I have to
handle.”

“Is your father all right? I overhead him
telling you something’s up with him.”

Arianna hesitated at first. “Um…
It
’s okay.
Really, Christian.
Listen, we can catch up later, okay?”

“I’m coming with you.” Christian’s voice
was stern. His tone had an air of finality to it. Dare she try to persuade him
to leave her be now? The truth was
,
she could really
do with a bit of support, especially if her father was having one of
his…moments again.

“Okay,” she finally complied. Arianna swallowed
a hard lump in her throat.

*
   
*
   
*

Arianna wasn’t prepared for the scene in
the hotel lobby. Her sandals made a soft sound as she hurried across the marble
floors of the grand lobby. Her father was at the front desk arguing with one of
the clerks.

“Dad, what’s wrong?” Arianna asked,
breathless, as she approached the desk clerk.

“Nothing. Nothing. I just wanted to know
why your mother was given the wrong lunch tray. She hates seafood.”

Arianna’s heart sank. She felt her heart
crushing in her chest. Christian stood by her. She felt as if she could melt
into his arms. She needed support. “But, Dad, it has nothing to do with the
front desk clerk.”

“It has everything to do with her.” Her old
man turned to her. His lips were pinched. “Your mother is allergic to
shellfish.” He was clearly distressed over the situation.

“I know,” she said quietly.

“So why did she get shellfish? Are they
trying to kill her?”

“Dad, I’m sure it was a simple, honest
mistake. I will take care of it, okay? I’ll speak with the head chef. Louise,
is Frank in charge today?” Arianna turned to the desk clerk.

“Yes, ma’am. Should I call him?”

“No. I will speak with him later. I’ll go
to the kitchen myself.”

Louise smiled slightly and nodded. “Yes,
ma’am.”

“Oh, hello there. Christian, right?” Mr.
Duponte turned to Christian, extending his hand.

“Yes, sir. We meet again.”

“Yes, we do. I’ve been asking Arianna here
about you. Her mother and I have been asking about you actually. You didn’t
even get a chance to meet my wife yet, did you?”

“Not yet, sir. No.” Christian looked
uncomfortable for a moment. Arianna drew in a deep breath and closed her eyes
momentarily before opening them again. Christian had seen her father on several
occasions, briefly, but not her mother. In fact, her father had invited them to
dinner but that was when Arianna decided it was time to call it quits. She just
didn’t want Christian to know everything…yet.

“Why don’t you join us now?
For lunch.
It’s,” Mr. Duponte said, glancing at his watch, “quarter
to twelve. We can have lunch early. We live on the second floor. We also have a
cottage over by the west side. It’s all part of the hotel, you know.”

“I know,” Christian said with
a warmth
befalling his expression. It appeared that
Christian understood that her father was…a bit moody at times, even forgetful.
Christian seemed quite good about the situation. Arianna was ever so watchful,
especially of her father. She’d always been protective in regards to her
parents, but Christian seemed okay in dealing with her father’s severe mood
swings. Her dad was in his sixties. Her parents had her in
their
forties after years of trying. Her mother had just turned forty when Arianna
was born. It had been a miracle for her.

“Listen, Dad. We can all get together some
other time. Not now.”

“Aren’t you going to come and see if your mother’s
alright?”

“Yes. I’ll be there soon. Did she eat any
of the fish?”

“No. Thank God I was there.” He shook his
head, tears in his eyes.

Arianna had to always keep in mind that her
father was elderly. He’d suffered with a bout of dementia at one point in his
life, but things got better after that. Then…her parents went on a trip to
Europe on some Mediterranean island. It all went down hill after that. Things
were never the same again.

“Well, I’m going to go back to the room to
make sure she’s okay,” her father said.

“Okay, Dad.”

“Your father’s looking a little lost these
days. Everything okay, dear niece?” A tall, heavy-set man wearing a black
shirt, black shorts, and shades walked up to her. She hadn’t noticed that he
was sitting in the lobby when she went to see her dad. His face lacked empathy.
His voice was cold and bitter.

Shivers ran down her spine and not the good
kind, either.

“Uncle Ned,” she said in a low voice. “I
didn’t see you there. When did you arrive?”

“Oh, I flew in this morning. You know me.
I’m always here every month to ensure things are running smoothly. You know how
upset I can get when things are not running well.”

Arianna said nothing. That was not the
reason he was here.

“Is everything okay?” Christian turned to
her, noticing her rigid body language.

“Oh, you have a handsome friend here,” he
said, his lips curled in disgust. His voice was laced with sarcasm. “And you
are?”

“Someone who’s concerned about the way
you’re talking to Arianna.”

“Oh, dear. What have we here? A
protective
friend?” Uncle Ned arched a
brow. He gave Christian the once-over, eyeing him up and down.

“It’s okay, Christian. Uncle Ned was just
leaving.”

“Oh, but I just got here,” he said
sarcastically. His speech was slightly slurred. Had he been drinking again at
this time of the day? “I’m going to enjoy my stay for the next week or so. Who
knows, I may hang around longer.” Ned then turned to look around the grand
lobby. “You know, I’ve always thought this place could do with a new coat of
paint.” His lips were turned up in disgust as he grabbed his jacket and bag and
weaved his way towards the elevator.

“Trouble maker,” Arianna whispered under
her breath. For as long as she could remember, her uncle had always been
intoxicated, obnoxious and bitter. Bitter about anything and everything. She
tried to warm up to him on many occasions, but to no avail. He had threatened
her and lashed out at her in the past when she tried to defend her father in
his presence. He had a personal vendetta against her dad, his younger brother.
A sibling rivalry that ran so deep and dark it literally tore apart the family.

“And why is this guy here? Don’t tell me it’s
because you share some DNA?”

“No. I just…He’s entitled to stay here
whenever he wants.”

“Arianna, why do I get the feeling there’s
so much more to this?”

“It’s okay, Christian. Listen, I’ve got to
get things prepared for your cousin’s wedding. I mean, I have to oversee the
shipment coming in and then stock the placeholders,” she said nervously as she
scanned some notes on her clipboard. Her fingers trembled.

Christian took the clipboard from Arianna and
laid it on the desk. He then reached over and lifted her hand to his lips and
kissed her skin, sending a pleasing tingle inside her belly. He pulled her
close to him and hugged her. She could feel his energy and his support.

“Thank you,” she murmured, looking into his
dark, sexy eyes.

“For what?” Christian grinned.

“For just being you. For everything.”

“That’s what I’m here for. Now, what’s up
with dear old Uncle Ned?”

“Oh, he’s quite a character,” Arianna said,
opening up to him little by little. Her heart thumped erratically in her chest.
Her mind still whirled in a daze as to how much she should reveal to Christian
about her family and their darkest secrets.

“So, your uncle wants to ruin your life,
too?” Christian said later that afternoon. He was seated on the private patio
overlooking the pool opposite Arianna. He’d convinced her to unwind after a challenging
day at work.

“Yeah. He has this terrible gambling
addiction. My dad never really got along with him.”

“I see.”

“He’s had a few businesses in the past,
under different names.”

“Different names?”

“Yeah. I mean, he would open up different
kinds of ‘fast money-making’
businesses
as he would
call them. He started harassing us and threatening to take the hotel when his
businesses went bust and his gambling debts increased. Of course we’d helped
him out a bit in the past but…we stopped. We told him he needed to get help. We
don’t owe him anything but he still tries to…” she hesitated for a moment.

“Wait a minute. Did you say he was trying
to take the hotel away from you?”

“Yeah,” she sighed, her voice drifting.

“How could he do that?”

“Easy. My grandfather bought and owned this
place back in the day. Well, when his wife, my grandmother, died after
committing suicide-”

“Oh, God. I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It’s okay. Anyway, when she died, he
decided he was going to leave this hotel to his older son, Ned.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. But as you know, my father ended up
taking over the place instead. Ned’s gambling addiction revealed itself early on,
and I guess Granddad thought it best to hand it over to his youngest son
instead. So Ned really got nothing.”

“So if your grandfather willed the place to
your dad, what’s the problem? There’s no contesting the will.”

“Oh, well. Yeah. There’s this
little…stipulation. A clause that says Ned can take ownership if Dad…”

“If your dad does what?” Christian delved
further.

Arianna drew in a deep breath. She closed
her eyes and tried to squeeze out the pain. She couldn’t tell him. Not now. No.
She didn’t want to spoil the moment.

“Listen, let’s change the subject. How have
you been, Christian, really?”

“Missing you like crazy.” He leaned over
and kissed her gently.

“Mmm. I’ve been missing you, too. How has
business been going?” Just then, his cell phone rang. Christian excused himself
to answer it. “Yeah.” He listened for a while before he spoke. “Yeah. Good.
Just look into that for me. I need to find out all I can about this guy.”

“What are you doing?” Arianna asked, her
heart beating heavy and hard in her chest. She had an idea what that call might
be about knowing Christian. Knowing how the Romero men were so connected, and
so feared.

“It’s nothing to worry your pretty little
head about,” he dismissed her, nuzzling her neck.

“Christian, I need to know.”

“Listen, I don’t appreciate anyone making
idle threats against my girl.”

“But…Christian.”

What was she going to tell him? From day
one her uncle made threats and hurled snide remarks against her father. And God
knew what kind of shady characters from his gambling world her uncle knew. What
if he’d paid someone to try to bump off her father … or her? All Christian
wanted to do was to protect her. It was who the Romero men were. Everyone who
knew about the Romeros was well aware of their behavior.

She blew out a breath.

“What were you going to say?” Christian
asked.

“Nothing. I can handle things on my own.”

“Really now?” He grinned.

“Yes. Really.”

“Sometimes, Arianna, it’s okay to get a
little help from someone who cares deeply about you. Remember that. You’re a
good girl and a fine woman and from what I’ve just seen with my own eyes from
your uncle, I’m not sure I can say the same about him.” Christian looked deeply
into her eyes and Arianna shivered with delight. An intense desire burned in
her veins for him. Oh, when would she get the chance to have him all to herself
again?

“I’ll try to remember that, Christian.” Arianna
smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck as he lowered his lips to hers
again to sweetly reclaim them.

“Oh, God, Christian. I want you so badly.”

“Mmm,” he growled passionately into her
neck, sucking on her warm flesh. “I want you, too, baby.”

“Oh, but I have to get the theme night
stuff set up. I have to make sure the stage is set.”

“The stage is set right here, baby,” he
moaned.

“Seriously,” Arianna giggled as he
continued to nuzzle her. His lips trailed over her earlobes and she thought she
was going to go insane with carnal pleasure. Oh, she loved the way her body
heated up and butterflies exploded in her belly when he did that. It was
amazing, the least likely sexual parts of the body. When he’d first kissed her
ears, she trembled with delight. He’d caressed her nipples simultaneously and
brought such pleasure she’d never known could possibly exist. Every inch of her
body had been teased, pleasured and caressed sexually by Christian. She
couldn’t wait until later to have him all to herself. Again.