Merger: Takeover Duet #2 Read online

  Stefano smiles and turns toward Tara. “Who said I’m leading her on? Your friend is quite striking.”

  Tara waves Lauren off. “Loosen up, Lauren. We’re just having some fun. Live a little and stop taking everything so damn seriously.”

  “Can I talk to you in private?” Lauren motions to the side with her head.

  Tara climbs to her feet without a word and heads far enough away from the blanket not to be overheard. Lauren follows with her arms down at her sides like a woman possessed.

  “I’m sorry if I ruined the weekend.” Stefano swirls the wine around in his glass, watching the liquid as it moves. “I’m just enjoying myself, and so is Tara.”

  “Do not mess up my relationship by playing with her best friend’s head,” I warn him with an icy stare.

  “Give me a little credit, will you?”

  I probably should be warning him about Tara because if anyone can “handle” Stefano, it’s her. Based on everything Lauren has told me, Tara could make it up the ranks of Stefano’s organization with her attitude and nearly deadly stilettos.

  I glance toward the ladies, who are speaking very quietly, but their hands are waving wildly in the air. Tara’s not taking an ounce of Lauren’s shit, laying into her. Lauren kicks at the sand near her feet and looks guilty.

  “I’m going to give you this one chance to redeem yourself. If you ever want to be a part of my life going forward, you’ll do the right thing.”

  “I’m a man of honor.”

  I laugh and shake my head because honor never enters into his vocabulary when it comes to pussy. Stefano is ruthless in his pursuit of women and the pleasures of the flesh.

  Tara hugs Lauren, whispering in her ear, and Lauren laughs. Whatever they said to each other, I hope the mood turns lighter. The last thing I want is for it to ruin our weekend that was supposed to be relaxing.

  “All better?” Stefano asks as Tara steps onto the blanket.

  He holds out his hand, helping her down, and she bats her eyelashes, not seeming to be fazed by anything she and Lauren said to each other. “We’re good. Just needed a heart-to-heart.”

  I look at Lauren as she sits down next to me. She gives me a genuine smile, and I hope we’ve turned a corner or else I’ll be shipping Stefano off to the mainland tomorrow.

  Chapter Eighteen

  LAUREN

  Antonio hasn’t let me out of bed since my eyes opened. Not even to pour myself a cup of much-needed coffee. He pulled me back into his arms and mumbled the word relaxation before he drifted back to sleep.

  I’ve been staring at the coffeepot for over an hour, listening to Stefano and Tara laughing on the wraparound deck while I am trapped underneath Antonio’s weight.

  I try to wriggle free, but it’s no use. Antonio’s too heavy.

  “Don’t go,” he groans and pulls me tighter against his body.

  “Coffee.” It’s the only word I can muster, not able to form complete sentences without caffeine in my system.

  His palm sweeps over my breast and sends shock waves through my system. I can’t believe my body isn’t numb after the night we had, from both drinking too much and the sexathon after we returned to the main house, leaving Stefano and Tara on the beach.

  “I have something better than coffee.” He grinds his hard cock against my leg, and I close my eyes, relishing the feel of him against me.

  I try to push him away as the dull pain between my legs intensifies, increasing in severity at the mere thought of one more orgasm. “I’m too sore right now.”

  He props himself up next to me and slings his arm back across my chest. “Are you going to be able to relax today with them here?” His head dips toward the patio where they’re still laughing.

  “Yeah.” I smile up at him.

  When Tara pulled me to the side, she read me the riot act. She reminded me about Vinny, a man she dated last year who wasn’t on the up-and-up. After Tara fell head over heels for the bastard, she almost got herself killed leaving a club on his arm. One of his enemies decided to empty the clip of his gun inside both of them, but he somehow missed after being tackled to the ground by Vinny’s security. After that, Tara ended things with him, but not before she caused a little bloodshed of her own and told him to lose her number.

  Tara’s probably the strongest person I know. Any one of Beyoncé’s songs could be about Tara and her fierceness. She puts up with no one and nothing, taking no shit from the people she chooses to have in her life. It’s the only reason I can stomach her hanging around with Stefano this weekend. She assured me that even if she does have sex with him, the things that happen on this island will stay on this island. She said it was like Vegas and I needed to calm down and treat her like an adult instead of my child.

  She’s right.

  It isn’t my job to protect her, and I probably should be protecting Stefano from her because he doesn’t understand how deadly her right hook is or her high heel.

  “I think the weekend will be good for both of them,” I say because how could it be any worse.

  They’re both consenting adults. Stefano is a manwhore, but Tara isn’t Mother Teresa either. The woman could probably go notch for notch with Stefano Forte.

  “Good.” Antonio grins and finally frees me from his weight. “Let’s grab a cup and check out the weather. I think we need to take the jet skis out.”

  I fling myself out of the bed like a pole vaulter and run to the coffeepot, forgetting that I’m not dressed. Halfway across the living room, I freeze and cover my breasts with one hand and my pussy with the other. Way to go, genius. The thought of both coffee and jet skis made me lose my mind and forget the fact that I had a captive audience only feet away.

  “Good morning,” Stefano says, turning around as I dance from one side to the other.

  “Shit,” I mumble.

  Tara’s laughing, almost hysterical at the fact that I’m naked as the day I was born. I’m dying a little inside because their eyes are on me. While she’s the one to show off her skin, basically her breasts because they’re great and she could give two shits what anyone thinks, I’ve always been the buttoned-up one who barely flashes my collarbone in public.

  “Turn around,” I screech and back up, knowing I can’t turn around or I’ll show them my very white, sunless ass. “Do it now.”

  Tara and Stefano glance at each other and laugh before facing across the sand to the ocean. When I turn, Antonio’s laughing softly and wrapping the sheet around his waist so he doesn’t suffer the same fate.

  “You could’ve warned me,” I tell him as he walks toward me with enough of the sheet hanging out that I can cover myself too.

  “You took off so fast, I didn’t get a chance.”

  “Well, it’s coffee.” I don’t need to say anything else. It’s my lifeblood, and I can’t really form a coherent thought until I’ve had at least a cup. That is even more evident after my little nudie show this morning.

  I hide behind the sheet and reach for my bathing suit, figuring I can skip a dress today. The suit covers way more than my hand does, so everyone’s already seen what I have to offer. Plus, we’re going to hit the water as soon as I have enough coffee in my system that I don’t end up killing myself or Antonio. After I get dressed and make a beeline for the coffeepot, Antonio wanders into the bathroom and leaves me alone with Tara and Stefano.

  “Sleep well?” I ask as I step onto the deck and take a giant whiff of the piping hot coffee that smells like magic in a mug.

  “I haven’t slept that well in ages.” Tara blushes, peering at Stefano under her eyelashes.

  “Tara snores,” Stefano adds. “Very loudly.”

  I take the seat next to Tara and pull my knees up to my chest as I grip the coffee mug like it’s the most precious thing in the world. “I’m well acquainted with Tara’s sleeping while everyone else is awake.”

  Stefano waves his hand and winks at Tara. “I don’t sleep very much anyway. The bed was a little slice of heaven.”
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  “Oh, I know. Wasn’t it divine?”

  That answers that question. I sip my coffee and try not to think about the fact that Stefano and Tara are not only sharing a bed, but probably ended their night much the same way Antonio and I did.

  “Morning,” Antonio says as he makes a grand entrance, wearing nothing but his swimming trunks and a smile.

  “It’s still so weird that there’s two of you.” Tara’s eyes move to Antonio and back to Stefano. “I don’t think I’d like someone walking around wearing my face.”

  “I don’t know any other way,” Stefano tells her and grabs their two coffee cups from the table that’s between them. “More?”

  “Please.” Tara bats her eyelashes and is laying it on mighty thick.

  “I’ll go get the jet skis ready.” Antonio kisses my cheek. “I know a little ride around the ocean will help wake you up.”

  I turn my head and kiss his lips before he walks away. Tara’s gawking at me as we sit alone on the deck, and I can feel it even though I’m not looking at her. “What?” I ask, staring into my coffee mug and avoiding turning in her direction.

  “You’re a lucky girl.”

  “What?” I can’t help but face her now. “What on God’s green earth are you talking about?”

  “They’re identical in every way, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  Tara waggles her eyebrows and smiles so wide I can see every tooth in her mouth.

  “Don’t say it.”

  “He’s packing quite the package.”

  “Ugh,” I groan and close my eyes. “I didn’t want to know if you’d slept with Stefano.”

  “I’m proud of you,” she says.

  “For what?” I grumble against the rim of the cup before taking a giant gulp because I will need a refill before we hit the water.

  “For getting the guy with the biggest pecker I’ve ever seen and keeping him.”

  I roll my eyes. “Thanks,” I tell her just as Stefano walks back onto the deck.

  I use his entrance as my cue to head into the house and down another cup of coffee. Besides it being weird that another man walks around with the same face as my boyfriend, it’s even weirder that my best friend now knows exactly what he’s working with.

  ANTONIO

  I collapse on the shore, covered in sand as I shield my eyes from the sun. “Those girls play hard.”

  After two hours on the jet ski, I needed a break, and my brother followed me in. Tara and Lauren decided to stay out on the water to give us a little brother time together.

  Stefano sits at my side, watching Tara and Lauren speed through the water, jumping waves and screaming loudly. “They’re quite a pair.”

  “What are you doing here?”

  My brother doesn’t vacation and hasn’t joined me for a trip in years. When he called, to say I was surprised would be an understatement. But now he’s getting comfortable with Tara, and I’m wondering if I made a huge mistake by letting him join us.

  “I needed to get away for a few days.”

  “Authorities after you?”

  It’s a logical question given his line of work, and I hate that my brother didn’t choose a path like mine. He could’ve headed a major corporation without a problem. The man has balls of steel as well as a mind that never turns off.

  “No one is after me. I just needed to get away from it all. The life is wearing on me.”

  “Most people in your line of work don’t live long enough for anything to wear on them.”

  He lies back and spreads his arms wide. “I think it’s time for me to make a change before I end up six feet underground in an unmarked grave.”

  I sit up, surprised by his statement. “You’re really going to quit?”

  Stefano has always defended his lifestyle. But no matter how he tried to spin it, I knew exactly what he did. Movies like The Godfather tried to romanticize the Italian Mafia, especially for people outside of Italy, but it wasn’t as pretty or as sexy as the movie studio portrayed.

  “I think it’s time to join the ranks of law-abiding citizens.”

  “Do they just let you out?”

  I know it doesn’t work that way. Not even in the movies does someone just hang up their hat and walk off into the sunset. Stefano knows enough that he could bring down the entire organization.

  “No, but I found a way to make it happen.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “Nothing. I have enough money to never work again.”

  I lie back down, close my eyes, and smile. “I can’t imagine you doing nothing, but it’s better than what you’ve been doing your entire life.”

  “I’ll find ways to entertain myself.” He laughs softly.

  I turn my head, blocking my eyes from the sun overhead. “And Tara?”

  He looks at me, and I almost see a glimmer of humanity in his expression. “She’s fun. I like her.”

  “Don’t get too comfy,” I warn.

  “Antonio, my life is in Italy and not America. She and I would never work, but that doesn’t mean we can’t indulge a little while we’re here. I promise I’m being a complete gentleman.”

  With Stefano, there’s no such thing as being a gentleman, but I don’t argue the point. I refuse to spend the weekend fighting or worrying about what two grown people are doing in private. I have enough on my hands with Lauren and making sure she’s happy and relaxing as I’d hoped.

  “You and Lauren seem to be doing well.”

  “We are.”

  We’re better than well, but I don’t get into details with Stefano. He’s always been on a need-to-know basis, and right now, he doesn’t need to know everything when it comes to my life with Lauren.

  “Are you moving to America? Mamma says you’re rarely home anymore.”

  “I don’t know. The merger has kept me in the States longer than I had planned. And being with Lauren doesn’t make it easy for me to get away, but once everything settles down…”

  “She’s okay with moving to Italy?” he asks before I can finish the sentence.

  “I don’t know. We haven’t discussed it. The relationship is still new, Stefano. We’re taking baby steps.”

  “You’ve been in American too long. You’re starting to talk like one. What man says baby steps?”

  “Shut up with your Italian macho bravado bullshit. Wait until you fall in love, and we’ll see how long it is before you’re on your knees, begging her for a taste.”

  “I never beg.”

  “Mm-hm,” I mumble.

  I hope I can live long enough to see the day that someone makes Stefano beg and puts him in his place.

  Chapter Nineteen

  LAUREN

  “Ouch.” Tara turns and glares at Stefano as they sit on the edge of the deck. “Lighter.”

  Tara’s skin color matches the lobster we just ate for dinner. I told her to wear sunscreen, but being the stubborn person she is, she didn’t even bother. She gave me a line about her Italian ancestry and how the sun never caused her skin to burn. But this is the Caribbean, and even a pure-blooded Italian can burn.

  “When I’m done, can you get my back?” Stefano asks her as he rubs the aloe on her shoulders, but this time much softer.

  “Finish me, and I’ll take care of you.”

  Stefano and Tara are a matching pair with their red skin and bullheaded attitudes. But they seem to work in the oddest way. Tara already told me that Stefano has tried to get the upper hand, trying to control every aspect of their time together. She quickly put him in his place and taught him how American women handle themselves. Surprisingly, she hasn’t scared him away, and he’s still panting after her like a little puppy dog.

  He leans over her back but is careful not to touch her skin as he places his mouth next to her ear. “God, that sounds so sexy coming from your lips.”

  Antonio peeks over the counter and smiles at me from inside the house. “Who wants something to drink?”

  “Vodka.” I poi
nt at myself and decide I’m not going to spend our last night on the island stone-cold sober watching Stefano and Tara make goo-goo eyes at each other.

  “Let’s have lemon drops,” Tara says over her shoulder, giving me a devilish smile.

  Shit. I haven’t done lemon drop shots since college, and the last time, I vowed never to do them again. I’ve spent so many years devoted to my work and not having fun with friends while they barhopped and slept around that I quickly make up my mind.

  “I’m in.”

  “What is this lemon drop you speak of?” Stefano asks as he pours more aloe into his palm.

  “It’s sin in a glass, baby.” Tara smiles at Stefano before shooting me a wink.

  “Sounds perfect.”

  “Let’s play a drinking game too.”

  I glance upward, already regretting my call for vodka.

  “What’s that?”

  The cultural differences between our Italian companions aren’t really that noticeable until times like this. I’m sure Antonio was exposed to drinking games in college because frat boys are the same all over the world. But Stefano…he’s an entirely different case. I can’t imagine the Mafioso sit around coming up with childish reasons to down liquor in quantities that could be deadly.

  “Well.” Tara taps her chin and pauses. “It’s where you play a game, and then you have to drink.”

  “Americans are so strange,” Stefano says with a small laugh. “Why do you need a reason to drink?”

  “Come on, No-No. Don’t be a party pooper.”

  I almost fall off my chair when she calls him No-No. I cover my mouth and hide my laughter as she continues.

  “It’ll be fun. I promise. That is, unless you’re scared you are going to lose.”

  She threw down the gauntlet. A man like Stefano doesn’t like smack talk, especially when it comes from a woman. She knew exactly what she was doing when she spoke those words. They feed off each other, and for some odd reason, I find it amusing.

  Antonio sits down next to me with a bottle of vodka in his hand as he stares at Stefano and Tara. “This is going to be trouble.”