The Christmas Con: A Novella Read online

  “You need to think outside of the box, Lizzy. If he’s a wise businessman like you’re making him out to be, there’s always a way to work smarter instead of harder.” She giggles. “You can apply that literally to what he does. Get it? Harder?”

  Rolling my eyes, I take another small sip and savor it. We chat a little more about her life and I give her an unopened bottle to take home. Her boyfriend picked her up and now I’m left to my own devices with negative thoughts swirling. What is Luca doing right now? “Don’t do that, Lizzy,” I tell myself. That’s a normal thing though, and I’m not giving myself permission to wonder. Shay is right. I groan and flop down on the white linen sofa in the den and give in. I press the button to call Luca.

  When he slides onto my screen he’s shirtless, walking from a dimly lit room, a fucking set. “Hello you. How are you?” Luca says, smiling when he sees me. “God, I miss you.”

  My stomach flips and I feel like I might be sick. “I’m good. What are you up to?” It’s a casual question people ask. Most times an innocuous answer follows. I swallow hard. “I miss you, too.”

  He closes a door and sits down. He’s in a dressing room. “I’m working.”

  I close my eyes. “As inoffensive as that should be, I’m going to let you go now.”

  “Wait, you just called. I want to talk for a while. I have a few minutes.”

  Swallowing down bile, I say, “If we talk any longer I’m going to start envisioning you working,” I air quote the last word, “and I won’t be able to stop thinking about it, and I won’t be able to sleep because jealousy will eat me alive. I’m not proud of the fact, but this is hard for me.”

  Luca’s gaze goes distant as he mulls my words. “I’m not fucking anyone, Elizabeth. I was marking a scene for the actors. I’m getting ready to fly out, actually. I’m only here because it has a big production budget that I have to oversee.” His eyes narrow. “You don’t have to be jealous. There hasn’t been anyone since you, nor will there be.”

  “Oh,” I remark. “I didn’t know. I just assumed. Now I feel bad.” He’s still walking around with beautiful naked chicks. Baby steps. The first thing I realized when I took over the social media accounts was that Luca wasn’t banging women who have been ridden hard and hung up wet. They are all…stunning. I wonder what their childhoods might have looked like to end up in a profession like this, but then I remember what Luca looks like and it doesn’t take a lot of guesswork to understand. An Italian Prince who is hung like a horse, where do I line up?

  He reads the surprise on my face and his lips curl. “I’m offended you thought I would film without even mentioning it to you.” His phone jostles as he puts on a sweatshirt one-handed. “We’ve complicated things, remember?”

  “Luca, this is your career. You don’t have to answer to me. I knew what you did before I ever fell into bed with you.” I might not have had that much of a choice being wooed in paradise, but I did know.

  He shakes his head. “I told you when we were in Bora Bora that I wanted to rebrand and reconfigure my businesses. I’m slowly working myself out of acting to dealing with behind the scenes decision making.” He pauses. “It’s where I’ve wanted to be for a while. I guess I needed a reason to make the jump into the next phase of life.”

  My heart flutters. “And I’m the reason?”

  His gaze is dark and unfathomable. It sinks into my soul through a damn cell phone screen. “Yes. I can’t wait to see you, Elizabeth. How was today? You’re all moved in now?”

  I smile wider in approval. “It’s amazing, Luca. I can’t wait for you to see it in person. It’s everything I’ve ever wanted.” Going from living with Shay in her small house to this is dreamland status. It’s bigger and nicer than anything I envisioned for myself. “When do you think you’ll be here?”

  He looks away from the phone. “I’m not sure. I’ll be in LA tomorrow. What do you need? Do you have everything you want? Say the word and anything is yours.”

  He’s doing the thing I can’t get used to. The whole giving a shit and caring about my well-being thing, but also trying to buy me everything in the entire world. “Luca,” I chide.

  “I know, okay. I’m just making sure. I’m not trying to smother you or spoil you or all the other things you accuse me of when I offer to… help financially. It’s just the one way I can make your life easier when I can’t be next to you. It’s the one resource I have that’s expendable and never runs dry. It’s what I can give you.”

  I huff. “And what is it I offer you?”

  “Elizabeth, you give me everything by existing. It’s annoying as fuck, but it’s also the truth. You were made to complete my life.”

  I blush from head to toe. “Are you sure you aren’t talking about someone else?” I play coy. “Thank you for saying that. It means a lot. I do wonder though.” Gulping, I ask in a rush, “You’ll miss it? Being on camera with different women all the time. That seems like something any man would get a bit wistful thinking about. I don’t want you to resent what took that away.”

  He shakes his head. “What people outside of the business fail to understand is, the sex is still work. A decade ago it was fun and I could fool myself into believing this is the only lifestyle that would fulfill me. It got old, and I kept going because I was good at it and I got used to it. Brick by brick, I built the production company. The branches of studios, the talent agencies, all of it came and I continued acting because it was expected of me.” He blows out a breath and cracks his neck. “Now I see what I’ve been missing.”

  When he talks like this, it propels me back to Bora Bora. Us naked, tangled in sheets. Him touching my face with that longing gaze and the electrified current passing body to body, back and forth. I could almost taste him falling in love with me. The oxygen shifting around us, melding us into one person. It was a fleeting week, something I couldn’t take with back to the real world. I’m overcome with emotion, something that has never happened before Luca, and my eyes tear up. “Listen, just get over to me as soon as humanly possible, okay? I want you to help me hang Christmas lights outside.” I amend, “I don’t want you to send someone here to do it for me. I want the full-on boyfriend dangling from a ladder, cursing, wearing a flannel shirt, experience. We plug in the lights and drink spiked apple cider and blow a fuse box. Then we blow other more intimate boxes after.”

  Luca’s eyes twinkle and his lips twitch. “I can’t wait to dangle from your house.” Someone calls his last name, his stage last name, and he furrows his brows. “They need me. I’ll call you when I get to the airport. This is going to work out. Trust me.”

  “I have to trust you. That’s the one thing distance has given. The inability to carry on inside something like this without trusting you. I guess I’m relieved that I don’t have to think about you giving other women orgasms. Makes it easier.” I blow out a pent-up breath.

  “You’re beautiful,” Luca says. Then he clicks off the call. Never goodbye. He always tells me I’m beautiful instead. I like it, but I’m also terrified by it. When he says goodbye for real, it’s going to hurt that much worse.

  Chapter Ten

  The lie

  HE’S STANDING ON my front porch wearing a red and black flannel and a pair of worn-out jeans. He has an LV duffle casually thrown over his shoulder. Mouthwatering. I sling open the door and bound into Luca’s arms. His embrace feels cold from being outside in the snow, just from the walk from his car to my door. Santino waves, and I see Kieran in the passenger seat, rolling her window up after she tips her imaginary hat at us. They drive away when I whisk Luca into the house.

  I stand back from him, keeping my hands on his biceps, to get a good look. I’m nodding when he says, “How do I look? Like I dropped out of your Christmas boyfriend fantasy?” His lips twitch as he tries not to laugh. “Not that we have to role-play or anything.”

  “Is this so far from your normal that you’d consider this hotness role-play?” I ask. Luca doesn’t reply, he pulls me to him and
presses his mouth against mine. It’s a soft, probing kiss—testing the time spent separated. I’m immediately intoxicated by his touch.

  Wobbling to one side, Luca steadies me and presses his forehead against mine. “Lightheaded from a kiss? What’s going to happen when I get you naked?”

  I inhale his scent and let myself float in this dreamy, turned-on state. “All bets are off when clothes come off.” I pull him by his hand. “Before we get naked. Let me give you a proper tour. This wouldn’t be possible without you.”

  “You are a well-qualified employee. It had nothing to do with me.” He smirks. “Americans and house tours. You know I’ll eventually see the whole house on my own accord, right? There’s no need to walk me through the rooms.”

  I stick my lower lip out. “And Italians raining on my parade. Come on,” I order, pulling him harder. “You can put your bag down in my bedroom. Where are Santino and Kieran going to stay?” Luca bites my bottom lip and lets it pop back. My core clenches with need. The sex can’t come soon enough.

  “They’ll have Christmas in Manhattan,” he says, looking around curiously. “This really was a great purchase. The neighborhood seemed safe on the drive in.”

  “It is very safe. Lots of families. I’m probably the only single chick in here.”

  “Single?” he growls.

  Leading him into the master, I cover my mouth coquettishly. “It’s so new not being single. Sorry. I meant I’m the only chick living here by herself. Singularly. You know?”

  “Is that the way you want to keep it?” He narrows his eyes. “Living here by yourself?”

  Walking backward, I sit on the edge of the king-sized bed. “I like when you’re here,” I say. “Prefer it even.” His stance is wide and commanding. The sight of him in this space makes my heart knock against my chest.

  Luca extends the arm holding his duffle and sets it on the chair in front of my vanity. “I missed you so fucking much. So much it hurts. I don’t want to leave you again.” He closes the distance between us as I scramble to make room on the bed. He joins me, gaze lighting on my bare shoulder. This was the reason I chose this sweater. Leaning down, he kisses the exposed skin. “I want you to be with me always.”

  My breath lodges in my throat. “That’s a serious request, Bianchi. One I’m not sure you’re ready for. I’m a handful.”

  “I mean it.” Luca drags his lips across my jawline, back and forth. Chill bumps prickle my skin. “Everything about you… I crave.”

  “Won’t you get sick of me if I’m always with you?” I can’t take it anymore—or wait for a reply. Grabbing his face, I kiss him and bring his large body on top of me.

  His eyes flutter closed. “There is no possible way.”

  “Then maybe we can talk about me coming with you on a trip every once in a while.”

  “Can I take a trip inside you right now?” Luca licks his lips.

  I smirk. “I thought you’d never ask.”

  It takes less than a minute for us to be completely naked and all over each other. I can’t kiss him enough, or touch him enough. He puts his hard cock in my hand and my pussy tightens in response. I remind her she needs to do the opposite of that for us to have a good time. Luca slides two fingers inside me while we’re standing in front of the bed. He ends up catching me once more when my legs give out. Being in his presence is bad for my health. “You’re so wet, Elizabeth. Have you missed me, too?” He rubs his fingers against my G-spot.

  I bob my chin up and down. “More than you missed me. Everything about you is so unforgettable, there’s not a second of the day that goes by that I’m not thinking about something to do with you.” I stammer because he’s rubbing my clit too. “It doesn’t help that I’m looking at parts and pieces of your naked body all day for social media either.”

  He shakes his head once to each side. “Not possible, Elizabeth.” Pulling his fingers out of me, he picks me up under my thighs and drives my back into the wall. Reaching between our bodies to line up his cock, he eases it into my waiting slick folds. A breathy moan escapes my lips, and pleasure seeps up my spine and washes over every inch of my skin. I crave his thick dick as much as I do the connection it brings. The warmth. The sensation of being filled by this man. Call it insta-love, call it perfect timing, call it what you will, but being fucked by Luca Bianchi makes me believe in miracles. Not because the orgasm that’s rapidly approaching, because this passion and connection was born from something neither of us expected.

  The tendons inside Luca’s neck strain as he thrusts into me while spreading my ass to seat himself deeper. My head falls back against the wall as my legs tingle seconds before waves of bliss shake my body. I pull my eyes to his gaze and my heart flips sideways. “I love making you feel good,” Luca says, trailing one hand up my arm to hold my jaw and neck. His kiss is possessive as he holds me hostage with his lips. His thrusts turn wild now that he knows I’ve come and it can be all about him.

  The pace slows as his thrusts turn to an onslaught of aggressive lunges—deep. The kiss melts into something more sensual, his tongue twining and flicking mine. The heat envelops my body as he comes in me, a groaning surrender of passionate, frenzied love. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I pull his face to my neck where he continues kissing me.

  “That was overdue,” I sigh. “And fantastic.”

  He slides me off his body and I walk to the master bath. “It was pretty explosive,” Luca admits. “Also, I’m touring your bathroom right now without touring your bathroom.” His smirk is deadly hot. I pull an annoyed face. “Just saying.” He throws his hands up and watches as I sit on the toilet. “That was a huge load. You’re going to be there for a while.”

  “Something you’re proud of?” I quip, licking my lips.

  He shrugs. “It is the longest I’ve gone without sex in… I don’t even remember, so yes, I am sort of proud.”

  I widen my eyes. “Jeez, I forgot about that.” I clear my throat. “Was it hard?”

  “You tell me. Felt pretty hard on my end.” He’s still breathing heavily and the shine of sweat on his chest is liable to get him inside me again… soon.

  Rolling my eyes, I flush and stand. “You know what I mean. Going without. Is it going to be a problem?”

  “Nothing is a problem. I’m in control of myself. I’m not a sex-crazed beast. If anything, I like it. There’s no effort or pressure on me to perform. I get to have the one woman I want. Your pleasure is worth the wait.”

  Luca washes his hands and leans his back against the counter. “There was one thing I wanted to tell you.”

  “Oh?” I ask, leaning my naked body against his. I drop a kiss in between his pecs and flick my gaze up through my lashes to meet his. “Tell me then.” I drop to my knees in front of him, taking his semi-hard cock and laving the head.

  His neck works as he swallows. “Ironically,” he says, wincing. “I marked a scene with a costar and they needed a HQ image of a blow job.” His smile looks more like a cringe. “Literally thirty seconds of her mouth on my… dick.”

  I use my teeth, and pull away to stand. “Ew, Luca.” My heart drops, but I remind myself to be a grown-up about this. “You could have told me before we fucked.”

  “She was clean. It was only for the photo and I didn’t come. I even made myself hard.”

  “Oh my God, do you want a medal or a chest to pin it on for your display of that valiant act?” So much for being a grown-up.

  He looks embarrassed and sorry, but I’m still upset. “I’m happy with my chest muscles. And you are too, so I guess a medal?” Luca is joking, but it doesn’t dull the pang of green envy.

  “You lied.”

  “I didn’t.”

  “You said there hasn’t been a woman since me.”

  He winces. “I haven’t fucked a woman since we met, Elizabeth.”

  Backing away, I take a deep breath. “Semantics. You lied to me and that sucks. You should call Santino and go back to your hotel.”

  “Seri
ously?” He looks shocked. “That’s a little harsh. A photo doesn’t change how I feel about you.”

  I close my eyes. “But maybe it changes how I feel about you. Did you think about that?”

  “Woah.” He visibly shirks away from me, like I’m plagued. “The next thing on my list to tell you was I’m out. Completely finished with traveling to sets and marking scenes, and basically anything to do with the acting side of things. This was my last trip that involved that side of the business.”

  I’m such a stupid asshole. Didn’t Shay just tell me about trust? The ultimate relationship destroyer? Losing him is effortless when I bring my trust issues to the table. Hanging my head, I apologize quietly.

  “Don’t tell me you’re sorry. Tell me how you really feel.” He rounds me to exit the bathroom and grabs his jeans and stabs his legs in. “I’m waiting.”

  “I don’t know how to be in love with someone I have to share with the whole sick, perverted world!” It came out all wrong, and the fury surrounding my word choice is evident in his gaze.

  He nods a few times, full lips pursed. “That’s what you really think about me then? I’m sick in the head? Seems like you enjoy the sick and perverted part of me a fucking lot.”

  Now I’m angry. “Luca!” I shout at his back as he gathers his shirt from the floor. “Look at me. I didn’t mean it that way.”

  He spins and the hurt is evident in his dark, tumultuous eyes.

  “I’m in love with you and I don’t want to share you.”

  “Having my entire heart isn’t enough?” he asks, brows furrowed.

  That stops me in my tracks. “Of course it is.”

  “It wasn’t enough for me, so I changed all the things in my life that had the potential to destroy your heart and mine in the process. When I told you that meeting you changed everything, I meant it. I’m sorry that you can’t respect me as much as I do you. I’m going to call Santino to pick me up.”