The Christmas Con: A Novella Read online

  “Does your family own properties in every single destination around the world?”

  Gabby scrolls her phone. “Only the ones worth visiting.”

  “How is Kieran?”

  She looks up from her phone. “She is still alive. Last night Luca put her on our helicopter last night as soon as the weather was clear. She texted him when she got there that he was still alive. She said to thank you for letting him help her.”

  Covering my face with my hands, I hang my head in my lap. “I was awful last night, Gabby. I didn’t even say goodbye to Luca. I was angry. I’m a Grinch!” Funny how most things that need perspective make you feel like shit after the fact. Rather, they make me feel like shit.

  She shrugs. “I get angry a lot and have to say sorry for it. No big deal. Luca isn’t mad, he’s more… worried about you.”

  “What did he tell you?”

  She presses her lips together. She’s about to lie. “Nothing. Only that I had to come kidnap you nicely and bring you here.” The security guard pulls into a small boutique hotel that is gilded with Christmas lights. Corners of the building are snowcapped and it’s utterly breathtaking against the rising sun. There’s an overhang and a roundabout where we stop and a bellboy opens the door. A red carpet rolls out and Gabby slides out on my side and drags me inside, squealing at the top of her lungs. “Lizzy is here! Merry Christmas!” There are bells jingling and the warm scent of sweet pastries and pine. There is an enormous ice sculpture of Santa’s sleigh and all of the reindeer in the foyer.

  I lay a hand on my chest when I see Luca appear at the top of the stairs. He runs down, taking each step gracefully. Rushing forward, I let the tears threatening, fall. There’s no more hiding. “I’m so sorry about last night. About Kieran. About all of it.”

  He cradles my face. “I’m sorry, Elizabeth. Come upstairs with me.” His tone is terse. “I need you.”

  I follow him into a suite that has a fire roaring in an ornate fireplace, and a glorious Christmas tree in the corner, in front of a window with a view of a calm NYC morning. He comes behind me and kisses my neck. I spin and lock my hands around his neck. The chandelier casts a sexy glow in the room. “I love you so much.”

  “Not more than I love you,” he says, bringing his lips down to mine. He twirls my hair in one hand while looking at me longingly. “All I felt was loneliness until I met you.” His breath washes over my face, in a minty pheromone riddled onslaught.

  I gulp. “I didn’t know true loneliness until I met you and had to leave you.”

  He releases me to unbutton his shirt. Closing my eyes, I lean into his bare chest and inhale. “You’ll never be lonely again. Do you hear me?”

  I nod without opening my eyes. He uses a finger to tilt my face up to look at him. “I’m serious.”

  “Okay,” I whisper.

  He presses his nose against mine. “I’d really like to take your clothes off and have my way with you right now. It was a long night.”

  “Same,” I mutter, a grin playing on my mouth. He mirrors the smile and steps out of the rest of his clothes. I have to sit down to take off my boots and tight jeans. There are pillar candles burning on the mantle and I can tell a lot of work went into making this a scene from a Norman Rockwell painting. There’s not a thing I’d change. It’s magic. I know we need to talk about my past, about that Christmas that changed my life years ago, but right now I need him, and I’m okay that’s where we’re starting. The heat from the fire warms the back of my legs and it’s exhilarating being here with him, like this.

  “Come here,” he says, jerking his chin up. I close the gap between us and instead of kissing him like I know he wants, I go low and put his hard cock between my lips. “Ah, so we’ll start there then.” He licks his lips and lets his lashes float closed as I start bobbing and licking. I pull away and let my mouth slurp at his balls and underside of his dick.

  His abs are taut and his whole body is stilled. A quick flick of my gaze up shows me the face of a man in the heat of the moment. His hooded eyes gleam with mischief, with intention. “On the bed now. My turn. Too much more of that and it will be over too quickly.”

  Luca settles his face between my legs and licks and kisses my clit over and over in a sensuous pattern. The scruff on his jaw rubs my thighs and creates a damn frenzy of sensation. I’m about to come, the pressure, like always, too perfect. “I want you to be in me when I come,” I say, panting and arching my back against the soft bed. “Fuck me.”

  The second word is barely out of my mouth before he’s slipping into me, stretching me open and filling me with the jagged sensations of an almost orgasm. One that almost slips by me. He keeps me on the brink. “Like that?” Luca rasps at my ear. “Is that how you want to come?”

  I match his thrusts and tilt my hips to find the right angle. “Just like that,” I breathe. “Luca,” I say his name because I want to. It’s only cliché because most women have never experienced mind-blowing sex with a person they connect to on soul level. “Love you,” I manage to get out. “I love you.”

  He reclaims my lips as response, a fierce attack from a man desperate for this connection as much as sex. He ravishes me and my mouth and I get wrapped up in how wrapped up he is and the orgasm hits in a rush. My flesh prickles as the smoldering flame spreads from my core to the rest of my body. The contented, sated endorphins caress every dark corner in my mind and body. Luca comes then, with a groan, and crushes me in his harried embrace. A dizzying, complacent understanding arises as he pulls out of me and lays next to me. “Colliding with you on the dark web is going down as one of the best instances of kismet there ever was. We’re going to take over the world, you and me.”

  I laugh. “The world is a steep challenge, Mr. Bianchi, but I’ll give it my best shot.”

  “As much as I’d rather stay in this room with you all day, there was a reason I brought you up here.”

  “Are you admitting to using sex to distract me? Or did you just use me for sex?” I playfully swat his chest. “I’d be offended if you didn’t rock my socks off.” His smile is blissed out, one of both relief and love. It’s ridiculously distracting to look at.

  “You weren’t wearing socks, but yeah, there was a little conniving to get you up here with me so I could give you the rest of your Christmas present.”

  Touching my necklace, the only thing I’m currently wearing, I say, “You gave me the most wonder gift I’ve ever received last night.”

  “There’s more.” He rolls over and pulls me up with him.

  I wrinkle my brow. “Is there always more with you?”

  He seems to think about my question as we step into the antique claw-footed bathtub. “There doesn’t have to be. Finally,” he says. “I’ve finally found something that is enough.”

  Blushing, I pile my hair onto my head so it doesn’t get wet. “I hope the spark between us never leaves,” I say. It’s a morose statement, but it’s what drew us this close to begin with. “I’ve never felt it before.”

  He clears his throat. “Bringing this up might be a bad idea right now because it’s Christmas and you have my come running down your leg, but Elizabeth, the man that left you at the altar was an idiot, and he’s also the same man I will spend the rest of my life grateful for.” He touches my face like he does so often. “If that asshole showed up, you wouldn’t be mine.”

  “I was never his like I am yours.” I slide my gaze away from his. “I’m glad I have that to compare to this because Luca,” I say, a tear sliding down my cheek and then mixing with the water. “There is no comparison.”

  We kiss for a little while and almost have sex again because we can’t control ourselves, but something must be pressing because Luca is rushing me into a black dress he purchased and taking me down to the first floor of the hotel using a different staircase than we used coming up. He snagged two Santa hats from a riser on the staircase and spins to face me before sliding one on my head, and then on his. He nods. “Perfect. So much Christmas
fucking charm, it’s undeniable.”

  When he opens a door to a small ballroom decorated very similarly to the suite upstairs, I see everyone. I do mean everyone. My family. His family. Gam Gam has a mimosa in her hand raised in our direction, and my mom is dropping presents underneath the twelve-foot tree in the corner by the fireplace. Presents that she transported from our house. All the kids are running around, buzzing on the sugar from the extraordinary sweets and foods lavishly laid across an enormous table. “What is this?” I lose my breath. “This looks like a scene from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory blended with A Christmas Miracle, and I can hardly stand how perfect it is.”

  “A new Christmas tradition?” he says, lacing his fingers in with mine. “I was hoping we could start our own sort of thing. Your family agreed that this would be a good idea. Next year we can do it at your house if you want. Or back at your parent’s. Whatever you want.”

  His face is red as he surveys the room. “This is beautiful,” I tell him, hugging him against my side. “I can’t believe you went through all of this for me.”

  “Elizabeth, I’d do a lot more than this for you.”

  “But you don’t have to.” I shake my head. “I just want you.”

  “As I want you. Also, your family knows now. Everything about me and my family. I told them. They’re okay with it.”

  He’s speaking faster. I grab his arms. “It’s okay. Even if they weren’t.”

  “It’s important you know that they are though. For this next part.”

  I swallow hard, looking around, meeting cheery gazes. “Of course, there’s more.”

  Luca drops to one knee and everyone in the room cheers. Gabby is loudest, but she’s already into the champagne with Gams. “I may be a lot of things, Elizabeth.” He takes in a breath and blows it out. “A porn star. A royal. A businessman. A bastard…sometimes. But there is one thing I will always be to you.” His neck works as he swallows and he grabs my hand. “I will always be the one who stays.”

  My eyes widen as he takes a ring out of his shirt pocket and slides it on my finger. “Will you marry me?”

  I choke on emotion. “Oh, my God, Luca. Is this really happening? You’re doing this now?”

  His eyes shine with unshed tears. “Years ago on this day, a man stole something from you. I am the man who will give it back. I will spend my entire life staying. For you. In every single way. An equal partner in love and life.”

  I kneel in front of him and scoot so I can kiss him. He pulls away. “You haven’t answered me. Is that a yes?”

  “It’s a Merry Christmas heck yes!” It’s a snotty kiss with tears blinding. He sweeps me, weightless into his arms and stands. I look at my ring finger and the large diamond surrounded by intricate golden snowflakes. “It’s like you crawled into my head and saw exactly what I would want. This ring. This day. My whole world is better because you’re in it.”

  A familiar shiver of awareness crawls over my skin when he lowers me to the ground, pressing his body against mine on the way. There are other people in the room, but now people are caught up in celebration, presents, and food. There’s almost too much good happening and I wonder if something bad will happen.

  “This wasn’t anything I was expecting,” I say, finally grabbing a flute when we pass the table.

  Luca lifts his glass of water up to clink with mine. “To the best thing no one ever saw coming.”

  “I’m engaged,” I say, ogling the ring again.

  My mom was standing near and overheard. “I’m so happy for you, Lizzy. This was the best Christmas present I could have ever gotten.”

  “What? You didn’t like the robe I got you?”

  She shakes her head and hugs me. “Grandma is beside herself. She thought you liked women.”

  I narrow my eyes at my mom’s smirk. “Oh, so we both have jokes today.”

  “This is the reset you needed. We all needed it. Look at how happy everyone is.”

  It’s true. Jingle Bells is blaring through the sound system and everyone is on cloud nine. We talk for a couple more minutes while Luca talks with his dad. I look at him longingly. “I called it the second he entered my home. He was the guy for you.”

  Shay cuts in. “I did not call it. I thought Lizzy was going to get kidnapped for ransom by a Nigerian prince!”

  “It wasn’t a Nigerian prince,” I say, letting my gaze find Gabby. She’s dancing on a table with a new purse on each arm. “But you could say it was a story for the grandchildren.” One I’ll have to tame in order for it to be appropriate. “Shay is the reason I went to Bora Bora.”

  “Does that mean I get a crown too?” Shay says, round eyes growing. “I want a title, bitch.”

  “You’re such a poser, Shay. You are happy to be my friend then?”

  “I was never not happy to have you as my best friend, I just thought you were mad and I thought he was a con.”

  Luca’s gaze meets mine and I feel it in my stomach. My heart beats in time with the music “The Christmas Con. It’s only the single most epic thing that’s ever happened to me.”

  Epilogue

  The happily ever after

  “BUT THE WAY that image is positioned makes it look like he’s having sex with her. They know he doesn’t dip the dog anymore, and I don’t think social media should make it look like he does. Change it, or crop differently.” I’m talking to my assistant who took over my job when I got a promotion to work more closely with Luca. She is a bright girl with tons of promise and I can’t help but see myself in her when she arrives bright-eyed and full of zest for learning. I haven’t asked her if her parents know which company she works for.

  I look at my watch. “Our flight to Bora Bora is in four hours, and I haven’t packed yet. I’m going to head home now. You have this? Same schedule as yesterday and email Mario if anything is questionable. I’ll be out of pocket completely.”

  Ada gives a firm head nod. “Of course, boss. Enjoy your anniversary. I’ve got this all under control.”

  Luca and I have been married for seven years and we take this block of time off every year, to go to where we fell in love. We fall in love all over again every single year. I joke that there’s something in the French Polynesian water, but the more likely explanation is that we were always destined to be together. That’s what it feels like, anyway. We complete each other in a way I never knew was possible. I know for certain that loving Luca made me feel alive for the first time in my life. Speaking of the devil himself, he strolls into the conference room we’re in. “Mrs. Bianchi, I’m here to whisk you away on the vacation of your dreams.”

  Ada blushes furiously, like most of the female employees in the office. Everyone other than Kieran who now runs a breakoff talent agency office in Paris. She finds us the most beautiful talent, and recently became engaged to a fashion designer who knocked her up. She was happy to be sent to Europe after our engagement. I took the right-hand woman position. “I was just leaving to pack. Let’s ride together.”

  He waggles his eyebrows as he takes out his phone to call for a driver to pick us up. “Your idea is much better than mine.” Ada flees the room with a brisk good afternoon.

  “Why do you have to scare the employees?” I ask, smiling with my eyes. “I’ll punish you if you cost me Ada. She’s a hard worker.”

  “Punish me how?” Luca’s reply reeks of ulterior motive, and I love it.

  I frown, throwing my hands out. “I’d deliberate for a few days before I formed a concrete plan.”

  “Concrete is pretty hard,” he quips, lips twitching. He extends his hand. “Car will be around in three minutes. We should get a move on.”

  Grabbing my handbag, I follow Luca out of the office to the front of our HQ building. “Did you call your parents? They know we’re taking off for vacation?”

  I nod. “I gave Dad the printout of our itinerary when I dropped Belfry off. He cried at the window. It was depressing.”

  “You know the dog has the time of his lif
e at your parents. He gets moody when he has to watch you go. I know the feeling.”

  “You rarely watch me go,” I argue. We slide into the Tahoe and Luca rolls up the privacy screen.

  “Fair point. But I do watch you come.” Luca takes my mouth with a savage hunger, like he’s kissing me for the first time instead of the millionth. I lose my breath, and he breaks our lips. “In fact, it’s my favorite thing to watch. We have seven minutes. Let’s start vacation now.”

  He reaches between my legs and slides my panties aside. Luca wants me to come, but what he doesn’t realize is my favorite thing to watch is him coming inside of me. Unbuttoning his slacks, I order him to slide them down. There’s a seductive intimacy between us now. I can play his body just as well as he plays mine.

  “Six minutes,” I whisper in his ear as I skim the head around my wet pussy. “Think you have it in you old man? You’ve been out of the game for a while.”

  “I’m going to wash your mouth out with my cock, young lady.”

  My lips find their way instinctively to his as I push my weight down and take him inside me. I close my eyes and lean my forehead on his shoulder. Grinding is easy when he works against me in a flawless pace. His pleasure is a guttural cry against my temple. I’ve read this story many times before, and it’s my favorite. Me in control and him writhing under me as he comes apart. His hands rest on my hips, but he’s not using them. He’s relinquished control, and knows I want it. It drives me wild, and as the blood beats through my veins at a rushed pace, I slam myself down onto him and come. He does too. Lips crash and his hands finally move up to tangle in my hair.

  “One minute left,” he says, biting my lower lip. “New record, cowgirl. Do you have anything to say to the commentators about your record-breaking feat in riding a dick?”

  Kneeling up, I let him slip out of me with a pop. “Riding your dick,” I correct. “No comment, Luca. Do you have any commentary to add? Any impressive tricks you witnessed you’d like to mention?”

  “Hmmmm. Nothing I haven’t seen or done before,” he says, eyes narrowed in mirth.