"...a man with something to lose

is a vulnerable man..."

Nick's POV

I started attending board meetings when I was twelve years old. Helena would make me sit quietly and listen. As I got older she made sure I was taking notes. By the time I was eighteen, I would be expected to make presentations and participate. On some days, she would let me be the CEO for a day. She still had a leash around my neck but there's no better way to learn than to be thrown into the deep end and be left to figure things out.

Helena and I have history, bitter sweet but history nonetheless.

I don't like meetings. It's just something a man in my position has to do. I would rather be somewhere else with this beauty next to me.

This man who is supposed to be paying attention to this meeting is just as distracted as I am. He is paying attention to Keira. I don't like the way he's looking at her. I know the look because I look at her that way too. She's such a beauty. She's a sweetheart. Who wouldn't want her.

"Why don't you get me a drink?" I whispered into her ear.

"Yes." She agreed and promptly left the meeting.

I tapped my fingers on the table. "Isn't she a sight for sore eyes?"

"She is." He agreed. He's one of th investors. The other three are paying attention. "Aren't you married Nick?"

"My personal life is none of your business. But let me be clear about something. She's spoken for and you need to stay in your lane."

"It sounds like you're threatening me."

"Would you look at that! Your ears work great! So let's make sure your eyes do too. Look at her one more time and I'll gorge your eyes out with this spoon. Do you want to test my limits?"

He tucked his finger inside the collar of his shirt.

When Kei came back, he ceased all eye contact. We finished the meeting smoothly and I couldn't wait to leave the table. I almost want to hide her so that she can be my beautiful little secret.

"Nick, what's wrong?" She asked me.

What's wrong is that Helena caught Ferrer in a lie. The woman went to the hospital, scrubbed in for surgery and caught Ferrer in the middle of surgery. I don't even know how she got in there but she did. It explains the lengths she will go to just to catch me in a lie.

Now she wants to meet and if I don't show up, she is firing my ass. She wants to meet tonight. I cannot meet her tonight. She's not part of the itinerary. I want to take Kei to Cuba. We will spend the night there, hopefully, a hot spicy night. Helena isn't in the picture. My priorities are officially screwed up.

"Nothing." I answered.

"You seem irritated."

"I am. But it's nothing."

The elevator is a few floors shy of the ground floor. I want to send her home so that I can take care of some personal business. "Who is Helena?"

"What?"

"The woman who keeps calling you. Her name is Helena. Your wife's name is Margaux. So who is Helena?" She pressed a button to stop the elevator. "Most people who look at me, think I'm shallow. I hope that is not what you are thinking Mr Bale. I understand more than what people expect me to. You obviously didn't need me in any of the meetings we have had all week. You just wanted an excuse to have me in Miami. You wanted me here for reasons you won't admit."

"And what reasons are those?" I asked her.

Her timid sapphires looked away from me. "You want an affair even if you deny it. I know that is what you want." I sighed deeply. I pressed the button for the elevator to leave. She pressed it for it to stop. "We must have this conversation."

"Touch that button again, and I'll make you regret it." I pushed it. "Let's talk about it at home."

"Home?"

That slipped out. That is how the villa has felt for the last couple of days. It feels like home.

"The villa. I mean the villa." We stepped out. "Go with Julio. I'll see you in a bit."

"Where are you going?"

"I have things to do. Go."

She walked away with my bodyguard. She kept turning to look at me. I don't have time to deal with this. Someone has been stalking me for three days straight. Whenever I leave the villa, that person is with me. I know who they are working for. I just don't want to run it not then when I'm with Kei.

"Signor Balotelli." They have caught up.

The plan was to disappear in the back exit.

A black SUV pulled up in front of me. The back door opened. "Get in." There's two of them.

In this situation, there's no other choice. I don't make the rules. I got into the back of the car. I don't know where they are taking me but I was presented with a black bag to wear over my head.

There are three things that scare me. Failure. Helena. Romano Mancini.

Romano Mancini is the godfather. I fear him the same way children fear the Boogeyman. My heart is literally in my throat. I don't wear fear on my sleeve but I'm shaking on the inside.

The car came to a stop. They yanked me out and pulled the bag from my head. They pushed me against th car, patting me down and emptying my pockets.

I was then led to a Rolls Royce parked on the side of the low traffic road. I got inside and came face to face with him.

"Nicko." He glanced at me. "You have grown up."

The last time I saw him, I was fourteen years old. I thought he was one of my mother's boyfriends.

"It's been fifteen years." He nodded. "What do you want from me? I kept my end of the deal. I haven't set foot in Italy ever since-"

"Calm down. I'm not here to threaten your life. You're far too valuable to kill."

"Then what do you want?"

"I want to recruit you."

"You're being vague."

"My accountant is in the boot of my car. He's dead." Okay. This just escalated. "I hate incompetence. I hate liars. But I like you."

"Where is this going?"

"I want to employ you."

"At what capacity?"

"As th new Mafia accountant."

"No."

He chuckled. "No? Did you just say no to me?"

"I already have two full time jobs. I can't take up a third. I don't have time. No offense, I want nothing to do with the Mafia."

"I knew you would say that. So I'm going to give you some incentive. If you don't accept, I will take sometime you love. Every snake has an under belly and I'll find yours and then I'll kill it. So... think about it. You have a two days. Now get out."

I got out of the car. It sped off.

"Fuck!" I cursed. I'm in the middle of nowhere and they left with everything. It's going to be a long walk home.

Keira's POV

"I don't need forever to know you are a good person." His voice broke the silence of the evening. "I'm not the best judge of character based on my last decisions but... I cannot be wrong about you. I think you are an amazing woman. I think that you deserve more than a man who has taken the light from your eyes."

I turned slowly, still seated on the bench in front of the mirror. I haven't seen him all day. His bodyguard took me to a private airfield. I was in Cuba in an hour. He just came in. He looks exhausted but still handsome.

"What do you mean by the last part?"

He moved away from the door. He stalked slowly through the bedroom to the open window. There is a gentle breeze coming in, making the sheer curtains float. It's pretty hot and I'm struggling to stay cool under the fan. There is no air conditioning. It's hot and he is making this night hotter.

"We have been together for ten days. In these ten days, I have heard you laugh. I have seen you smile. I have seen those beautiful sapphires light up like the 4th of July. I think that your marriage makes you sad."

"Our marriages are what we make of them Nickolas."

"So this sadness is your own doing. Is that what you are saying?"

"No... That's not it..." I frowned. "Where is this going?"

"I'm admitting my intentions. When you told me you are married, I freaked out. I wasn't expecting that. It threw me off balance. You were right Kei." He made his way to me. He came down on one knee, very close to me. "I want something to happen between us. This something is more than an affair."

I can't control the speed at which my heart is beating. I can't. Did he just say he wants something more? What does that mean?

His hand settled on my knee, just below the hem of the silk nightgown. I can't believe what he has said. His blue eyes moved up my thighs to my face. "W-what do you want Nick?"

"I want something more than an affair." He got up, to rest one knee on the bench. His hand cupped my face. "I want a relationship Keira. I want everyday to feel like the way the last ten days have felt. Will you indulge me?"

Jason will kill me!

He will kill me!

But why can't I utter an outright no to this? Why can't I speak? Why am I even thinking about what to say? I should say no.

"Nick... this is... it's..."

"Think about it. Really think about it and then you will let me know what you decide. But I promise to make you happy. I promise you that." He pressed his lips on my cheek. "Good night."

Nick's POV

There's a reason why I have never gone back to Italy and it doesn't work involve my mother. The real reason I have stayed away is because of Romano Mancini, the godfather. I did something stupid in my late teenage years. I shot a man. It was self defense but a man died and he wasn't just any man but one of the top members of the Mafia. I was supposed to die for it but my grandfather cut a deal with Mancini.

I am never supposed to go home. I can't, even when I want to. I'm to be shot on sight. It complicates my promise to Tony. How can I make nice with mom when she won't come to meet me?

"Should we talk about yesterday?" Julio asked me.

"What about it?"

"Romano Mancini is the one having you followed. What was it about?"

"His accountant is dead. He wants me to fill the position."

"What did you say?"

"I told him no. I have less than twelve hours to respond as he wishes or he will kill something I love." That can only be Maddie. Or my mother. Or Gio. Or Tony. Or any of my friends. I have so much to lose.

"I'll double up security at home. But what about her?"

I raised my eyes to look at the beauty lying in a hammock outside the little house.

"She's a complicated subject."

Julio took a seat. When did he care about being invited to do so?

"I am very good at understanding complicated."

"She's married."

"No kidding!" He feigned surprise. "What's the game play? Is it a quick lay? Will you be bored after that?"

She's getting off the hammock. We are supposed to go out tonight. Why come to Cuba and not party? It's our last night together. She should have something to remember us by u til we see each other again.

"Only more intrigued. For now, let's not have her followed around. I dint think Mancini knows about her."

"As you wish." I picked up my jacket. "They sent your stuff."

I received the envelope with everything that was in my pockets when Mancini's m n picked me up.

"Are you coming?"

"Don Giovanni did say that I shouldn't let you out of my sight." He chuckled.

Keira is pacing outside. She's ready to go. "I hope you are a good dancer." I drew her into my arms.

"I hope ballet pays off." She laughed softly.

"Oh it will." I winked at her. "Let's go dancing."