Page 48 of Unstoppable Billionaire (The Hardcore Novels: Special Editions #2)

CHAPTER NINETEEN

I take my clothes off the bed, grab my MacBook Pro, and walk into the living room. After I'm dressed, I sit at the table in front of the balcony doors and open my computer. There is a text from Lei that she loves the song "Try" and that she is planning a big "Welcome Home" party for me.

It will be so good to return to my Vegas family.

I text Cat that we arrived safely. Bart has sent an email that Beyonce's people approved a "Partition" routine and also that Pharrell Williams was thrilled that I would add "Happy" to the lineup.

James sent an email about my return performance.

"I'm so excited. We will make it a 'smashing' success!

Work! Work! Work! Dance! Dance! Dance! Love you bunches, Babe! Let's do this!"

I look out the balcony window. I have to find a place to workout while I'm here. There is a lot of work to do between now and then.

I quickly check in with my Facebook pages.

My Siri personal page has pictures of Aurei and me walking across the lobby, taking snapshots with the fans, and getting into the limo.

We are both tagged, and my Seary page is too.

Well, I guess there is no going home to Alabama without Brutus now. It was bound to happen sooner or later.

My Surreal page has a lot of hits asking where she has disappeared and if she has left Vegas for good.

It is def time to return. I post a hint of my return and a "not-secret," surprise, spectacular return performance scheduled sometime in May.

To "check back often for the date and time.

" Immediately the "likes" begin, and I smile at the screen. I truly live a life people dream of.

When I check the time, there is an hour before we have to be downstairs to eat.

I stand and stare out the window at the beautiful scenery, but I'm lost in thought about what to do about working out the kinks to "Happy" while I'm here.

I'll go down to meet Franco myself and ask him if there is somewhere here in the hotel where I can dance.

Yeah. That sounds like a plan. I shut the computer and peek in on Aurei.

My Golden God is fast asleep. I'll slip out and be back before he wakes.

I close the bedroom door, grab my phone and sneak out.

Pulling the room door closed quietly behind me, I turn and almost bump into a tall, long-legged, skinny Italian woman. "Oh, excuse me!" I tell her. "I didn't realize you were standing here."

She looks as surprised to see me as I am to see her. "Is this the room of Maximus?"

"Yes. It is." Her eyes narrow into slivers as she looks me up and down. I return her look as I ask. "May I help you?"

"I want to speak to Maximus."

"He is unavailable at the moment."

"Who are you?"

Excuse me? The hairs on my neck bristle. Who the fuck are you, rude ass?

"I'm the girl staying with him, and you're the girl who isn't. May I help you with something?"

She looks at the door. I know she is thinking of knocking on it. "Maximus and I are old friends. My name is Elena. I heard he was in town. I wanted to say Ciao."

"I'll be happy to tell him you stopped by." I stand, blocking the door.

She looks surprised at my posturing. "I will leave him a message at the front desk." She tells me, obviously not believing me.

"Perfect," I tell her. "I'm going down to see Franco. We'll go together." I gesture for her to return the way she came, and I wait for her to do so. She looks past me one more time to the door, then turns and walks back to the elevator. I watch her gait as I follow her. She walks like a giraffe.

While we stand waiting for it to arrive, I decide to make small talk with her. You never know what you will learn when people talk about mundane things. "Are you a runway model?"

"Si. I was a very successful model." She smiles down at me, then looks back at the polished doors. Her reflected expression is smug.

"You walk like a runway model." Like a giraffe.

"Thank you."

"Mmhmm." I step forward and push the button for the lobby "Was? You must be too old now. Yes?" I see her glaring at me in the doors.

When I step back, she says with a smile like a hyena. "I didn't catch your name."

"Siri," I say, then add with emphasis. "Wright. How long have you known Maximus?"

"A very long time. How long have you known him?"

"Long enough."

"Not long then." She smiles and relaxes a little.

"A very long time ago, you say? Did you babysit him when he was a boy?" I ask, smiling and blinking up at her. It's hard to tell how old she is with all the makeup on, but I'm guessing early thirties.

She smiles, remembering something sweet.

"He was young, but not a boy when I knew him.

" She smiles at me with the confidence of an old lover meeting a new lover.

She has def hooked up with him. I smile sweetly back, poker face locked down tight, and a twang of jealousy bites me.

Then she frowns. "I do not know this term babysit. "

"It doesn't matter."

I can see her wheels turning. "We did not have a baby." She clarifies for me, then asks. "Did he have a baby with someone else?"

"No," I tell her with confidence I don't feel. Not that he knows about anyway.

The elevator arrives, and we board it. There is no one else inside. We walk to the back wall and stand side by side. She takes her phone out and texts someone.

I decide not to ask any more questions. I don't really want to learn any more from her. She looks at her phone and smiles. She starts talking, obviously feeling chatty now. "I was delighted to learn that Maximus had returned to Rome. I have not seen him for many years."

"Really? How many?" I ask despite myself.

"Ten." Shit! Aurei was 14. Surely she isn't... I look at the ceiling. Karma? What the fuck? "He will be happy to see me." She nods her head. "I should not have left him. Ah! But we were too young. Now we are old enough." She smiles at herself.

"Mmm." My poker face grips my face like a vice, of all the luck. This girl is his first love! I can feel it. "Why did you leave?"

"The summer was over. I returned to university." She smiles and looks down on me. Fuck! I knew it! She is.

"That's a long time ago. I'm sure he is over it. Actually, I'm positive he is." I give her a look that tells her I'm the girl now.

"Are you traveling with Maximus for business or pleasure?" She asks, uncertain.

"Def. pleasure," I grin then smirk at her. Giving her a look that says, I know something she doesn't know.

She looks me up and down again and says, very bitchy. "You are too short and plump for Maximus. He likes long legs."

The elevator stops, and a middle-aged man steps in with us.

He glances at her, but his eyes fall straight to my big breasts, then they move up to appreciate my face.

Italian men are such flirts! "His tastes have changed," I tell her confidently.

"Perhaps he found something more delicious to enjoy.

" I fold my arms under my breasts and prop them up, squeezing them together.

They pop up, and the poor man's tongue practically hangs out of his mouth.

His eyes devour them in the reflection of the door.

An outline of a hard-on presses against his slacks.

I can see the envy in her eyes as she watches his reaction too. She has no tits.

Okay, Karma. You are off the hook. Thank you!

We ride down the rest of the way in silence. When the elevator doors open, Franco, the Concierge, is standing on the landing. He looks like he is waiting for someone else, but when he sees me, he suddenly smiles and looks relieved.

"Ah, you must be Franco. I'm Siri Wright." I hold my hand out to him as I step off the elevator.

"Miss Wright. It is a pleasure to meet you." He takes my hand and leads me a few steps away from the elevator doors. Elena steps out with me and follows us. The older man exits, unashamed that his cock is leading the way.

Franco is an older man with grey hair at his temples.

He is slightly overweight but moves with a lot of energy.

He shakes my hand with the gentleness befitting a lady as he eyes Elena quietly towering over me.

I grin, thinking of a penguin looking at a giraffe.

"What brings you down to grace us with your beauty?

I'm sure Maximus will not let you out of his sight for long. "

"That's very sweet of you to say. Thank you, Franco." I smile sweetly at him and turn to look at Elena as his eyes leave mine to look at her. She stands stone-faced, looking down her nose at me, and waits for him to speak to her, but he only looks back at me and grins, ignoring her.

"Maximus has been staying at our hotel since he was a young boy.

Carlo tells me he introduced you as 'Mio Bella Signorina.

'" He is beaming at me like a proud Papa, then he bends over and says not so quietly, and I realize he is telling me this for Elena's benefit.

"He has never shared his room with anyone before.

You must be very special to him." He stands back up.

"Therefore, you are very special to us. How may I be of service to you, Bella Signorina?

" He asks with a flourish of hand movements.

"I need something special, and I need a favor."

"You have only to ask. I will move mountains." He gestures to the sky.

Elena clears her throat now. I can feel her impatience and her temperature rising. She is obviously used to being the center of attention. I smile up at her. "But first, I believe Elena would like to tell you something."

She grimaces a smile at me, then says a long tirade in Italian to him.

Franco's face stays professional and polite as he listens intently to her.

When she is finished and looking down her nose at me, he tells her.

"Maximus has asked that we speak only English in the presence of his Miss Wright.

Would you be so kind as to repeat what you just told me for the ears of his Miss Wright? "