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AFTER THE BOYS WERE put to bed Joan excused herself to her room. She planned to take a long bath, shave her legs and other parts as well, wash her hair and blow it dry until it shone. She planned to cover her body in moisturizer and scrub away the callouses on her feet. She was going to be everything he’d ever wanted for this one last time.
She stepped into her room and was surprised to see Lissa coming out of the shower.
“Sis? What are you doing in here?”
“Didn’t anyone tell you? I’m staying with you tonight. Mamacita’s rules, since there’s a priest in the house.
“Damn it,” Joan muttered under her breath.
“What was that?”
“Darn it, I stubbed my toe,” Joan said, and bounced on one foot as if that would help.
Lissa pulled out a waxing kit. “Will you help me with this?”
Joan groaned. Maybe it was for the best. She was supposed to be helping her sister get ready for her big day, not planning her own sexual adventures. For the rest of the evening they chatted about the wedding and what was to come as they worked on Lissa’s body. When Lissa was finally ready for sleep, Joan had lost all interest in chasing down Antonio. She was too exhausted, and she knew she needed to be fresh and ready to be the perfect sister and maid of honor starting first thing in the morning.
After Lissa was under the covers Joan drew herself a bath. She shaved her legs but kept her hair up in a head scarf, not wanting to deal with it getting all frizzed. She used some of Lissa’s lotions and potions and covered her body with moisturizer. As she did so, some of her recent feelings about being with Antonio rose again. She felt an urge to masturbate, but it was too hard to contemplate doing that with her sister so close by.
She put on sweat pants, a clean long-sleeved top, and house slippers. She was too horny to sleep, but too afraid to go outside. She’d just find an empty room somewhere in that massive house and thrumb away some of the tension between her legs.
As she climbed down the steps, she heard voices.
“Is Antonio Ferraro here?” asked a man.
“That’s none of your business,” replied another voice. “How did you get past security?”
“We showed him this,” said the man, and pulled out a gun.
Joan gasped and hid behind the corner. When she peered out again she saw that the man who’d come to find Antonio earlier was standing with his arms up in the air.
“Sir, please, there are women and children in this house. Please put that gun away,” said the man desperately.
“If you care so much about these women and children, then take me to Antonio Ferraro now.”
The man nodded. “Very well, come this way,” he said.
Joan didn’t think, she just reacted. As soon as the two men stepped out the front door she ran back to her room, grabbed her phone, dialed the emergency number, and got a ringing sound. She waited, it kept ringing. Putting it on speaker and stuffing it into her pocket, she ran out of the house through the back doors and hurried towards to the vineyards.
She was gasping for breath and she’d lost both of her house slippers, but she ignored the pain from her cut feet as she slammed into the door of the guest house, struggling to open it.
“Joan, what’s wrong?” Antonio asked as he opened the and tried to pull her into his arms.
“There’s a man with a gun looking for you. They’re coming, you’ve got to run.”
Antonio’s eyes grew wide with alarm. In the distance, they heard the unmistakable whine of the electric cart. “Come on, Antonio, you’ve got to run,” she said, panicking.
He ran to the table, grabbed his coat and keys, and hurried around the back. To Joan’s surprise Antonio’s sports car was waiting there. He clicked the key fob and it unlocked. He opened her door and shoved her inside. On the other side of the cottage they heard the sounds of voices and the slamming of fists on his door followed by a crack of glass, as if a rock had been thrown through his window.
“Go!” Joan shouted.
Antonio started his car and the engine roared to life. He put his foot on the gas, revving the engine so the tires spun before he dropped it into gear. The car shot out onto the dirt road just as the first shots rang out.
“Get down,” Antonio shouted, pushing her down.
On her lap, the emergency operator finally came online. “What is your emergency?” asked the dispatcher in Spanish.
“There’s a man shooting at us, with a gun! No I don’t know the address, Vilafranca something. The Julio Torres wedding. The Viscount is here. Hurry!”
A second shot hit the car, tearing into metal and sending out sparks and shrapnel. Joan screamed. The phone flew out of her hand, landing in the back seat. She started to go after it, but Antonio pushed her back into her seat. “Stay down!”
He gunned the engine. The car skidded and spun, finally catching traction and hurtling away from the gunfire and shouting voices. “What about my sister and the babies?” Joan asked as he jerked the wheel hard and bolted up the main road. Coming towards them, several security vehicles with lights flashing and blaring sirens roared past them.
“I think they’ll be all right,” Antonio said as he continued to floor the gas.
“No. Pull over,” Joan demanded.
He did. Joan crawled over the seat and found the phone. The call had been disconnected. She called Lissa, who answered in a panic. “Oh my God, Joan, what’s going on? We heard shots, and the police are crawling all over the place. Where are you? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, I’m not at the house anymore.” Joan said, not wanting to get into who she was with. Are the boys okay? Mamacita, Mother, Julio?”
“Everyone at the house is fine. Listen, Julio wants to talk to you.”
“Julio?’ Joan said after she waited a moment for him to take the phone. She could the rustling of clothing and the sound of a door opening. Julio clearly had moved away from Lissa. Obviously, he wanted to talk to her alone.
“Joan, this is Julio, are you all right?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
“Are you with Antonio?”
She hesitated.
“Joan, this is important. Is Antonio with you?”
“Yes,” she admitted.
“Let me speak to him.”
Joan reluctantly gave up the phone, but not before putting it on speaker. She wanted to know what was going on.
“Antonio, are you all right?”
“Yes, and so is Joan, but some man took a shot at us and hit my car. The bastard.”
“Do you know who it was?”
“I didn’t get a good look, but I think I recognized the voice.”
“One of the Italians?”
“I’m afraid so. Did they get him?”
“Worse than that. I was just informed that the man with a gun was shot and killed.”
Joan gasped. “Oh, my God.”
“And your man Ruiz? Is he okay?”
“Yes. He took a shot, but we’re hopeful it’s not serious. He’s the one that killed your attacker, by the way.”
“Jesus,” Antonio said, thinking of the consequences. If that was one of Dante Bissacco’s goons, he’d not be safe anywhere in Europe. If the dead man was a relative of Dante Bissacco, he’d not be safe anywhere on the planet.
––––––––
“I KNOW, ANTONIO. THIS is not going to play well for you. When the people that man represents hear about this, you’re not going to want to be anywhere near here.”
“What am I supposed to do?”
“I want you to go to Reus. Do you know where that is?”
“I’ll look it up,” Antonio said. “What’s in Reus?”
“I’ve already called my pilot, he’ll be waiting there with my jet by the time you get there. It’s twenty miles from here.”
“I’m sure I can find it.” Antonio said. “But, then where will I go?”
“That’s up to you. My pilot will take you anywhere. There’s money on the plane, enough to take care of you for several weeks. The combination is MRH333 for Marco Ryland Hunter, got it?”
“Yes, of course, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to bring trouble. What am I supposed to do with Joan?”
“Where are you now?”
“About a mile from the house, to the south.”
“It’s too risky to bring her back You need to get out of here before the police find you and start asking questions.”
“You want me to take Joan with me?”
Joan’s heart leapt at the prospect even as she realized the impossibility of such a plan. She was supposed to be the Maid of Honor at her sister’s wedding the next day.
“Take her to the airport and try to keep out of sight. I’ll send someone to pick her up and bring her back. Don’t take her with you. Lissa would skin me alive.”
“Thank you, Julio,” Antonio said. “I’m so sorry for this trouble.”
“Me too.”
Joan took the phone out of Antonio’s hand as the call disconnected. He was staring ahead, his jaw set. Lights drew Joan’s attention to the road as another police car drove towards them.
As it approached the police car slowed down and aimed a spot light at their car.
“Kiss me,” Joan ordered. “Kiss me, now!” She flung herself at him and kissed him hard. Antonio resisted at first, but then he started kissing her back.
The beam of light lingered a few more moments on their makeout session, then it clicked off. Joan’s hammering heart slowed slightly as the police car continued its way to the scene where the real action was happening.
She used her phone to get directions to Reus and neither of them talked about what had happened, or what would happen, as they made their way south and back towards the coast.
Joan felt an urge to see if what had happened was on the news. She feared that Antonio might be a suspect, and she might be traveling with a wanted man.
Antonio stared straight ahead, driving carefully in the low hanging fog, and Joan saw his muscles twitch in his face as they listened to the report in Spanish. She didn’t understand a word.
“Will you please translate?” she asked.
Antonio tried.
“He said that a deadly shootout left a gunned intruder dead at the home of Julio Torres, while the Viscount of Iberia was on the premises. He said that a security guard who’d killed the gunman was injured in the attack, but that his heroic efforts saved whomever the gunman was coming after. They believe that since the Viscount was there it might have been an assassination attempt gone wrong. They say that the identity of the attacker was being withheld, but that Interpol and the Spanish civil defense authorities were being notified of this event.”
“Christ,” Joan said, shaking her head.
“You got that right,” Antonio said.
They soon came to the airport and Antonio parked his Maserati in an out of the way spot. The airport seemed to be closed for the night. They walked towards a man standing in front of the dark building.
“Give me your car keys,” said the man.
Antonio did, and the man pulled out a different set of keys and unlocked the door to the building.
“Are you the pilot?” Antonio asked.
“No. My instructions are to let you inside and to tell you to stay out of sight and keep the lights off while you wait for the helicopter.”
“Helicopter? Not a jet anymore?”
“I was told helicopter,” the man said.
“Alright,” Antonio said. “What about Joan? Are you supposed to take her back to Vilafranco?”
“No. Those aren’t my instructions”
Joan’s heart leapt at the prospect. She wanted desperately to go with Antonio but she knew that wasn’t what Julio intended, and she certainly couldn’t abandon her sister, or the babies, or the rest of the Torres family on the eve of Lissa’s wedding. Not after what had happened.
The man continued. “Apparently, someone else will be coming to pick her up. Señorita, you should perhaps stay by the front door and watch for your ride. But, keep the lights off. I won’t lock you in, so you can get out when your ride arrives.”
Joan reached over to Antonio and slipped her fingers into his hand He held it as the door closed and they watched the man walk away in the direction of Julio’s car.
Neither spoke in the dark silence. As soon as they saw the rear taillights of Antonio’s car leave the empty parking lot his Antonio’s hands were all over her body, stripping her out of her clothes as his mouth owned her. He lifted her naked body onto his cock, thrusting up into her as he moved her towards the wall. Joan flung her arms around his neck and came hard, for what seemed to last for an eternity as his mouth sucked at her face, her lips, her nipples. When he’d finished emptying his seed into her, he lifted her limp, satisfied body off of his and set her down on her feet. Joan’s knees buckled and she held onto him, kissing him, never wanting to let him go.
He pulled her to the ground and spread her legs apart, going down on her. He took her pearly, fat clit between his lips and sucked, toying with it until she came again, the sound of his name, echoing in the massive empty space.
After she’d had more than she could take, and beat him off her with her fists, he pulled her into him and held her close as they rolled on the cold floor.
“Oh, Joan, I can’t bare to leave you again.”
His fingers dipped back between her legs as he sucked on her nipples and nibbled on her skin. She came again as a deep animal growl left her lips.
“Oh, Antonio, I – I –“
Her head flew back as another orgasm ripped through her. He plunged three fingers deep into her, feeling her pussy convulse around them as he found her mouth to swallow her words.
Finally they stopped and he pulled his fingers out of her amazing pussy, to lick them clean as he smiled broadly. “You’re incredible, Joan,” he said “I swear, if I ever get my life together, I’m going to come after you. I can’t bear not to have you with me forever.”
Joan didn’t know what to say. What was he saying?
She was still panting and coming down from her intense orgasm.
The thwop thwop of a helicopter approaching made Antonio start to rise and her heart raced. He was leaving her.
Without conscious thought, she grabbed for his body, digging her fingers into his skin, desperate not to let him go.
“Joan, the helicopter is here. We need to put some clothes on,” he said, laughing a little at her intensity.
“I don’t want you to go. I want to come with you,” she said, as she frantically kissed him for what she knew might be the last time. “I love y—”
A knock at the front door interrupted her words, bringing her to her senses as she scrambled to put on her clothes.
Outside, the helicopter landed. Antonio held Joan close. “I want you to come with me too, but it’s not safe for you. Go!” he said. He pushed her towards the front door, then walked out on the tarmac.
Joan didn’t go to the front door, she watched Antonio get in the helicopter. She watched and waited until it flew out of sight. She waited for the pain in her chest to subside, then smoothed out her clothes and hair and walked to the front of the airport.
The Torres chauffeur looked relieved when Joan pushed open the door and came outside.
He was a man of few words, which was fine with Joan.
When she got back to the house, no one was awake. The babies were asleep.
Lissa was no longer in her room, and she assumed, her sister had gone back to Julio, or perhaps had decided to go sleep in another room.
She crawled under the covers and lay there for a long time, crying.
Finally, she fell into a restless sleep.
