Not wanting to be missing for too long with no excuse, she left her cell phone in her room to charge and went to look for the triplets.
“Can I relieve you for a bit?” she asked as she entered the play area. “Maybe you can go to the staff kitchen and see about getting lunch?”
Miss Susan turned around and Joan was shocked at how much she’d changed since she’d last seen her. Her perfect hair was out of place and there was a stain on her uniform, as if one of the boys and tossed his strained carrots at her. Having to manage the triplets single-handedly must have been a little harder than she’d suspected.
“Oh, thank you,” she said, her face showing great relief.
Joan let herself into the enclosure as the nanny hurried away before Joan could change her mind. The triplets immediately crawled over to her, fighting for the prize of being the first to get picked up.
“You’re little rascals, you know that don’t you?” she said fondly to the three boys. Not wanting to play favorites, she gave up the chair and got down on the padded floor so she could hold all three of them.
They got comfortable in her arms and soon dozed off. She laid each of them on a soft blanket and stood up, and stretching. She was thirsty and hungry.
She asked one of the catering staff to bring her something to eat and while she waited her mind started working again.
She put her head in her hands. “Oh, Joan. What were you thinking?”
The rest of the day went without any mishaps. Joan was so busy helping to get Lissa ready for the big event, aiding Mamacita in the latest catering crisis and teaching the new nanny about the art of telling the three boys apart that it wasn’t until after the Viscount’s entourage left and the staff had called it a day that she remembered the extra guests from Raul.
“Shit,” she said, wondering why she hadn’t seen Abby for so long. Abby no doubt would have reminded her about that somewhat sticky issue.
She’d seen Julio a few times, but since she’d already discovered Antonio’s whereabouts she no longer needed to talk to him about his godson. It was too embarrassing to admit that she’d had sex with the man in Julio’s inoperative winery, and she didn’t want her mother or her sister to know he was there.
All day long, all she could think about was how and when she could get back to him.
Joan knew that if she talked to anyone about her temptation - if she asked for help said one word about it – that she ran the risk of whoever she spoke to trying to her out of seeing him again.
There was no way she was going to let that happen. Her pussy needed him inside her more than she needed to understand what he’d done and why he was bruised and hiding out in Julio’s guest house. She needed to feel him deep between her legs one more time, her nails digging into his back, his lips bound to hers.
Then, and only then, would she seek help for her latest and most devastating addiction -
Antonio Ferraro.
Chapter Fifteen
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?”