Authors: Violet Walker
BILLIONAIRE ROMANCE: The Unforgettable Billionaires: The Complete Collection Boxed Set 1-12 (Young Adult Rich Alpha Male Billionaire Romance) (Alpha Bad Boy Billionaire Romance) (83 page)
Italian Billionaire Romance: If You Love Me
I
t has been an eventful day. Finally, I got my partners and investors to agree to my business model. If everything goes according to the plans, Graziani Corporation would soon be one of the leading companies of the world! I smile to myself thinking how proud mama would have been today. It was a pity that she died before seeing me at the pinnacle of success. Her good for nothing boy had become a business tycoon- one of the richest men in Florence and soon, in the whole of Italy.
That was a huge achievement for a boy who was born on the wrong side of the tracks. My entire childhood was spent in a small one bedroom shack in one of the dirtiest localities of Florence, that is, if you could call that filthy place a locality at all! I had never seen my father. He had married my mother, impregnated her and then one fine day, he just left. Nobody knows where he went. Some say he died in a road accident, some say he fled to some foreign land as the responsibility of a wife and a child were too much for him. Anyways, my mother never saw him again.
She brought me up the best way she could with her meager income. She used to sweep floors and wash utensils in the homes of people who were a little more fortunate than us. She worked very hard to ensure that I would never have to sleep on an empty stomach. She even sent me to school hoping that one day, I would become ‘grande uomo’ (a big man!). If only she could see today that her dream had come true!
I had been a brilliant student, right from the beginning. As I grew up, I started earning scholarships and soon after graduating, I started my own consulting company. Very soon, it became a success and with the money I earned, I ventured into real estate. Today, Graziani Corporation is the leading real estate company in Florence with a net worth of over $1 billion.
My only regret in life is not having had the opportunity to look after my mama the way she did when I needed her the most. She lost her life fighting cancer when she was just 49 and I was merely 19. We didn’t have enough money for all those expensive treatments….otherwise perhaps she would have been still alive.
This tragedy strengthened my resolve to earn so much money centuries to come. And today, I have succeeded in doing just that!
Lost in my own thoughts while driving, I do not realize that I have been speeding. I want to reach my luxury penthouse as soon as possible and have a nice, warm shower. Then maybe I would head out for some fun. A few drinks and a hot chick in bed would be a wonderful way to end this super awesome day. And finding a willing beauty to warm my bed has never been a task for me!
In fact, there are loads of women out there who would give anything to spend their night with Alberto Graziani! They are all in love with the name; the man inside, no one cares about. At times I do feel lonely. Sometimes, I desperately want to share my successes, my failures, my secrets and my desires with someone special. Someone who would love me for the person I am, and not for what I would be able to do for them. But apart from Mrs. Antoni, I have yet to meet such a woman.
M
rs. Antoni had been our neighbor since I was born. She had been of immense help to mama during pregnancy and childbirth. And when I was born, she took care of me while mama worked. A widow with no kids, she had been my mama’s pillar of strength throughout. I asked her to stay with me when I had become wealthy enough to afford a decent home. And she had been staying with me ever since. I always see a reflection of my mama in Mrs. Antoni.
I will be at the penthouse in another fifteen minutes or so. My mind is already zeroing in on the nightclubs I want to visit tonight. The nightlife in Florence is not as happening as in Rome, but still it is pretty decent for a party lover like me.
Suddenly, I see a young girl running towards my car with an extremely frightened look on her face. I just catch a glimpse of her as I apply brakes with full force and my Lamborghini comes to a screeching halt…..but not before hitting her. Her little frame crashes on my windscreen and a second later, she falls on the road.
I immediately get out of my car, horrified. I just hope that the girl is still alive. She is lying on the road with blood oozing out of her forehead. But thank God, she is still breathing. Her face is as white as that of a ghost, yet she somehow manages to look pretty.
I immediately pick her up and settle her in the front seat of my car. Blast these sports cars! They charge you a bomb and yet can hardly accommodate two people. Should I take her to the hospital? No, the nearest hospital was another half an hour away. She could die by then! I decide to take her to the penthouse instead. I immediately call Dr. Bellini who lives nearby and would be able to reach the penthouse with first aid in a matter of few minutes.
“Hello, Dr. Bellini? Alberto this side. Listen doctor, this is an emergency. I have accidentally hit a girl with my car and she is now unconscious and bleeding from the forehead…………………No, I can’t take her to the hospital. It’ll take another 30 minutes from here…………………Yes, yes I am bringing her home and can you please try to get there as soon as possible, OK?”
I keep on praying to God to save her, whoever she is. I drive like a maniac and am at the penthouse before I know it. Once we reach it, I rush out of the car and carry the girl upstairs. I don’t even wait for the elevator. Taking two stairs at a time, I reach my apartment in record time and ring the bell. The door opens almost immediately and thankfully, I see an anxious faced Mrs. Antoni and Dr. Bellini waiting for me.
“Dio Mio (Oh my God)! Is she still alive?” asks Mrs. Antoni.
“Yes, she is breathing. Doctor, please see if she’s OK?” I am out of breath. I take her to my room and lay her on the bed gently. She looks so small in my giant bed.
Dr. Bellini starts examining her. He cleans her forehead and she cringes ever so slightly. After a few more minutes of checkup, he informs us that the girl would live. She had a bad wound on the forehead but apparently, no other bones had been broken.
“She seems fine as of now. I have cleaned the wound and bandaged it. Now let’s just hope there is no internal injury.”
“Internal injury?” I ask.
“Yes. Since she’s hit her head pretty bad, there is a possibility that her brain might have suffered some damage.”
“Dio Mio” says Mrs. Antoni once again. She is looking like she herself would faint any moment. I ask her to get herself a glass of water.
“How will we find out if….if her brain has been affected?”
“To know that, we will have to wait until she regains consciousness.”
T
he three of us stay awake the entire night hoping and praying that the girl regains her consciousness soon. At the crack of dawn, I ask Mrs. Antoni to go and get some rest while the doctor and I take turns in keeping a watch over the girl.
At about five in the morning, she moves her hand slightly. I immediately call the doctor. Soon she opens her eyelids and looks around the room. Her eyes are the color of the ocean, deep blue. She looks from me to the doctor with a bewildered expression on her face.
“Where am I? Who are you?” She tries to get up but then lets out a cry of pain and lies back again holding her head with one hand.
“Please don’t get up,” Dr. Bellini tells her. “I am Dr. Bellini and this gentleman here is Mr. Alberto Graziani. Don’t worry, you are safe here.”
“What….what happened to me?”
Dr. Bellini looked at me.
“Uh….you had a small accident. You were hit by a car, don’t you remember?” he asked her.
“No, I can’t remember anything. I can’t remember anything. My head is hurting like hell……ahhhh!”
“Try to relax. Here I’ll give you some pain killers.” Dr. Bellini signals me to get a glass of water for her. “No, I can’t remember anything. I can’t remember anything. My head is hurting like hell……ahhhh!”
“Now the pain will be bearable for you. Close your eyes and try to get some sleep.”
She does as told and Dr. Bellini and I move out of the room.
“I think what we feared has actually happened. It looks like her memory has been affected by the accident.” Seeing the panic on my face, he added, “But it could be a short term memory loss. It happens all the time to people who’ve had head injuries. If that is the case, she will regain her memory in a matter of a few days or weeks.”
“A few weeks! That is a pretty long time doctor! And where will she stay until then…..what if her family is looking for her?”
“Well, in that case, I think you need to inform the Polizia. They will be able to trace her family and inform them about what has happened.”
“I think you are right. I will do that.”
“But remember Alberto, if the family of this girl comes to know how wealthy you are, they will most probably try to take advantage of the situation and try to accuse you of negligence. That will mean a lot of negative publicity as well as loss of money.”
“I don’t care much about the money, you know that. As for the negative publicity, well, I have my ways of keeping their mouths shut.”
“All the best to you,” he smiled. “Now I shall take your leave. Whenever she wakes up, try to ask her about her history….her name, where she lives and all that stuff. But don’t overdo it. She should not put any more pressure on her brain than is required……And give her these painkillers if the pain becomes unbearable again. I shall come back in a few hours to change her dressing.”
I thank the doctor and see him off. I go back into my room and look at the young girl lying unconscious on my bed. What if I had actually killed her! I shudder at the thought.
The previous night’s happenings replay in my mind. I remember her fear stricken face when she hit my car. It seemed as if she was running for her life. Could it be that someone was after her….someone who wanted to kill her? Hell, she was not even wearing her shoes!
Whoever he was, he must have seen her colliding with my car and thought her to be dead. Who was this girl? Was she some criminal or a victim? By the clothes she was wearing, one could easily guess she was not from a well off family. And the area where the accident occurred was notorious for crime and gang wars. Only the less fortunate people resided there.
I should not go to the Polizia after all, I decided. If that person, whoever he is, comes to know that she is still alive, he may come after her again. No, I would rather hire detectives to find out about her background. Yes, that would be ideal. Lost in these thoughts, I don’t realize when I fall into a deep slumber.
A
slight movement in front wakens me up. I see the girl sitting upright and looking at me with fear in her eyes. She looks like a deer caught in headlights. I try my best not to frighten her.
“Oh! So you are awake, I see. How does your head feel? Is it still hurting much?”
"Ummm...yeah! My head does hurt still, but not as bad," she replied meekly.
"That's good news!" I say enthusiastically. "The doctor said you'd be absolutely fine in a week or so."
She gives a small smile.
"Uhhh...what is your name?" I ask cautiously.
She looks at me confused. "My name? What is my name? Wh...what is my name...I can't remember... I can't remember anything", she cries out, a little alarmed.
I try to pacify her. "It’s OK...listen...it’s OK if you can't remember all that stuff right now. It happens when you have a head injury. You'll be alright in a few days, I promise."
She does not look convinced but calms down nevertheless. The forlorn expression on her face pulls at my heartstrings. I truly feel sorry for her.
"Uhhh...please don't think too much about all of this. You are most welcome in my home and you can stay here as long as your memory doesn't return.....or as long as we don't get any information about your family." Her ears perk up when I mention about her family.
"Are you...are you trying to find them?"
"Uhhh, yes. You want to go back to your family, don't you?"
"Of course! But...but how will I recognize them, I don’t even know who I am!"
"Don't worry about that. I am thinking of hiring some people to trace your family. I will personally confirm if they are actually your folks and only then I shall hand you over to them."
She nods her head and looks at me with a sad smile on her face.
"Thank you Mr. Graziani."
I am amazed that she still remembers my name. That means her memory isn't that badly affected, after all. She seems to have forgotten everything that happened prior to the accident, but recent things, she did remember!
“You are most welcome, mia cara,” Mrs. Antoni says walking into the room. “I am Mrs. Antoni, the caretaker of this house. You need anything, just let me know!”
“Mrs. Antoni, you are family and NOT the caretaker of my house, why don’t you get that?”
“Oh, come on, Alberto. You are always too kind to me,” she smiles at me and then turns towards the girl sitting on my bed. “You know cara, I was his mother’s best friend. I even helped her in birthing him,” she chuckles.
“And now since I just heard that you can’t remember your name, what shall we call you….ummmm…how about Gemma? I love this name and would have definitely given it to my daughter, if I had one…..do you like it cara?”
“Gemma? uhhh….yes, I love it!” the girl smiled. It was the first true smile she had given and it sort of lit up the entire room, not to mention that she looked absolutely adorable with that smile plastered on her face.
“Alright, it’s final then!” Mrs. Antoni clapped her hands. “We shall call you Gemma until you can remember your actual name, right Alberto?”
“Ummm….yeah...right, Gemma huh? Nice name!” I say looking at her. She looks at me once again with her big blue eyes and flashes her smile at me. I am mesmerized by her beauty. I have seen some of the most beautiful women in the world but still I am awestruck by her raw beauty. This Gemma is truly a gem, I think to myself.
“Now Gemma, if your head is not hurting too much, let me help you with cleaning yourself a bit. You look as if you’ve been playing around in mud for hours!” says Mrs. Antoni playfully.
Gemma chuckles and I politely excuse myself from the room. As I am about to exit the room, I hear Mrs. Antoni calling out to me.
“Alberto, I’ll be going to the market later this day to get her some fresh clothes. Until then, can I give her one of your shirts to wear?” Without waiting for my reply she adds, “I would give her one of my dresses but you know that they are big enough to accommodate three girls of her size!”
I laugh out loud at her statement. Mrs. Antoni has acquired the role of mother hen and now she’ll go to any length to make Gemma comfortable in her new surroundings.
