Taming Ricardo, The Italian Billionaire

She winced. Great. She had offended him. Again. She really hadn’t intended to. “I didn’t mean any offense.” She was a timid but that didn’t stop her from being honest.

“No offense taken. I find you quite refreshing, as a matter of fact.”

“You do? I-I mean, thanks.”

He gave her a single nod. “I promised you listening ears about your concerns for my renovation project. Shall we begin?”

She placed her coffee cup down and unintentionally scooted closer to him. “Of course, let’s get into it.” It was when she heard his soft intake of breath that she realized how close she was leaning to him. With a small, embarrassed smile she pushed back. She had gotten carried away by her excitement to express her concerns for her clients’ wellbeing. She took a deep breath and began.

“I work with many poor and underprivileged kids and families, ensuring that they get what they need to survive whether financially, socially, medically or physically. There’s a particular family, a mother and a daughter, who I’ve become very close to. The little girl, she’s fifteen and she’s been battling leukemia. That family has been through the ringer and I have done all I can to help them. Just when I got them help with the mounting medical bills and things were looking up, they got a letter from you stating that they have to leave their home in just three weeks. One, the little girl is recovering, she shouldn’t have to go through that hassle. Two, they have nowhere to go. The mother is a waitress. She already struggles with bills and her daughter’s medical expenses with no help from the child’s father. There is no way she can just up and rent somewhere else. That place is what she can afford. If they leave, the mother and child will be living on the streets. And it isn’t just them. Everyone in that building will struggle to find an affordable place to live. Many of them will be in shelters or on the street.

Ricardo let out a breath. “When I sought permission from city officials I got the go-ahead. I was assured that I was doing the city a favor, that my project was the beginning of cleaning up that particular area. Not only am I renovating a building, I’m initiating a movement to regain the city.”

Kyra snorted. “Regain it from whom exactly?”

He shrugged. “From the criminals. You have to admit, renovating that building and eventually all of them will bring in new people and the neighborhood will be better off, not to mention much safer.”

Kyra gritted her teeth. “Of course the city officials will say thoughtless crap like that.” She was quickly becoming agitated and struggled to keep calm. “Because you’re all filthy rich. You don’t know the everyday struggles of the less fortunate. You don’t have to worry about where your next meal is coming from or if you’ll even have one. You don’t have to worry about being evicted from your home because you can’t come up with the rent on time. None of you understand.”

Something flickered across his face, something dark that made her cease talking. “You don’t know the first thing about me, Ms. Fisher,” he snapped.

“So it’s back to being formal, I see.”

Ricardo rubbed the bridge of his nose and his lips twisted.  “I’m afraid, you struck a cord. You’re wrong to think that I don’t understand what the poor faces. I grew up in what can be considered the poorest part of Italy. From an early age, I watched my parents struggle to put food on the table and keep a roof over our heads, so I more than understand the struggle. I apologize for my tone.”

Kyra nodded and jumped to her feet. She slowly began to pace, showing her growing agitation. “I should apologize for mine too. I get carried away when it comes to work. And it would seem we bring out the worst in each other.”

He looked surprised. “Why would you say that?”

“I don’t usually behave like this. I don’t drunk-dial people, I don’t hurl insults at anyone, and I admit, I’ve been rude to you quite a few times since we’ve met. That’s not me. I’m really a quiet person who likes to stay out of trouble and avoid confrontation.” She waved her hand around. “This, the way I feel I sound isn’t my usual behavior. I’m just-“

“You’re passionate.”

“Yes. I just really-“

“Care,” he finished. “I see that.”

“Don’t you care, Ricardo? After everything I just told you, are you still willing to disrupt and ruin so many lives?”

“Of course, I care.”

She stopped to give him a hopeful stare. “So you won’t go ahead with the renovations?”

He was silent for a few seconds. Standing up, he faced her and let out a heavy sigh. “I didn’t say that.”

She swallowed her disappointment. “Of course you’ll go ahead with it. There’s money to be made, right? Why did you even bother to invite me to dinner? To come all the way to my home?”

“Kyra-“

She held up a hand. “You know what, you don’t have to say another word.”

“I can’t just stop everything.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “I’m not the only one involved or invested.”

“But you do have a lot of power. It was your name I saw on that letter.”

“Yes, but I won’t put an end to something that I think will benefit a lot of people.”

Kyra rolled her eyes. “Yeah, benefit the rich. As if you all need any more benefits.”

“That’s not fair, Kyra.”

“Life isn’t fair, Ricardo. That’s what I’ll have to tell the families who are losing their homes.” She huffed, feeling a strong need to throw something, particularly something heavy, at the handsome Italian’s head. Her eyes narrowed to slits as she sent him a glare. “How do you sleep at night?”

“Just fine with a few strong drinks,” he responded dryly.

Kyra cocked a brow but didn’t comment. She headed toward the door. “Well, I guess we’re done here. Thank you for your time, Ricardo.”

“That’s it?”

With a shrug, she responded, “I don’t see what more we have to talk about. You strike me as a man who does what he wants regardless of what anyone says. I would say we’re done here.” 

Kyra’s eyes widened when Ricardo advanced toward her and showed no sign of stopping. She took a retreating step as he got closer, too close for comfort. He came to a stop mere centimeters from her and her breath hitched in her chest.

“We are far from done, Kyra Fisher. But, I understand that you are upset so I’ll leave.”

She opened her mouth to ask what he meant. In her opinion, they had no need to ever see one another again. Before she got the words out, he leaned forward giving her a peck on the cheek, taking her off guard.

“Addio bellissima.”

Kyra remained frozen even after he disappeared. It took her a few seconds to recover and when she did, she let out a long breath.  She closed the door and sagged against it. “Oh, my God,” she breathed. For an alarming second, when he had leaned toward her, she thought he would kiss her on the mouth and God help her, she would have welcomed it, no matter how pissed she was at him.

Stepping away from the door, she ambled on shaky legs to drop into a chair. Ricardo’s spicy male scent lingered in her living room and she kind of hoped it would remain. She stared at the spot where he had sat for a long while. Why did the one man that she was attracted to have to be the villain?