Taming Ricardo, The Italian Billionaire

Chapter 11

Kyra twirled her glass and glanced at the clock over the door of the café for what seemed like the millionth time. She blew out a breath. She shouldn’t have come. It was a bad idea to begin with. Maybe Ricardo was right. If she had gone three months without confronting Allegra, why the hell do it now?

“Because I need closure,” she whispered. She had been busy, working with Ricardo and had decided to put the incident aside. She wasn’t working in the office and seeing Allegra every day, so it was easy to shove the incident aside. But every now and then it crossed her mind.  After today, it would be over. She probably wouldn’t be able to erase it completely from her mind, but she would get over it. Just as she was about to look at the clock again, the bell over the door rang, indicating an arrival. Kyra sucked in a breath as Allegra walked in. She stopped and glanced around the café, her eyes landed on Kyra. Her green orbs hardened, showing a flash of resentment.

Kyra’s heart plummeted. Already she could tell that the meeting wasn’t going to go well. What had she done to receive such hostility from someone she once considered to be her closest friend? Maybe she was just imagining things. She lifted a hand to wave and Allegra marched over. She took off her coat and pulled out the chair in front of Kyra and sat down.

“Well, well, well. Look at you.” She gave Kyra a once over. “You look…expensive.”

Kyra tugged uncomfortably at the collar of her dress. It was designer. Hell if she knew which. She didn’t care.  Ricardo loved showering her with gifts. Sometimes he threw in an outfit or two to go with the jewelry he bought, not to mention the provocative undergarments he purchased for her, which she knew was totally selfish on his part. He took pleasure in watching her walk around in them in his apartment.

Clearing her throat, she said, “Hello, Allegra.”

“You remember my name. Surprising, considering you’ve gotten rich and switched.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Well, you upped and quit your job. I guess you don’t need to work now since you’re a rich man’s mistress.”

“For your information, Allegra. I haven’t quit my job. I’ve taken a few months leave to oversee other work I’ve taken on. I’ll be back at work shortly.”

“What other work is that? Jet setting with a billionaire? Tell me, how many times a day do you have to get on your knees to get such fine apparel and jewelry?”

Kyra gritted her teeth, annoyance and anger roiling like a black cauldron inside of her. “Enough, Allegra. I didn’t ask you here to discuss my personal life. You don’t deserve to know anything about what I’ve been doing or who I’ve been doing. You got that?” Allegra sat back, shocked by Kyra’s vehemence. “That’s right, Allegra. Guess who have bust out of her shell? Now, do you think you can stop being a bi*ch for two minutes so we can have an adult conversation? Tell me if you can manage that or get up and go.”

Allegra’s mouth opened and closed several time and Kyra fought back a triumphant smile. Her subconscious-self did a victory dance and fist-pumped the air. You go girl! No more would she hide behind a mask of reticence and allow people to walk over her. She wasn’t a scared kid hiding from bullies and mean adults any more.

Kyra took a sip of her water. “I’ll take that as a yes. So, can I get you anything to drink?”

Folding her arms and pouting like a petulant child, Allegra said, “No thank you.”

“What’s the matter, Allegra? Afraid I’ll drug you?”

Immediately, guilt flashed across her face, which she quickly tried to hide. “Excuse me?”

Kyra sighed, sadness and disappointment washing over her. “There’s no need to play innocent, Allegra. I suspected you but you just gave me confirmation. You drugged me that night three months ago.”

Allegra rolled her eyes. “I did. Okay? You got me.”

“Why? I thought we were friends? You said I was your best friend.”

“You were, Kyra. I liked you. I really did. But then Ricardo came along and showed interest in you and not me. He was supposed to want me. You became a threat, Kyra. When it comes to getting what I want, nothing and no one stands in my way. I wanted Ricardo. I was plotting on how to nab his interest. I had no idea you were fu*king him behind my back. I found out when you left your phone at the bar that night at the club. He called you and I answered. He said something about being back in New York early. I told him to come to the club. I figured if he saw you behaving like a tramp, he’d forget about you. So I had the bartender slip a little something into your drink. He and I are great friends. I told him I wanted you to loosen up. Then I gave the man that approached you to dance a few bucks to keep you busy until Ricardo arrived.”

Kyra was outraged. “Do you even know what the bartender gave me? I could have died.”

“Well, you didn’t. Anyway Ricardo showed up, saw you with another man and still stepped in to rescue you like a freaking white knight. He left me hanging to take you home. So, you won.”

She wasn’t inclined to violence but she had the urge to give Allegra a proper slap across the face. “Oh, my God. You really are a bi*ch. I knew you were insane, but I found it amusing. You were my crazy friend. But now I know that you’re truly psychotic. Manipulative. Evil.”

“Oh, don’t be so melodramatic.” She snorted. “I can’t believe he chose you over me. Over his own kind.”

Kyra’s mouth fell open. “Are you making this about race?”

“Well, of course, honey. He’s Italian and so am I. Italians marry Italians. There are plenty of black guys for you to run around with. Yet, he chose you. It’s okay, I’m sure he’ll come to his senses soon enough. Who knows, maybe he’s just playing around with you, you know experimenting with something different. When he tires of you, I’ll still be around. I think he’s worth waiting for.”

Kyra’s mouth fell open. She wasn’t expecting that from Allegra. “Well, tough luck, honey. That Italian is mine. Now that I know the truth, about what an awful person you are, I can move on with my life. You may go now. I guess I’ll have the displeasure of seeing you again when I return to work.”

Allegra’s face transformed into a mask of incredulity. “You’re dismissing me?”

Studying her nails, Kyra said nonchalantly, “If you want to take it that way.”

“Hell, I think I like you more than I did before. Pity you and I are done. But careful Kyra, no one outshines me in the bitch department.” She grabbed her coat and purse and stood up. “See you at work, Fisher.”

Kyra watched her saunter out of the café with somewhat of a broken heart. There went her only friend. Well, her only female best friend. She counted Ricardo as her best friend now. She blinked rapidly. “I will not cry. I will not cry.” She had grown a back bone over the months but she was allowed to have soft girl moment every now and then. Right?

Kyra had hoped that when she met up with Allegra, she would deny having spiked her drink and all would be forgiven. Then, they would have a nice lunch, and chat and giggle like old times. Clearly, Allegra never gave a shit about her. 

*****

Pulling up in front of the house where Ricardo had temporarily rehoused the Griggs, she stepped out of the Lexus he had insisted on buying her. It had taken him nearly two months of cajoling for her to accept the gift. He claimed to get a new gray hair every time she got into her old car.

 “Mio dio! It looks like it will fall apart at any minute.”

She chuckled remembering his statement and the look on his face when she had shown up at his apartment with it months ago. She’d called him a drama king and an argument over him buying her car had ensued.