The Billionaire's Island Romance (The Romero Brothers, Book 3.5) by Shadonna Richards Read Free Book Online Page A

sexy nightwear, dancing…” she said, hunching
her shoulders. She’d turned the color of the red sunset.
    “Oh, dear.” Toni looked embarrassed. Then
without a thought he opened his mouth again. “I guess you guys are too young to
join us then. Shelly and I will let you know how the party is.”
    They all laughed.
    “Yeah, right. Like that’s going to happen,”
Christian teased. He glanced over to Arianna. Man, he couldn’t wait until later
tonight to be with her.

 
    Venus, who was seated near to Carl,
couldn’t help but chuckle. Like everybody else, she enjoyed Toni Romero’s wild
sense of humor. The family was so loving, so close-knit. She was thrilled to be
working for the Romeros. At least something was going good for her in her life. That and her son, Tristan. “Your grandfather is really
something.” She smiled, picking a cherry off her soda.
    “Yeah, he’s a hoot,” Carl commented back.
    “What about you? You don’t really speak
much about your family. You’ve been working for us for how long now? And you
hardly speak about them.”
    She knew he was just making conversation,
but she really didn’t want to, or couldn’t, get into it with him. As much as
she admired Carl and all that he stood for. “Well, there’s not much to say
really.” She hunched her shoulders. “Like I said before, my family pretty much
died out.” She wanted to cross her fingers under the table. That was only half
the truth. “When I moved to Canada from Maryland, I decided we were going to
make a fresh new start. And by the way, I love your family. You guys are so… loving . You have so much fun together. You stick
together all the time.”
    “That’s the way family should be, isn’t
it?”
    “Yeah, I guess. But it doesn’t always turn
out that way.”
    The music played in the background creating
a relaxing ambiance. Currently, James Ingram’s old tune “Forevermore” beamed
through the sound speakers.
    “I love this place. Have you guys been here
before?”
    “Yeah. The Duponte family is pretty cool.
Well, Giles Duponte, who owned this joint before his daughter took over, is a
cool dude. He did some good business transactions in the past with Granddad.”
    “What about his wife? I heard no one hardly
sees her.”
    “Ah, now that’s a mystery. I’ve met her
before. She seems like a nice lady, but she hardly makes eye contact. I hear
she has this phobia. Social phobia or something like that. Anyway, she stays indoors most of the time. She’s very shy. Soft spoken.”
    “Wow. I don’t know what to say. It must be
awful for her husband and daughter to see her like that.”
    “I guess people live with all sorts of issues.
We have to count our blessings when we can. I don’t know what I would do if I
didn’t want to go outside or around. It must be torture for her.”
    “I know,” Venus said, running her finger
around the rim of her glass.
    “So, are you coming with us?”
    “Where to?”
    “The pajama party.”
    Venus grew nervous. Her inner thighs
tingled. Carl? Seeing her half naked, wearing nothing but   silky lingerie? She didn’t know
what she would do.
    “Um. No. I’ll probably knock off early
tonight. Besides, Tristan loves when I sing him Hush Little Baby before he goes to sleep.”
    Carl smiled. His gazed trapped hers and she
melted inside. “You know, you’re a good mother.”
    “Thanks, I try to be.”
    “Well, if you change your mind—after
you sing him to sleep, let me know.”
    Venus smiled. Wishing she could be a part
of the Romero family but knowing full well, she could not. Not ever. Blue was
so lucky to be in love with Zack and now on the brink of becoming a part of
this wonderful, powerful family. Still, a girl could dream, right? “Sure. I
will,” she answered Carl, before lifting the glass to her lips to take another
sip of her drink.

 
CHAPTER SIX

 
    The women were all dressed, or
underdressed, in sexy, elaborate lingerie that would make a Victoria