Guarded: Worth the Risk

                                                                                         Natalia                                                                                                    When I was a little girl, I dreamed of the day when my knight in shining armor would come save me. However, when that day did come it turned into more of a nightmare then a fairytale. I never intended for my life to turn out this way, but somewhere along the way my families past caught up with us and threw my life into a tailspin.             As I stand alone, graveside in the rain as they lower my brother’s casket into the ground, I can’t help but wonder how I could have been so f*****g blind to not see this coming. My brother was my best friend, confidant and partner in crime. Since we were little, we dreamed of running the family company together that was until I met him and fell for his romantic babble bullshit. Leo tried to warn me that this guy was too good to be true and to not trust him, but I fell hard and ended up marrying the worst mistake of my life.              I now know that there is no possible way, that a man so perfect could exist in my world. That he was not the one whom I once assumed could save me but cause me the most pain at the same time. That he would be the one responsible for my brother’s untimely death. I was immature and too young to know any better, but that was then, and this is now.             And that worst mistake was none other than Orlando Salvatore.             I remember how stuffy the conference room was as my brother and I sat side by side at the annual international investors conference. It was the first day of fall and the long, beautiful Chicago summer days were now a thing of the past. I was at our company booth tucked away in the corner toward the back of the conference room, I heard aloud commotion in the front of the room. That wasn’t unusual for this sort of things considering competition in this industry is fierce, but this time it was different. That’s when I saw Orlando. He was walking away from one of competitors booths with his fist tightly clenched. I watched as he made his way to the back of the conference room sitting in an open chair close to our booth.             Orlando worked for JFBR Industries, one of the five companies who we considered our biggest competition. They were legit on paper, but behind the scenes sketchy. Like my father’s company at the time, but Leo and I had made a pact to take Mezzanotte Industries to a more legit level, leaving the sketchy s**t my father got roped into, in the past.             As I observed him demeanor as he sulked in the corner, he looked up at me. His lips turned into a slight smile, but I could see the anger radiating across his face. My breath hitched as he observed me observing him and I knew what ever had transpired a few moments earlier was not in the slightest good.             He stood and approached my booth. We both stayed silent for a few moments, but then he extended his hand and spoke.             “Orlando Salvatore, CFO for JFBR Industries- and let’s just say I hate my job most days.”             I can’t hide the blush the now crept up on my cheeks “Natalia Mezzanotte, CFO for Mezzanotte Industries- and I don’t think I can relate.” I let out a slight laugh.             He looks towards the front of the conference room and I can see he is dreading having to go back. “Family company, huh. I can totally relate.”             “Unlike you however, I enjoy what my family’s company had set out to do. We like to help others.” A playful grin is playing at his lips “And how are you related to Mr. Salvatore? He didn’t have any children the last time I checked.”             I can see the amusement in his eyes “You did your research. I’m his nephew for the record.”             We stand in silence taking in each other’s presence neither one of us daring to make the first move. Before I know it, he is being summoned back to his booth.             “Dinner with me tonight- 7pm- I’ll meet you in the lobby.”             “Are you asking me on a date Mr. Salvatore?” I smirk a little. “Or would you like to look at this as more of a business dinner between competitors?” I chuckle.             “I would say more of a date. No harm no foul.” He states matter-of-factly.             I let out a loud laugh.             I look away slightly trying to hide the warmth that had rushed to my cheeks by his flattery. “Fine. 7pm, but you’re taking me to Giovanni’s.”              Orlando looked into my eyes and I swear I began to melt. I watch as he licked his lips and moved in closer, reaching across the table to cup my cheek. Feeling his breath against my ear as he whispered made me nervous. My mouth went dry at the sound of his sultry voice.             “It’s a date.” He whispers in my ear as he pulls away. For a moment there, I thought he was going to kiss me, but just like everything else in my life, I had built up this weird fantasy.             Moments pass and Leo finally reappears at our booth. He looks a little disheveled, but he usually does when he’s pressed about something. “Was that Orlando Salvatore I just say you taking too?”             I knew exactly what Leo was implying. I knew for a fact that he saw me talking to Orlando, but if he knew he asked me out on a date, that it would probably be the end to not only him, but me.             “What if I was? You gonna run back to dad and tell him that his precious angel was talking to the enemy?” I can hide the devilish grin appearing on my face.             His brows furrow and I can see the discontent on his face. I know if I told him to words really exchanged between the two of us that I would be banned from ever leaving the office for events like this again. However, I am an adult and I really need to learn to make my own decisions at some point.             “Call off the dogs Leo. It was just some friendly banter between competitors. Plus, I had trusty Lorenzo by my side the entire time, so I was safe in case someone decided to take me out here in a public place with all these witnesses.” I can’t help but chuckle because I know how serious this whole thing is.             Yet I’m still curious about the mysteriously handsome Mr. Orlando Salvatore.             He didn’t act foul like all the others at his uncle’s company.             He was sweet, kind, charming and did I forget to mention extremely hot. But I had to be careful to not blur the lines between us.             After our date that night, I had convinced myself that Orlando was not like his family and that he could be my knight in shining armor. I was 22 at the time and when he asked to marry me with my father permission of course I knew there was no possible way I could say no. After the wedding everything changed. I felt like a stranger to my own family as a darkness had settled into my once happy life. Somehow, I was forced to give up my position as CFO to the man who became my husband and the dream Leo and I once had at taking the company out of the sketchy s**t had vanished. But I was blinded by it all. The way my heart rate would increase when he was around the ache my body so desperately craved when he looked at me had manipulated me into giving up it all. Perfection.             …too bad it was all a façade.             Orlando Salvatore.             He’s not my knight in shining armor, he’s a wolfs in sheep’s clothing. He may look like a Greek god on the outside, but deep down, he’s a liar, a dangerous man who murdered my brother in cold blood.             All right, this might sound like a scene from a Hollywood movie, but considering what I know now about my soon to be ex-husband, all those feelings I once felt for him are not love… but hate.             I was naïve and fell head over heels for a man I barely knew, to realizing he was the very threat to my family and the company we worked so hard to create. Orlando Salvatore can rot in prison for all I care. I will never stop at restoring my family’s legacy from the mists of this scandal. That was until a new he waltzed into my life.             That he is one other than Nicholas Gambini, my new bodyguard.