Alessandro (Members From Money Book 21) Read online

  Alessandro

  Will this Chocolate empire heir with ties to the mafia be tamed by the pastors daughter?

  A sexy romance by Katie Dowe of BWWM Club. Features another free bonus book.

  Event coordinator Jayda is the daughter of a pastor and a wholesome churchgoer with traditional values.

  Her world gets flipped upside down when she meets the heir to a chocolate fortune, Alessandro Romano!

  Jayda is immediately taken with Alessandro and pursues him, going so far as to tell him that he is the man for her.

  Alessandro resists at first, but his defenses soon break down…

  Ever since he returned to the States to hide from his ties to the mafia, Alessandro has been angry and bitter about his checkered past.

  But sweet and caring Jayda is proving to be the only person to break the hard shell he has built around his heart.

  Will the two eventually find their happily ever after?

  Find out in this emotional yet sexy romance by Katie Dowe of BWWM Club.

  Suitable for over 18s only due to sex scenes so hot, you'll want your own Italian bad boy to cuddle with!

  Tip: Search BWWM Club on Amazon to see more of our great books.

  Free: Get Jason from the Members From Money series where YOU'RE the star!!

  Hi there. As a special thank you for buying this ebook, for a limited time I want to send a copy of Jason free of charge directly to your email! It's a personalized story, meaning you'll add a few details about yourself (these won't be shared with anyone else) and you'll become the star of the story!! :D

  You'll be emailed a new chapter once a day for 7 days. You can get it by clicking the cover below or going here:

  Direct link: www.afroromancebooks.com/personalized-jason-members-from-money

  This book is so exclusive you can't even buy it. As well as sending daily emails with the story, I'll also send you updates when new books like this are available.

  Copyright © 2017 to Katie Dowe and AfroRomanceBooks.com. No part of this book can be copied or distributed without written permission from the above copyright holders.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Bonus Book – The Kinky Billionaire

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

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  Chapter 1

  The song was stuck in her head. She had been to the singspiration last night and had had such a good time and now the song that twelve-year-old Becky Lowe had sung about Jesus’ grace and love was still stuck in her head! Jayda laughed quietly as she shook her head trying to get rid of it. It was a beautiful summer afternoon and she was getting ready to go and meet with the parents of her latest client who wanted her to plan a bar mitzvah for their son on Friday. She had done her research and was sure she had everything she needed for the discussion. She stretched her legs out to get rid of the kinks, having them curled beneath her on the old lounge chair she had in the front of the yard. She had settled beneath an old pine tree and the smell permeated the air. It was the middle of June and the heat was not so unbearable. She loved the fact that she had her own space! As much as she adored her parents, she thanked the good Lord that her mother’s mother had left her this beautiful three bedroom place to call her own. She had changed little as ‘Grammy Louise’ had had very good taste in furnishings. The yard was large enough for her to take up gardening in her free time and she had managed to plant a variety of fruits and vegetables. Her mother had laughed at her and wondered how she got the time in between planning for events to dig around in the dirt. But she had produced some lovely vegetables and fruits most of which she had given to the church where her father was a pastor. She supplied her next door neighbour, old Mr. Coombs who had been friends with her grandmother for years.

  Jayda Walker was petite with a thick head of black hair that she had never bothered to process. The only thing she had done to the lustrous head of hair was to tint the heads with a dark gold color that somehow managed to add to its beauty. She had a smooth cocoa brown complexion, large dark brown eyes tinged with very long lashes and a smile that showed off a pair of dimples. She was effervescent and never allowed anything to keep the smile off her face. Her mother was often telling her that her smile could turn a dark day into a very sunny one!

  She had her life all planned out. She was now twenty-five so she figured that by the time she turned twenty-seven she would have saved up enough money to plan the dream wedding she had always envisioned! Yards and yards of white tulle floating down the red carpet and she walking up the aisle to meet the man of her dreams. She frowned a little as she thought about who she was thinking of so far. Winston Avery was a member of the church she attended and a fine upstanding citizen. He was attractive in a nonchalant way and he did not make waves. He was an accountant and ever since she had known him he had never stolen a kiss. Her best friend Millie always said that he was not man enough for her but Jayda had always told her that he was only respecting her wishes but secretly she wished he would have at least tried to steal a kiss! She shrugged the troubling thought away and went back to work. She would cross the bridge when she got to it!

  *****

  Alessandro looked out the window broodingly, his body tense and wired. He had been called back and he was none too pleased about it. He was an Italian American born to an Italian mother and an American father. He was twenty-nine years old and had spent much of his time in Italy hiding from the mafia when his father had decided to cut ties with them. He was heir to the vast Rivera Chocolate fortune and had been brought back home to play an active part in the running of the company. He turned as he heard the footsteps in the hall, a tiny smile tilting his lips when he saw who it was. “You look like crap,” Lorenzo said as he walked over to clap his cousin on the back.

  “Thanks,” Alessandro said dryly as he greeted his cousin. “Where is Monique?”

  “I am not letting her near you, man,” Lorenzo said grimly as he went to pour himself some coffee. “You are a dog.”

  “I thought she was far into you?” Alessandro said cynically as he poured himself some coffee. He had come back to the country over the weekend and was trying to find his bearings. He had come to the headquarters where he had been assigned his own office and secretary to boot, an elderly woman who looked like she was about to croak any minute now! He had asked his father if he could at least have the chance to choose his own staff but he had been told a blunt no. “You cannot seem to resist beautiful women, Alessandro, and they cannot seem to resist you so Alice will do just fine. She has been with the company for the past thirty years and she knows everything about it.”

  “She is and I would like it to stay that way.” Lorenzo sipped his coffee and wandered over to sit on one of the comfortable sofas in the large office. “It’s good to have you back, man.”

  Alessandro shrugged elegantly and went to sit on the edge of his desk. “I miss Italy,” he said moodily. “I miss the elegance and the beauty of everything there. I would have gladly stayed there for the rest of my life.”

  “Who was she?” Lorenzo asked him with a wicked smile.

  Alessandro’s black eyes twinkled with mirth. “You know me
too well,” he said with a laugh. “She was the daughter of one of the factory workers but her body! Bellisimo!” He kissed his fingers to demonstrate and Lorenzo laughed. “We had a very energetic affair that went on for several weeks. She cried when I had to leave.”

  “And I am sure you have moved on since then.”

  “American women are not really my style,” he said with slight disdain as he swung one long leg. “And besides I am not planning to settle down right now.”

  “Neither was I until I met Monique.” Lorenzo’s expression softened as he spoke about his wife. “She turned my life around and I am never the same. She is my heart.”

  Alessandro scoffed at that and got to his feet. “You are whipped.”

  “Just you wait until it is your turn.”

  “You will be waiting for a very long time, cousin.”

  *****

  Jayda took the glass of wine over to the living room with her and brought the TV tray closer to her. She enjoyed her solitary meals even though her parents would not mind her coming over for dinner every single evening. She did not do much cooking but when she did she made sure it was something she enjoyed. She ate out sometimes with clients or ordered in but tonight she just felt like staying home. Winston had called and they had chatted for a few minutes before he had hung up. Their conversations were not exactly boring but they were not exactly stimulating either. Her phone rang just then and she picked it up when she realized that it was Millie.

  “I want to run something by you in confidence.”

  “Confidence is my middle name,” Jayda said with a smile. “What is it?”

  “I am thinking of having sex with Boyd.”

  “Isn’t he engaged?”

  “He broke it off two weeks ago.”

  “Because of you?”

  “No. We both saw that they were not suited, Jay,” Millie reminded her.

  “And you are?”

  “I am not like you, Jay. I am not the beautiful confident girl who already has her life planned out. I am average at best and I am going into my thirties without a man ever proposing to me.”

  “You are putting yourself down again and I am not going to allow it,” Jayda said firmly as she pushed away her half eaten plate of lasagna. “Boyd just got out of an engagement two weeks ago, Millie. What makes you think that he is into you? He is probably still hurting.”

  “I like him and I have liked him for a very long time!” she muttered. “I have been waiting for him to realize that it is me that he needs to be with and I am sorry if that does not sit well with you but I am going for what I want.”

  Jayda took a deep breath and responded. “You are right. I am here as a friend and I should be supporting you in whatever you want to do. I just don’t want to see you hurt.”

  “It’s all a part of life, Jay. I really do like him and I might sound pathetic but I really want to go after this.”

  “So don’t listen to me and go for it,” Jayda said with forced gaiety in her voice. Boyd Matthews attended their church and had been engaged two times. Jayda did not particularly like him and thought he was a player but who was she to stand in the way of what her friend thought was her chance of finding love?

  “I am a big girl and I know what I am getting into.”

  “I am sure you do.”

  “Okay, just wanted to run it by you. Are you coming to choir practice on Saturday?”

  “I have back to back things lined up for Saturday but I will let you know.”

  “Okay sweetie, talk to you soon.”

  Jayda hung up the phone and muted the television set, her eyes fixed on the news anchor reporting the news. She felt like a hypocrite! She should have told Millie what she really thought about Boyd. The woman was her best friend and the relationship they had should have given her the freedom to say what was on her mind. She sipped her wine thoughtfully and remembered something her father had told her some years ago: It had been in relation to a couple who had been on the verge of getting a divorce and had come to her father for advice. The woman had accused her husband of having an affair and the husband had accused her of neglecting her wifely duties. Her father had told them to go home and try and work it out between them. Jayda had asked him why and he had told her that when it comes to the matters of the heart it was very touchy and people will find a way to blame the third party if it went south. “When two heads settle on the pillows, my dear, you never know what they are discussing. I never want to be caught in the middle of a marital spat or any sort of relationship. I always encourage them to try and work it out.”

  “And if they can’t?” she had asked him.

  “Then they can’t,” he had told her quietly.

  *****

  Isabella Rivera was the youngest child of the Rivera family and very spoiled. Both children had taken their mother’s dark good looks and her hot temperament. Adam Rivera had learned early in his relationship with his wife Katarina to let her win every argument, it was better for his peace of mind. His daughter and son were the same and sometimes he felt as if he was outranked. He had dark brown hair and light grey eyes. The only thing he had managed to pass on to his son was his height as he was over six feet. Alessandro had managed to outdo him even there by several inches.

  Both he and Alessandro turned as the door to the study was pushed open without even a knock. “Isabella, what do we say about knocking?” Adam asked as his daughter came striding in with her long sheet of waist length raven hair billowed behind her. She was tall but not very tall as she only came to her brother’s shoulder. She was twenty years old and had just finished college in May. Come July she would be working at the company doing PR and advertising but for now she was determined to enjoy herself as much as possible!

  “I just got my brother back after so many years and what do both of you do?” She gestured with her slender hands. “Stay in here discussing business! Mother and I will not have it.” She put her hand through his arm and grinned up at him, her large dark eyes flashing with mischief. “Unless of course you were discussing the birthday party for next month.”

  “I thought you were too old for birthday parties?” Alessandro teased, dropping a kiss on top of her head. She and his mother were probably the only females he had any sort of respect for.

  “You are never too old, darling,” she told him with a careless shake of her head. “Besides I am going to be twenty-one. It’s a big deal.”

  “Anything you want,” her father told her.

  “Good because I have hired an event co-ordinator to handle everything.”

  “Is that what they are calling it now?” Alessandro said with a tilt to his lips. “Party planner is not politically correct anymore?”

  “She does not only plan parties,” she told him reprovingly. “She is into weddings, luncheons, and the whole works for your information.”

  “You make a good PR for her, Bella,” he teased.

  “Very funny,” she said darkly. “Dinner is served and I was told not to leave without you,” she said looking from one to another.

  *****

  “It’s huge, Mama!” Jayda said her eyes shining in excitement as she dumped her laptop bag on the shiny marble counter in her parents’ kitchen. “I will be planning Isabella Rivera’s twenty-first birthday party and she told me to spare no expense. She wants the whole works. This is the highlight of my career and what I have been hoping for since I started.”

  “I am happy for you, honey,” Jenny dropped a kiss on the top her daughter’s head as she handed her the tall glass of lemonade. “Rivera, isn’t that the chocolate people? I tried their almond delight the other day and I have never tasted anything quite like it.”

  “They make the most delicious ones I have ever tasted,” Jayda agreed as she drank down the ice cold lemonade. “They have factories all over the world and I heard rumors that they were tied to the mafia. The son came back home a few weeks ago from Italy. I saw his picture in the papers.”

  “And we do not indulge
in gossip of course,” her mother said firmly. She looked towards the doorway and her attractive lined face softened into a smile as her husband came in.

  “I thought I heard my only child’s voice,” Barry Walker said as he walked into the sunny cozy kitchen where he greeted his wife with a gentle kiss before kissing his daughter on the cheek. “How are you, baby girl?”

  “I am fine, Dad. I thought you were out visiting the Raymonds?” she asked touching his dark attractive face briefly. “Isn’t their son in the hospital?”

  “Yes, and I am planning on going there later. What are you up to?”

  She told him about the party. “That calls for a celebration. I hope you are staying for dinner?”

  “I am,” Jayda told them with a laugh.

  “Good! Now we can open the bottle of Chardonnay I have been saving.”

  *****

  Alessandro swam the full laps several times before turning around to head for the edge of the pool. He had negotiated with his parents to let him have his own apartment and they had reluctantly agreed. He had grown up in the magnificently beautiful mansion located on several hundred acres of rolling green land but he had told them that he needed space to be his own person. Isabella had pouted and demanded to know why he could not stay there and he had told her gently that he needed to be by himself for a bit. “You have privacy here, Alessandro,” she pointed out. “Mother and Dad do not come barging into my suite of rooms at any given time.”

  “I know,” he had told her softly as he kissed her cheek. “You can come over whenever you want and I will be checking up on you.”

  “I missed you and it seems like you are going away again,” she had told him with a slight frown which he had used his fingers to iron out.

  “Never at least not without you,” he promised her. “I just need some space.”

  He hauled himself up and sat on the edge of the pool letting his feet make waves in the clear blue water, his thoughts pensive. He had lost his way for a little bit and had been pulled back in by his family in Italy. He had explored his mafia connections and had loved it too much that he had almost gone over to the dark side. He had fancied himself some sort of a gangster and had told his parents that he preferred that side of the family. His mother had come right over to Italy and had set him straight. He smiled slightly. Katarina Rivera was small but she packed quite a punch! She had told him in no uncertain terms that she had no intention of losing her only son and he should get his act together! He had almost done the unthinkable and let himself be initiated into the family. It was a part of him but not anymore. He was finished with that life. He heaved himself up gracefully and headed inside pulling the glass doors shut. His apartment was high end and was located in an exclusive neighborhood complete with guards downstairs. Not that he was afraid but it was better to be safe than sorry and that was the only way his parents would agree to him living elsewhere. “You are a Rivera, son, and that means you are a target,” his father had told him.