The Vengeful Italian

By Roberta L. Rafalski

The Vengeful Italian is a modern day romance. There is love, romance, betrayal, hurt feelings insecurities, forgiveness, and generally dealing with the obstacles that lifes puts in your way. It is from both the main characters point of view.

Ashleigh Gordon is a plain girl. Shes shy and her insecurities are growing, but she has a big heart. Ashleigh is aware of the fact that she isnt going to turn a mans head, when rich and powerful Vincenzo Trevino shows and interest in her she is shocked. Vince, the local playboy, has her heart fluttering, her knees weak, and her common sense flying out the window. Unable to understand Vinces motives Ashleigh is cautious at first but before long, she finds herself falling for him. After a whirlwind courtship, they marry. It is on her wedding (at the reception) that is overhears a conversation that is not meant for her ears, although it is a revelation. Her husband, Vince and his best friend, Charles are discussing his motives for marrying her. He married her for revenge, for something that he believes she did to his sister. A sister that she never met, nor knows anything about. Ashleigh is hurt, disillusioned, and very angry. What will she do?
Vincenzo Trevino is a rich and powerful Italian American. Being Italian, family means everything to Vince, so when his sister is so hurt by the actions of Ashleigh that she takes her own life; he vows to get even with her. He organizes a meeting and proceeds to woo Ashleigh make her fall for him then he will dump her as his sister was dumped by her husband (he believes Ashleigh is the woman that Melissas husband ran off with). However, things dont work out the way he plans. He falls in love with her and worries about her finding out the real reason for their marriage. What will he do when Ashleigh finds out?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Dec 29, 2012
• ISBN: 9781479754502

Roberta L. Rafalski

Roberta Rafalski lives in Pennsylvania with her beautiful teenaged daughter Michaela, where she works two jobs and tries to find time for her writing. Roberta knew she wanted to be a romance writer at an early age. Reading her first romance novel at the age of sixteen, she found so much joy in reading romances that she became a romantic. Over a period of twenty years, she made many attempts at writing, but never had the time too fully indulge in her passion.

Book preview

Copyright © 2012 by Roberta L. Rafalski.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris Corporation

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

[e-mail]

125481

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Epilogue

DEDICATIONS

To my beautiful daughter Michaela, without your encouragement and endless support this would still only be a dream. Thanks for your patience. I love you, Mickey!

To Christine, Jennifer, and Terri, without you three I wouldn’t have had the courage to do this. Thanks for everything, you will never know how much your support, and advice means to me.

Finally, to my family, friends and co-workers, thanks for always being there for me. You’re the best. I love you all!

Chapter One

As spring days went, it was like any other spring day, except this wasn’t any other spring day. This day, although not a historical day was a day of great importance, it was a day that would long be remembered, at least by the people of Grantsville, Pennsylvania. Grantsville, a small rural town in Northwestern Pennsylvania, had a population of about one thousand, a mountainous, scenic town that had several small streams and creeks running through it, as well as some major rivers. Grantsville was a town that depended on the tourist trade for a good fifty percent of its revenue, yet on this day the citizens of Grantsville weren’t concerned with the tourist trade, for this wasn’t a day for business, it was a day of great celebration, a day for rejoicing, a day for love. After all, weddings were happy occasions.

This wedding was different from the others that had taken place in Grantsville, in so many ways. For one thing, this wedding was the most talked about event to take place in the area, even more talked about than the Jacobs scandal in ‘82’. This wedding had had tongues wagging from the day it had been announced, almost from the start bets were being taken on whether or not it would actually take place. It seemed everyone had an interest in this wedding, but only a few were actually in favor of it, many others were baffled by it, they couldn’t understand why a man as wealthy and good-looking as Vincenzo Trevino would want to tie himself down to a plain-Jane type female. After all, Vincenzo was one of the richest, most sought after bachelors in the area.

Vincenzo Trevino, Vince as he was known to family and friends, was tall-at six foot four he stood heads above almost everyone—, two hundred pounds of lean male muscle. Born in Italy thirty-four years ago he was one of the richest, most powerful men in the area. Vince was a gentle, kind man, a fair man those who worked for him had vowed, although he did have a temper when crossed, and once you’ve seen it you never wanted to see it again. As the eldest child (and only son) born to Luca and Martha Trevino, he was heir to millions. His father, Luca, had died when he was five and Martha unable to cope alone had moved the family from Italy to Grantsville to live with her father, Andrew Martin.

Andrew, who hadn’t been as rich as the Trevino’s was comfortable, had been a loving influence on the Trevino children, both Vince and his sister, Melissa had flourished under his love and attention. Vince, who at the age of thirty had come into his inheritance, was as successful as his father had been, had only added to the Trevino’s wealth. His construction company ‘Trevino’s Construction Company’, was very successful and having built it up from nothing Vince was very proud of it. Just as he was proud of being an Italian and being of Italian descent, family was everything to Vince.

His father’s brothers Mario and Enrico still ran the family business and since Vince was very much a Trevino once a month he flew to Italy just to keep a heads up on things. Vince had citizenship in both countries and although, his own success was achieved in America he was just as comfortable in Italy.

Vince’s brushing bride, Ashleigh Gordon, had been a vision in her tailor-made, white wedding gown. The dress made of white satin had a graceful neckline that hugged the shoulders; the bodice and bellowing skirt were embellished with Venice lace and pearls. It was a dress designed to make any woman feel beautiful and sexy, as it had with Ashleigh.

Ashleigh, at twenty-four had found her Mr. Right despite her plain appearance. Her straight, mousy brown hair and dull brown eyes gave her a somewhat homely appearance—if it weren’t for the freckles dotting across the bridge of her nose there would be nothing appealing about her. Her five foot five inch slender frame with her ample bosoms was passable, but she was hardly the flawless beauty that people associated with the man who was known as the local Don Juan.

Ashleigh a shy, quiet, insecure girl by nature, didn’t go out of her way to look good for others; why would she when she knew she was about as appealing as an eggplant, she also knew she’d never induce passion in a man. This was why she had been taken completely by surprise when Vince had shown an interest in her; over the course of their courtship, she had often wondered what he saw in her. Maybe if it hadn’t happened so fast she might be able to believe it, but theirs had been a whirlwind courtship, after only a couple of months of dating, they had become engaged, and now a month on, they were married. Married, she still had a hard time believing it.

Just this morning, Ashleigh had to pinch herself to make sure this all wasn’t a dream, but dream or not Ashleigh Gordon Trevino was about to find out what her husband thought of her.

A fierce headache had driven her into the only room not littered with wedding guest. Now Ashleigh lay on the olive green sofa trying hard not to make a sound she didn’t want to be discovered, especially not by the two men who had suddenly appeared in the doorway talking quietly. Fortunately, the back of the sofa blocked her presence so they assumed they were alone and free to talk. That assumption Ashleigh was very happy to let them think, actually, she had been about to announce herself, but as she opened her mouth to speak they mentioned her name and intrigued she remained silent and continued to listen. She knew it was wrong and normally it wasn’t something that she would do, but she had been unable to help herself. As anyone would, she reasoned with herself as guilt consumed her. What woman didn’t want to know what her husband thought of her? It had been too good an opportunity to pass up, or so she had thought.

Well, you pulled it off, Vince, Charles Markham remarked laughingly.

Ashleigh frowned in puzzlement. She knew it was Charles because she recognized his voice. Charles had a whiny quality to his voice. What puzzled her was what did Charles mean? What had Vince pulled off and why was Charles so happy about it?

You’re right, Charles, I did, Vince replied triumphantly.

Friends from way back, they were very much alike; both were rich having been borne into money, both in their early thirties, they were both tall, broad shouldered men with golden skin and jet-black hair, only their eyes were different; Vince’s eyes were a gray color, while Charles had deep green ones. Dressed to the nines, in black tuxedos their appearance was immaculate; they stood out in a crowd and oozed sex appeal. Women found it very hard to resist them, which had as much to do with their wealth as with their handsome, sexy physiques.

And Ashleigh has no idea, Vince? Charles now inquired.

None what-so-ever, Vince replied. To her it’s just her wedding day.

What a great day for a wedding it was, Ashleigh had thought much earlier. The day had been perfect from the get go, with everything falling into place. The wedding, which had been beautiful and had brought Ashleigh and many others to tears, had gone off without a hitch. Even the weather had co-operated, which had been the biggest surprise of all considering the wedding had been held outdoors, taking advantage of the lovely picturesque view Grantsville Community Church had to offer.

I can’t believe you went as far as to marry her though, Charles was saying and Ashleigh strained to hear as noise from the party drifted in.

The reception was being held in Vince’s home, as it was big enough to accommodate everyone that would be attending. The house, a big, two-story, white manor home with an attached garage, a courtyard, and a beautiful garden was built in the early 1800’s, had sat abandon for many years before Vince had bought it and fixed it up. It was a historical house, and Ashleigh had been happy to see that Vince had kept that in mind when he’d done the renovating. Six bedrooms and three full baths made up the upstairs, downstairs was a kitchen, dining room, living room, study and a bath and laundry room. A house that was much too big for a single man, yet just right for the family that they would have one day, Ashleigh thought dreamily just a month ago. Now on their wedding day things were starting to turn sour.

This should have been the happiest day of her life, but it was fast becoming a nightmare. Her wedding day, a day that she had eagerly been looking forward to for many years, since she was a small girl, had become a circus. The society wedding of the decade was what the elite; the cream of the crop society was calling it.

I still can’t believe you pulled it off, Charles said again, his voice laced with disbelief. So where do you go from here? he now asked.

Yeah, I like to know that, Ashleigh thought silently, still lying on the sofa. She barely breathed for fear of being detected; she wanted to hear this conversation out or at least as much as she could. She had to know what was going on.

I’ve got it all planned out, Charles, Vince replied cheerfully. However, he didn’t elaborate on his plan.

And Ashleigh doesn’t suspect a thing? Charles questioned again. He couldn’t seem to believe that everything had gone off, as his friend had wanted.

Course not, Vince assured him in a voice so low that she almost didn’t catch it. Ashleigh is so naïve, she thinks we married for all the normal reasons. Laughter echoed his words. Like that’s likely. She’s so damn sexless, Charles, it’s pathetic. More laughter followed this statement.

Naïve? Pathetic? Was she? She hadn’t thought so, but obviously she was. Naïve enough to believe that since Vince was going to marry her that he had to love her. Why else would he go through with the ceremony? Although, to be completely fair, looking back, he had never once said he did. Not once in the last four months had he uttered the ‘L’ word. He certainly hadn’t uttered it when he’d proposed, she recalled with a frown. She’d just assumed that he had felt the same way she did.

Wasn’t it funny how one accidental overheard conversation could change a person’s life forever? Would she have been better off had she not heard it? She wondered a frown still marring her brow. Why had he picked on her for this revenge game? She didn’t know although she was sure she had heard enough of this conversation, yet something inside her kept her from covering her ears.

She’s so green, I’m dreading tonight, Vince scoffed while Charles laughed heartily. But you never know she might not be so bad.

Ashleigh gasped as a shaft of pain seized her, at this. Squeezing her eyes shut to stop the tears from flowing out. The hurt was unbearable, she felt as if she had been stabbed in the heart; she wanted to die. She couldn’t believe that this was Vince talking; he had been so respectful of her over the last four months. How could she have been so foolish? How could she have been so stupid to think that he could have actually wanted her? No one ever had. Why she had thought he would be different, she wondered silently cursing her innocent nature. Him with his gorgeous, drop-dean models and his glamorous movie stars.

She didn’t understand what was going on, but she knew she had been duped. What decent man married a woman with the sole purpose of hurting her? Once again, anger filled her. She felt it hit her like a tidal wave she could barely contain it. How dare he do this to her? After all, wasn’t it he who had demanded the marriage? Hadn’t it been him, who had wanted to wait and see where the relationship was going? It had been he, who had insisted on a kiss here and there; that there hadn’t been any heavy petting had not been her idea. She worshiped the ground he walked upon and would have happily slept with him, to join the hundreds of other idiots who had fallen at his feet only to exit his life as fast as they had appeared. Naïve, yes, she was. She was a naïve, stupid, blind fool.

Sex? Charles questioned with obvious shock. I can’t believe you’re actually going to bed her. There was no mistaking the disgust in his voice. How are you going to manage that? I mean she’s no Veronica. Now there is a woman.

Ashleigh sighed deeply. She was left with little doubt as to what Charles feelings were on bedding her, not that that surprised her. Charles hadn’t bothered to hide his dislike for her whenever they were together; he looked at her as if she was something he had to scrap off the bottom of his shoes. As for Ashleigh, she had tried to get along with him, for Vince’s sake but it was hard as he made her skin crawl.

No, she’s no Roni, Vince agreed with him and from the affection Ashleigh heard in his voice she knew he was fondly remembering his time with the beautiful, blonde bombshell. The marriage has to be consummated, he told Charles. No worries though, Ash may be plain, but she is a woman and one body is as good as any other. I’ll manage.

Thanks a lot! Ashleigh thought silently, closing her eyes on a wave of pain. How did she manage to get herself into these situations? She wondered, getting angrier with each passing minute. Never in her whole life had she ever been so angry, or hurt. The more she heard the more she realized she didn’t know him at all, at least not the real him, just the side that he had wanted her to see.

Do you really think she is a virgin? Charles seemed eager to know. Why he thought it concerned him was puzzling to Ashleigh. Sometimes that is just something they say to keep us interested. He thought he had all the answers.

She claims to be, Vince answered. If you had asked me that earlier I would have said no given all we know about her, now though I think she might be. She certainly kisses like one.

Ashleigh continued to fume, no longer able to hold the tears at bay, they flowed silently down her cheek. They were discussing her as if she was some sideshow freak, as if she had no feelings at all. So she was a virgin, she wasn’t ashamed of that. Being a virgin didn’t make her any less human than anyone else; she still had blood running through her veins. Moreover, what had he meant by ‘All they knew about her’? She wondered trying to wipe the tears on her check without making much movement.

How can you be sure? Charles went on with his questioning. Now days it doesn’t matter what they look like, he added now. Ashleigh heard ice clicking against glass and knew that one of them was taking a sip of their drink. I mean Fred’s sister is as ugly as a mud fence and she still got someone to deflower her, Charles continued.

Deflower? Vince chuckled at the old-fashioned wording his friend had used. Really, Charles, I’m not sure, but she sure does act like one, he continued. Every time I come near her she stiffens up like a board. Kissing her is like kissing a statue, he remarked shuddering with distaste.

Kissing a statue! Ashleigh had to bite her fist to stifle another gasp of pain that surfaced at this, while more tears rolled down her cheeks. So he didn’t like her kisses, she thought with bewilderment. If that was the case, then the man was an accomplished actor; she hadn’t been able to tell that he found her kisses repulsive. It was true in the beginning her kisses weren’t as responsive as they could have been, but once she had gotten the hang of kissing him, she had put her whole soul into her kisses. Yet he was saying that that hadn’t been enough, but hell would freeze over before he got another one, she vowed. She frowned as she tried remembering the kisses they had shared in the past, there had been passion there as well as desire, she was sure of it.

On the other hand, maybe she was just seeing what she wanted to see, she reasoned with herself. Was it possible that he had faked everything? Could a man fake desire? She had heard that it was impossible for a man to fake it, but she didn’t know a whole lot about men. She was sure that a man who would go to such lengths as Vince had would fake his passion and desire if he could and he probably could. He wasn’t a warm man at all, she was discovering. Was there no end to her stupidity? To think she had been saving her virginity for him. Now she wished she were like all the other women of her generation, changing men with the changing of the bed sheets. He certainly wasn’t worth her virginity.

So, Vince, when are you planning to let the axe drop? Charles asked eagerly.

Ashleigh wished he didn’t sound so happy about it. He obviously saw nothing wrong with this disgusting plan.

Six months, was the instant reply. It was so quick that Ashleigh was left with little doubt that he had spent some time thinking up this plan. The way I see it Melissa had six months of happiness before Bryan dumped her for Ashleigh. I will bed her for six months then dump her.

An eye for an eye, Ashleigh thought as she wondered who Melissa was. Bryan she knew, at least she knew of a Bryan, but they hadn’t been friends, Ashleigh hadn’t even liked him very much, he had just been someone who was going with a friend of hers. She had never had a boyfriend, not a real one; she had friends who were males but no boyfriends. Maybe that was why it had been so easy for Vince to get through her defenses; after all, a man like Vince could charm a bird out of a tree.

Ashleigh hadn’t realized how far a man would go just for revenge. It seemed unreal, but Vince certainly was going to the extreme for this unknown woman. It really was a cold-blooded, calculating plan. He planned to bed her, to take her virginity just to avenge this Melissa. She gently shook her head as if that simple gesture would make it all go away. This could not be happening; surely, her ears were deceiving her. This seemed more like a dream than reality, she thought. A dream? Yeah, that was it, a dream. She would wake later and discover this was all a bad dream. No, she quickly amended; this was a nightmare. People didn’t really retaliate in today’s world, did they? Things like that only happened in the movies.

Well, at least you can have other women, Charles remarked off hand, making it sound like that was to be his consolation prize. Is Veronica still in the picture? Charles obviously found favor with Veronica and why not, she was right up there in his class.

Veronica Carmichael, Ashleigh was becoming to hate that name. She had never met Veronica, but she had seen photos of her, pictures of Veronica in swimsuits, in sexy lingerie, even photos of her and Vince caught leaving a prominent nightclub. Veronica was a fashion model; a tall, willowy, blonde,—she was everything that Ashleigh was not—beautiful, brainy, and rich, she had a body that looked terrific in a bikini. Veronica had been Vince’s mistress for the past year, in fact, she’d lasted longer than any of the others had.

Oh no, Charles, Ashleigh heard Vince reply in answer to Charles’s question. No other women. We signed a prenuptial.

The prenuptial agreement, of course, now it all made sense to her. She now knew why Vince had demanded it. It had been his way of making sure he got out of the marriage with all that he brought to it, and making sure, that Ashleigh got out of it with only what she brought to it. Ashleigh, fool that she was, hadn’t been insulted by it at all she had eagerly signed it. God, she really was a prize chump.

The prenuptial was a contract in which Ashleigh agreed that in case of divorce Vince would pay her only a small percentage of his wealth, that percentage would be based on the number of years in which they were married. After only six months of marriage, the sum would be so insignificant that it wouldn’t matter. Ashleigh stood to gain from it only if Vince where caught having an affair, then she’d get a huge settlement.

As for Roni, Vince was now assuring his friend. We parted ways when Ashleigh and I became engaged.

Therefore, Ashleigh surmised, Roni had been given the boot only after they had become engaged, so that meant that while they were dating he was still seeing her. That would explain why he had found