Authors: Sarah Ashley
Never Say Love
Never Say Love
Never Say Love
Sarah Elizabeth Ashley
© Copyright Sarah Elizabeth Ashley 2014
Never Say Love
All rights reserved.
The right of Sarah Elizabeth Ashley to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, nor translated into a machine language, without the written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names and characters are a product of the author’s imaginations and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events and organisations is purely coincidental.
Condition of sale
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
Cover Credits
Male model
© GooDAura - Fotolia.com
Female model © Coka - Bigstockphoto
Cover design Helen Williams. AllBookedOut.Com
Other works by
Sarah Elizabeth Ashley
Freeing Alex - Part One of the Alexandra Drake Series
Loving Alex - Part Two of the Alexandra Drake Series
Eternally Alex - Part Three of the Alexandra Drake Series
Acknowledgements
There are so many people that have helped with
Never Say Love
, so many that have supported me, listened to my ramblings or simply just been there to offer a hug.
Aconi’s Angels (aka The Porn Patrol) agai
n, all of you have all offered so much encouragement, as have all of my friends. I really couldn’t have done this without you. There are too many to name individually, but you
all
know who you are.
Along the journey I have made many, many new good friends, some have become close
, and I hope they will remain lifelong friends. We’ve laughed together, wept together and a few of us have even shared a few drinks. What a truly amazing experience it has been.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing,
and
be nothing.
–Aristotle
Eric Prydz — Pjanoo
Cascada
— What Hurts The Most
Utah Saints
— Something Good 08
Rihanna
— Don't Stop The Music
Flo Rida featuring T-Pain — Low
Lady Gaga — Just Dance
Sinéad O'Connor
— Nothing Compares 2U
Enya
— Only Time
facebook.com/SarahElizabethAshley67
Twitter: @SarahEAshley1
Website: sarahelizabethashley.com
Those of you
who have read
The Alexandra Drake Series
will have already met Benito, the super sexy Italian security professional. This is his story and is set five years before the introduction of Alex Drake of
The Alexandra Drake Series
.
Never Say Love
has been written following reader requests to know more about Benito, where he came from and what sort of person he really is. I hope that I have filled some gaps and given you a sexy character with a dark and traumatic past.
Benito Pascal Abelli, born 24
th
April 1978 is the only son and eldest child of Franco and the late Sophia, a pretty woman taken from this world far too soon, missed every single day by her beloved husband, Franco, and her children.
Benito and his
younger sister, Adrianna, had a wonderful childhood—everything associated with a good and happy upbringing. Their parents, being very firm yet kind, apart from Franco, who insisted that to spare the rod was to spoil a child, a philosophy that Benito, at the tender age of 12, did not wholly agree with.
Growing up in Tuscany
, Benito could not have wanted for anything more. Showered with love from his parents, he and his sister were spoiled in every way but materially, although having said that, they wanted for nothing.
At the age of 15
, tragedy struck as his beloved mother Sophia was taken one day whilst he and Adrianna, who was only ten-years-old at the time, were at school. It was the end of a devastating illness claiming his beautiful mother and worst still, depriving him of the chance to say “goodbye”.
Benito and his sister
wept for days while their father, the well built and incredibly masculine man, showed his softer side. He comforted his family through their grief, himself wrecked by the loss of Sophia, the only woman he had ever known in
every
way.
On t
he day of her funeral, Franco vowed to never love again, and to this day he has never touched, kissed with meaning, and certainly never lay with another, a vow he will honour until the end of his days when he will lay with Sophia once again.
O
n their own, the three of them did their best to carry on as a regular family unit with Franco at the helm. Having been spoiled by Sophia, he found himself having to learn how to manage a household, as well as his successful security business. A company that, prior to losing his wife, had taken him away for weeks on end to remote parts of the world—his remit, to take a group of well-equipped and trained men to sort out the problems of others. Yet, at home in Tuscany, his work was as any other security firm, providing everything from front-of-house personnel to close protection. The
other
side of the organisation was incredibly profitable, a part of the business not advertised, it supplied a full on, yet small, private army using the skills that Franco and his elite team gained whist serving with
COMSUBIN, a Special Forces unit of the Italian Navy.
Franco had faithfully promised Sophia that Benito would not be joining the forces. She hated every second that Franco was away and always looked tired and drawn when he returned. He hated seeing her like that and, on her death bed, promised that he would not send their son away—what he didn’t promise was that Benito would head the family business as soon as he was old enough and “qualified” to do so.
That happened on Benito’s 26
th
birthday, that day he carried out his first job from start to finish on his own, started and completed in a day. The day his sister’s then boyfriend was taught a lesson. It was to be the last lesson he would ever learn, following the last meal he would ever eat, and the last breath he would ever take. The lesson he learned: You
don’t
mess with our family. You do not take my sister’s maidenhead until you are married to her, or, at the very least, committed to her and certainly
never
against her will.
Benito had lured the young man out on his own. It had been like leading a lamb to slaughter and —he
did
lead a lamb to slaughter. After a few drinks, he had offered the young man a ride home; his journey deviated to a remote area. After a few choice words and a struggle, Benito, who was much bigger than the bastard, had finally received the confession he needed, the confirmation that Adrianna’s innocence
had
been taken against her will.
Dispatching the young man had been quick and clean, disposing of the body had been a messy affair.
Franco knew what had happened. His best security employees had been sent to the site of the bloody deed, ordered to cast the evidence far and wide. To make sure that the
pieces
could never be put together again, ever.
Benito’s actions were never spoken. Only his father and the operatives involved in the
cleanup
were
aware of what had happened. The young man of 23 years simply disappeared. Adrianna had guessed what had happened—she may have been a girl, but she knew exactly what her father, and brother, were capable of. She never forgave them for what they did. Despite her not wanting the cruel advances of that boyfriend, the last thing she would wish was for him to pay the ultimate price for his misdemeanours. Leaving the family home, she went to live with a distant relative in the southern part of the country. Franco maintained contact with her on a basic and formal level, but Benito had not spoken to her since that wretched day.
In the twelve months since Benito
proved
himself to his father, he had taken on more and more responsibility within the business. He’d also spent a great deal of time with his father’s cousin, Roberto, and his wife, Gia, in London. Franco sent him
out of the way
to avoid any repercussions that may come about as a result of Benito’s venture into the darker side of the family business, not that there was any need, for the young man concerned, or any part of him, was never found.