Chocolate and Italian Wine (Music and Mayhem Book 1) Read Online Free Page A

Karisma said, still watching.
    “Good looking brothers,” Valerie said. They giggled and gave each other high fives.
    “Hell yeah!” Karisma agreed.
    “I know you got his number,” Valerie said, raising an arched brow.
    “I’m seeing him at his restaurant tomorrow, in fact,” Karisma replied.
    “Very nice. Have fun, girl. Oh, and by the way, Maxim Magazine is considering you for their Woman of The Year.”
    Karisma clasped her hands together and bent her knees in excitement. “That’s good news! Wonderful, in fact. When will we know, Val?”
    “In a few weeks,” Valerie told her.
    “Aah, good job, Val. Thanks, girl. Who else is in the running?” she asked.
    “Bitches that can’t hold a candle to you, Queen,” she said, already looking at her cell phone log.
    “Cool. You’ll tell me who those bitches are, though, right?” Karisma asked, looking at Val. “Every queen needs to know who’s in competition for her crown.”
    Valerie laughed out loud. Together they rejoined the party, and were converged upon, as everyone in attendance wanted an audience with the most famous woman in the world.
     

2
     
    As she sat on the tall island stool in her modern, white, gourmet kitchen, Karisma looked at the steam wafting up into the air, bringing a smile to her face as she smelled the rich, aromatic scent of her coffee. She raised the ceramic mug to her lips and sipped the delightful brew.  Umm , she thought. Coffee was her morning indulgence and a pleasure she made sure to partake in no matter how busy her schedule was. She liked it with lots of sugar and just enough cream in the hot liquid, making it a rich creamy color that was not unlike her own skin tone.
    Glancing over at the clock on the Keurig coffee maker, she saw that it was 10:17 AM. She’d barely slept a wink, not getting home until nearly 5 in the morning, but managed to catch some sleep, only to awake with one eager thought—lunch with the fine Mr. Paolo Montovani. 
    “What is Mr. Montovani’s story,” she said out loud and tapped her long, slender fingers on the counter top. She reached out for her MacBook Pro and powered it up, entering his name into the Google search box. His handsome image came up right away, along with a Wikipedia definition. Soo good looking , she thought. “Wow!” escaped her lips.
    “You say someting, Miss Kari?” her house manager, Stella, asked in that lyrical Jamaican patois of hers that Karisma loved to hear.
    “No, Stella, just looking at something on the internet,” she mumbled, not bothering to turn around. Her eyes were glued to the computer screen and the masculine beauty that was Paolo Montovani. She eagerly read all about him:
    Born October 2, 1985 in Calabria, Italy . That makes you twenty-eight. Perfect, she thought. Received a BS in Business from USC in 2007. Graduated from Stanford University four years ago with an MBA.  Hot and smart, huh? Owns the Montovani Towers in West Los Angeles, La Mia Calabria Restaurant on Sunset, and has just recently taken over the majority share of FutureShock Records to become its owner and CEO. Son of Raffaelo Montovani, a Calabrian businessman with ties in the US, Canada, Australia, and Germany. Fiancé, Maria Elena Bianchi.
    Uh oh. Back up. Everything screeched to a halt . Fiancé?! No way!  “Really?” Kari said aloud again. The fiancé was a real downer and she looked for some images of them together, but there was nothing. It was like she didn’t exist, not in his life anyway. Perhaps the information was outdated.
    This time Stella came into the room and walked over to see what was going on. “Whachu talkin’ to yourself like dat for, girl?”
    Karisma’s large eyes widened. She smirked at Stella. “I’m going crazy. You’ve said so a thousand times.”
    “You can go crazy if you want. Just make sure I get paid every Friday while you’re in the nut house,” Stella said with a rich, hearty laugh.
    “Wow, Stella. I always knew you loved me for me,”