Fire and blood (Book2 of Wolves of Milano)

1. Grazia

She is walking up and down her office and waiting anxiously for Allegra to come by. Maybe poaching her friend’s assistant is not morally right, but she needs her badly. She needs her advice and she needs her help. Grazia can’t get Allegra’s brother off of her mind and she only saw a few pictures of the guy. But he made a lasting impression on her and she is dreaming of him every night.

Her pacing gets more intense and she is developing her calendar idea in her head. Being in love with the Australian Firefighters calendar is putting it mildly. She does have a collection at home and she orders the new one as soon as it’s possible. Mostly because she knows the publisher and she can order it before print. Sometimes it pays to be her mother’s daughter. She’s got connections and a wide circle of friends all over the world. So she silently says a prayer and she thanks her mother for the life she gave her.

A knock on her door stops her pacing and she smiles wide before she opens it for Allegra. The young designer’s assistant looks mighty fine. She could be a model, if she wanted to and all the big names would kill to have her walk for them. But no. Not Allegra Totzzi! The angelic looking perfection wants to be a designer. The first impression Grazia had of Allegra was Snow white; Ivory white skin, blue eyes and long black hair that shines all on its own. The minimalist makeup she favours only brings forth the natural beauty that she is. And if her brother looks even half as good in real life as he did in those pictures, she is lost.

“Hey, girl!” Allegra greets her in her cheerful way. “Stop staring at me and tell me why I’m here.”

“Sorry, love. I keep getting lost in your eyes.” Grazia laughs and finally sits down. She can relax a bit now that Allegra is here. Her plan can be set in motion.

“I get it. You want me for a modeling gig.” Allegra laughs and she hears the symphony playing in the girl’s voice. What is it about this girl? “Not gonna happen.”

“I know. I gave up on that dream a long time ago. I have something else in mind and if you help me pull it off before Christmas, you get big royalties.” She smiles at Allegra and waits for her reaction. She knows that the little miss fashionista is always out for some easy cash to fund her clothes fetish.

“Royalties?” Allegra sits up straight and shows the interest Grazia was waiting for. “Do tell, I’m all ears!”

“A calendar.” Grazia smiles widely. “The Australian firefighters do one every year. I want to recreate it here in Milano. I need you to sway your brother and his pals at the station. I just hope they are all so good looking.”

“Oh, honey!” Allegra shakes her head at her. “I can sway Alessio to just about anything, but I have no pull over his coworkers.”

“Can you try? Please!” Grazia is ready to beg and do favours. “Just get me in touch with him.”

“I can arrange something, but you picked the worst time ever. My cousin Vittorio is the Fire chief at Alessio’s station, but he’s missing. Everyone is looking for him.” Allegra tells her.

“Oh my god! What happened?” Grazia exclaims. “Missing how?”

“I don’t know. It’s weird, I can tell you that. My parents are acting weird, my uncle is on some weird power trip and sometimes I think my whole family went crazy.” Allegra shrugs.

“Are the firefighters searching for him?” Grazia asks and she thinks that it might be a good thing to wait. She can give it a few weeks delay, but they will cut it too close to December for her liking. Is her little project destined to fail? Should she let it go?

“I think so.” Allegra says.

“What about the idea? Do you think it would work? Would it sell with our hometown boys?” Grazia asks her.

“It’s great. You just have to convince them to do it. Alessio won’t be a problem, but you need 11 more.” Allegra nods. “Who doesn’t want to ogle good looking men?”

“You have a point.” She thinks a bit. “Can we get 12 good looking guys at the Fire station? Do you know your brother’s coworkers?”

“I know them. Even my cousin is a hunk. Vittorio is 33 years old and he turns heads wherever he goes. My bff’s are drooling over a picture they stole from me.” Allegra laughs and pulls her phone out to show her a picture of Vittorio. “He’s the one next to Allesio and the other guy is his younger brother Mateo.”

“Oh, wow! Mateo looks like a copy of Marco.” Grazia exclaims. “They could be twins.”

“Right. I forgot you know Marco. Too bad he’s off with his girl.” Allegra comments. “He lives in Iceland now.”

“Yeah. I miss Marco and his laid back persona, but you are more fun to work with.” Grazia laughs. “And you’re not bad looking at all.”

“Ha, ha.” Allegra feigned laughter. “Why are you trying to get me to model, if I’m only ‘not bad looking’? Don’t you think that’s confusing?”

“Oh, you know what I think about you. I don’t need to stroke your ego. You are aware of your looks and you use it well.” She smiles and shakes her head. Is Allegra trying to get something from her? Or is she practicing here for something or someone else?

“Is Mateo a firefighter as well?” She asks and plans out which month she would assign him.

“Yes. Volunteer though. He is too lazy to hold a job.” Allegra laughs.

“A black sheep of the family? A bad boy?” She wants to know and she could incorporate that into the calendar so well. “No. That’s Marco, because he’s not a firefighter. It’s a huge thing in our family.” Allegra explains while she texts someone.

“I see.” Grazia thinks about all the possibilities and she pens down a few notes. Not all the men need to be from the same station, but that would just make her work more difficult if she needs to coordinate more sites. “Could they be persuaded with some charity cause?”

“Maybe.” Allegra shrugs. “Allesio just wrote to me. The station is run by the Fire Commissioner for the time being. Maybe you could talk to him about it? He is the boss after all.”

“That’s a great idea! See, you’re earning already?” Grazia smiles widely. “I would share my take with you, let’s say 20 percent?”

“How much would go to charity?” Allegra asks.

“Fifty percent of all proceeds. The other half, we split between the photographer, marketing, print, our pay and of course, we have to give the models a cut.” Grazia outlines her idea.

“I like your idea. I think we could get the guys on board.” Allegra smiles. “But I don’t know the Commissioner in person, so he’s the one we really need to impress.”

“I just love how you use the word we.” Grazia chuckles. “Welcome on board.”

Fleshing out the idea and making it presentable takes them a few hours. But they have the cost estimates and locations and Grazia is willing to fund the project herself. Finding great looking pets at the shelter is not a problem and they would benefit from the exposure as well. She even has a few connections at the ZOO and they could do some more exotic pictures there. The only thing they need to think up is the charity that would interest the firefighters the most. She doubts they would be interested in helping animal shelters since there are about five charities in Milano doing it.

“What about helping the people of Sicily after that devastating wildfire?” Allegra asks.

“Brilliant idea!” She smiles widely. “That is close to them and it relates to their jobs.”

“Wonderful. We are ready.” Allegra laughs. 

“Can you get your brother’s schedule and arrange a meeting?” Grazia asks and she hopes she doesn’t come off as too eager. “Or do you think we should go directly to the Commissioner?”

“I don’t know.” Allegra tells her. “We can go to the station and see. Just to make you happy, because I have a feeling that there is more involved than just a calendar.”

“You read me so well.” Grazia nods and tells Allegra her secret. “I have a thing for your brother. Tell me he’s not involved with anyone?”

“Alessio? The one love in his life is his Harley.” Allegra smirks. “You are all on your own there. I do not want to have anything to do with my brother’s love life.”

“Noted.” Grazia nods. “When can we go?”

“Tomorrow morning?” Allegra suggests.

“Great. Where should I pick you up?” She wants to know.

“I’ll write down my address. Just don’t get your hopes up. Alessio is out of the house at dawn.” Allegra warns her with a smile. Is the girl just a little bit wicked, or what?

The rest of the day flies by in a blur. She can remember the meetings and the models and the interviews, but all that is in the forefront of her mind is the new calendar and Alessio Totzzi. Damn, her imagination and this fixation on a man she hasn't even seen in real life. If getting him in bed is the only way to stop thinking about him, she will do it. And she’ll enjoy every moment of it. She doesn’t have time to date, but she will make an exception for him.

Getting home and seeing all the empty space makes her sad, so she skips on  turning the light on and walks slowly to the stairs. She would rather not see all of her mother’s furniture and her fathers grand antique desk. She makes her way upstairs in the dark and only turns on the light in her old room. Even now, after five years, she still sleeps in her room with all her childhood white furniture that she demanded be brought over from their old house because she couldn’t part with it. 

She doesn’t have the heart to sell the house her mother never got to enjoy. They have only just moved in when her parents died in the accident that turned her life upside down. Neither does she have the guts to sleep in the luxurious master suit. She still thinks of it as her parent’s room. 

“Oh, mother, I miss you so much.” She whispers and gets all her makeup cleaned off of her face before she steps in her shower. She stands there so long that she feels good and clean. All the worries of the day washed away with the hot water. She breathes deep and slow to relax and calm down. The meditation technique she learned from her best friend, a yoga enthusiast and lifestyle coach.

Climbing into her bed with nothing on her mind, she falls asleep instantly and with a smile on her face. Tomorrow is a new day and new challenges await her. And apparently new dreams of a certain dark haired, blue eyes hunk of a firefighter. She shoots up in her sleep, wide awake all the sudden. She turns on the light and looks around her room. The dream was so vivid this time she had the feeling he’s really here with her. She is drenched in sweat and so horny she needs to take a cold shower and repeat her meditation routine to even hope of getting a few more hours of sleep. She can’t function on two hours of sleep alone, there is not enough coffee in the world for her to make it through a day with so little sleep.