Our Broken Love

by Terri Anne Browning

  Since her accident, her grandfather treated her differently, however. The fear of nearly losing her had changed him. He had cried as he had apologized for being so hard on her over the years. Luciano had begged her to forgive him and Alexis had quickly assured him that she did.

  Alexis took a few hours out of her Sunday and called him, letting him know that she was doing well. She relayed the news that Gabriella was going to spend a few days with her when she finished up her concert tour in Australia. Luciano Moreitti was in high spirits by the time she ended the call and made her promise to call him again the next Sunday if she got the chance.

  Vince knocked on her bedroom door and cracked it open enough to stick his head inside “Hey, baby girl. Are you up for some dinner? Dad and Melissa went out so it’s just you and me.”

  “I could eat.”

  “Good. Order in or go out?”

  “Whatever you want, brother dear.” She reached for her crutches and stood. “Just as long as it isn’t Italian. I’m all pizza-ed out.”

  “Mexican it is then.” He waited for her then closed the bedroom door behind them. “I really want a quesadilla bad enough to have begged you for it.” Outside he helped her into his Bentley Super-sport. “My mother is coming to town later this week and I already want some comfort food.”

  Alexis grimaced. Vince and his mother had a love hate relationship that went back to the moment he was born. Vince loved his mother, Max’s first wife. And while Alexis was sure that deep down Gail loved her son, she hated that he looked so much like his father. Max and Gail’s marriage had not ended well, what with all the work that Max had been doing when they had first married building up his reputation. Gail was the type of person that had to be the center of attention and Max just didn’t have the time to give it to her. So Gail had turned to one lover after another. When the divorce started, Gail didn’t have a leg to stand on when it came to alimony. Max had made some money but not enough. The assets were split down the middle, but when it was over Max started raking in the business and the serious money.

  Gail had felt cheated and turned her anger on Vince. She fought Max tooth and nail for child support. Luckily the judge at the time was not impressed and gave full custody of Vince to Max. Vince had told Alexis once that he could still remember the judge’s voice as he stood with their father in the court room and the judge had glared at his mother. “You are a disgrace to all mothers, using your child as a pawn for more money. As long as I can help it, lady, you will only ever have supervised visiting rights to your son.”

  Gail hadn’t exercised those visiting rights except for when she needed something from Vince. When he started college and then med school her visits had increased to several a year. Now that he was almost out of school Alexis was sure that her brother would be seeing more and more of the greedy bitch.

  “Did I tell you Gabriella was going to stop over and see me before she goes home?” Alexis asked, knowing her brother wouldn’t want to discuss his evil mother.

  “No. That’s great. I’m sure that you two have quite a bit to catch up on.” He pulled up to one of their favorite Mexican restaurants and tossed his keys to the valet before helping her out. “You scratch this car, I kill you,” he told the teenager before they turned to go inside.

  “Yes, sir,” the boy squeaked out.

  “It’s just a car, Vince,” she admonished him as they stepped inside. “Dad will buy you another one if something happened to that one.”

  “I don’t want another car. That one is my baby.”

  “Are you serious?” She rolled her eyes at him as the hostess approached and then led them to a table. “Why do all guys call their car their baby? A little gross if you ask me.”

  Vince attempted to explain why, but she spent more time making fun of him than really listening to what he had to say. By the time their appetizers arrived they were both laughing uproariously. “It’s good to see you smiling,” he commented after they had calmed down a little. “I thought maybe that beautiful smile had been crushed along with everything else in the wreck.”

  “I guess it was just lost for a little while,” she murmured softly, reaching for a chip to scoop up the guacamole setting between them. “It feels good to do the things we use to do, Vince. It feels like old times when I would spend the summers with you and Daddy.”

  “It does feel good. School was starting to get stressful, but with you here I feel as if a lot of my tension has faded.” He took a sip of his soda, having skipped his usual tequila because he had to drive. “Are you going to go back to school in the fall? Maybe transfer out here? Not to be biased or anything, but UCLA has a lot to offer.”

  “I-I haven’t really thought about it. I guess it depends on where I’m at with my therapy. If I am off these stupid crutches…” She gave them a disgusted glare where they were propped against the table.

  “You will be,” Vince assured her. “You are already doing better than expected considering the extent of your injuries. It’s your determination and hard work that has brought you this far so quickly. The doctors didn’t even think you would be walking yet, and here you are getting around with just the help of crutches.”

  Before she could respond to his praise of her, she was interrupted by a shadow across their table. Somehow she knew who it was without even looking. Her body seemed to be absorbing the electricity that his was giving off and she stiffened. She didn’t want to see him, speak to him … remember him. And while she would probably never remember their time together, it appeared that her body did if the tightening of her nipples and the ache between her legs was anything to go by.

  ten

  Daring to look up she was captured in his molasses eyes. For a moment her heart skipped a beat and she felt so completely happy at seeing him again. He was wearing casual clothes, a gray shirt and dark jeans with Nikes. Even like this he was a girl’s dream come true with his strong Italian features and those melting dark eyes.

  But then Gabriella’s words came back to her, and Alexis wanted him to just leave her alone. She had no idea why her cousin, who admitted to having been his friend, would call him the foul names she had and tell Alexis that she was right to stay away from him. Nor did she trust this man—who should have already explained to her why they had broken up—to tell her the truth about their past relationship.

  She felt Vince stiffening, probably because she was so tense now. “Can we help you?” he asked Jared, his voice not sounding in the least inviting. Vince had stepped into big brother mode and he had never been particularly controlled when it came to protecting her. He tended to knock heads together and ask questions later, as he had proved one summer when she was five and two older boys had been picking on her down on the beach by their father’s house.

  Jared’s eyes left hers to look at Vince. The two men sized each other up and she noticed how cold Jared’s eyes turned. After a brief moment, he turned his attention back to Alexis. “I was having dinner with my sister, when I saw you come in a while ago…” he trailed off. “How are you feeling?”

  “Today has been a good day,” she assured him. “Vince, this is Jared Giordano. He and Daddy are doing a little business together. Jared, my brother Vince.”

  Right before her eyes Jared seemed to relax. The coldness in his dark eyes thawed and he offered Vince a smile and his hand. “Vince. Med school, right?”

  Vince didn’t even blink. After a moment he finally shook Jared’s hand, but didn’t smile in return. “Yes, med school.”

  Jared didn’t seem bothered in the least by her brother’s rudeness. Instead he turned his full attention back on her. “Can I take you to your therapy in the morning? I would like to talk to you.”

  “I don’t think that is a good idea.” She didn’t want anything to do with him until she had seen Gabriella and gotten the truth out of her. Until then she couldn’t trust him—or herself for that matter. “Besides I’m sure you are a very busy man, Jared. Why would you want to waste time driving me to and
from?”

  “I don’t consider it a waste of time. But we can discuss that later. If you won’t let me take you can, I at least pick you up? Your ‘few days’ are up and I need to speak with you about something important,” his eyes were beseeching.

  She could feel her brother’s eyes boring into her, so instead of refusing Jared again she gave in, not wanting Vince to get suspicious. “Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow at eleven,” she told him. “If you can spare the time.”

  “For you, I have all the time in the world.” He gave her a meaningful look and then excused himself.

  Alexis turned back to her brother, refusing to watch him walk away. Vince had one brow raised and she blew out a tired sigh, knowing that he was about to start an inquisition. “Please don’t,” she muttered. “I met him the other day at Daddy’s office and then he gave me a ride home from my physical therapy session last week.”

  “He looks pretty into you. I could feel the hatred pouring off of him until you explained that I was your brother.” He reached for his drink and took a long swallow while he studied her over the top of his glass. “And at first you seemed to light up when you saw him, only to dim again after a second. Those are some harsh emotions to be feeling for two people who just met, Lex.”

  “What do you want me to say, Vince? I have never seen that guy until last week.” Not a lie. It wasn’t her fault that she couldn’t remember him. “Please, can we drop this subject and move on to something a little less boring? Tell me about your girlfriends.”

  He snorted. “What girlfriends? I don’t have time for dating, Lex. I barely have time to breathe.”

  “Ah, come on. There must be someone in your life.” He had always been a little bit of a player so she was sure he was at least sleeping with someone. Or maybe more than one someone. As good looking as Vince was she was sure he had to turn them away in droves.

  A slight blush crept up his neck and he cleared his throat. “I am not going to sit here and talk about my sex life with my baby sister! That is just disturbing, Lex.”

  “Hey, I’m not asking for details. Just if there is someone in your life.” She munched on another chip.

  “Okay, yes. I have a few girls in my life right now. A few that I see every now and then but are nothing special. You don’t know any of them. And before you ask—no, you cannot meet any of them. They aren’t exactly the type of girl that a guy introduces to the most important person in his life.”

  Her heart clenched at his words and she reached for his hand. “You are the most important person in my life too, Vince.”

  ***

  It wasn’t late when they got back to the house in Malibu, but Alexis was still tired. Vince took one look at her and scooped her up into his arms before she could even protest. She didn’t even try. Her brother managed the stairs with her and her crutches as if he was carrying something no heavier than a feather filled pillow.

  After he put her on her bed she gave him an appreciative smile, but he didn’t stay any longer. She was grateful. She was in a bad place just then, both physically and emotionally. Her back was killing her and she was sure that she would end up having to ask Vince to give her a shot before the end of the night. The pain was getting to be more than she could stand.

  But that pain was nothing to how her heart was feeling after seeing Jared Giordano earlier. She had seen his sister as the two were leaving, a very striking woman with dark hair that had expert golden highlights and legs that went on for miles. If she hadn’t known that the woman was his sister, then she might have felt a little…

  Jealous?

  No, not over some guy that she didn’t even remember! A guy that could have been the reason for her dark emotions rearing their head. She hated to admit it, but that the face that she had been so devastated over their breakup that she had gone to a dark place mentally and started self-destructing, it scared her. But after putting together some of the pieces he had given her combined with how easily he could affect her now, it made a sick kind of sense.

  Jared had said that she had loved him. With the way he made her feel after only being in his company for a few hours she was sure that that was true. Her body, if not her mind, remembered him all too well. And perhaps even her heart remembered him, if that was possible. She gripped her pillow, pulling it close against her chest to help ease some of the ache deep inside.

  She needed to talk to Gabriella. Her cousin would tell her what she needed to know. Before all of this mess, they had told each other everything.

  Her cell rang and she reached for it without even glancing at the screen. “Hello?”

  “How are you feeling, sweets?”

  Alexis sighed, a half smile forming at the sound of her mother’s voice. “I’m in a lot of pain, Mom.” There was no use in not telling her mother the truth.

  “Sweetheart, I’m sorry to hear that. Do you want me to let you go so you can rest? I can call back later?” Carina Moreitti’s voice was so full of concern that it brought a tear to her eyes. Her mother had never been overly affectionate. Her one true love was her work, and everyone else—including Alexis—came in a poor second.

  “No, Mom. I want to talk to you. How are things on the East Coast?”

  “Crazy as always, darling. I won’t keep you long, my love. I just wanted to see how you were settling in. Have you been going to your physical therapy?” But Alexis could almost hear the real question her mother wanted to ask. Have you been going to see Dr. Reid?

  “Yes. Dr. Bradford has me working out two hours a day, five days a week,” she assured her mother. “And I see Dr. Reid on Wednesdays. Both seem to think I’m progressing well.”

  Carina blew out a relieved sigh that Alexis pretended not to hear. “That’s great, darling. I’m thrilled. You really are doing so well … Oh, before I get off here and let you get some rest, I wanted to ask you something…” She sounded hesitant, but Alexis knew it was probably her real reason for calling after alll.

  “Sure, what is it?”

  “I know that you are just now settling in and have a busy schedule, but I have a client who will be on your side of the country in a few days. Do you remember Melinda Andrews?”

  Alexis frowned, trying to place a face with the name. “Vaguely. Her husband is some big shot in DC, right?”

  “Something like that.” Carina gave a small laugh. “Anyway, their daughter recently got married. I don’t believe you have ever met Nica, but she’s going to be over that way later in the week and I have a few things that she needs to sign. I’m flying back to Milan the day after tomorrow or I would handle it myself…”

  She bit her lip. “What do you need me to do?”

  “Can I overnight everything to you and then you can deliver them to her? That’s all I need, darling. She can look everything over, get her lawyers to make any corrections she needs, and then you can pick them up and overnight them back to me or your grandfather. But, if you are too busy I will understand…”

  “Couldn’t you overnight them to her directly, Mom?”

  “I could, but I really would feel better if you could handle this for me instead. She’s a big client, darling. And with her mother being a friend of mine, I would like to treat her a little more personally than just dump everything on her in such an impersonally fashion.”

  Alexis sighed, for some reason dreading having to do this for her mother. She didn’t really understand her reluctance. Normally she would have jumped to do something like this for her. It was no big deal. She used to do it all the time and at one point had even though about going to work for her mother and grandfather. Now, she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do with the rest of her life. The accident had left her feeling lost in more ways than one. “Okay. Overnight everything to me. Is it alright if I wait until Saturday? I’m kind of swamped until them.”

  “Saturday is perfect, darling. Thanks, Alexis. I really appreciate this, darling.”

  eleven

  “You’re doing great, Lexi. Good job.”

>   Sweat had beaded on her upper lip. Her back was screaming in pain, the muscles around her groin protesting. But she wasn’t about to moan and groan to the Dragon Man. Not after the last hour and half of physical therapy that he had just put her through.

  “Again,” he commanded, and she just barely refrained from glaring at the hulky man.

  Instead she squatted and held it for ten seconds before straightening to completely. She had to use the bars to help her, but at least she did it. Before he could tell her to do it again she squatted once more…

  “AH!” she cried out and bit her lip as a spasm gripped her back and she nearly fell forward from the agonizing pain.

  Dragon Man caught her easily and helped her stand. “Okay, just breathe. This will pass. Deep breaths, Lexi.” She closed her eyes and leaned against him as she took several deep breaths. It was nearly a full minute before the spasm released its agonizing hold on her. “I think that we should start doing some massage therapy along with the physical part,” he said once she had stepped back a little. “I’ll talk to Dr. Bradford about it, but I’m going to suggest at least twice a week.”

  All she could do was nod as she tried to get herself under control. The spasm was gone, but she was still in pain. Dragon Man patted her on the shoulder. “Good job today, Lexi. You are really working hard. Progressing beautifully. But you have to stop being so proud. Curse me if you want.” He grinned down at her. “I’m use to verbal abuse after all the physical abuse I put my patients through.”

  “No. I don’t want to do that.” She wiped her brow, using the bars to help keep her upright now. “But thanks for the offer.”

  He handed her a bottle of water. “I think we will cut out a little early. I’ll talk to Dr. Bradford today and once I get his orders, we will start the massage therapy tomorrow after our session. So be prepared to stay later.”

  “How much later?”