For once, her brother looked serious, and she knew that he wouldn’t let this go unless she came up with a good enough excuse for her actions.
Diego leaned in close to her face, and stared into her eyes—a move that he would always do when he wanted the utter truth from her. She couldn’t avoid his gaze that way.
“You’ve been in a mood since before we left home, and I want to know why?” She knew that he wouldn’t move until he’d gotten an answer from her, and it had to be an answer that he believed.
Emelia stared at her brother, and reached out to cup his face. “I love you . . .”
“Oh my God!”
At the sound, they turned toward the voice as it spit out, “You bastard.”
Emelia arched a brow and smirked at Diego, who looked like he’d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
“Um...um . . .”
“Sandra,” she helped him out.
“Sandra, look. This isn’t what...you know what, it’s exactly what it looks like, and you’re interrupting because I fucking love this woman in my arms.” His smirk grew into a huge smile…he was definitely proud of himself.
The woman gasped and grappled at words until Diego spoke again, “I’m not sure how you got in here,” he arched a brow, “but I’d like you to leave and don’t come back.”
“I hate you,” she cried, as real tears flowed down her face. At least, Emelia thought they were real.
Diego cursed under his breath, “Fuck me.”
“I do believe she already did.” Emelia giggled, enjoying her brother being put on the spot.
“Look, Sandy . . .”
“Sandra,” Emelia corrected.
“Sandra,” the woman corrected at the same time.
“Ugh, Sandra. I never made any promises, and you basically knew that it was just one night. I’m sorry, but you really need to leave.”
“You really love her.”
Diego looked back at Emelia and she could see that he was surprised to have the question asked. She was as well. Why didn’t the woman continue to hurl insults at him?
But he answered Sandra, “Yes, I love her. It feels like I’ve loved her all my life.” He smiled at Emelia before he turned back to Sandra.
“Let me show you out.” He headed for the woman but turned back to look at her, his expression stern. “You. Do not go anywhere, Si...Sissy.”
Emelia shook her head at him. Sissy, really? Well, it was a good save from sis.
She watched as he disappeared with Sandra, but she tried to see what was going on from her perch on the countertop.
He kept his voice low and she couldn’t see the door from where she perched. She looked around the kitchen as she tried to come up with an excuse. He’d be back within minutes, and he’d want answers for her behavior. She wasn’t ready to tell him the truth, and she didn’t think she’d ever be ready. Would there ever be a right time to tell him that Emiliano wasn’t their real father? She didn’t think there would be.
She’d accepted it easily because of her feelings toward Dante, but Diego had nothing like that to fall back on. She’d break his heart with that declaration. She couldn’t do it. She might not have the choice in the long run, though. Not if Eric decided what she knew needed confirming and addressing as a family.
“You’re still there,” Diego sounded surprised. She’d heard him slam his apartment door shut and click the bolt. “I thought you’d have gone hiding out.”
“I’m still waiting for my interrogation.” She smirked.
“Hmm,” he moved toward her, “I had you squirming before she showed up. You’ve had time to think up an excuse.”
“You’re wrong. I’ve just been sitting here waiting for you.”
He leaned against the sink opposite her, and asked, “Please talk to me. I know there is something, and it happened while we were home because that’s when you started to look so damn unhappy.”
“It’s nothing. Let’s just leave it.”
He didn’t say anything and just stood watching her.
“Dante.”
That one word uttered from his mouth caused her to suddenly meet his gaze while she wondered what he’d worked out.
“You like spending time at his place,” Diego crossed his arms over his chest, “and now you are here instead of there. Did you two have an argument?”
“Just leave it, please.” She couldn’t hold his gaze any longer, and looked off into space. She didn’t really see anything other than Dante’s face from that night. He had blurred in her vision as he kissed her forehead before he walked away. “He’s had enough of me staying there, and said I should get out and meet people.” She had tears in her voice as she admitted, “He meant men.”
“God, Emelia. I’m not stupid, and I know what he meant. You can’t blame him really. I know he’s our brother, but he isn’t only a priest, he’s fourteen years older than us, and I can see where he may not want you visiting for long periods. Don’t get your panties in a wad over it. I happen to agree with him.” He offered her a wicked smile.
She knew that smile. “Diego, please tell me you didn’t?”
“Didn’t what?”
“Ugh,” she jumped down from the counter, “you know exactly what I’m referring to. You didn’t fix me up with anyone, did you?”
“Can you please remember that I’m not just your brother, I’m your twin, which is really special, before I answer?”
She rolled her eyes and prodded him in the stomach with her finger. “Tell me.”
“Gosh, Sis.” He moved away from her, but she followed.
He wasn’t getting away with leaving her to fly blind. Not only was she not interested in anyone other than Dante, but she hated being set up.
“If you must know he’s a nice guy and he’s really choosy as to whom he drops his pants for.”
She blinked not believing he said that to her. “Eww, you did not go there?” She hit his arm, “Diego!”
He laughed and tried to catch her arms as they flayed in his direction. “Look,” he held her arms down at her sides, “he’s a good guy. I wouldn’t set you up with a dick. No way in hell.”
“I’m not interested.” All her energy seemed to desert her now and she just wanted to go curl up in her bed.
“Just meet him.”
“Diego,” she followed him as he walked toward the fridge.
He opened it and retrieved a beer.
He had a back up plan. It was written all over his face. “I might have invited him and a few others over for pizza and beer tonight.”
“You did not?”
“Look, they’re my friends. I always hang out with the guys. It’s no big deal.”
“Of course it’s a big deal, you idiot...does he know that you’re trying to set me up with him?”
“No.” He sipped his beer. “I haven’t said anything. I figured you both would meet here with the others and I planned on seeing how you both got on first.”
“Hmm, I’m not sure whether or not I believe you. But I’ll let it go for now.”
Emelia narrowed her eyes at her brother before she walked away toward her bedroom.
Once inside, with the door closed, she slid to the floor and let the tears fall as her heart took another hit.
She didn’t want to meet anyone regardless of what her brothers wanted. The only person she wanted, that she couldn’t have, wanted her to be with someone else. He wanted her to move on with her life and stay away from him. Could she do that? Could she ever forget about her love for Dante and move on?
She could try, but she seriously didn’t think anything would work.
Chapter Five
Dante knew without looking up that Mateo was watching him eat out of the corner of his eye. It had been his brother’s suggestion to go out for dinner, and he couldn’t help but wonder whether it was to get them away from Barbara, who would love to spread any gossip she heard, or simply to grill him about what he did.
So far though, Mateo had
yet to ask him about his disappearing act earlier, but Dante knew his brother would ask him the question soon. Curiosity wouldn’t let him stay quiet.
Dante hated the silence between them while they continued to eat, and instead of waiting for Mateo to finish shoveling the food in his mouth, he started, “About earlier.”
Mateo turned his head to look at him, but he stayed silent.
“I’m sorry I left the way I did.” Dante placed his cutlery down, having lost his appetite with thoughts of Emelia with another man. “I just needed to be alone.”
How lame was that excuse?
He cursed to himself, and drank some of his dark coffee before he met his brother’s gaze.
Mateo still hadn’t said anything, but Dante could see his brother turn over in his head the conversation that they’d been having when he’d lost it.
“You were fine until we started talking about Emelia,” Mateo pointed out. “Why would me mentioning Diego setting Emelia up with a guy make you angry?”
“I wasn’t—”
“Don’t lie to me, Dante.” Mateo pointed at him with his fork, which he ended up dropping to his plate. “You’re so damn stubborn that it’s annoying.” He pushed his plate out of the way and leaned forward with his elbows on the table. “Look, I know you’re a priest, but you’re my brother before anything else. Right here, in this café, I want you to forget about all the religious stuff and talk to me—brother-to-brother. I want to know what is going on with you as a man and as my brother, because that person, earlier, wasn’t you. You’re the calmest of the lot of us.” He chuckled. “Shit, even I don’t act like that when Caprice pisses me off.”
After a long pause, Dante said, “I have a difficult time imagining Emelia with a guy. I know she’s only a couple of years off thirty, but it’s still weird.” He figured he’d skim the truth about his reaction because he certainly wasn’t ready to admit his true feelings to Mateo. It was bad enough that he’d told their brother Eric.
“So you still think of her as our little sister, huh?” Mateo asked, and Dante hoped he didn’t seriously expect an answer.
“She’s all grown up, Dante, and considering the time you two have spent together over the past few years, I’d say that you, more than anyone, should know that.” Mateo raised a brow. “I know you’re a priest and she’s our sister, but you still have twenty-twenty vision, so surely you haven’t missed the fact that our sister is one beautiful woman. She should be happy instead of looking so damn miserable all the time.”
Mateo shook his head and leaned back in his chair before he continued, “Diego’s worried about her and that’s why he agreed to take her to New York with him. He decided that he wanted her where he could keep an eye on her. If I didn’t know better, I’d say she looked like she’d lost her best friend...you wouldn’t know anything about that, would you, brother?”
Dante had listened to everything that came out of Mateo’s mouth, but he certainly had no idea how to respond. He’d noticed Emelia a lot more than he ever should have, and he’d let her slip into his heart as the woman he loved, with nothing brotherly about it.
“Emelia has always been a loner,” he hesitated, his hands entwined together on the table, “and you know that. Everyone knows that. We did have a few words before I left, and that’s all I’m going to say about it. She needs to stop wanting to live in Fredrick with me. New York is a much better place for her. There’s so much going on that she’s bound to start living the life of a young woman...instead of—”
“Instead of a nun,” Mateo interrupted.
If only he knew.
“C’mon. I need some fresh air after all that food,” Dante suggested.
“I’m with you.” Mateo tossed some cash onto the table before he grabbed his jacket, and let their ‘Emelia’ conversation go.
He hoped.
Dante slipped on his own jacket, and followed his brother, barely registering the world around him since he was lost in deep thought. He was sure his brother would pick up on what he’d said about Emelia, but he hadn’t. Not wanting to lie to his brother, he stuck as close to the truth as he could even if just the mention of her being with someone else tore him in two.
But, as he walked outside and the wind whipped around him at the start of another blizzard, he looked up at the thick clouds and prayed for answers. He wasn’t sure what he needed answers for, but he needed something to stop feeling the way he did.
He wanted to be happy for once. He wanted to be able to smile, laugh, and have fun without his heart being split apart by the forbidden longing he felt for Emelia.
“Do you think,” Mateo startled him, “you can pray in church instead of out here? This damned snow is going to make it difficult to drive soon.”
Dante looked around and realized the parking lot and roads were already covered with a thick layer of snow. The weather had taken a significant turn within the hour they’d been inside the café.
“You’re right, c’mon.” Dante unlocked his truck, and once they were both inside with their seatbelts fastened, he pulled out of the lot.
Driving in so much snow brought back the memory of Thanksgiving when Emelia had gone into town with Mateo and his fiancée, Caprice, and their other brother, Kasey, to pick something up. Kasey’s truck had gone off the road, and by the time he and Eric had found them, Dante had been so relieved that he didn’t think, and had hauled Emelia out of the truck and into his arms. He hadn’t wanted to let her go, and he’d kept her on his lap all the way back to their father’s house. In fact, he hadn’t let her go until Diego had pried her out of his arms.
But as he steered the car toward his home, he realized that he’d have to live off the memories for the rest of his life.
Chapter Six
“Diego, I’m still not sure about this.” Emelia walked over to where her brother had deposited five large pizza boxes. Her stomach rumbled with hunger. “How many friends of yours did you say were coming?” She lifted the lid off one and, closing her eyes, inhaled.
“I didn’t say...Three.” Diego nudged her with his hip. “Take one. That racket your stomach’s making is ridiculous.”
She wasn’t about to complain because the pizza smelled like heaven.
While she grabbed a slice, she warned her brother, “I’m not promising to stay around when they get here.” She took a bite of the cheese and tomato pizza and let out a sigh of pleasure. “This is so good,” she mumbled, her mouth stuffed with the richly flavored food. “As I was saying, don’t expect me to stay around if I feel uncomfortable because I’m really not looking to be hooked up with anyone, okay?”
“I hear you,” he said as he walked out of the room.
“Diego, I’m serious.”
“I know,” he shouted from the front of his apartment, seconds before she heard other voices.
Her belly was full of nerves at the thought of being set up with a guy, especially when her heart belonged to another. But she had manners, and she also loved her twin and would pretty much do anything for him. Which was why she still stuffed her face in the kitchen instead of running off to her bedroom to hide out for a while.
“The girl stuffing her face is my sister, Emelia,” Diego said, which nearly caused her to choke.
While she’d been lost in thought, she’d had no idea that anyone had crept up on her. She turned to face her brother, and hid her surprise at the men grinning in her direction.
They were all around the same height as her brother who was around six feet, and all seemed to fill out their jeans and T-shirts, rather well. Two of them had light brown hair, and the third was a dusty blond. Her brother’s hair was black, and closely shaved against his head.
“Sis, stop gawking and come and meet the guys.” Diego grinned and so did the handsome trio.
Wiping her hands on a napkin, Emelia moved toward her brother and couldn’t decide which one of the guys her brother had talked about. They all gave her a once over though.
If her heart hadn’t
already been involved elsewhere, she might have been interested. She wasn’t blind, just not interested.
“Sis,” Diego wrapped his arm around her shoulders, “this is Mike, David and Stuart.”
“Hi, nice to meet you all...there’s, um, lots of pizza.”
“We noticed.” Stuart smirked.
Emelia felt uncomfortable after the introductions because everyone just stood around, so she pinched her brother in the side to get him moving.
He turned and frowned at her but took the hint. “C’mon, grab the pizza, and there’s beer in the fridge. I don’t want to miss the beginning of the game.”
Everyone got moving, but she didn’t miss the interested glances Diego’s friends gave her.
It would be a long afternoon if that was how it went with them. She had stuff that she could be doing, like reading the new hardback book she’d bought from the large Barnes and Noble that was just down the street. She’d passed it when she’d gone for a walk and had lost herself for hours in its aisles.
She’d even bought a book for Diego about the structure of the empire state building, something that fascinated him. She loved her brother, and their family, but sometimes she wished they’d leave her alone, and stop interfering in her life.
They were a happy family, and everyone loved being together back in Montana. She just wished that she hadn’t started to feel like an outcast because of what she’d overheard.
Eric was right. She did need to visit with her mother, and talk to her. Eric hoped that she’d misheard, she knew that, but she hoped, with everything in her that she hadn’t. If she hadn’t, then the only thing standing in the way of her being with Dante would be his chosen life with the church.
“I’ve been standing in front of you,” Mike started, “for about five minutes and you haven’t even noticed. I must be losing my touch.” He offered her a soft smile.
“I was lost in thought,” she blushed, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be so rude.” Her brother wouldn’t be happy if he knew she kept drifting off while in the midst of company.
He grabbed another beer from the fridge, and held one out to her. Their fingers touched and his lingered, but no sparks flew for Emelia. She met Mike’s gaze and smiled. He seemed like a nice guy, but she had no clue how to act in these situations. She certainly didn’t want to lead him on.
Love in Purgatory (De La Fuente #2) Page 3