Staring at her, Joan’s eyes grew hard. “What a crock of shit. You are not your mother, and excuse me for saying so, but she doesn’t sound like much of a mother. Who the hell would tell their child to avenge them instead of getting to safety and to be happy?” Joan finished, disgust heavy in her voice. Blinking at her words, Angie stared. Opening her mouth to defend her mother, she found she couldn’t. Joan nodded her head in approval. “Exactly! You would never ask that of Alexa; you would be worried about her safety, not vengeance.”
Joan was right. She would move the world itself for her baby. As that thought came to her, Angie began to think of old memories of her beautiful mother differently. She only came to see her when her father was around. She only hugged her when he was there. She couldn’t remember her ever spending time with her unless he was there. When he was away on business, Angie was kept in her room so that her mother could have visitors. Then other memories came, of her mother flirting with any male near her. Her mother always wanted to be adored, needed to hear that she was the most beautiful. The laughing stories of all those men vying for her attention until she chose Angie’s father. The hidden gifts from other men. The tightening of her mother’s eyes when Papa would say she was even more beautiful than her. Joan was right; Angie wasn’t her mother. She wasn’t jealous of her own child. She wasn’t weak and dependent on men to protect and adore her. She’d destroy anyone who looked at her baby wrong.
Looking at Joan in wonder, Angie said, “She was a selfish, vain bitch who only cared for herself.” She had been ready to give her baby up because she’d been poisoned by a woman long dead. One who’d told her that her beauty was a curse, when the reality was, her mother was the curse. While what happened to her mother had been horrible and wrong, she’d led those men on, then kept leading them on. If she had ever acted like a married woman instead of a young debutante, they would not have vied for her attention the way they did and grown angry when they couldn’t have what she dangled before them. She’d killed Papa—not her beauty but her vanity—and he’d allowed her to do it. He’d never controlled his wife. Angie knew that if she acted like that, Lucca would make sure she never did it again. Getting up, Angie walked over to Alexa and scooped her up, hugging her tight. “We, my little love, are going on a trip.” Looking over at Joan, Angie smiled slyly. “You think Nanna might want to come with us? I bet if you asked, she’d come.”
Joan rolled her eyes. “I think Nanna will be coming to make sure her little angel is OK.” Getting up from the couch, Joan asked, “So, when do we leave?”
She laughed. “The day after tomorrow. I’ve got to get her stuff packed and arrange for her things to be shipped and have a Realtor list the house.” Life was definitely looking up.
They were all exhausted when they stepped off the plane. Angie had to stop to pick up the stuff she had left at the hotel, so they had to spend an extra four hours on a plane. She wouldn’t have bothered, but she wasn’t going back without her ring. Lucca was going to be mad enough at her without adding that to the list. Arranging for a town car to pick them up at the airport, they waited for the luggage carousel to start. It had taken longer than expected to arrange everything, but Angie wanted to make sure Alexa’s things would arrive today. They were still two days ahead of her one-week deadline. Finally, the luggage started coming out. Handing Alexa to Joan, she pulled the bags off, smiling when the driver brought a cart over and loaded it. Following him out, Angie placed Alexa’s car seat in and got her strapped. Crawling in behind her, Joan and Angie collapsed against the seat. Giving the driver the address, she closed her eyes and tried to relax, needing a clear head for what was to come.
An hour and a half later, Angie opened her eyes as the guards asked who the hell we were. Rolling down her window she leaned out so Vinny the gate keeper could see her. The fucker looked shocked she had come back. Screw him; she had given Lucca her word. Rolling up her window, Angie looked over to Joan, who had her eyebrows raised almost to her hairline. Shaking her head, Angie unbuckled Alexa’s car seat when they stopped, jumping a little when the driver opened the door. Angie could hear the guys coming from the house, telling the driver to get back in the car, that they’d get the bags. She must have sat there awhile because when she stepped from the car there bags were already gone, and only Sal was standing there waiting. Moving forward to close her door, Angie shook her head and leaned back in, getting a tight grip on Alexa’s seat before she took her out. Joan rushed out beside them just when Sal realized what Angie had in her hands. Keeping her gaze frosty, Angie left him there gaping and went into the house.
Coming up behind them, Angie heard Sal close the door. Ignoring the shocked eyes that stared down at her daughter, Angie said, “Sal, this is Joan. She’s been taking care of my daughter and will be staying with us for a while. Please have a guard assigned to her if she wants to leave the property if I’m not available to go with her.” From the shocked looks on the faces filling the hall, Angie could have walked in there and popped one of them and they would have been less shocked. Not letting them see her nervousness, she asked, “Who is home right now?”
Still looking at the baby, Sal said, “Nico and Maria are the only ones home.”
“I’m going to get Joan settled. Then I’ll be down to make dinner.” Angie indicated for Joan to follow her. They passed the guys who had brought the bags up. She had to say “Excuse me” twice before they moved. Taking Alexa to her room, Angie grabbed Joan’s bags and put them in a room near hers.
“Are you sure it will be safe here for her?” Joan asked, not trying to hide her worry after seeing the reactions.
“It will be fine. Lucca won’t hurt his own daughter.”
When Joan gaped at her, she realized she hadn’t told her that she’d married Alexa’s father. Now Joan looked worried for a different reason. “Are you sure you’ll be safe?”
“Absolutely,” Angie told Joan, even though she didn’t believe it for a second. “Now, take a shower and get dressed. I’m heading down in twenty minutes; if you’re not ready, just join me when you are.” Leaving Joan, Angie went to her room to find an awake Alexa. Unbuckling her, she picked her up. “Your daddy’s going to love you,” she whispered, taking Alexa with her to the bathroom. She just hoped she wasn’t wrong.
Chapter 22
The truck with their things arrived when she was in the shower with Alexa, so when she came down the boxes were being brought in. Telling the guys where to put them, Angie took the playpen she saw with her and walked past a stunned Nico and a very worried Maria into the kitchen. Unfolding the pen, she set Alexa down in it and started to make dinner. Angie wasn’t surprised when the other two came in and joined them. Never one to beat around the bush, Maria said, “Angie, Lucca is not going to accept that you had a child with another man. He won’t hurt her, but he won’t accept her and will make you wish you hadn’t brought her.” Maria’s fear for her was very real. Family men did not take well to their “virgin” brides having been with other men. Proof of it was as good as a death sentence.
Not bothering to turn, Angie said, “She’s Lucca’s daughter, so I don’t think that will be my issue. Maria, Nico, say hello to your niece, Alessandra. I call her Alexa for short.”
“You—you named her for our mother,” Nico whispered, not questioning her in the slightest when she told them Alexa was Lucca’s. She just hoped he believed it, too. Alexa had his eyes, but if he needed it, she would have a paternity test done just to make sure he claimed his child. Looking over her shoulder, Angie stopped what she was doing as she saw the two of them kneeling by Alexa’s playpen. Both had tears in their eyes. They had lost their mother a few years after she lost hers, killed in a hit meant for their father. “Can I hold her?”
Smiling, she told Nico softly, “Yeah, you can hold her,” before going back to her work. It was still early enough, so Angie put a roast in the oven. She was just cleaning up when Joan joined them. “What took you so long?” she asked
Shaking
her head, Joan looked disgusted. “Those men were just going to leave the boxes sitting around. I had them help me unpack the baby’s things and set up the crib in your room. They acted like I was making them scrub floors, and I will if they don’t behave themselves. You need to take a firm hand with them.” Stopping in the middle of her rant, Joan turned on the two sitting on the floor playing with Alexa. “And who are you two playing with my little angel?”
Wide-eyed, they stared at the whirlwind looking down at them. Maria was the first to recover. “We’re Lucca’s brother and sister. This is Nico and I’m Maria.”
Angie laughed. “Joan, stop picking on them and help me get dessert ready.” Giving me a little humph, Joan came over and helped, keeping up a steady stream of conversation with the two of them, for which Angie was grateful. With the shit she had on her mind, making small talk was something she just couldn’t deal with right then. Pulling the roast and vegetables from the oven, Angie put dessert in just as she heard the front door slam shut. The kitchen was eerily quiet as every eye turned to her. Ignoring them, she picked up Alexa and took her to meet her father.
Stepping out, Angie saw Lucca and his father. The men were all looking to the ground or anywhere but at them. She could see they were getting pissed, so Angie decided to head it off. “I think they don’t want to be the ones to tell you I’m back,” She called out as she walked forward. Relief began to form on Lucca’s face until he saw what was in her arms. There was no denying Alexa was hers; except for having Lucca’s eyes, she would be her clone.
Rage, and then coldness descended over Lucca’s face as he glared at the baby, who glared right back at him with the same expression. “Whose fucking child is that?” he said in a voice so cold that it would freeze a lesser person.
“Lucca,” Angie barked, forcing his gaze to hers. “This is your daughter, Alessandra.” She stepped right up to him, then realized how stupid she was to have Alexa in her arms. The rage on Lucca’s face made her think he might backhand her; she knew he didn’t believe her. While she’d take a hit if she had to, she’d kill him if he hit Alexa by mistake. Luckily, Angie was saved because his daughter was tired of his attitude. Pushing her little finger, in his face, Alexa began yelling at him in baby gibberish. Angie swore, every expression on Alexa’s face was a female version of Lucca’s. He was so surprised by their little tyrant, he took a step back and looked at her, really looked at her, and saw his eyes. Wanting to give him a moment, Angie tried to quiet Alexa. “Now, darling, your father didn’t mean to yell at you,” she said. Ignoring her, Alexa kept yelling at her father.
She believed Alexa would have kept going if Antonio hadn’t started laughing. Chucking deeply, he stepped next to his son. “Oh, Lucca, you’re going to have you hands full with this little princess. Here now, hand over my granddaughter. I think I smell dinner, and you can’t set the table with your hands full.”
If it wasn’t for the look Angie saw in Antonio’s eye as he looked at Alexa, she never would have given her to him. Alexa stopped yelling at her father and turned to her grandfather. Tilting her head, Angie swore Alexa looked him up and down before putting her nose up and holding her arms out for him. Which of course caused Antonio to chuckle harder as he took Alexa from her arms. “Oh, yes, my little princess, you are going to be trouble.”
The others followed them out of the entryway until it was just her and Lucca. His eyes followed his daughter, who was looking over her grandfather’s shoulder, glaring at him. Not sparing Angie a glance or a word, he turned and left, quietly closing the door behind him. Turning, Angie went to put dinner on the table, and Alexa had her first meal with the family. They were so interested in Alexa that no one even bothered to talk to her, which was good. Though she looked calm on the outside, on the inside her heart was racing. Alexa would be sleeping with her tonight. Until things were resolved with Lucca, her baby wasn’t leaving her sight.
There was no noise to tell her he was there, but she knew even without it. Looking through her lashes, Angie saw Lucca standing next to the bed, staring down at them. The room was too dark to see his expression, but the tension that was coming off him gave her a good clue as to his thoughts. “Leave the child and come,” he said quietly. Knowing that whatever he did she had coming, Angie wasn’t going to be a coward and pretend to be asleep. Sitting up, she got out of the bed, surrounding Alexa with pillows before following him out. Not stopping, he walked to his room, motioning for her to enter first. Squeezing past him, she walked to the center of the room. “Is she mine?” he asked, sealing them in.
“Yes, she’s yours.”
Walking up behind her, he lightly pulled her hair over her shoulder before gripping it in a punishing hold. Keeping his voice soft in comparison to his touch, he brought his lips to her ear. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Keeping her voice just as soft as his, she said, “I was afraid of this life for her. I didn’t want her to become what I am.”
Bringing his other hand to her neck, he gently stroked. “Is she the reason you stopped eating? Did you think I wouldn’t want my child?” When I didn’t answer, he squeezed her neck lightly. “Or did you just not plan on ever bringing her home?” he growled, his voice becoming sharper.
Closing her eyes, Angie gave him the truth. “I was going to give her away. I wasn’t going to bring her here. I was going to destroy myself so my daughter would never be a princess in the tower.” Before he could ask, she continued. “But I couldn’t. I couldn’t let my baby go because Joan made me realize that I’m not my mother. I would never ask my daughter to do what my mother asked of me. She made me realize that even in this life she was safer with me than she would ever be without me. She made me face what I already knew but wouldn’t let myself see: that you weren’t my father. That you would never make her grow up the way I did.” Angie leaned back against Lucca’s body. “If you need to punish me, do it. If you need to hate me, I understand. Just as long as it stays here between us and never touches our daughter, I’ll accept whatever punishment you see fit to give me, except one. Never try to take my baby from me. She is all I have, and I’ll kill even you if I have to so that she stays with me.”
Lucca squeezed her neck tightly before he completely released her and stepped back. Turning to face him, she saw nothing, no expression. “Go back to our daughter. We’ll talk more tomorrow.”
She had hurt him. Walking back to her room, Angie picked up Alexa and took her to Lucca’s room, not stopping to think about why she was doing it. When she entered, she saw him sitting on the edge of the bed, looking up at her tiredly. “Go back to your room,” he said. Ignoring him, Angie walked forward and held Alexa out to him. Either he’d take her or drop her. Looking uneasy with his daughter in his arms, Angie fixed it so he was supporting her properly and crawled up into his bed, where she belonged. Getting under the covers, she laid down and closed her eyes. Watching him through her lashes, she saw Lucca take Alexa’s hand with his finger, smiling at the size. She was just about asleep when he set Alexa next to her and laid down on the other side. Another piece of her heart thawed when he wrapped them in his arms.
Opening her eyes hours later, Angie sat up, trying to remain calm when she realized Alexa and Lucca where gone. Turning to the clock, she saw it was ten. She had slept late. Getting up, she rushed to her room, taking the quickest shower in history, and hurried downstairs, praying with each step that her daughter was there waiting for her. She saw them all before she took the last step. The living room was full of people and each of them was vying for Alexa’s attention. Staying out of sight, Angie sat down and watched them through the rails.
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“Come on, Lucca, it’s not fair. I want to play with her,” Maria whined, holding out a stuffed animal to get Alexa’s attention.
Lucca and Alexa both looked over at Maria with the same expression, and everyone started laughing. She swore, their scowls deepened at the same time. “You’ve had her all morning. She wants to stay with
me, don’t you, sweetheart?” Lucca said, earning a sloppy kiss on the cheek from his daughter before she tried to climb off his lap. Putting her down with a frown, they watched as she ran to her pile of toys and picked out a stuffed plane to bring back to Lucca. Setting it on his lap, she patted his knee said a little gibberish, then went to wander.
Snatching her as she went by, Maria smothered her with kisses. “Oh my God, you’re so cute I could eat you up.” Suffering through it for longer than Angie thought she would, Alexa finally patted Maria’s head and took off for her toys, followed by half the room.
Watching as Joan moved to sit next to Lucca, Angie tensed. She was outspoken and wasn’t used to this type of men. “We haven’t officially met. I’m Joan, Alexa’s nanna, and you’re Lucca, Alexa’s father. Now that that is out of the way, let’s get down to business. What the hell did you do to Angie? She doesn’t contact me for a month, then shows up looking like a skeleton. Who the hell marries someone because of a family contract? What type of people are you” Joan finished sweetly, the steel in her eyes the only thing that told you she was serious.
Ready to go down there and save Joan from a bullet, Antonio beat her to it. He smiled slowly, his interest plain to see. “Joan, we haven’t been formally introduced either. I’m Antonio, Lucca’s father.
Joan gave him a slow appraisal. “Antonio, I just buried husband number six two years ago. I’m not looking for number seven yet,” she told him before turning her attention back to Lucca. “Young man, I’m talking to you,” she said sternly,
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