by Jill Sanders
He walked from the room out onto the back porch just as his father came running through the yard, holding Lucy.
“Is she --?” he called down to his father.
“No, she’s been cut, but I think I can stitch it up.” He ran in through the kitchen door. Dante maneuvered the stairs carefully, getting wet in the process. He should have gone inside, but he was so worried about the damn dog who had just saved Airlea.
He made it into the kitchen just as Rosa leaned over Lucy. They had laid her on the kitchen table and Dante could see the fresh blood oozing from a large gash on her flank.
His father had grabbed a handful of towels from the pantry and was trying to dry the dog off.
“Let me, dad.” Dante went over and sat next to the table. Moving the chair, he positioned himself so he could hold the dog down and dry her off.
“I’ll get the medical kit. We’ll need to close the wound.”
It took them half an hour to clean and close the gash. Lucy whined, but after they had finished, she rested peacefully. His father had made a bed for her next to the fireplace in the living room and was sitting in his chair, watching her.
“Did you catch him?”
“There was no one there. We saw a lot of blood. Lucy must have taken a chunk out of whoever it was, but he was long gone by the time we got there. How’s she doing?” His father nodded towards the stairs.
“She was shaken. I’ll check on her in a while. Mom is with her now. She says that she thinks he locked her in there and waited until everyone was done searching. Dad, that means he was working for us. Is there anyone missing?”
His father stood up and stormed out of the room. Fifteen minutes later he walked back in, he ling madder than Dante had ever seen him.
“Gino is missing. His stuff is gone.” His father sat back down in the chair. “How’s she doing?” He nodded towards Lucy.
“She hasn’t moved. Her breathing is fine, though.”
“That’s good. I’ll kill the man if I ever see him on my property again.”
He knew his father didn’t make threats lightly, but he had to agree.
“I’ll go check on Airlea.” Dante stood.
“Do you need some help getting up the stairs?”
“No, I’ve been working on it and I’ve got it down. Thanks, Dad.”
“Night, son.”
Dante got to the top of the stairs quickly and was impressed by how easily he had made it.
He knocked on the door and opened it after his mother called for him to enter.
“How is she doing?” He walked in and realized his mother sat in the room alone.
“She’s doing fine. She’s taking a bath still. Did they find out who it was?”
“Yes, Gino. He’s gone. Lucy was hurt, but dad stitched her up until we can get her to the vet tomorrow.”
“Oh, no, the poor dear. From what Airlea says, we owe that dog for saving her life.”
He nodded and looked down at his mother. The worry was real. He remembered Airlea saying something about their mothers knowing each other.
“How do you know Airlea’s mother?” He watched his mother look up at him and smile.
“Maria and I go way back. She used to be engaged to your father,” she laughed, “and she was the nurse when I delivered you.” She smiled and patted his hands. “She was the only person who knew about my secret life, until it was all exposed last year. We stayed in touch and she’s been a constant companion to me through all these years.”
He looked at her and knew they had avoided talking about everything. It has been over a year since her divorce from the man she had cheated on with his father.
“Mom? Why did you lie to dad? Why did you keep your secret so long?”
She took a deep breath and looked at him. “Dante, life isn’t as easy for some of us. You’ve had your father and aunt by your side your whole life. Ric and Katie had their father, Rodrick. I’ve enjoyed all of you. When it all started, Rodrick and I had just separated. I thought I was over the relationship, and I quickly fell in love with your father. I’ve never fallen out of love with him. I believe that there are people out there that are destined to be together no matter what. I know what I did, lying to everyone, was wrong, but I didn’t have the courage to stand up for what I wanted. It was easier, or so I thought, to play the game I had wrapped myself in. I love your father so much, I can’t imagine not being with him. I can only hope that my children will find the happiness that we have found. I know that Ric has found that with Roberta and now Katie has Jason.” She smiled at him.
“Oh no, don’t even think about it. I’m not ready to even think about settling down yet.”
She smiled at him. “You might be surprised. All I can hope is that when you do finally decide what you want, that you will have the courage to stand up and grab it.” She reached over and brushed his hair from his eyes.
“He needs a haircut,” Airlea said from the doorway. She was wrapped up in a large green bathrobe, looking soft and sexy, and he wanted to hold her in his arms all night, making sure she felt safe. “How is Lucy?”
“Oh, sweetie, Lucy is fine. You just come over here and rest. Dante will sit with you for a while. Won’t you?” His mother looked at him.
“Yes, I won’t leave you alone,” he said, and she nodded her head and walked over to sit on the edge of the bed.
“Well, I’m going to go check on your father and Lucy. Goodnight.” Then his mother left quickly. As she shut the door, he could have sworn he saw her wink at him.
They ended up talking for a while, then she lay down in the bed and he sat by her. She hesitated at first, but then snuggled into his chest and fell asleep. He watched her sleep and thought about what she’d been through. He’d always felt safe here at his family home. To have someone bring something so evil here … he shivered. He struggled with feeling that he hadn’t done enough to help her. If only he were healed. But if he had never been injured, she wouldn’t be here and he would have never met her. He definitely didn’t want that.
Chapter Nine
Airlea felt like she’d been run over by a bus. Her back hurt, and when she looked in the mirror she noticed bruises forming all down the left side he.
Dante had slept quietly next to her. He had assured her it was for her protection and she hadn’t complained. She felt safer with him in the room. She had cried all she could cry in the bath and she had to admit, it felt wonderful sleeping next to Dante, with his arms wrapped around her for protection.
She’d had that close call with Angelo, but had never believed he would hurt her like the man had intended last night. She shuddered and tried not to think about what had almost happened.
“From now on, no more walks by yourself,” Dante said over the plate of eggs that were propped up on his knees.
“You know, I heard you made it all the way down to the kitchen last night all by yourself. I don’t see why you need to eat up here in your room all by yourself anymore.”
“I like eating up here. Besides, I’m not alone.”
“Yes, well, maybe I would like to eat downstairs with the others instead of just grabbing a sandwich here and there. Lucy is doing better today. She’s even up and walking around.”
He smiled, then tilted his head and looked at her. She could tell he was trying to figure her out.
“I’m not that much of a puzzle, you know.” She sat next to him and started eating her plate of food.
“Yes, you are. You’re a gorgeous woman who has picked a humble job and has a mysterious past.”
“Mysterious?” She laughed. “There is no mystery about my past.”
“There is to me. You’ve yet to open up about yourself other than tell me why you do what you do.”
“What about you?” She turned to look at him. “All I know about you is what happened with your accident, and that you’ve lived in the States for a few years.”
“Okay, I’ll ask a question, then you can ask one.”
�
�Oh no, I don’t like this game.” She went back to her food as he smiled. “I know how this one goes. You ask a simple, normal question, then I ask one, then your next question is one that is so embarrassing, I don’t want to answer.”
He laughed, “Okay, I’ll keep my questions to non-embarrassing ones, then.”
She looked at him and could tell he was being honest. “Okay, shoot. What’s your first question?”
“Tell me about the last man you dated.”
She groaned inwardly. “Angelo was my biggest mistake.”
“And?”
“And he is the reason I lost my dream job.”
“Okay, now I need to know more details.” He leaned back, crossed his arms over his chest and watched her intently.
“Angelo was one of the head doctors at the hospital I worked at in Greece. He’d been asking me to go out with him for over a year. Finally, after getting everyone’s opinions about him, I decided to take a chance and go out with him. Shortly after, we started dating. Six months later, he moved in with me. Two days later, I kicked him out and broke up with him.”
“What merited that?”
“He became very controlling and overbearing. In short, he turned into an ass.”
His eye brows raised and she could have sworn she saw humor there.
“Before you suggest it, no, it wasn’t all in my head. He actually started going through my clothes and throwing away anything he didn’t like. Then he suggested, none too nicely, that he be in charge of my finances so he could control how much we saved.”
Dante shook his head in dismay. “What happened with your job?”
“He’d been calling me and pestering me at work to give him a second chance. About a month after I broke it off, he showed up at my door and pinned me against the door. I dropped my backpack and kneed him. I made it into my apartment okay, but I had left my bag out in the hallway. I watched through the peep-hole as he bent and picked up my bag, then walked away. The next day, my boss called me into his office. They had searched my locker and found my bag full of pills that had gone missing over the last few months. Naturally, they fired me on the spot without allowing me to explain. I was lucky they didn’t call the police.”
“I’m sorry that happened to you. It sounds like you’re better off without him. How long did you work there?”
“Oh no,” she shook her head. “You had two questions. Now it’s my turn.” She waited until he smiled. She knew he was thinking that her question would fall in the same line as his had, but she wanted to throw him for a loop.
“Tell me about the first girl you dated.” She watched as his eyebrows shot up in question. “To me, the first person you date is more important than the last.”
“Why?”
“When you are younger, your mind has built up the role that a significant other should fill. Taking the first step of asking someone to go out, you probably did a lot of thinking about her. She was the closest thing in your… How old where you?”
“Eleven years old.”
“Your eleven-year-old mind. I’d wager you did more thinking about that girl than the last four women you’ve dated.”
He thought about it and shook his head in agreement.
“Fair enough. Elizabeth was thirteen, and like I said, I was eleven. She was the schoolyard bully. She had bright red hair and freckles all over her nose and cheeks, and when she cornered me one day after lunch, I blurted out that I loved her. I thought it was a better option than getting punched in the nose.” He sat back and laughed. “I wish I had taken the fist to the face instead. But she grew up to be quite the beauty. I hear she went on to be a successful model of woman’s lingerie.”
“You’re making that up!” She laughed and leaned towards him, looking deep into his eyes.
“I wish. She made my sixth grade school year hell.” They smiled at each other.
“Are you ready for a walk? I think we can make it all the way to the garage today.” She smiled as he groaned loudly.
Florentina sat back and watched as Dante, holding onto the crutch, walked across the grass towards the girl like a dog would and felt her teeth vibrating with anger.
That fool. How could he have let her escape? She’d done her part by locking Lucy in the laundry room. Now, after the whole ordeal, she could tell that Dante was falling for the girl even. And poor Lucy had been injured in the process. She watched as Lucy lay down next to the girl and felt even angrier when she bent to pet the dog.
She could kill the man for hurting the dog and planned on doing just that. If he contacted her for his payment, she planned to take care of him herself.
After all, it wasn’t the first time she’d killed and it wouldn’t be the last. Her brother wouldn’t be where he was today if she hadn’t lit the fire and secured his future.
“Tina? What are you doing out here?” She turned and watched Damiano step out on the deck. Yes, she thought without remorse, to get what she’d worked so hard for over the last twenty-seven years, she’d have to kill at least one more time.
That evening as Dante showered, he thought about his progress. It was slow going, and he was starting to get frustrated that he wouldn’t be able to put his full weight on his right leg for another two months.
He was beginning to feel trapped. Trapped in his room, trapped in the house, trapped by his parents and his aunt. He knew they wanted the best for him, but the fact was, he wasn’t getting any work done. Airlea was really the only person he enjoyed being around. His family came and went, but he was bored by their visits. They usually just sat and looked at him like he was broken, then asked him how he was feeling.
She was the only one who actually talked to him. He thought about how she had looked in the sunlight that day. She was a beautiful woman, but when the sun hit her, she glowed, her hair turned to amber silk and her eyes … her eyes looked like mocha and he wanted to jump in and never leave.
Then he remembered how she had done that back-bend in the yard the other day. She had obviously taken gymnastics as a child. He wondered how limber she was. He had to find a way to be alone with her. He knew his aunt was not pleased with his relationship. She’d always taken an interest in whom he was dating, more so than his own parents had.
He remembered once when he’d been dating a girl in high school. Emily was a sweet girl he’d worked up the courage to ask out, and they’d gone out on several dates and had even gone to a dance together. But after one date when they’d almost gone all the way in the front seat of his truck, she’d called him and broken it off. He’d assumed it had been due to her parents putting pressure on her to focus on her school work, but less than two months later she had started dating his friend Brad.
His aunt hadn’t liked Emily. She constantly complained about how she was beneath him. Actually, if he thought about it, there hadn’t been one girlfriend he’d ever had that had been good enough in his aunt’s eyes.
“Are you almost done?” he heard Airlea call out through the door. He chuckled as he realized he’d been spending too much time in the shower. The hot water was helping relax his sore muscles. How could walking across the yard make his whole body hurt? Reaching up, he turned off the water and grabbed his robe.
When she helped him back into the room, he noticed that she had lit some candles. The room was dim and smelled of flowers on a spring day.
“What’s all this?” he asked, sitting down on the chair.
“I thought the room needed a little freshening up. Besides, how else am I going to seduce you?” She smiled down at him. He noticed then that she wasn’t wearing her normal dark scrubs. Instead, she wore a light-colored skirt and a cream-colored top. One of her creamy shoulders was exposed as the shirt hung off it in a seductive arch.
“Honey, you don’t even have to try. All I need to do is look at you to want you. Come here.” He took her hand and pulled her down until she sat across his good knee, then he reached up and put his hand into her hair and slowly pulled her down until their lips
met softly.
He’d thought about kissing her ever since the last time. Remembering how soft her lips were did little to quench his appetite. She smelled better than the candles that were burning around the room. Her hair was soft in his hands, and he couldn’t help himself from rubbing his fingers across the soft skin under her ear.
She moaned into the kiss and leaned closer to him. He felt her perfect breasts push up against his naked chest, then her hands were on him and he released his own moan. He felt her shiver when he traced the line of her neck with his mouth.
Her hands were pulling the robe off his shoulders. The tie was still tied around his waist, but she had successfully opened the top half to view him. His mind and mouth were busy, running his tongue up and down the column of her neck. She tasted so good, sweet, like honey. He pushed her shirt down and exposed her other shoulder as he continued moving his hands and mouth over her. She leaned back and ran her hands into his hair, holding him to her.