by Jill Sanders
Maybe he was still mental from his accident or the pills he’d stopped taking a few weeks ago. He just couldn’t stop thinking about her. When she’d driven into town earlier that day, he’d found himself watching out the window for her return. He knew he was crazy; he’d fallen for her so quickly. Hell, he’d only known her for two months. There was no way someone could or should fall for someone that fast.
Earlier his mother had told him that Airlea was in town for an interview. If she got this job, she’d leave and he had to do something to get her to stay. Not only because he was not all the way healed, but because he just didn’t want her to go. He looked at her again across the table and thought she looked nervous.
“How did your interview go today, Airlea?” He watched as she jumped at the mention of her name.
“Oh, it went fine.”
“When will you know if you got the job?” His mother persisted in the questioning. He could tell Airlea was nervous and wanted to drop the subject.
“They said they would make a decision later this week.” She took a large bite of bread and almost choked on the mouth full.
“Well, I know we’ll be sorry to see you go, but I think if you could secure the position at the children’s hospital, it would be wonderful for you.”
“Thank you.” She kept her head down and tried to eat her soup without another word.
“How did they handle the news of how you left your last job?” Dante just couldn’t resist seeing her squirm. She looked up quickly and glared at him.
“Fine.” She put her napkin down. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m a little tired. I think I’ll retire early. Good night.”
She left the room and he watched her go. Not saying a word, he got up and walked from the room. He was still a lot slower than her, so when he reached her door, she had already shut it. He knocked on the door briefly, then entered without waiting for her to respond.
“What are you doing?” She covered herself with the shirt she’d just removed. He was pleased to see a bright white silk bra and instantly the desire flooded into him.
He kicked her door closed and flipped the lock. Without saying anything he walked over to her and pulled the shirt aside.
“Dante, I’m not in the mood.” She tried to grab her shirt back. He held it out of her reach.
“So, this is what you look like in a bra.” He smiled down at her. Her breasts looked fuller and higher. He enjoyed the look. Tossing her shirt on her bed, he reached up and lightly ran his hand across the mounds and watched her eyes go cloudy.
“I’ve decided to try everything I can to keep you here. Even if that means we just take our pleasures where we can.”
He dipped his head and kissed the underside of her jaw then moved downward until he licked the tops of her breast across the white lace.
“Dante.”
“Tell me you don’t want this, that you don’t want me, and I’ll stop, I’ll walk away.”
“No, don’t.”
“No, what?”
“Don’t stop.” Her head rolled back and he watched as her eyes close. Her hands came to his hair as she held him to her.
He knew he was fooling himself into believing that he’d take the pleasures as they came. He wanted more with her. He had to have more with her. His heart hurt when he thought about her leaving, but he knew he had to take what she’d give him and maybe find a way to persuade her to stay and give him another chance.
Airlea laid next to Dante and realized he’d maneuvered her. Since they were in her room, she couldn’t get up and leave him. Short of kicking him out or being rude, she had no way of getting him to leave her bed. She lay there and listened to him breathing and felt his warm breath on her neck. She tried to fool herself into believing that she didn’t enjoy the warmth or the feel of his skin on hers.
She didn’t know what to do about the information she’d been given by Ethan earlier that evening.
He’d told her that someone, a woman, in this house had hired the men who’d tried to kidnap Katie. He didn’t know who yet, but he had found out that that person was now out to kill her. She had a good idea who it was.
It didn’t really ease her mind knowing that Ethan was outside somewhere, watching the house. Watching out for her.
She did feel safer with Dante in the room, but she wished she could tell him what was happening. She had mixed feelings about the whole deal.
What had she done to deserve the woman’s wrath? What had Katie done? The fact that she’d actually tried to kidnap her niece and hold her for ransom shocked her. It wasn’t as if the woman was hurting for money. She lived in a big beautiful house, and was given anything she asked for. Airlea didn’t know all the details of the family fortune, but she knew that Florentina walked around like she ran the house.
She’d told Ethan her suspicions and had told him all that had happened to her since arriving. She’d mentioned Gino, the man who’d held her in the shed and how he had disappeared. Ethan took some more information from her about the man and told her he would try to find him. Maybe the man could shed some light on what had happened. And if need be, he could even help them corner Florentina.
Lying in the bed next to Dante in the dark, she watched the shadows cross the ceiling. As she was running through all of it in her head again, she heard a noise. At first she thought it was coming from the hallway door, but then she turned her head and watched as the french doors slid open silently.
She froze; she knew she’d locked them. Dante was sprawled on his stomach, his face buried in her hair with his arm thrown over her chest.
“Airlea? It’s Ethan.” She relaxed and pulled the sheet up so it covered her.
She didn’t know how light a sleeper Dante was in normal circumstances, but she doubted he would sleep through the two of them chatting over him.
She pointed to the door and held up her finger, motioning that she’d be there in a minute.
After she watched Ethan walk silently back out the doors, she rolled out from under Dante and grabbed her bathrobe, then tiptoed to the door.
Closing it silently behind her, she looked around for Ethan. He was standing in the darkness, leaning against the wall. The cold in the night didn’t seem to be affecting him.
“What’s going on?” she whispered, walking towards him.
“I found Gino.”
She shivered. She didn’t like the man, but knew he could possibly help tie up all the loose ends. “Did he tell you anything?”
“No, he’s in a shallow grave about three hundred yards from here. Shot through the chest. Most likely at close range with a small caliber pistol.”
She was shocked and when he grabbed her shoulders to help steady her, she heard Dante voice behind her.
“Get your hands off her.” Her mind was too foggy to register the tone of the threat, but Ethan did, and his hands dropped from her shoulders.
“I was just helping her.” Ethan held up his hands and backed away a step. “You’re Dante, Katie’s brother? I’m Ethan Knight, her brother-in-law. Your brother-in-law, in a way.”
“I don’t care who you are. What are you doing here at midnight? Sneaking around? Airlea? What are you doing out here with him?”
“Dante…” How could she tell him? Maybe just blurting it out would be best? “Ethan is here to help find who tried to kidnap your sister. He’s tracked the kidnapper’s phone calls to this house. I think your aunt tried to kidnap Katie and has tried to kill me. She’s the reason my brakes went out. I think she killed that man, Gino.” She wrapped her arms around her chest and felt the night chill blow right through her.
“Airlea, it’s freezing out here. Come inside and we can talk about this. Ethan?” Dante looked at the man. “Why don’t you come in and we can discuss things further.” Dante moved aside and let them by.
The next morning just after breakfast, Airlea got a phone call. The children’s hospital wanted to hire her. She’d actually gotten the job! Her mind had a list a mile long of things
that needed to be done. She had to move all her stuff from the storage unit she’d placed everything in when she’d come here. She also needed an apartment.
But the one thing that hovered over all the others was Dante. He’d listened to everything Ethan had told him last night. He’d listened and had asked questions. She could see the sadness in his eyes when he’d finally accepted what they had been telling him.
She didn’t know what the next steps were, but they had all agreed that she was better off moving out. Getting out of harm’s way. She’d tried to argue with them, but once Dante had proof that it had been an attempt on her life, her brakes had been cut, he was determined that she not stay there any longer.
He’d even arranged for her to stay at his parent’s place in Rome, which was a few blocks from her new job. She smiled and almost laughed. She had a new job! She knew she couldn’t stay at the Cardone’s apartment and spent the next day on the phone. By the end of the day, she had found three apartments to check out the next day.
Dante wanted to go with her, for safety, but she finally persuaded him to stay home since it would probably entail a lot of walking and he wasn’t up to it yet. He’d checked her rental car before he allowed her to drive away and when everything looked fine, he’d kissed her right in front of his aunt who had stood on the back porch watching them.
Airlea signed a lease on the second apartment she looked at and went by her new job and talked to her boss. Her first day was Monday, but she wanted to stop by and drop off the paperwork he’d asked her for. He walked her around the complex and she got to see the state of the art therapy facility. There were almost a dozen kids in the large room, each one working in different areas with other therapists.
She couldn’t wait to get back to what she loved to do. Her hands actually itched. Her mother arranged for all her belongings to be moved and they were going to be delivered to her new apartment the next day. Everything was moving very fast and she couldn’t help but feel excited. This was the new start that she’d needed. Leaving all the bad behind her, she could only see good things for her future.
That night, Dante visited her room again. She’d locked her door, but he’d used a key he had to get in. She’d woken to him kissing her softly. She hadn’t even heard him enter the room. She could tell he had mixed feelings about her leaving, but with everything up in the air with his aunt, she knew he felt better with her not being in harm’s way.
The next day she met her mother at her new apartment. An hour later the truck arrived with all her furniture. It took only half an hour for the men to unload her possessions and the rest of the evening for her and her mother to unpack everything.
Her mother spent the night on the couch that night. She enjoyed having her around. It had been almost two months since she’d last seen her. She took after her mother in every way. And not just in looks; her mother was an emergency room nurse and was as independent as she was.
They ate breakfast out on her new patio and enjoyed watching people hustle by on the streets. They talked about the Cardone’s and Airlea avoided talking about Dante. She could tell her mother was curious and knew something was up, but she didn’t pressure her.
“Did I ever tell you that Damiano Cardone and I were engaged?”
Airlea almost chocked on her tea. “No!”
“Yes, well, our families knew each other and it was a somewhat arranged relationship.” Her mother looked out over her balcony. “Well, I met Kathleen when she’d come to Rome a few years earlier and we had stayed in contact. My parents had arranged a meeting with Damiano, but I was madly in love with your father at the time. On the day that I was set to meet Damiano, Kathleen called me and told me she was in town. So I set them up so I could run off to be with your father. I didn’t know Kathleen was still married until after Dante was born. Life is funny, the choices you make can affect everything. Like you always say, everything is connected for a reason.”
Airlea was so shocked, she didn’t know what to say. She just looked across the table at her mother and tried to imagine the small twist of fate that had caused so many things to happen. Because of her mother, Kathleen had fallen for Damiano and cheated on her husband. But if she hadn’t, Dante and Katie wouldn’t have been born.
Her mother left before noon to head back home. It was nice having her live only two hours away again.
Airlea spent the rest of the day unpacking and moving furniture around until everything looked just right. She kept playing her mother’s conversation over and over.
That night she lay in her new apartment, in her very own bed, and felt relieved. She had done it. She had proven to herself that she could take care of herself after the huge blow of losing her job. Tomorrow she would start a new job, doing what she loved. She was very happy, but still something was missing. She frowned and closed her eyes, telling herself that she didn’t miss the warmth of Dante’s arms around her.
Chapter Fourteen
It took almost three months for things to come to a head. His aunt was not only sneaky, she was downright scary. Dante had worked with Ethan ever since that first night when he had met him.
Since the day after Airlea left, he’d borrowed the truck and had driven into town for his physical therapy appointments, not telling anyone that he met Ethan afterwords and worked with him. They went through all his father’s personal and business papers: the financial paperwork, the employee records, everything. There had to be a paper trail somewhere of what his aunt had done. Or was doing.
At first Dante had questioned Ethan’s tactics.
“Trust me, if your aunt paid anyone to do anything, there will be a trail.”
Still, part of Dante’s mind refused to believe that she was behind all this. He’d seen the mechanic’s report from Airlea’s car. Someone had used a pocket knife to cut both the main brake and her emergency brake lines. He couldn’t deny that someone had wanted her brakes to fail. Plus there was the whole Gino incident. The more he thought about what had happened, the more he questioned everything.
He kept his home life as normal as possible, not letting on that anything was wrong. He didn’t even talk to his father about it.
He’d stopped by several times and seen Airlea at her new job since her facility was just down the street from where his was. He enjoyed seeing her in her scrubs working with the small children. He’d even taken the time out to talk to a few older boys who had been in a car accident. One of them had a metal bar around his lower leg, much like Dante’s.
He had just gotten his bar and pins removed less than a week ago. It took some getting used to. He’d felt safer with the damn thing on. Now he felt exposed and worried about bumping his leg.
After his x-ray, the doctor said everything had healed up nicely. He would be keeping the four screws in his leg, but the ones in his shoulder would most likely need to be removed later on, since they might end up giving him problems.
He felt steadier. He was walking with his full weight on his leg and he focused as hard as he could to not walk with a limp. He never did use the cane for walking. It had taken all of his patience to build up the muscles in that leg again. It still looked skinnier than the other one, but everyone assured him it was just in his mind. He had enjoyed being able to work out, doing his full regimen again. It felt good to be able to build himself up again.
He had even enrolled in school for the spring. He figured it would take until then to get everything in order. When he told his father he was going back to school, his father had told him how proud he was.
His mother had smiled and just patted his shoulder and said, “The college is just down the street from the children’s hospital, isn’t it?”
He’d laughed. He had asked both his parents not to tell his aunt what his plans were. Hopefully, his mother could keep her mouth shut until he figured everything out. They were sitting down for dinner one night when Rosa came into the room, looking scattered.
“Rosa? What’s the matter?” his mother had asked.
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“It’s Airlea. That girl that worked here.”
Dante almost dropped his fork. A million images flashed through his mind. He’d stepped back, thinking she would be safe if he stopped showing interest in her, but the truth was he’d put his heart on hold, waiting until he could go be with her. Now he thought about what he would do if she was taken away.
“What about her?” His mother almost stood out of her chair.
“She’s – she’s been arrested. It’s on the news. They found all kinds of drugs in her apartment. They say she’d been stealing them.”
His eyes flashed to his aunt’s face and he watched in horror as she smiled a smile he’d never seen before. One he didn’t even recognize.
“That is just bull.” His mother stood all the way up and started walking towards the door.