VITTORIO'S MISTRESS

by Kimberley Reeves

  “Much better,” he said with a satisfied grin. Dante took his place at the head of the table and poured a cup of coffee from the carafe. “Where is Daniella?”

  “Chantel came by early and got her. She insisted on buying Daniella a new dress for the dinner with your family tonight.”

  “You should have told me she needed new clothes. I will order a charge card in your name immediately. In the meantime, you can use mine. Just tell me where you want to take her and I will call ahead to authorize it.”

  “Daniella doesn’t need any more clothes, and I’m perfectly capable of paying for them myself if she did. Chantel just wanted to buy her something special for tonight.”

  Dante eyed her over the rim of his coffee cup. “I will get the card for you anyway. Anything my daughter needs, I will pay for, is that understood?”

  “Fine, if that’s what you want,” she said crisply. “Just don’t expect me to deck her out in designer labels.”

  Dante bristled. “Daniella will have nothing but the best…”

  “Are you two at it again?” Mireia set Dante’s breakfast in front of him. “Madre di Dio, I have never seen such a pair!” She turned a stern gaze on Paige. “You will do as he says and buy nothing but the best for Daniella because she is a Vittorio and because she deserves it.” Mireia leveled the same hard look at Dante. “And you will stop bullying the mother of your child and show her some respect or she will never consent to be your wife.”

  Dante and Paige exchanged guilty looks. “I’m sorry,” they said in unison after Mireia had gone.

  “Forgive me, cara, I am only trying to be a good father.”

  “Oh Dante, you are a good father, the best. Daniella loves you and it’s not because you buy her things.”

  “I know, but I like giving her things, and I like the way it makes me feel inside. She reminds of you,” he said wistfully. “I remember how your face lit up when I bought you all those pretty clothes. It made me happy to know I was the one responsible for putting that smile there.”

  “You told me you bought them because you didn’t want anyone to think you couldn’t set your mistress up in style.”

  Dante grimaced. “I must have sounded very arrogant, and for that I am sorry. It had nothing to do with you being my mistress, Paige. I just wanted to…take care of you.”

  “Why?”

  “Why do you think?” Dante reached across the table and covered her hand with his. “I love you, Paige. Even when I thought all I wanted was revenge, deep inside I always knew the reason I could not let you go was because I still loved you.”

  “But you did let me go, or at least you would have if you hadn’t seen me with Marc.”

  “No…no, cara mia, that was just another excuse. We were bound to each other from the very beginning and there is no use pretending otherwise. And if I had been honest about the money, you and I would be married by now and probably working on a second child.”

  Paige’s heart fluttered. “You really believe that?”

  “Yes.

  “So if…if we got married, you’d want another baby?”

  Dante’s fingers curled more tightly around her hand. “More than anything, mio amore. I want to be there for you this time, to watch your body change while my baby grows inside of you. Marry me, Paige,” he pleaded. “I want you with me always, as my wife, as the mother of my children. Please…say yes.”

  “Dante…”

  She shook her head, too overwhelmed by the enormous love she had from him to even speak. As the silence between them dragged on, something in Dante’s eyes dimmed. Oh God, he didn’t understand what he’d done to her, what he was still doing to her. Paige tried to smile, but her lips were trembling and she didn’t think it looked much like a smile at all. She rose to her feet and went to him on legs that were as wobbly as her quivering insides then shocked him by planting herself on his lap when he pushed his chair back.

  “Yes,” she managed to whisper before locking her arms around Dante’s neck and drawing his mouth down onto hers.

  Dante was still kissing her when he rose to his feet with Paige in his arms, and he went on kissing her all the way upstairs to his bedroom. He hadn’t even considered the possibility she wouldn’t say yes…eventually, but hearing that one little word from Paige’s mouth was more incredible than he could ever have imagined. But what really made Dante’s heart soar, what made him believe she was truly his was the sound of her trembling voice when she told him she loved him.

  “Say it again,” he whispered as he slowly sank into her.

  “I love you, I love you,” she murmured over and over.

  This was what she’d dreamed of night after night while she'd slept alone in the room next to his. It had taken her some time to forgive him for lying about his finances and it was only because it dawned on her that she’d been dishonest too. Granted, the inheritance she’d kept a secret from him wouldn’t have altered Dante’s perception of her because of his own vast wealth, but Paige hadn’t known that at the time.

  The truth was, he had far more reason to resent her than she did him and yet he hadn’t tried to make her feel guilty or withdrawn his affection from her. Instead he’d jumped into his role as a father and done everything he could to make a place for her and Daniella in his life. They were a family, just like Dante said, and there would be more children, more love, more happiness, more of everything.

  “I do not want to wait long to be married,” Dante told her as they lay in each other’s arms afterwards. “And I do not want to wait to have more children either. Would you object to throwing out those birth control pills as soon as we are married?”

  “I don’t object to any of it. My parents and Chantel will be ecstatic but…what about your family? You haven’t really said how they feel about me living here. I mean, they have to accept Daniella into the family because she’s a part of you, but what if they don’t like me? What if…”

  “They will love you, Paige, just as I do. It is true they were upset to learn you had kept Daniella a secret all these years, but after I explained why you did it they were more upset with me than you.”

  “I’m a little nervous about meeting them,” Paige admitted.

  “Just be yourself, cara mia, and they cannot help but like you.”

  “I hope so. I suppose we should get dressed. Chantel will be back with Daniella soon and I was planning on stopping by the daycare center this morning to make sure everything is running smoothly.”

  “Are you anxious to get back to work?”

  “I thought I would be. I love being around all the children and teaching them new things but…” she tilted her head back and gazed into his dark eyes, “I love being here with you more. I know this can’t go on forever, not when we both have businesses that need our attention, but I don’t want it to end just yet.”

  “We still have two weeks before I have to return to work. If you think the center can do without you for that long, what do you think about taking a little vacation together? We could go to the beach house for a week, just the three of us.”

  “It sounds wonderful.”

  “Then we will do it. We can leave tomorrow and once we have settled in, you and I can discuss the wedding.”

  The wedding. Paige couldn’t wait to be Dante’s wife. Would his parents be as happy about it as hers were going to be? A twinge of nerves made her stomach flutter. Dante had already endeared himself to her family, Chantel and Marc included, and he’d probably never doubted for a moment that they’d like him. Paige, on the other hand, felt as if she was going before a firing squad. Besides his parents, Dante had four brothers, a sister, and two sisters-in-law who’d all be studying her and wondering what kind of woman she was to deprive him of his daughter for three years.

  Dante seemed pretty confident they’d accept her into the family, but Paige wasn’t so sure. What if they thought she was only marrying him for his money? What if they opposed the marriage altogether? She already had a few strikes against
her; all she could do was pray she’d make it through the evening without adding any more.

  Chapter 12

  Paige eyed herself critically in the mirror. “I’m fat,” she declared with a dismal sigh.

  “You are perfect, cara.”

  She pressed her hands to belly. “It used to be flat, now I have a pooch. And my hips…”

  Dante came up behind her and slipped his arms around her waist. “I love you. I love everything about you. I thought your body had changed because you had matured but it was because you carried my baby girl for nine months.”

  Paige scowled at his reflection. “So you noticed I’d gotten fat and chalked it up to the aging process?”

  Dante’s lip twitched. “You are twisting my words, bella.” His hands moved slowly up her body to cup her breasts. “They are fuller, more perfectly shaped to my hands than before. And your belly may not be as flat as it once was but it is softer, more feminine.”

  “I suppose my wide hips are softer and more feminine too,” she bit out caustically.

  “Yes, as a matter of fact they are. I have always been physically attracted to you, Paige, but the truth is you were too thin before. I wanted to sit you down at some fine Italian restaurant and tell you to eat until you put a little meat on your bones but I know how sensitive women are about their weight so I said nothing.”

  “You expect me to believe that after seeing the type of woman you dated? Francisca was thin as a rail so you obviously like that in a woman.”

  “You are wrong, cara. I dated that type of woman because I was not particularly attracted to them. I was not interested in a relationship and being with women like Francisca made it easy to keep an emotional distance. I do not care to count ribs or have a bony pair of hips digging into me. That is why I find your new curves so enticing.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Seriously,” he dropped a kiss on her cheek. “Now finish getting ready while I go collect Daniella. Mireia has had her dressed for twenty minutes and is in there now coaching our daughter on the proper way to greet her grandparents.”

  ***

  The drive to the Vittorio mansion seemed insufferably long. Not that she was in any hurry to face Dante’s family, but the anxiety was eating a hole in her stomach and she just wanted to get it over with. It didn’t help that Daniella was bubbling with excitement and chattered non-stop about meeting her nonna Vittorio.

  “Nonna means grandmother in It…Ital…”

  “Italian,” Dante supplied.

  “Italian,” Daniella repeat. “And nonno means grandfather but I don’t like that ‘cause it sounds like no and he might think he’s in trouble. I told Mireia and she said I could call him Papa if I wanted.”

  “He will like that very much, my princess. What else did Mireia teach you?”

  “I can’t tell you, Daddy. Mireia said it’s a surprise and not to tell anyone except Nonna.”

  Paige shot an apprehensive glance at Dante. “Are you sure it was such a good idea having Mireia coach her?”

  Dante reached across the seat and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. “Do not worry, cara mia, there is only so much a three year old can learn in the thirty minutes Mireia was with her.”

  “I wish I would have thought to ask you to teach me a few things. The only words I know in Italian are the ones you whisper when we’re in bed and somehow I don’t think your family would be impressed with my limited vocabulary.”

  Dante grinned, recalling what he’d been doing just a few short hours ago when he’d whispered the words Paige was referring to. He’d followed up with a very in-depth physical demonstration just in case she hadn’t understood the meaning, though the pretty blush on her face told him she’d known exactly what he was saying. Dante had never seen her look more beautiful and he’d have given just about anything to make love to her again but their time had been limited because they had to get ready for the dinner tonight.

  He knew Paige was nervous and wished there was something he could do to alleviate her anxiety, but in all honesty he wasn’t a hundred percent sure his family’s reception would be a warm one. He’d spoken with his mother and explained everything, including his role in the misunderstandings between him and Paige, but the conversation had taken place over the phone so it was difficult to tell if the impassive tone she’d used was because she accepted they’d both made mistakes and was no longer upset or she was so angry with Paige she couldn’t talk about it.

  Ravenna Vittorio could be very imposing when she got her nose out of joint, but he didn’t dare say anything to Paige for fear she’d refuse to come with him. Of course his mother was too refined to say anything outright rude, but she’d manage to get her barbs in one way or another.

  He’d be lying to himself if he said his family’s opinion didn’t matter, but whether they accepted Paige or not wouldn’t change his mind about marrying her. His life had been empty and meaningless without her; there was no way in hell he was ever going back to that kind of hollow existence again.

  “Oh my God,” Paige gasped when Dante pulled up to a set of massive wrought iron gates. “Is this where your parents live?” Even with the gates obscuring part of her view she could see how massive the house was. “This isn’t a mansion, it’s a palace! Dante, I’m sorry but I can’t go in there. I don’t know what made me think I could ever fit into this kind of lifestyle, but I can’t, I know I can’t.”

  “Mama, what’s wrong?” Daniella asked in alarm.

  “Nothing is wrong, princess,” Dante calmly assured his daughter. “Your Mama is just very excited to see such a beautiful palace.” He put the car in park then reached over and unhitched Paige’s seat belt so he could pull her close to his side. “Cara mia,” he said softly, “you are upsetting yourself for no reason.”

  Dante cupped her chin and gently forced her head back. “Listen to me, Paige. You are going to shake off this moment of panic and go inside because very soon all those people in there will your family.”

  “I’m scared,” she whispered. “I’ll embarrass you, I know I will. I’m a teacher for Pete’s sake, and not even a salaried one at that. They’ll think I’m after your money…”

  “Are you?”

  Paige blinked. “Is that what you think?”

  Dante pressed a soft kiss to her lips. “No, carissima, and they will not think it either. If it is your humble occupation that concerns you then it may comfort you to know that one of my sisters-in-law is a struggling artist and the other is a part-time physical therapist. And my sister, Milana, stays at home preparing for the birth of her baby and does not work outside the house at all. If that does not help ease your anxiety, then maybe this will. When my father met my mother, she was working for a catering service. She was not born into wealth, but she did not let it intimidate her because she loved my father and learned to adjust to it. You will do fine, trust me.”

  From the back seat, Daniella let out an exasperated huff. “Are you going to do kissing again?”

  “I cannot help it,” Dante chuckled, “your Mama is so very kissable.”

  “But I want to see Nonna and Papa and the palace. It’s just like the one in Cinderella, isn’t it Mama?”

  “It sure is,” Paige agreed, albeit without the excitement Daniella was obviously feeling.

  “Are you ready to go in, cara?”

  “As ready as I’ll ever be,” she sighed.

  Dante gently touched her cheek. “Whatever happens tonight, remember I love you with all my heart and that nothing will keep me from making you my wife.”

  Paige’s voice wobbled. “You mean that?”

  “Yes, bella. You and I were destined to be together from the moment we met and nothing will keep us from fulfilling that destiny, do you understand?”

  Paige smiled at the look of fierce determination on his face. “Just get me through this evening and I’ll do anything you say.”

  “I shall remember you said that when we are alone in our room tonight.”


  ***

  She would have loved to hide behind Daniella but her stubborn daughter had adamantly insisted that Dante carry her. Paige slipped her hand into his as they headed up to the house, her eyes misting with tears at the sight of Daniella with her little arms looped around Dante’s neck while he listened intently to her incessant chattering. It was amazing how close the two of them had grown in such a short time and though she sometimes missed having Daniella all to herself, having Dante’s love had enriched both their lives.

  Paige drew in a deep a breath as they approached the front door. It was opened by an older gentleman who greeted Dante with familiarity then informed him the rest of the family was waiting for them in the great room. It really was like a palace, she thought as Dante put his arm around her waist and swept her down a long corridor.