“Ciao, Bella,” my mother hollered back at me. “Papa and I are in the kitchen.”
Of course they were. I took off the too-tight jacket and hung it on the hook just inside the front door. Next, I took Levi’s from him, hanging it next to mine. A little thrill ran through me every time I saw his tattoos, and in his short-sleeved T-shirt, his full tattoo sleeve was on display along with the top half of his neck tattoo. I tried to resist touching him, but I was weak, and snuck a quick kiss in, licking at his mouth while running my hand along his ink. Levi, initially surprised by my silent attack, first stiffened and then responded by grabbing my ass and kissing me back. It was like he was a warlock and he had cast a libido spell over me. Every time I looked at him, it was like he had bewitched my vagina.
I led him through the house, hand-in-hand toward the kitchen. As we walked down the hall, I looked at my parents’ house with new eyes. It was certainly the complete opposite of his place. Our wallpaper was old and outdated, peeling in some places, but the house was clean and tidy. My mothered relished her job as a homemaker, and apart from being a kick-ass cook, she had massive OCD when it came to keeping things neat and in order.
The sideboard in the hall entryway, an imported heirloom of my grandmother’s from Italy, was covered in hand-knitted lace doilies and adorned with photographs of my grandparents and extended family members from both sides of the family. More photographic memories cluttered the walls, leaving barely any free space. Along with framed photos of my parents on their wedding day, the wall displayed photos of my brothers and me all at various stages in our lives—elementary school, high school graduation, Mike’s wedding day, little Stella just after she was born, and Tony and Bobby in their uniforms. My heart swelled at the thought of being able to share my life with a guy I loved. And even though it was early days yet, one day I hoped there would be a picture of Levi and me adorning the family wall.
Levi pulled on my hand to slow me down and whispered in my ear, tugging on my hair. “Weren’t you a little cutie in grade school with your pigtails? Remind me later to get you to put your hair like that. I find it hard to resist the naughty school girl look.”
“Ha ha,” I replied to him over my shoulder. I looked at the photo he was referring to. I wasn’t smiling, I was scowling. My mouth was puckered up, my nose scrunched, and I had at least two chins. I remember Mom had dressed me in something horrid that day, and even though he was much older, Tony had teased me relentlessly about it until I cried.
I pulled Levi into the kitchen behind me. Aromas of a fresh pasta sauce punctuated the room. Instantly, my mouth watered for Mom’s homemade cooking. Mom had her back to the doorway, and was in her usual spot by the stove, while Papa sat at the table reading a newspaper.
He looked up when we entered, put down the paper, and held his hands out in a welcoming gesture. “Ah here she is, the local celebrity. And look, Mom, she’s brought Levi, too.”
I must have looked as stunned as I felt. How did they know Levi?
I left Levi standing in the kitchen doorframe and walked to my father hesitantly, unsure of what he knew about my connection with Levi. Maybe Bobby had spilled the beans after he dropped me at the party last night? I was going to kill him. Not that it mattered anymore really, now that Levi and I were official.
“Hi, Papa,” I greeted my father, and kissed his cheeks in the traditional Italian style. I greeted my mother the same way. I stole a glance at Levi. He remained standing in the doorway, a weird smile plastered on his face. He looked guilty, like he was hiding something from me. I frowned and turned back to my father. “Um, what’s this about a local celebrity, and how do you know Levi? Have I just entered The Twilight Zone?” My head swiveled from one parent to the other like I was at a tennis match.
My father didn’t reply. Instead, he held up his pointer finger, licked it, and began flicking the pages of the newspaper until he found the page he was looking for and handed it to me. Looking up at me in full color, smiling like a person high on drugs, was a giant-sized photo of Levi and me in the social pages. My cheeks were flushed pink and my eyes sparkled. If I had to be totally honest, it wasn’t a bad photo of me. I looked kind of cute, in a perky, chipmunk cheeks kind of way, with my head resting against his chest. Levi, of course, was just downright drop-dead gorgeous. No description needed. If the caption under the photo hadn’t named him as Levi James, heir to James Publishing, he could have been mistaken for a male model.
I looked at Levi with my eyebrows raised and pointed at the photo. “You’ve seen this?” The look on his face already answered my question.
He nodded, his mouth in a tight line. “I saw it yesterday.”
Immediately, I was horrified. “This was in yesterday’s paper and you didn’t tell me?”
He shrugged, acting like it didn’t matter our photo was almost half the page of the social section in the newspaper. “It slipped my mind. I figured Scotty would have told you. I didn’t know about Lili and Scotty breaking up.”
“Scotty.” I spat out his name like an expletive.
“Bella? What’s that about Lili and Scotty breaking up?” my mother asked. She had finally put down her wooden stirring spoon and now stood next to me, wiping her hands on her apron.
“Umm, yeah, Scotty broke up with her Friday night. It was the same night he took this photo,” I explained briefly, unsure exactly of how much I should elaborate on what had happened that night. My parents didn’t exactly know my penchant for partying. They thought I was still their sweet, innocent, virginal daughter. “They had a fight or something.”
Levi cocked his eyebrow. I shook my head discreetly. Later I would have to explain to him how very little my parents knew about my life. As far as they were concerned, I was a bookworm with no career aspirations that loved to read romance fiction. If only they knew what kind of romance.
My mother’s face fell. “Oh, that’s a shame. I was hoping to get a copy of the paper so I could frame it for the wall.”
“I’ll get you one, Mrs. LaRosa,” Levi told her. “My father owns the paper. I’ll just have to make a call to the editor. I’ll pass it onto Andi for you, or better yet, I’ll have it delivered.”
I was sure they already knew about his pedigree, after all it was captioned directly under the photo, which I guess would explain their open-arms attitude to him. Nevertheless, I was sure his offer won him a few extra brownie points.
My father stood and leaned over the table, his hand extended to Levi. “Levi, if my daughter won’t introduce us, I will have to do it myself.”
Levi walked closer to my father and stood next to me, not close enough to be touching, but just enough for me to feel his body heat, and shook my father’s hand, then my mother’s. “Yes, of course, so sorry. Pleased to meet you, Mr. LaRosa and Mrs. LaRosa.”
“Likewise, Levi. But please, call us by our names. I’m Anthony and this is Maria.”
“Thank you, Anthony. Maria, thank you for accommodating me for dinner at such short notice. You have a wonderful home, and your pasta sauce smells divine.”
My mother blushed, clearly enjoying his compliments. “Oh don’t be silly. I’m Italian, there is always enough pasta to go around. What about your mother? Where is she from?”
Levi paused, a shadow passing over his face, but smiled politely regardless of the pain I knew he felt. “My mother passed away quite a few years ago now.”
“I’m very sorry to hear that,” my mother said.
“Mom.” I cut in. I could see in her face she was about to start up with questions. “I was thinking I might take Levi on a quick tour of the house before the boys get here.”
She glanced nervously at my father. I bit my tongue. What the hell did she think we were going to do? Fuck ourselves senseless against my bookcase? Actually, a quickie in my bedroom wasn’t totally out of the question, although I had a feeling Levi wouldn’t be up for that, not right now anyway. Though, I’m sure he wouldn’t protest against a heavy make out session.
Turning my back to my parents, I looked at Levi, my eyes wide imploring him to help me out so we could be alone.
A smile played at his lips, and his green eyes sparkled mischievously. “Maria, do you mind if Andi shows me more of the photos in the hall? She was such an adorable little girl. I especially love the one of her with the pigtails.”
I could have killed him. My mother, a staunch family woman who was overly proud of her ever-growing photography exhibition, brought her hands together in a clap, her face beaming. Levi smirked, now going in for the kill like a silent assassin, laying his charming act on thick and hard.
“Andi has told me so much about your granddaughter,” he continued. “I’d love to see a photo. I bet she takes after her aunty and grandmother.”
If I hadn't been so impressed with his manipulation techniques, I would have gagged. My mother was still beaming, and even my father, who epitomized the stubborn Italian stereotype, looked to be won over. Papa was a real sucker for his girls.
“Of course, Levi. Andi, be sure to show Levi little Stella’s first birthday photo.”
Could this man do no wrong? One compliment and my hard-nosed, stubborn parents were like putty in his hands.
“Sure thing, Mom. I’ll show him around upstairs, too.” I grabbed Levi’s hand and led him out of the kitchen into the hall before his spell wore off and my parents changed their minds.
“Your persuasion techniques are amazing,” I whispered over my shoulder once we were alone in the hallway.
Seductively, he ran his hands over my hips from behind me. “I thought you already knew that.”
Once I knew we were out of earshot from my parents, I spun around and pressed my body against his, reaching up and wrapping my hands around his neck. My breath quickened. The added danger of my parents in the next room only further heightened the excitement, knowing that they could walk in here any second.
“Can you use your charm to convince my parents we can’t stay for dinner? I really just want to go to your place. I can’t wait.”
With his hands still on my hips, he pulled me even tighter against his body so I could now feel his hard cock pressing through his jeans.
“Believe me, so do I,” he said, his voice low and sexy. “I can’t stop thinking about you naked. I need to be inside of you.”
Forgetting where we were, I place my hand on his hardness and rubbed it with the palm of my hand. He moaned softly and slipped his hand up my shirt and under my bra, cupping my breast and moving his thumb across my taut nipple. Pressing my mouth against his neck, I bit him gently. We needed to get the fuck out of here.
The front door at the end of the hall unexpectedly opened. My brother Tony walked in, laughing over his shoulder at Bobby. Quickly, I shoved Levi away, breaking all physical contact, but wasn’t quite fast enough. Bobby had seen everything, his eyes bugging out of his head. Tony, on the other hand, I wasn’t too sure about. I prayed he hadn’t seen Levi’s hand up my shirt, because if he had, things were about to go south.
“What the fuck is going on here?” Tony bellowed, his rare laugh long gone, replaced with his alpha male cop routine. Bobby, on the other hand, was frozen with a shocked look on his face. Great. Tony had copped a full view of Levi and me feeling each other up. Houston, we have a problem.
My face flushed with heat and I stepped behind Levi and tried to discretely adjust my boobs back into my bra.
“Keep your hands away from my sister.” Tony’s face screwed up with rage as he walked toward us and shoved Levi hard in the chest.
Unfortunately his shove pushed Levi into me and, while Levi managed to stay on his feet, I didn’t. I went down with my arms spinning wildly, falling hard on my ass, taking a few pictures from the wall with me in the process. My butt hit the wooden floorboards with a loud thud. Unbearable pain shot up my spine while, simultaneously, picture frames landed beside me, their front glass cracking and breaking as they smashed and bounced on their wooden frames.
As I hit the ground, automatically, I shot my hands behind me and tried to lift my ass off the floor to ease the sharp pain in my tailbone. Slivers of glass from the photo frames cut into the palms of my hands. I cried out in pain as the small glass splinters embedded themselves in my skin.
“I think I’ve broken my coccyx,” I cried out as Levi came to my rescue and shoved Tony back. Like my own superhero, he then scooped me up in his arms.
The commotion was enough to bring my parents running into the hall. Papa’s hand was on his heart and Mom was fanning herself with her favorite red dishtowel embroidered with the Golden Gate. Tony held them back while Bobby, who had finally gotten over his shock of seeing his baby sister hooking up in the hallway of the family home, took control of the situation.
He slipped off my Converse to touch my feet. “Andi, can you wiggle you toes?” I obliged and he ran his fingernail up the inner sole of both my feet, triggering my tickle reflex. Hating being tickled, I kicked out at him.
“I don’t think your back is broken. Now show me your hands.”
Holding out my hands palm-side up to my brother, Levi shifted his weight slightly and tightened his grip on me. I expected my hands to be shredded given the amount of pain I had been in. They weren’t. There was only the tiniest amount of blood. As it was, there was only a few glass splinters in each hand.
Bobby rolled his eyes at me. “Geez, talk about an overreaction. I’ll get these out no problem. Andi, I can’t give you an official diagnosis on your spine, but I’m pretty sure you’ve just bruised your coccyx. Go wait in the sitting room for me while I get the tweezers and some iodine from the medicine cabinet upstairs.”
Bobby took off up the stairs two at a time. Tony glared at Levi and Papa looked pale.
“Point me in the right direction,” Levi said to me.
Small electric currents continued to shoot up my back, causing me to spasm slightly. “I can walk.”
“I’ll carry you,” he said, smiling tenderly at me. “You’ve got no shoes on and there is heaps of glass on the ground.”
My heart surged at his tenderness. I wanted nothing more than to kiss him right then, but Tony cleared his throat rudely getting our attention.
“Papa, you look like you need to sit down. Mom, why don’t you take Papa into the kitchen and get him a glass of red?” he suggested.
My mother protested to Tony, holding out her hand to indicate at me. “But...Andi. She needs me, and I need to clean up this broken glass. I don’t want little Stella cutting herself when she gets here.”
Tony spoke Italian to my parents. It wasn’t often they spoke Italian around me, knowing I didn’t understand. Things were usually serious when they did, and it was times like this I wish I understood. My mother nodded her head in agreement with Tony and linked her arm through my father’s and led him away, both my parents looking at me like I was a huge disappointment. Anger riled inside of me.
“What did you say to them, Tony?” I demanded.
“Just that I’m not happy about this whole situation between you and Captain Kangaroo here. You’re too young and naive to be involved in a relationship.”
Now I was really pissed. Tony had no right. “Who asked you for your opinion? You don’t speak for me. Just because you can’t keep a girlfriend doesn’t mean I should pay for your mistakes.”
It was at that point I knew I had pushed Tony too far. I despised his over protectiveness, and, at times, him. His deep blue eyes narrowed and his face went from his usual olive competition to bright red. Veins on his neck stood out while he wrestled with his anger. Right at this exact moment, he epitomized the typical Italian with a short fuse.
Tony avoided looking at me, instead glaring at Levi, and pointed his hand in the direction of the family sitting room.
“Take her to the sitting room,” he commanded through gritted teeth. “Then get the fuck out of our house.”
“You don’t have to go anywhere, Levi,” I told him, grabbing a hold of his face with my fingertips, mak
ing him look at me. “This is my house, too, and I say you can stay.”
Levi looked at me with a bemused expression on his face, clearly unfazed by my sibling bickering. By this time, Bobby came bounding back down the steps. “I thought I told you to wait in the sitting room?”
“I would’ve, but Tony is being an absolute ass right now,” I said.
Bobby took one look at Tony and took a step back in case Tony blew a fuse, which was highly likely. “Well that escalated quickly.”
“Bobby, how can you make a joke when this douchebag had his hand up our sister’s shirt? Look at his black eye. Fuck knows where he’s been and what he’s been doing, especially with our sister. Look at her elbows.” Tony missed nothing. Pure hatred contorted his face.
“It kind of looked mutual to me, to be honest, Tony. Last time I checked, Andi was twenty-one and a consenting adult,” Bobby said. “Who are we to judge her taste in men?”
I could have cheered for Bobby.
“But…still doesn’t make it acceptable,” he continued. “There’s always a time and a place, and in the hall of your parents’ house isn’t that time. Now, kids. Can I trust you to keep your hands to yourselves while I clean up Andi’s wounds?”
“Ha fucking ha, Bobby. There’s no need to be condescending,” I retorted to his smart ass remark. “Levi, as much as I love you holding me, I’m actually starting to feel really silly. You’d better take me through to the sitting room so Bobby can clean me up.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Levi said with a fake southern accent, and tipped his head at me.
He carried me through to the sitting room, and once we were clear of any glass, he let me stand, but kept his arm around my waist, keeping me tight against his body.
“Andi, I’m gunna take off,” he said softly, leaning into me so only I could hear. “Your family isn’t going to accept me. Not now anyway. Not after that whole circus act.”
“Please stay,” I pleaded. “They’ll come around, I promise.”
“Maybe. But it won’t happen tonight.”
Freefall (Santa Cruz Skydivers Book 1) Page 19