Temptation's Song (Kimani Romance)

by Janice Sims

  “I’m going to beat some sense into you,” Gianni yelled and leaped onto Dominic. They both went down onto the Persian carpet in the study and overturned the heavy coffee table in front of the leather couch.

  “Stop this at once!” Carlo yelled at his son and nephew as he came running into the room, Matteo and the women on his heels.

  He got between the combatants and held them apart. Out of respect for him, neither his son nor his nephew continued to try to get at each other around him. “What’s this all about?” Carlo demanded, looking first at Dominic, then at Gianni. “You two haven’t had a brawl since you were schoolboys.”

  Dominic and Gianni’s eyes shot daggers at one another but both refused to talk.

  Elle moved around the group of women and Matteo to go to Dominic. Seeing her calmed him down and he let go of the anger. He turned toward her and she reached up to gently touch his split lip. Dominic stood there, looking down into her concerned eyes. He adored her. He adored her and he wanted her in his life forever.

  He pulled her into his arms. Looking deeply into her eyes, he whispered, “Tesoro mio, are you unhappy with me?”

  Elle tensed. The entire family was watching her and Dominic with intense interest. She had heard only the tail end of the argument. Why had the cousins bloodied each other’s faces? Dominic was bleeding from the mouth, and Gianni from the nose.

  Now he was asking her if she was unhappy with him. “Can’t we go somewhere private?” she asked, her eyes pleading with him to agree.

  Dominic shot an angry glance at Gianni. “No, please, I want everyone to hear. Some people believe I’ve disrespected you somehow by asking you to live with me. I want them to hear your opinion on the subject.”

  Carlo stepped forward. “Dominic, can’t you see you’re embarrassing Elle?”

  “Elle is a part of this family,” Dominic insisted. “She should feel free to say anything in your presence.”

  Elle suddenly felt nauseous. Now that she thought of it, there had been cheese in the salad today, and lately dairy foods hadn’t been agreeing with her. Plus, the stress Dominic was putting on her by wanting to discuss their private business in front of his family wasn’t helping.

  Her stomach contracted painfully, and bile rose in her throat. With one hand on her midsection and the other over her mouth, she turned from Dominic and muttered, “I don’t feel well.”

  Gianni whispered to Francesca, “Go with her. I think Elle is expecting.”

  Shocked, Francesca said aloud, “Expecting!”

  Everyone heard. Elle was mortified. She ran from the room. Francesca took off behind her, only to be overtaken by Dominic, who grabbed her by the arm and said, “Let me go with her.”

  Francesca went back into the study, where everyone was staring at one another with confused expressions.

  “I knew she was absolutely glowing!” was Natalie’s comment.

  “Our first grandchild,” Carlo said wistfully, smiling broadly.

  Sophia laughed. “I hope it’s going to be triplets. Dominic and his plans—little did he realize that God had a bigger plan for him!”

  Chapter 16

  Elle ran to the hall bathroom and tried to close and lock the door before Dominic elbowed his way in, but he was too fast for her. “If there is any time I would prefer to be in a bathroom by myself, this is it!” she cried. But that was all she had time to say before she was on her knees and throwing up into the commode.

  Dominic got a washcloth from the linen shelf, ran warm water over it, wrung it out and handed it to her as she flushed. Elle accepted it, wiped her mouth, closed the lid of the toilet and sat down on it. She felt a lot better after purging.

  The smell was horrendous. She looked up at Dominic. “Please leave me to my humiliation.”

  Dominic sat down on the edge of the tub and reached for her hand. Looking at her with nothing but love in his eyes, he asked softly, “When were you going to tell me?”

  “Maybe never,” Elle admitted.

  Dominic let that sink in a moment. “That means you were planning to leave me before you started showing more than you already are.” He realized now that the extra weight, the enhanced breasts, were due to Elle’s pregnancy. “I’ve been such a fool.”

  “No more than I’ve been,” Elle said softly with a gentle smile. “I should have told you as soon as I found out, but I was afraid you would accuse me of trying to trap you into marriage, which wasn’t my intention.”

  “The blame is mine,” Dominic told her, his eyes caressing her face. “I should have been more diligent about the condoms. You warned me.”

  Elle laughed shortly as she lowered her gaze. “Yes, I did, didn’t I? But you can’t take all the blame. I should have made sure you used a condom. There were times I simply felt like letting go and forgetting to be responsible.”

  Dominic lifted her chin so that she was looking into his eyes. “Lately, things have been happening that have made me rethink my life.” He briefly told her about his encounter with Angelica, and what the argument between him and Gianni had been about. “I couldn’t bear it if I lost you.” His eyes were misty. “It breaks my heart that you were thinking of never telling me about the bambino, tesoro. Don’t you know I adore you?”

  Sniffing, Elle said, “You put on a pretty good act of not wanting a commitment.”

  Dominic laughed regretfully. “A man says a lot of things he doesn’t mean.”

  He bent his head to kiss her and Elle drew back. “Trust me on this, you don’t want to kiss me until I brush and gargle.”

  Dominic pulled her up and hugged her tightly instead. After which he gazed down at her. “When we’re married, I get to kiss you whenever I want to, okay?”

  Elle’s heart leaped with joy. “Okay!”

  When Elle emerged from the bathroom she found the entire family waiting for her. Dominic immediately pulled her into his arms and kissed her soundly. Then he announced, “I asked Elle to marry me and she took pity on me and said yes.”

  Cheers filled the cramped hallway and after jubilant hugs and kisses, they went to the kitchen, where Carlo produced a bottle of champagne he kept in the fridge just for such occasions. He popped the cork and everyone drank to Elle and Dominic’s happiness. Elle was provided with a glass of juice.

  Natalie couldn’t help continually hugging her soon-to-be daughter-in-law. “Oh, Elle, I keep going back to that day in the café when you asked for my advice about Dominic. I couldn’t be happier that it turned out the way we wished it would. I love you like a daughter.”

  “I love you, too,” Elle assured her with a happy smile.

  Later, Elle phoned her mother with the news and was given some news herself. Isobel and John had gotten married in Vegas. Elle jokingly asked if her mother was pregnant and Isobel cried, “The only thing I’m expecting is to be happy.”

  Dominic and Elle were married in late August. Elle had three bridesmaids, Belana, Patrice and Ana; and two maids of honor, Francesca and Sophia, who had married Matteo in May. She was noticeably pregnant, which she and Elle joked about because Elle had waited to marry Dominic so that she wouldn’t be pregnant while walking down the aisle. Baby Ariana was only a month and a half and already spoiled by everyone in both families. She could not whimper without someone running to pick her up and give her some love, especially her father, who wondered how he could have lived all his life without someone this precious to cuddle.

  Elle’s new stepfather, John, gave her away. When she had asked him, he had shyly accepted, saying that he considered her his daughter and it was nice that she felt the same about him. And Elle did. She was so happy that her mother had found a good man, someone who would treat her well and always stand by her.

  Gianni was Dominic’s best man and several of his cousins were his groomsmen.

  On the day of the wedding, it rained in the morning but stopped at midday and, by the time the guests had arrived, the sun had nearly dried up the rain on the ground. The garden was a lush paradi
se. Chairs had been set up on either side of the aisle, which had a deep red runner down it. White roses adorned the chairs on the aisle and the wedding canopy.

  Dominic and Gianni were already under the canopy by the time the music began playing, and everyone drew in a surprised breath when Natalie rose and sang an aria in honor of her son and his new wife. Not a dry eye was to be seen when she finished. The diva still had it. She moved to sit in the front row beside her husband, who was wiping a tear from his eye. “Bellissima, cara mia,” he told her as he kissed her cheek.

  The processional music began to play and the bridesmaids and groomsmen walked down the aisle arm in arm. The bridesmaids wore sophisticated designer gowns in deep colors. Elle hadn’t wanted pastels at her wedding. The groomsmen wore traditional black tuxedos.

  The wedding march began and Elle was escorted down the aisle by John, who was also wearing a tuxedo. All eyes were on the bride, though, who wore a one-of-a-kind empire-waist gown with a beaded, silver bodice and a cream-colored, silk brocade skirt. It was exquisitely beautiful. However, the bride outshone her apparel. Elle glowed with the assurance of the love surrounding her. In a few minutes she would be united with the only man she had ever loved in holy matrimony.

  When Dominic saw his bride, his heart was full. He had almost lost her, this unique woman. What would he have done without her?

  Once Elle’s hand was in his and they were standing in front of all of their loved ones, a peaceful feeling descended upon him and he realized that this was what life was all about. It wasn’t how famous you could become, or how rich you could become that mattered. To be rich in love was his goal from now on.

  After he and Elle said their vows and the priest pronounced them husband and wife, he kissed his new bride. When he lowered his head and looked down into her upturned face, he said, “Ti amo, ora e per sempre.”

  Later the photographer took pictures of the wedding party. Elle’s favorite was the one in which she and Dominic were standing side by side and he was holding Ariana in his arms, peering into her little face. Looking up at her father, Ariana was making happy noises and blowing spit bubbles.

  After Ariana was put down for a nap, Elle and Dominic sat enjoying a light meal at the reception, which was held in the garden. White-linen-topped tables with floral centerpieces dotted the flagstone patio. A gentle breeze was coming off the lake and the August sky was clear of clouds. In the background, a string quartet played the classics.

  At Dominic and Elle’s table, Gianni had risen and was making a toast. “To Elle and Dominic—may they have a long, happy marriage and be blessed with many bambinos!”

  “Sì, sì,” said Carlo, touching champagne flutes with his wife on his right. “Your mother and I love being grandparents. Ariana has only whetted our appetites for more.”

  Dominic laughed. “Sophia and Matteo will be adding to the family very soon. As for Elle and I, we’re going to simply enjoy Ariana for a while. My leading lady has agreed to star in Everlasting and has to maintain her splendid figure.”

  Elle looked lovingly into her husband’s eyes. She had the best of both worlds: a career she loved and a husband who fully supported her. She couldn’t have been happier.

  She rose. “I have a couple of friends to thank for convincing me to come to Italy with them.” She smiled at Belana and Patrice. “I might still be in the chorus if not for you two. Thank you, I’ll always be grateful.”

  “Now that we’re stepsisters,” Belana told her, grinning, “I feel free to tell you that it’s been my pleasure over the years to bully you into doing what’s best for you. But the fact is, Elle, if you didn’t have the talent to back up our bullying, you would still be in the chorus!”

  Everyone laughed.

  Patrice gently tapped her champagne flute with a fork, getting everyone’s attention. She cleared her throat because she felt tears were imminent. “We’ve been like sisters since Juilliard. I have to admit, while I’m extremely happy for you, Elle, I’m going to miss you like crazy. With you here in Italy, Belana in New York and me in Los Angeles, when are we going to see each other?”

  The three friends wound up in a group hug, whispering reassurances of their continued loyalties. Tears flowed freely.

  John and Isobel went to them and offered sympathy. “Come now, girls,” said Isobel gently. “This isn’t the end, this is the beginning. Perk up!”

  Elle, Patrice and Belana looked at each other and burst into laughter. “Look at us,” Elle said, “behaving like crybabies.” She hugged Patrice. “I’m only a phone call away, Miss Hollywood. You’re going to be too busy working on that new T. K. McKenna movie to worry about me.” Then she pulled Belana into her arms. “And as for you, stepsister, New York City hasn’t yet seen the best you have to give. You’re going to take it by storm. Now I’m going to dance with my husband.”

  Dominic, who had been watching with a smile playing at the corners of his generous mouth, got up and pulled her into his arms.

  Then he took his bride onto the dance floor and they danced the first dance of the rest of their lives together.

  Common Italian Words and Phrases

  A domani—See you tomorrow

  Bella—beautiful

  Bellissimo(a)—Very beautiful

  Benvenuto—welcome

  Buon giorno—good morning; good day

  Buona notte—good night (said when someone is retiring for the night.)

  Cara mia—my darling

  Ciao—hello, or goodbye

  Come stai?—How are you?

  Fratello—brother

  Grazie—Thank you

  Mi scusi—Excuse me

  Molte grazie—Thank you very much

  Ora e per sempre—now and forever

  Sì—Yes

  Tesoro mio—my treasure

  Ti amo—I love you

  Uno fiasco—an utter failure

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-6035-5

  TEMPTATION’S SONG

  Copyright © 2010 by Janice Sims

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  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

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