I closed my eyes and tilted my head back to figure out how I was going to convince Tommy that Dominick and I didn’t have to be a couple to raise our child. Even as I thought about it to myself, I wondered if that were even possible. Dominick would never find this acceptable. He would want the two of us to be together to raise our child. I couldn’t do that knowing that he lied throughout our entire time together. I knew that he would try to explain that he had a good reason, but what if I took him back and he lied to me about other things; all for the sake of keeping me safe. No! That wouldn’t be acceptable to me. And that kind of relationship would never work.
“Tommy, listen, I know what you’re saying, but I can’t be with him after what happened. Yet,I can’t turn around and deny him when it comes to our child. I’m pissed that he deceived me, but how would it look if I deceived him? I’m not going to be a hypocrite. He never had his father in his life. His mother made sure of it. I won’t be like Elise Kane. I’m not a manipulative person and I don’t intend to start now.”
Tommy released a frustrated breath.“I know you’re not manipulative, Rain. So let me ask you something. Do you think you’re going to tell him that you’re carrying his child and he’s just going to be okay with being a part-time father? Are you fucking delusional? He’ll be there every second of day, breathing down your throat. He won’t let you make a move without him. Baby, you’re worried about being in control now? You won’t have have to worry about that because you won’t have any control at all, when it comes to Kane. And neither will the baby for that matter.”
“So what do you propose I do? He’s going to know I’m pregnant. It’s not something I can hide forever. I guess I could leave after the show and give birth in Capri. I wouldn’t be alone there. That would give me a break I need and more time to think and God knows less stress. I mean I’d have Mema and Antonio to help me. I wouldn’t be alone. I just need to think about all of this. Tommy give me some time, please?”I reached over and put my hand on his shoulder to give him a reassuring squeeze.
“Rain, you know he’ll follow you to Capri. Running won’t solve this. You need me and your family to take of you and the baby. We can protect both of you from Kane and keep him out of your life, once and for all.”
“Tommy, he would never hurt me or his child. I know that for sure.”My anger started to build again.
“Really Rain, he wouldn’t? You didn’t think he would lie to you either, but he did.”Tommy sounded almost vicious.
“Tommy, look I know there’s no love lost between you and Dominick, but no one is going to control me. Not Dominick, not my dad, not even you.”I understood that Tommy was only trying to protect me, but he was going too far this time. He was the one that was delusional if he thought that I would keep Dominick from his child. I wanted my baby to have normal childhood, with two parents participating. Whether we lived together or not.
Tommy let out the breath he seemed to be holding in. Shaking his head, he said:“All right, I’ll let up on you for now, baby, but you know that Kane is not going to stop. He’ll try to break you this time. He’ll use that baby to his advantage to try and gain control over you. I for one won’t let that happen. Remember Rain, I was there through it all. The confinement, your mother’s fucked up obsession with your illness. Remember the guilt trip she laid on you as you started to need her less and less? Dominick will be no different than Cella. In fact, he’ll be worse.”
I didn’t know what to say. I looked forward at the road ahead and let the tears roll down my cheeks, as I tugged on my sleeves and thought about Dominick.
My voice became very small. “I still love him, Tommy. Sweet, shy, controlling, fucked up him……….I love every piece of him there is. What do I do with all of that? It’s laying here in my heart like thick clay. It’s heavy and it fucking hurts so bad. I don’t want to be without him, but the fact that I feel I have no choice in the matter is what’s killing me now.”
“Shit! I wish I could take it all away, baby. I wish I had never promised you that I wouldn’t tell your dad about Kane keeping you locked up. I should have told him. Even if you hated me for it. I should have told your dad the truth from the very beginning. Hell, I should have found you myself. Now look where it’s gotten you.”Tommy was conflicted and extremely frustrated with the past decisions he made on my behalf.
“Tommy, it’s not your fault. If you remember, I begged you not to tell my dad. Besides,I don’t regret ever being with Dominick. I just wish he felt differently about my dad and he’d stop blaming him for my childhood, among all the other things.”
“Your dad is the easiest person for Kane to blame, Rain. Just the way he blames his father for his life, he blames your dad for your life. It’s fucked up, but he’s using it to build a stronger connection with you.”What Tommy said just now made sense.
“What you just said may be true and we could analyze it all day, but it still won’t change the fact that he lied to me. No matter what his reasoning is. He still lied. How could he possibly think I would be okay with him destroying my own father?”I was getting angry and began to tremble. Tommy noticed and realized that he had pushed me too much.
“Baby, enough, no more. You can’t afford to get upset. I’m sorry I brought it up. You have to be careful now. Let me get you home and take care of you. We can save all of this talking for another time.” Tommy started to finally calm down.
“Okay, let’s just go home.”I closed my eyes and tried to rest for our trip back to the city.
We headed up the Garden State Parkway to the New Jersey Turnpike until we reached the city. We made good time getting back home. I was grateful for that. I was so tired and I just needed to rest.
Once in the house, Tommy brought my bags upstairs while I made some chamomile tea with honey and sugar to satisfy my queasy stomach and of course, my sweet tooth. I wondered if I would crave even more sweets now. The thought made me smile and think of Dominick. I remembered the ill look he had on his face when he took a sip of my sugar ladened coffee for the first time. He told me then he liked sweet things, but just not in his coffee. The memory warmed my insides. NO! I had to stop. I can’t be with him. My thoughts were thankfully interrupted as tea pot began to boil. I poured a mug for me and one for Tommy. I took them out to the living room where I heard Tommy on the phone.
“Listen to me, you asshole. You’re going to leave her alone. Raindoesn’t want to speak with you or see you anymore.”By the sound of the conversation on this side of the phone, the person on the other end must have been Dominick. He didn’t waste any time.
“You think you can threaten me, Kane. I’m not Rain and I’ll be damned if you think I’m going to let you hurt her anymore. You’re not getting anywhere near Rain. You’re done.” Tommy had a sour look on his face, as if he tasted something sour and he sounded lethal.
I couldn’t hear what Dominick was saying, but he was effectively cut off as Tommy ended the call. Tommy turned towards my direction. His facial expression went from hard to soft. A small guilty smile played on his face, as he walked towards me and touched my face.
“Sorry baby, I had to do it. He called while you were in the kitchen. I decided to pick it up, so you wouldn’t have to deal with any more of his bullshit for today.”
I took a deep breath, handed Tommy his tea and gave him a small grateful smile.
“Thanks Tommy, but I’ll eventually have to deal with Mr. Kane and his bullshit. It’s inevitable.”
“Yeah, I know.”Tommy let out a frustrating sigh. Then he kissed my forehead and wrapped his arm around me. He led me to the couch.“But for right now though, no more Mr. Kane. I’m going to take care of you.
I settled in and Tommy sat down next to me and held me close. I closed my eyes and drifted off into what I hoped would be an uncomplicated and much needed sleep.
****
CHAPTER TWO
OLD...........FRIENDS?
The next week proved to be relatively uneventful. Well, Dominick called eve
ry hour on the hour and sent large bouquets of white roses day and night. So when I said the week was uneventful, I should have said there were no big surprises. Dominick was just being Dominick.
Tomorrow would be New Year's Eve and today would have been the day that Dominick and I left for our trip to Capri. It was the Christmas gift he had given to me. I wondered if he still planned on going? Capri was beautiful this time of year. I wished I could go, but that was not at all possible after what happened between us.
Furthermore, I had made an appointment to see Dr. Roth. I needed to speak with him, so that I could get some recommendations and have him refer me to a specialist that would be able to take care of me medically throughout my pregnancy. I needed someone that specialized in difficult pregnancies. It’s not that I anticipated a bad pregnancy, but in my case it was better to be safe than sorry.
Tommy didn’t want me to see Dr. Roth, because of his association with Dominick, but I knew he would be honest and give me good advice on who to choose. Above all things, he was still a medical doctor and took an oath to help and care for people, plus he was very welcoming when I called him on the phone.
Tommy was taking me down the shore to his office this afternoon. I was slightly nervous about the appointment, but I didn’t have time to think about it. The door bell was buzzing frantically and Tommy wasn’t here to answer it and play defense for me. I was sure this was not a good sign.
I took a deep breath and pulled the door open to see a devastatingly gorgeous man with flowers and an amused look on his face, grinning at me. To my surprise it was Marcello.
He leaned in, just a little too close. He kissed the tip of my nose and handed me the flowers.“Ciao baby, surprise!”Marcello was curiously playful.
“Marcello, what are you doing here?”I was completely confused and curious as well.
“I’m in New York for the New Year’s celebrations and I thought I would pay you a visit. Lover boy here?”Marcello asked while he stretch out his upper body and peered inside with wide eyes, as he surveyed my foyer.
I grimaced and slapped him with his own bouquet. ThenI said:“No! Dominick isn’t here and why is it your business anyway?”
“Well, let’s just say that when you asked me to hold him over for an extra day or so when he was jailed in Capri, I became all too intrigued by your Mr. Kane.”
“And why is that?”
“Rain, he’s not good for you. You need to end this now. He will only hurt you, Bella.”
I let out a small insulted chuckle.
“You have to be kidding me. You came all the way here from Capri to tell me you don’t like Dominick. Are you fucking insane? This is old news. You had him arrested, Marcello. I think I got hint back in Italy that you don’t care for him. So, tell me the truth, why are you really here?”I asked cunningly.
“Okay, truth?”
“Yeah, truth. Spill it.”
“I made reservations to come out here for the New Year and there was a mix up at the hotel. Now they don’t have a room for me and everything in the city is booked. So here I am, calling in the favor you owe me.”He was smirking.
“Favor, what favor do I owe you?”I scrunched my face, as I became pissed off and confused by Marcello’s statement. How did I owe him anything?
“Baby, I dropped the charges against your crazy boyfriend. Something I didn’t want to do, but did for you. Then I held out on getting him released, because you begged so sweetly and now I’m here calling in the favor. Like I said, Rain, you owe me.”He was still smirking and slightly teasing me.
Unfortunately for me, Marcello was right. I did ask a great deal of him that day. Marcello was released quickly, because he was not only a resident of Capri, but he was also an attorney. A very powerful and prominent one as well. He was risking his reputation for me as a lawyer, so I could give Dominick what he had coming to him.
Even though my relationship with Marcello ended so abruptly and for obvious reasons, it wasn’t right to have him risk his career, because of the problems I had been having with Dominick at the time. So now I needed to make good on the favor he did for me.
“Okay, Marcello, what do you need?”
“I need to stay with you.”His voice was heated.
“No fucking way are you staying with me!”
“Please Rain, I’ve scheduled many appointments here in New York over the holidays and I can’t cancel them. Please let me stay with you. I promise I’ll behave.”He was grinning ear to ear.
“You can’t stay with me!”
“Why not?”
“I thought the reason would be apparent, even to you.”
“That’s over Rain, were friends again.” He said with open arms.
“When did that happen?”
“When you trusted me enough to take care of your boyfriend problems in Capri.”He stated bluntly.
I swallowed hard, closed my eyes and shook my head. I really don’t need this intrusion in my life right now, but I do owe him and it would only be for a few days. It shouldn’t be that bad. He can stay at least until the hotels have an opening. It’s not like we’d be alone together,either. Tommy lives here too.
Shit! Tommy was going to have a fit.
“I have to clear it with Tommy first. We share this home together and Tommy may dislike you even more than Dominick does.”
“Ah, Tommy Conte, you two are still close I see.”Now he was smirking.
“I don’t like your tone and that’s the first thing you better lose, if…..I let you stay here.”I stated, as I leaned into his face, warning him.
“I’m just saying he’s been with you for as long as I can remember. Why are you not with him? It would appear he’s the perfect match for you.”He looked curious.
“It’s not like that!”I snapped.
“Tell me, Rain, how is it then?”He pushed back.
“Tommy protects like a man, but loves me like a brother. You would do well to remember that. Don’t fuck with me, Marcello, or this so-called new found friendship of ours ends now.” I was seething.
“As you wish. I need a place to stay, so I’ll be on my best behavior.”He put his hands up as if he was surrendering.
“Good, now get your bags and drop them in the foyer. We’ll wait for Tommy to get home and see what he has to say.” He followed me into the living room.
“You have a very beautiful home here.”He stated while giving the place the once over.
“Thank you, we like it. Can I get you something to drink? Tea or coffee, perhaps.”I said, trying to be the good host.
“No, thank you. So where is your Mr. Kane today?”He said, as he settled down on the couch.
Great, the last thing I wanted to talk about.
“I don’t know where he is. If I had to guess I would say at home or at his office.”
“So he doesn’t live with you?”
“No, he has a townhouse here in the city and a shore house in NJ.”
“I would have thought with the New Year almost around the corner, he would have cleared his schedule for you.”He was digging for information. He was a lawyer, of course he would. It’s in his nature to pry for information.
“Why would he do that? You’re working over the holidays. You just said that’s why your here in the city, or was that a ploy to come stay with me, Marcello?”
“No, Rain, it isn’t a ploy to stay with you. I do have very important business here, butI’m also not in a relationship with a beautiful woman like yourself, so I decided to work over the New Year.”
I decided to be truthful with Marcello. He was only going to keep asking questions and if he did stay here he would see that Dominick and I aren’t ringing in the New Year together. I might as well get the story out of the way now rather than later.
“Dominick and I aren’t together anymore.”My voice was soft. It hurt to say it.
Marcello took a deep breath.
“I’m sorry, Rain. Would you like to tell me what happened?”
“Don
’t give me that shit! Nobody’s sorry. Everybody’s thrilled that Dominick is out of my life. Everyone, but me.”Now my tears were are clouding my vision.
“Maybe because everyone sees what you don’t want to see, Rain.”
“And what’s that, Marcello? Enlighten me.”
“Your Mr. Kane is a very angry man. He’s holding something inside of him. Something dark and that makes him dangerous.”
“You’re an expert on Dominick now? Please explain this to me. I’m so fucking curious.”I stated sarcastically.
Identity: …………..People aren’t always who you believe them to be (Miss Taken Identity Series Book 2) Page 2