Tomorrow was New Year's Eve. I was going to see if he would like to have dinner with me. I needed to call Anna later and see if the shore house was available, so I could surprise him. I knew it was short notice, but I couldn’t wait to tell him any longer. I wanted to rebuild our life together and that had to start now.
If anything, I was determined to see this though. I loved him and was very angry with him, but I needed to see where it would go. I knew where I wanted it to go and I think Dominick felt the same way. We just had to get through the many obstacles that were laid out before us. Obstacles that came from the past and needed to be removed, if we were to have a future together.
Tommy and I got back home and when we entered the foyer I smelled pizza. I looked at Tommy curiously and all he could do was shrug. Marcello must have ordered in when I informed him over the phone that I wanted to stay in for the evening. I did tell him of approximately what time we would arrive back in the city, so I guess he took it upon himself to have it here when we arrived.
I looked in the living room. No Marcello.
“Marcello? We’re back.”I called out towards the kitchen.
Marcello appeared in the dining room, holding a large bowl of salad.
“You guys are just in time for dinner.”He seemed quite comfortable in our home. I’m not sure how I felt about that, but I did tell him he could stay and it was only for a couple of days. Plus, I needed his help with my plan.
“Did you order in?”
“No Bella, I made homemade pizza and a salad. You know how much I used to love to cook for you.”He was smirking.
“Hmm.......Yes, I remember. I also recall you’d make great pizza and I’m starving. So thank you, Marcello.”I tried to be sincere, but somehow I felt he wanted more than a dinner invitation. That scenario would end immediately.
We took our seats and filled our plates. I ate my food and refilled my plate for a second time. When I looked up, both Tommy and Marcello were staring at me mid-bite. Both of their mouths were hanging opening.
“What? What are you both staring at? Haven’t you ever seen a hungry woman eat before.”Both of them were annoying me.
“Rain, you didn’t eat your food. You inhaled it.”Tommy sounded shocked.
“So.....?”
“I’ve never seen you eat like that,Rain.”Marcello chimed in this time.
“And....?”
“Nothing, Nothing……it’s just that......”Marcello stopped speaking as I interrupted him. He looked perplexed.
“It’s just what? I told you both that I was starving.”
“I know baby, but if you keep eating like that, you might get sick.”Tommy stated.
I was beginning to become self-conscience, so I changed the subject quickly.
“Okay, we are not having dinner together to discuss my eating habits, are we? We’re having dinner to enlist Marcello’s help with my plan.”I quickly announced.
Here we go.
Marcello looked confused. Now I turned the tables on him.
“Why do I feel I’m not going to like what you’re going to ask of me, Rain?”
“Because you’re probably won’t, Marcello. I need your help with something very important to me. Like you had said to me earlier, you owe me.”
“Ahhh, I see. This has to do with your sister?”He sounded smug.
Let me fix that.
“No.... It has nothing to do with the fact that you fucked my sister numerous times behind my back. That’s in the past. This has to do with my life and the fact that you embarrassed me. Now I need something from you. And.... for the sake of our renewed friendship, I’m calling in the favor.” Now who was smug. I hoped it worked.
Marcello shook his head in frustration, yet seemed amused. Then pushed his plate away, as if he was preparing for a difficult negotiation.
“Tell me what you need from me.” Marcello said simply and blatantly.
I hesitated. Was I making the right decision? Maybe it was Dominick’s job to check into all of this once I delivered the news to him.
The Italian authorities may not give him the information that easily. No, I can’t second guess myself. Even though I hated to admit it, I needed Marcello’s help.
“Tell him,baby.”Tommy invaded my thoughts.
I looked at Tommy and he nodded, giving me some sort of reassurance in what I was about to reveal. I took a deep breath and began to tell my story. Marcello seemed to be bracing himself for what I was about to ask him.
“What I’m going to tell you is very personal. It could potentially affect and possibly hurt many people. I need your word that whether you agree to help me or not, you’ll be discreet.”
“Rain, I promise that whatever you tell me will stay here at this table. I don’t intend to hurt you. Now, what do you need? Just ask.”He was very understanding, which made me feel much better, so after I took I deep breath and with some relief, I continued with my story.
“Well, as you know I was in a relationship with Vincent Kane’s son Dominick. What you don’t know is the circumstances surrounding how we came together. You see, Dominick set up a plan to kidnap Raven, but.......”He stopped me here.
“Do you want to repeat that? You’re ex-boyfriend tried to kidnap your sister and you still dated him? And I thought I was bad.”
“Do you want me to tell you the story or not?”
“Continue.”
“He thought he kidnapped Raven at the time, but in reality he had taken me.” He stopped me again.
“That twisted fuck took you?”Marcello was exuding anger now and he seemed to get louder as he stood up from the table, but remained near his chair.
This may not have been a good idea. Marcello and I hadn't been together in years, but my story was not making him happy.
“SIT DOWN AND LET...ME....FINISH!”
“Does this get better or worse?” Marcello look to Tommy for the answer to his question.
“It depends on who you ask.”Tommy stated.
“Tommy, whose side are you on anyway?”I was slightly annoyed.
“Baby, I’m on yours, always. Continue.”He smirked. He really enjoyed messing with me.
“I’m so happy to entertain you both.”
“Rain, go on. Tell me what you need and I promise there will be no more interruptions.”Marcello stated.
I paused for a minute. I doubted that last statement of Marcello’s were true, but I continued anyway.
“Yes….. he took me. He thought that if he had Victor Medici’s child he could gain leverage over him for Mr. Kane’s share of the firm. Once he found out it was me, we struck a deal and I promised to pretend he was dating me. We thought when my father found out, he would do anything to stop the relationship. Even give up Vincent’s share of Kane & Medici to get me out of Dominick’s life. What we didn’t count on was that we were very attracted to each other and began to see each other for real.”
“So far I understand all of this, but what I don’t understand is why you need my help. Especially since you and Mr. Kane aren’t together anymore.”
“Well, after we came back from Capri and the fiasco there. Dominick and I made up. Everything was going fine. He didn’t even bring up the subject of the firm anymore. He was always loving and very protective of me. We were planning to leave the day before New Year’s Eve to spend the holiday in Capri together. It was a Christmas gift from Dominick to me.”
“That’s today. Yet you’re not with him. What’s going on Rain?”
“Just before Christmas, I had a talk with my dad. I told him the truth about how Dominick and I met. Needless to say my dad was furious, but when I explained to him that I was in love with Dominick, he calmed down and told me a few things that I was not prepared for. Things that I needed further clarification on, things that took place in Italy. Things I need your help with now.”
“What do you need?”
“First you must know why I broke it off with Dominick and you must know that I’m going to get back tog
ether with him.”
“Does he know that you’re coming to me for help?” Marcello asked curiously.
“No, because he doesn’t know about any of the information that I’m going to reveal to you, but I intend to discuss this with him tomorrow. Whether you choose to help me or not, I still plan on telling Dominick the truth.”
“How do you think he’s going to feel when he finds out you asked me for help again? Especially since this is a very personal matter.”
“He’s probably going to be crazy, but when you hear what I’m about to tell you, you’ll understand why I decided to take this risk.”
“Go on.”
“My dad told me that he didn’t own the shares of Kane & Medici. That Mr. Kane left the shares to someone else. That someone being me. I have a letter from Mr. Kane that explained everything. In the letter Mr. Kane also revealed that Dominick was not his son. That Elise Kane was never pregnant. She created a plan to give birth away from home, by accident. When in all honesty she was adopting a child in Italy to bring home to Mr. Kane and have him believe that the baby was his. Mr. Kane felt that she was bitter because she was unable to advance her career as an international film star due to their marriage, but I think it goes deeper than that. She went to an awful lot of trouble to give a man she resented a baby. Something doesn’t add up.”
“Does Dominick know that he was adopted?”
“No.”
“Rain, I don’t envy you having to tell Dominick all of this. As a man, I don’t know how I would feel about being deceived my entire life.”
“Wait, it gets better.”Tommy interrupted in, right on cue.
“Well, you see, I planned to wait until after the holidays to tell Dominick all of this. I just thought we could have some peace for a little while longer. Then the unexpected happened. I found out last week that I’m pregnant withDominick’s child. I was so excited that I made Tommy drive me down the shore to surprise him, but when I walked in to find him, he was on the phone with his lawyer, ordering him to destroy my dad and the firm. So I walked out. I just couldn’t believe that he was still going through with the plan after everything we had been through together.”
“I see, so you need me to help you find out what really happened with his adoption.”He was very businesslike.
“Yes, and possibly who his real parents are. Please Marcello, I’m not asking you to work for free. I can afford to pay you for your time. Please help me.”I didn’t want to sound desperate, but I knew I did.
Marcello stood up and looked at both Tommy and me. He seemed to be contemplating what to say. This wasn’t going to be good.
“Rain, I said you that you shouldn’t have told this prick anything. You spilled your guts and I don’t hear him saying he’ll help you.”Tommy stated.
Tommy was right. Marcello hasn’t agreed and he knew everything now. Things that could destroy Dominick even further. Although I was going to bet on the fact that he wouldn’t want to destroy me. Time to play my last hand.
“So Marcello, is Tommy right when he said I shouldn’t have told you anything? That you’re going to be the piece of shit you were in Italy and hurt me again. I should have never trusted you and given you another chance now. It’s time for you to leave.”I got up and headed straight for the front door to throw him out.
“Rain! Wait!”Marcello called out to me.
I turned around and slammed right into his chest. He grabbed my shoulders gently to keep me from losing my balance. I looked up into his familiar eyes. They looked warm, but they were no longer full of passion. His eyes were now laced with real concern for me and my current situation. I got my answer. Marcello was going to agree to help me.
“Bella, I’ll help you, but it’s not going be easy. Those records must be sealed. Whether they were sealed by Elise originally or later by Vincent, they are going to be tough to get at. Vincent was very powerful. He had many connections back then. More than I do now. It’s going to be hard, but it’s not impossible.”He smiled and kissed my cheek gently.
I smiled back.“Grazie, Marcello.”
“Don’t thank me yet. We have much work to do ahead of us.”
“So where do we start?”I asked.
“Get me copies of everything you have and when my work is done here in the city, I’ll head back to Capri to get started. You’ll need to go out there at some point, because you have more of a handle on this situation than I do.”
“Okay, I’ve already made several copies. I’ll give them to you tomorrow. It’s getting late and I have a few calls to make.”
All of us said goodnight and I went to my room to call Anna.
****
CHAPTER FIVE
A NEW YEARS SURPRISE
I settled in my room feeling slightly better knowing that Marcello was willing to help me. Yet, I wasn’t kidding myself when I said that it would be difficult to convince Dominick that I was doing the right thing when I enlisted Marcello’s help. I hoped the news of the baby would smooth things over a bit and distract him from the Marcello situation and the fact that my dad was not the owner of the Kane & Medici shares that Dominick believed rightfully belonged to him.
I sat down and called Anna. When she answered her voice was shaky and she sounded panicked.
“Anna, it’s Rain, is everything okay?”My heart began to race.
“Oh Rain, it’s so good to hear your voice, my dear. I don’t really know if everything is okay or not.”Her words worried me.
“Anna, what’s wrong?”
“It’s Dominick, he never came home tonight and we can’t reach him at the shore house.”Her statement made immediately me feel sick.
“What happened? Tell me.”
“He left for work this morning and phoned later this evening. Rain, he was very drunk. It’s not like him at all. He was saying if you and he didn’t get back together, he would never be able to accept his life after you.”
“Oh shit! Sorry, Anna, but I just spoke with him this morning. I told him I loved him and that I just needed some time. He agreed to give me that. Why the change?”I was confused and scared. I needed to get to him now.
“Rain, I don’t know. I know he decided to drive down the shore.”
“DRUNK! HE DROVE DOWN THE SHORE DRUNK?”I realized I was screaming at Anna. I needed to calm down and get focused. I had to get to Dominick.
“How long ago did he call, Anna?”
“It was around six o’clock this evening.”
I looked at my phone, it was 9p.m. now. Shit! It will take me at least two hours to get to Long Beach Island. I needed to leave now. I started packing with one hand while I explained to Anna that I was going to head down there immediately. She said her and Joseph were already in the car and they could come by to get me. I agreed.
I ran downstairs to find Tommy and Marcello speaking in the living room. I didn’t have time to find out what they were up to, so I just handed Marcello the documents that I had promised him. I then explained to Tommy that I would call him once we found Dominick.
“Do you want me to go with you,Rain?” Tommy asked.
“No, it’s better if you stay here. Just in case he shows up. If he does, keep him here. Then call me and I’ll turn around and come home.”I kissed Tommy on the cheek and ran out the door.
Anna and Joseph were already at the curb. They brought Max with them. Seeing them now made me realize that I missed them as much as I missed Dominick.I put my bags in the back of the Land Rover and got in. Joseph gave me a warm and welcoming smile before pulling away.
We then headed down the shore so we could find Dominick. The ride took about an hour and forty-five minutes. Joseph went mildly above the speed limit much of the time. At this late hour there wasn’t any traffic to contend with. My heart was in my throat for most of the trip. Anna and I kept a close lookout of the road, while Joseph was driving, to see if Dominick perhaps pulled over or was stuck anywhere along the way.
We all agreed that it was a good sign not to find h
im or his car on the side of the road and that hopefully he made it to the shore house safely. Anna had explained that Dominick felt my decision in needing more time away from him was my way of separating myself from him slowly. I reassured both Anna and Joseph that this was not my intention at all.
“I want you both to know that I love Dominick very much and that I didn’t mean to hurt him. It’s just that when I came down here last week to talk with him and found him discussing plans with his lawyer to destroy my dad and the firm, I lost it. I was so angry with him that I didn’t even consider discussing the situation. It seemed better at the time just to walk away. Looking back on it now, I’m so sorry for my actions.”
Identity: …………..People aren’t always who you believe them to be (Miss Taken Identity Series Book 2) Page 5