They fell into silence, which was finally broken with Sylvia’s question, “What did you overhear?”
“God,” she wailed, “I need to tell someone because it’s a hell of a burden to carry.”
Sylvia froze and waited for Emelia to decide whether or not she should tell her. Part of Sylvia wanted her to but another part was screaming at her to let Eric handle this. But seeing the hurt in Emelia’s eyes, Sylvia knew that she needed to be here for Emelia, no matter what she told her. From the fresh tears in her eyes, it was sure to cause a lot of heartbreak for everyone.
“I was eighteen, and gone looking for Mom after a squabble with Diego. She was arguing with Dad. I didn’t get the first part, but they talked about the past and Dad told Mom how much he’d grown to love her even though they’d married at the bequest of Francesca, my father’s first wife. Mom had sighed and said it hadn’t been a bequest because Francesca had begged them both to marry.” Emelia hiccupped. “They then started talking about another man and how they were both relieved he was no longer a threat because he’d died. It turned out that my father had never slept with my mother until long after she’d given birth to Diego and me. And when I say long after, I mean six years after when they renewed their wedding vows. That was when they had fallen in love. So you see, all this time I’ve been raised as a true daughter to Emiliano, when in fact, I’m no blood relation to him or his own children. I could be with Dante, but even though my heart breaks all the time for him, I have no idea how to tell him the truth without causing trouble in the family. Does this make sense?”
All Sylvia could do was nod at Emelia’s confession. She certainly hadn’t expected that as an explanation, and was lost for words.
“He’s a priest now and I know he loves his church and the people that attend, but I want him to love me—to be with me. I need that with him so badly that being away from him is a physical pain.” Emelia sat up and gripped both of Sylvia’s arms. “Please tell me what to do because I don’t know anymore.”
Sylvia didn’t know either. She really didn’t. It wasn’t a little thing that Emelia knew, it was huge and could tear her family apart.
“Does anyone know? Diego?”
“No.” She shook her head. “I haven’t told anyone. Only you.”
What a burden to carry.
“You haven’t asked your mom about it?”
“I’ve tried so many times but I always chicken out. Part of me is afraid that I misheard what was said, and another part hopes to God that I heard correctly. I will always love Emiliano as my father because he raised me from birth as his own, but I need what I heard to be true because of my feelings for Dante. Does any of this make sense to you?”
Sylvia smiled. “You make perfect sense, and I think we need to tell Eric. He loves you, and trust me, although it will be a shock to him, it will ease his mind over you both.”
“He worries,” she smiled, “I know. I always used to go to Eric when I was small. He would always tell me a story or keep me away from Kasey who used to steal my things to make me mad.”
“Emelia?”
They both turned at the sound of Eric’s voice. He was white and the redness around his eyes told Sylvia he’d heard everything.
Concerned for him, Sylvia moved and wrapped her arms around his waist, wanting to offer comfort.
He didn’t return her embrace and it felt like he put up with her touch rather than accepting it or relishing the warmth that she offered. He stepped away and, without looking at her, said, “Please leave. I need to talk to Emelia.”
His words cut through her like ice. She understood that he was shocked with what he’d obviously overheard, but there was no reason to treat her so badly. She wanted to offer him comfort and be there for him to lean on.
“Sylvia, I won’t ask again. This doesn’t concern you,” Eric snapped. “Leave.”
She hid the hurt that she felt at his sharp words and left. She not only left the sunroom but the house. He’d told her with his words that their feelings hadn’t been mutual. Where she had fallen in love with him. Eric had obviously just taken her along for the ride.
She wouldn’t make the same mistake again.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Eric had needed time alone after he’d spoken to Emelia and questioned her about what she’d overheard because his head felt like it was about to explode.
Instead of heading to his room where he expected Sylvia to be, he’d headed to the hayloft. He’d frozen his balls off all afternoon, but his headache had dimmed and, although his mind worked overtime, he knew it was time to face Sylvia before dinner.
He was sorry for his sharp words to her when all she’d wanted to do was comfort him. He’d just found out something that altered the dynamics of his family. He was shocked and upset, so he’d snapped. She hadn’t deserved to be shoved aside like he’d done. He only hoped that she was in a forgiving mood because he needed her then more than ever.
So it came as a shock when he realized it was later than he thought and he had to wash up before taking his seat at the table, without seeing Sylvia.
Once everyone sat down, there was no seat left for Sylvia. He frowned and realized no one would meet his gaze. “Where is she?”
“On a plane back to Lexington,” his father offered. “I don’t know what happened between you two, but that little lady was heartbroken when I took her to the airport and made sure she got on a flight safely.”
Eric couldn’t think or hear as blood rushed through his head in shock. She left him. She actually packed up her stuff and left. He needed her and she walked away from him. Well, at least he found out how she truly felt before he told her that he loved her. Good riddance.
At least that was what he told himself while Thanksgiving dinner took place around him. He ate, but stayed silent wondering what the fuck was wrong with him that she left. He certainly hadn’t seen that coming.
She obviously wasn’t worth his time if she could so easily walk away from him.
“You stop that, right now,” Emelia shouted and silenced everyone at the table. “We need to talk.” She stomped out of the room and obviously expected him to follow.
“Little sis has spoken or rather shouted. Please, go before she picks on one of us.” Kasey shoved more potatoes into his mouth, and smirked around a mouthful.
He reluctantly followed, and caught his breath when her fist landed in his stomach as he walked into the living room.
“What the fuck was that for?”
“For being a total dick and giving up on her. If she means so little to you then perhaps she is better off without you.”
“I didn’t leave,” he shouted.
“No, you didn’t. You told her to leave, you ass. What the hell did you expect her to do? Sit around and wait until you wanted her around.” Emelia was well and truly steamed. She paced the living room like a cougar caged and a few times, it looked like she was going to punch him again.
“Look, you know what happened.”
“You asked her to leave regardless of how you look at it,” she pointed out. “Sylvia is amazing and deserves someone who respects her and doesn’t treat her like a washcloth—easy to put aside—and I hope she finds it with someone else because you don’t deserve her.”
“Ouch.” He sat his butt down on the sofa and stared into space. “That hurt.”
“And so it should.” Emelia sat beside him. “She loves you, and you totally crushed her heart today with your callous words.” She held her hand up when he opened his mouth to speak. “I know you had a shock, eavesdropping, but that really was no excuse to speak to the woman who I think you love. Now, what are you going to do about it?”
“Fuck knows.” He sighed.
He had no idea what to do because he had no excuse. His sister was right, not that he’d ever admit that to her. But fuck!
“I’m going to catch the flight back to Lexington as planned in two days, and hopefully that will be enough time for her to have cooled her h
eels.”
“You better hope so. Now let’s go and finish dinner. I’m hungry.”
“You’re always hungry.”
“I’m a growing girl.”
Eric snorted.
Growing girl his ass.
“At some point you need to talk to your mom. You realize that, right? The sooner, the better because I hate seeing Dante so torn up with how he feels. He thinks it’s wrong to feel what he does, and although it isn’t ideal, it isn’t as wrong as he thinks it is, either.”
“I know.” She pulled him off the sofa. “I’m frightened, Eric.”
With how she spoke the words, he knew she spoke the truth, and he wished he could ease her worries, but he couldn’t. The truth was, he had no idea how Lucia, or the others would react to the news.
Back when his mother had died, it would have been a lot easier for them all to deal with his father’s immediate remarriage if they’d known something was going on. They were only kids though, so why should they have been told?
He tried to shove it to the back of his mind while they joined the rest of their family for what was left of dinner. As they took their seats again, he didn’t miss the look Dante threw at him and Emelia. The others ignored them and continued to eat. Out of all of them, it would be Diego in an hour who complained about a stomach ache as he sprawled out on the sofa watching something on the old movie channel. Diego loved the old movies.
“Everything will work out,” Lucia offered comfort, and patted his hand.
He loved his stepmom, and as time went on, he wished that he’d grown up calling her ‘mom’. She’d raised him since he’d been nine, but he’d been grieving for his mom, and by the time he saw Lucia as a mother figure he was too old to change. The others called her mom, apart from him, Aiden and Dante. He knew it hurt her as much as she’d tried to understand their need to hold on to the mom they remembered. The others had been younger and had found it easier to adapt, especially when Diego and Emelia had arrived.
“I need to think before I speak sometimes,” he admitted to Lucia who he sat beside.
“All men need to think before they speak. I think it’s in the penis gene.”
He didn’t think he’d smile today, let alone laugh, but with Lucia’s not so quiet comment, everyone around the table erupted in laughter, him included.
“What does she mean?” Caprice asked.
The laughter had been dying down until she opened her mouth, and of course it started up again. He’d forgotten she was with them because she was so quiet.
Lucia cleared her throat, and added, “I was young once and guys think with their dicks, and act like one most of the time until the right woman comes along and knocks them on their ass.”
Dad slipped her hand into his. “I think the boys need to get over the shock of hearing those words come out of your mouth, honey.”
“Oh, stop. The boys will have used cruder words than that, right?”
She asked the table at large and while Emelia smirked at them being put on the spot, her gaze landed on Dante.
He wondered what his brother thought about while Lucia tried to get their goat about dicks. Sex wasn’t something that had ever been mentioned in Dante’s presence before, at least, not since he put on the collar.
“Hmm, I thought as much. Anyway, eat up. There is peach cobbler, apple pie, or pumpkin pie for dessert.”
Diego groaned. “Mom, my stomach is going to explode.”
“You say that every dinner when you’re home. Don’t you think it’s about time you didn’t eat so much?”
Diego grinned and shoveled a whole roast potato into his big mouth. “I burn it off at the gym.”
“At your age, you should know better than to talk with your mouth full,” Dad grouched.
Eric sure had his mind taken from what he had discovered, and the worry about Sylvia, but it was there hovering in the background.
Later, he’d check with Talya or even Yuri that Sylvia returned home safely, and then he’d give her time to cool off and to miss him before he showed up to get her back.
He could now admit that he’d been an ass. His only excuse was shock. He hadn’t been able to believe his ears when he’d heard them talking about the past. He wanted to believe it had been a mistake, but that was soon dashed.
He’d been an ass, and he had to prove to Sylvia—once and for all—what she meant to him because he feared nothing else would make her listen to him.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“Sylvia are you ready?” Talya shouted from the living room of their apartment.
“Nearly.”
It had been a week since Sylvia had left Montana and she hadn’t heard a word from Eric, which broke her heart all the more. She’d expected to see him when he returned, but nothing. Talya hadn’t even heard from him either. It was as though they’d never been together in the first place, and but for the ache in her belly, she’d believe that.
Temptation had her looking at her cell at certain times during the day as she waited for it to ring, or she got the nerve to call him herself. But so far nothing. She was afraid that if she did call, he wouldn’t answer. That’s the thing about caller I.D.
With a heavy sigh, she walked into the living room and found Talya struggling to fasten a high heel sandal to her foot.
“Shit, I’m going to need another shower once I’ve gotten these things on.”
Sylvia laughed at her friend. She did look hot and bothered. The sandals were nice though. The high heels and the straps were in silver with a hint of black. Talya was tall and the shoes made her legs look as if they went on for miles. Her outfit was clingy, but elegant. The black dress had swirls of silver up each side in a fine print, and her, now, ‘deep red’ hair flowed down her back in curls.
There was only one reason why she would go all out with her appearance, and that was because of Yuri.
Sylvia narrowed her eyes when she held her friend’s gaze.
“What?” Talya looked at herself. “Sylvia, what is it? What’s wrong with me?”
“Hmm.” Sylvia walked closer. “Please tell me that you are not going to see Yuri?”
Talya blushed. “He might be there.”
“Really?”
“Look, you know as much as I do about Poles and about what Yuri suspects as to the identity of your stalker. He has a man watching him so you, and me for that matter, are safe going to Poles.” She smiled. “And if Yuri so happens to be there, then who am I to complain.”
Sylvia rolled her eyes. “One of these days you’ll have the guy and have no clue what to do with him.”
“Oh, I know what I want to do with him. I think.” Talya looked so sad. “He makes me burn, cry, scream and most of all, he makes me love him. I know with one signal from him, I’d throw everything away to be with him. That’s how much he means to me.” She swiped at a stray tear.
“Talya.” Sylvia went to hug her friend, but she pulled back.
“Don’t, Sylvia. Most days, I barely hold it together and if you hug me, I know I’ll lose it. It was so much easier this past week dealing with my feelings for Yuri because I concentrated on you.”
“I wish I could go back to being with Eric before he broke my heart, but I’m glad you had some distraction.” Sylvia kissed her friend on the cheek. “C’mon, let’s go and show those guys at Poles what we can do when we’re not working.”
Talya chuckled. “Yuri will get pissed after he’s picked his tongue up from the floor and Gavriil will spend his time drooling over you.”
“Get real. He doesn’t drool over me. I know he likes me because I actually talk to him, or I did when I was working there, but that’s all it is. Most girls run when they see him, which makes me sad. He’s a great guy. He’s big and doesn’t smile, which doesn’t help win him over.”
“You’re a soft touch.” Talya grabbed her cell, and Sylvia followed her out of the apartment.
* * * * *
Poles was packed solid when they arrived, but lucky for
them, Gavriil had also just arrived so he helped them get to the bar, which tended to be the quieter part of the floor. Servers would serve drinks throughout the evening at the table around the floor, which meant the bar was left open for people who were there for a drink instead of the flesh show.
They were served straightaway and before they could take a sip, Yuri was there glaring down at Talya. He was the only guy she knew who was taller than her friend, even when Talya had high heels on.
“Why are you both here?”
“We were sick of staying in the apartment. Sylvia needed cheering up and we immediately thought of Poles.” She grinned.
What she meant was that she immediately thought of Poles.
“Is that so?” Yuri moved his attention from Talya to her. “How have you been, Sylvia? Eric is annoying, is he not?”
“What?”
“You did not answer how you are doing?” Yuri reminded.
“I’m fine.” Her mind was already distracted after he mentioned Eric.
“Your man is constantly calling to make sure you are alright. I have a feeling you will be seeing him sooner rather than later.”
“I had no idea he’d been checking on me. I thought he didn’t care.” When her lip wobbled, she inhaled and tried to center herself. “He really called you?”
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