by S. E. Law
But that’s when the men wink wickedly.
“Yes, but in Italy, the legal drinking age is sixteen,” they say. “Come, have a glass.”
Before I know it, a half glass of ruby-red cab is poured for me, and I take a sip. The taste is fruity, nutty, and yet also bright, and I swallow gratefully, letting the elixir trickle down my throat.
“Mmm, this is really good,” I say. “It hits the spot.”
“Yes, it does, doesn’t it?” asks Domenico while sipping at his own wine. “The vintage is certainly excellent. You’ve lucked out with the hotel, cara.”
I giggle again.
“I have, haven’t I? Now, tell me what you have in store for the new lodge you’re building. Is it going to be huge? Is there more than one building? Where is it located?”
Matteo and Domenico nod slowly while sharing a look.
“Yes, to all those questions. We’ve purchased a plot about sixty miles away from Central Milan, and yes, there will be multiple buildings on the plot. We’re not going to hold back either. We’re installing a wine cellar, a movie theater, two pools, as well as a barn for horses and a corral.”
I scrunch my nose with surprise.
“A corral? Really?”
“Oh yes,” answers Matteo smoothly. “Italy has a strong riding tradition. Horses have been prized by Italians since the Middle Ages, and many girls enjoy showing horses and competing in various events. We want to treat our daughters right, and this is just another amenity to make sure they enjoy themselves during their stay.”
I whistle, impressed.
“Oh my goodness, the women will be very excited. Except that there are no daughters right now, right? I’m the first.”
Domenico nods.
“Yes, you’re the First Daughter, so to say. You’ll help us get everything off the ground, and we value your input, sweetheart. If we build anything that you think the daughters won’t enjoy, please tell us. It can be difficult for two old geezers such as myself and Matteo to know what young ladies like.”
I laugh.
“You’re not old! But that leads me to another question: do you have any daughters of your own?”
The two alpha males look mournful.
“Sadly, no. Neither one of us has children,” says Domenico. “But we want children, definitely. Italians are also very family-oriented, and bambinos are very much a part of the equation.”
I nod.
“I agree,” I say. “My parents wanted to have more children after me, but they never succeeded,” I say slowly. “So I grew up alone. I wish I’d had a sibling,” I say wistfully.
The two men look somber.
“I’m sorry,” says Matteo. “That is a true misfortune. Italians value family, and as the Americans say, the more the merrier.”
I nod and take a deep breath. Am I ready to reveal my sad past? After all, my life is happy now so I try not to think about my background too much. But I decide to go with it because my family history is how I found my way to Dads and Daughters.
“Yes, family is everything, isn’t it? My mom and dad were young when they had me,” I begin slowly. “We had a great life, although they kept trying for more children. That was the one challenge that kept cropping up. They kept trying and trying, but with no luck. One day when I was seven, I came home and the trailer was empty. At that time, Lulu was pregnant again, so that was very odd. Plus, at seven, it was odd to be alone in the trailer. You can’t just leave a seven-year-old to find dinner on her own.”
Matteo and Domenico nod, their blue eyes somber.
“What happened next?”
“Well, I was alone, and I didn’t know what to do. So I went next door, and hung out with our neighbor Crystal for a few hours. She plunked me in front of the TV and fed me dinner. I even fell asleep on her couch because my parents had actually gone to the hospital.”
Matteo and Domenico nod gravely.
“And?”
I take a deep breath.
“Well, it turns out that my mom was miscarrying, so it was good that they rushed her to the maternity ward. She was probably about six months along then, and they really wanted this baby. But Lulu couldn’t keep the pregnancy, and the baby died inside her. My mom was devastated, and cried buckets. She didn’t know what to do because the baby was actually still in her, but it had passed away. Imagine how terrible that is: to have the big belly of a pregnancy, but to know that the child within is already gone. Both my mom and dad were completely devastated.”
The two men nod.
“Our condolences, Melissa. This must have been very scary for yourself and your parents.”
I smile sadly at them.
“Yes, it was, but it gets worse. My mom and dad came home, and everything returned to normal, so to say, except for my mom’s big belly. It was like a giant weight that physically and mentally kept Lulu wrapped in chains. There was no more laughter, and no more happiness. The dead baby in my mother’s stomach cast a pall on our lives, and we couldn’t get out from under that shadow. At least my mom couldn’t. After a week, she pulled a gun and killed herself,” I say in a choked voice. “The pain was too much for Lulu.”
Both men jerk forward in their seats.
“What?” barks Domenico.
“What mother would leave her child motherless?” rasps Matteo, his eyes outraged. “Che diavolo!”
But I hold up my hands.
“It’s not like that,” I say slowly. “You have to remember that Lulu was carrying a dead baby within herself, and that she’d been longing for a second child for seven years now. To suffer so many miscarriages only to have another stillborn birth was too much for her. Lulu was destined for another world, and my father and I had to accept it.”
The two men still look aggrieved, but they nod at me to continue. I look out the window, dredging up these painful memories.
“My dad tried to keep it together for us,” I say in a low voice. “But Lionel was just as wrecked as my mom. He didn’t do anything as stupid as pulling a gun, but he started drinking a lot. One day, he got into a car accident. His vehicle hit a tree, and Lionel was killed upon impact. They say it was the drink, but I think it was his broken heart that did it.”
The two men take my hands in each of theirs.
“I’m so sorry, cara,” says Matteo in a low voice. “This is terrible. My apologies.”
I shoot a small smile at him.
“No, it’s okay. It’s not your fault, and there’s a silver lining from all this too because this is why Dads and Daughters means so much to me,” I say. “You see, Dads and Daughters saved me. After my parents passed, I entered the child welfare system. It was awful. I lived in a group home with dozens of other kids, some of whom were quite beastly. I tried to keep to myself most days, but it was difficult.”
The men squeeze my hands in encouragement, and I take another deep breath.
“But the best part of the group home was an older girl named Shoshanna,” I say. “She was already almost seventeen, and she looked after me. She’d brush my hair, and tie it in pigtails. Then we’d play silly little games together, like Hot-To-Trot and Princess Lullaby. It didn’t make any sense, but it meant a lot to me because I had so little. But,” I say taking a deep breath and shooting them a watery grin. “Back to Shoshanna. Basically, she was kicked out of the group home at eighteen. That’s the American child welfare system for you. There’s no transition, and no preparation either. On her birthday, she was left to find her way alone on the streets.”
The two men look aghast.
“Really?” asks Matteo, disbelieving. “I thought the Italian welfare state was bad, but it’s not that bad.”
“Certainly not in comparison to what you’ve told us,” says Domenico darkly.
“But wait, this has a happy ending,” I say with a small smile. “Because Shoshanna was picked up by a local Lodge. I don’t know how they found her, or how she persuaded them to take her. But she became an associate member, and they took good care
of her. Of course, Shoshanna aged out after a few years, but she never forgot the kindness of Dads and Daughters, and when I turned eighteen, she introduced me to the club.”
The two men shoot sharp looks my way.
“And?” they ask in low voices.
“And I joined,” I say with a teary smile. “So you see, the club saved my life in a way. I had to leave the group home, and I had nowhere to go. I literally would have ended up on the streets, likely selling my body. As a result, my initiation into Dads and Daughters took place as soon as I turned eighteen, and I began going on out-calls that very week. I’m grateful to the Lodge,” I say in a trembling voice. “And that’s part of the reason why I volunteered to come to Italy. Whatever the club needs, I’ll deliver. I’ll always do my best by Dads and Daughters because of how much this group has done for me.”
By now, there are tears streaming down my face, and Matteo wipes my cheek gently with a big thumb.
“Don’t cry, cara,” he rumbles. “You have suffered, but you also made it out in one piece.”
“Are you still in touch with Shoshanna?” asks Domenico. “Or have you lost touch?”
I sniffle a bit again.
“We’re still in touch,” I say. “Shoshanna is quite a bit older than me, so she’d already left Dads and Daughter by the time I turned eighteen. But we still talk sometimes. She married a very nice man, and now lives in a split level in Florida with two kids and a cute golden retriever. It’s the real American dream. Who knew it could happen?” I say tearfully again. “We were ‘lost girls’ whom society had rejected. But because of Dads and Daughters, we’ve found ways to be welcomed once again.”
At my heartfelt words, Domenico pulls me into his lap and looks deeply into my eyes. Matteo takes a place at my elbow, and the two men stroke my cheeks softly.
“You’ve suffered, Melissa,” Domenico intones. “But no more, cara. You belong to Dads and Daughters now, and you’re doing important work.”
I sniffle a bit again, smiling ruefully.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to dump all that on you. I think when we said getting-to-know-you chitchat, we meant just some idle words to pass the time. But instead, I went Full Monty and totally let the dam break.”
The two men stroke my back.
“It’s okay, sweetheart. We enjoyed hearing your story, and maybe we’ll tell you ours sometime.”
I smile tearfully again at them.
“Sometime?” I say. “Why not now? Is it really sad, like my story?”
The two men chuckle.
“No, but we want to save it for later because right now, you deserve a kiss, cara.”
Before I realize it, Matteo seizes my lips with his, and the alpha male captures my mouth in a deep, soulful liplock. It tears through my soul and makes my heart race even as my insides begin to heat. Then he breaks contact, and Domenico kisses me. Male hands stroke my curves as I’m whisked away to a world of passion, my sweet spot tingling as I’m caressed and treasured by these two alpha males. Suddenly, the world comes into focus because I know that this is right. Maybe I have a sad family history. Maybe I have some issues that I need to work through after growing up in a group home. But with Matteo and Domenico by my side, I know I can make things work for the better no matter what.
To be continued …
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About the Author
Let go of your inhibitions because S.E. Law is about to take you for a wild ride with over-the-top alpha males who CLAIM their women. Fan of candy canes, popsicles, and anything rainbow.
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