Alessia (The Casella Cousins Book 4)

by Kathryn Shay

  When the song ended, he didn’t let go of her hand. “I think it’s time for me to leave.”

  “Do you have to?” she asked, nearly dazed by the sensations of being with him.

  “I do. But walk me to the door.”

  He held her hand all the way to the Inn’s empty foyer—and then into a little alcove to the right. There, he pulled her to him, wrapped his arms around her and lowered his mouth. His lips brushed hers, briefly, then back again. His hand went to her back. Pressed her forward. She aligned her body with his, and their legs entangled.

  He deepened the kiss, explored her mouth, bit her lip then soothed it. She returned all that heat in turn.

  After a long time, he drew back. “Thank you, Alessia.”

  “My pleasure.” She wasn’t joking. It was wholly pleasurable and a lot else. He grabbed his coat and walked out of the Inn.

  Alessia sank against the wall. She hadn’t been kissed like that since Billy died, a sexy, lusty, devouring kiss which had her turned on. She put her hand to her lips, vowing not to analyze this but instead to enjoy it.

  * * *

  Gideon said to Anabelle, “Would you like to dance?”

  “With you?” That smart mouth was covered in raisin colored lipstick and she had goop on her eyes, too. Red on her cheeks. He didn’t know she’d clean up so well.

  “Of course, with me. I know how.”

  Her steel-blue eyes measured him, as if to decide if he was telling the truth. “Yes, I’d like to dance.”

  He held out his hand and she took it. He stared ahead trying to avoid looking at her in that dress, the shimmery silver one she’d worn to catch Julianne’s stalker last month. It taunted him with curves he’d wanted to touch since then.

  The DJ played the Righteous Brothers’ Unchained Melody. He held her semi-close and she looked up at him. “You look great tonight.” He wore a grey suit like all the men in the wedding. “Really great.”

  “So, do you. It makes me wish we weren’t competitors.”

  “We can have a truce for tonight.” Her face shadowed. “This’ll probably be the last time we’re on equal footing.”

  He waited before he said, “Then this would be our last chance.”

  She studied him, moved in closer, bumped her groin with his. “For this?” He was glad she didn’t pretend not to understand.

  “And its logical conclusion.”

  Their gazes locked. They didn’t talk anymore. When the song ended, Gideon’s head was filled with the scent of her. A bit dazed, he stood there on the floor while she opened her purse, and slipped her spare key card into his pocket.

  “When?” he croaked out, then cleared his throat.

  “An hour?”

  “See you then.” He held up the key. “There.”

  He turned away and started to leave, then pivoted back, and leaned over. “It’s gonna be really good, Anabelle.”

  “I know it will.”

  Chapter 4

  * * *

  Alessia’s high from the wedding plummeted. “What did he do?” she asked her father-in-law.

  “He smoked these.” Billy’s dad, only sixty and still worldly, held out the remnants of two joints. “I caught them out back by the oak tree at midnight.”

  “I’m so sorry, Dad. I don’t know what to say.”

  “I talked to them, but they were mutinous. Maybe coming from you a lecture on the dangers of pot would be better.”

  “I’m tempted to call Gideon to read them the riot act.”

  “Police.” Billy’s father frowned. “Won’t he be required to arrest them?”

  “Good point. I’ll check.”

  Sighing, Alessia walked out to the car where she’d sent Peter and Jason. The wind whipped her face, and she pulled up her collar. She was mad about having her weekend spoiled and upset about her son’s involvement with drugs. Pete was waiting in the front seat, Jason in the back.

  They remained silent when she slid behind wheel. Good. She drove the short distance from Billy’s parents to Jason’s house. She got out with him, and on the way to the door, he said, “I’m sorry, Mrs. Benatti.”

  “Thank you for the apology. I have to tell your parents. Go on in and please ask them to come out.”

  The Andersons both came to the door. “Alessia, is something wrong?” his father asked.

  “Yes. I—”

  “Come inside?”

  “No, thank you. Tim, Susan, I’m sorry to say my father-in-law caught Pete and Jason smoking marijuana at midnight in his backyard.”

  “At twelve, they’re doing this stuff?” his mom said, alarm present in every word.

  “Yes.”

  “We’ll deal with it.” Tim frowned. “Do you know where they got if from?”

  “Not yet. But I will.”

  “Us, too. We’ll be in touch.”

  Alessia drove home. A thousand thoughts on how to handle this latest crisis ran through her mind. She’d been so pleased when Pete hugged her Friday because she found a compromise to him staying with his grandparents alone. Now, even that joy was ruined.

  She also knew what he’d do. Run upstairs. Slam his door. So, when they pulled into the driveway, she locked the car doors from her side.

  It was then that she saw a car pull up. Joan Mason, the mother of the boys’ friend had brought her twins home. For a brief moment, she wished Pete could be more like her dark-eyed sons with their little boy haircuts.

  Exiting the Honda again, she went to the driver’s window. Joan smiled at her. “They were great.”

  “Thanks for having them. We’ll return the invitation to take Lincoln whenever you need us to.”

  “You’re on.” When she left, Alessia crossed to the boys

  “We got so much to tell you.” This from Mattie.

  “I know. And I want to hear everything. But right now, I’ll put the garage door up and you can go inside. I have to talk to Pete first.”

  “Is he in trouble?” Mikey asked.

  “He’s fine. I’ll be right there.”

  When she returned to the car, she pushed the garage door button and waited until the twins got inside.

  “What’re you doing?” Pete seemed surprised, not confrontational.

  “We have to talk. And I know your patterns.”

  Now, his dark eyes turned hot. “I don’t wanna talk.”

  “I don’t want a kid who smokes pot.”

  “Hell, Mom, everybody does.”

  “Even if that was true, it’s a dangerous gateway drug.” He stared out the windshield, not making eye contact.

  Then he faced her. “Have you smoked pot? Did Dad?”

  She thought of hers and Billy’s experimentation, not in high school, but when they were in their twenties. What to say? Lie?

  “Dad and I smoked some when we were in our twenties. When you’re that age, you can experiment, too.”

  “Did you go onto other drugs?”

  “We did not.” She zeroed in on him. “But I believe once this kind of high becomes old hat, you’ll want more highs.”

  “Gimme some credit. I’m not a child.”

  “In the eyes of the law you are. How long have you been doing this?”

  “That was only the third time.” He held her gaze. “But if you never took harder drugs, why would I?”

  “Because you’re young and impulsive and rebellious. Besides, that isn’t the only reason I’m against marijuana.”

  “Geez, it isn’t even a crime anymore. It’s a violation.”

  “I know. You can still be arrested for it. And there’s a fine of $50 which, by the way, will be deducted from your allowance or your odd chores money every time you do this.”

  “No fair.”

  “So be it, Peter.” Time for the big gun. “And I want you to think about something else. Remember how happy you were when we compromised over going to grandma and grandpa’s house? Well, you just ruined all that.” She cleared her throat. “Now I’ll let you out, go to your room. St
ay there until dinner and think about all this. Also, except for school, you’re grounded. No TV or computer. And give me your phone.” When he didn’t respond, she said, “Now!”

  Fishing his cell out of his pocket, he slapped it into her hand. His young body seethed with anger. And it broke her heart, but she couldn’t let this go. “You gonna tell Uncle Gideon?”

  “I’m not sure.” She relented when his eyes widened in fear. “But I can promise he won’t arrest you.”

  She popped the locks, and they got out. He walked behind her into the house. She followed him upstairs, went into his room and grabbed his laptop. Then she left and quietly closed the door.

  Leaned against it.

  And wondered why everything had to be so hard.

  * * *

  On Tuesday, Derek waited outside the classroom until Alessia walked down the hall. Actually, she trudged over to him. “Hey. What’s wrong? I can see something is in your eyes.”

  “Raising kids is hard. Look, we should go inside.”

  He grasped her arm gently. “Only if you tell me what’s bothering you after class.”

  “I will.”

  Since she entered ahead of him, he noticed she was wearing those jeans and fleece boots again, with a hip-length navy quilted jacket. Her dark hair was tucked inside.

  Students removed their coats and took their seat. The teacher greeted everyone. “Hi, there. I hope you had a good weekend.”

  Alessia glanced at Derek and he winked at her. She covered her grin with her palm.

  “We’re going to practice listening today. The goal of this lesson is to record the six elements of active listening and jot down how they can be used in your classroom. A caveat: he’s going to talk fast, so you have to listen carefully to him.”

  The speaker began. Derek took notes. Hell, he did talk fast so Derek gave it all his concentration. He’d already had some listening training from the FBI, so he got all six. When the recording ended, the teacher stood up front. “How many of you recorded all six elements?”

  Only Derek.

  “Five?” Alessia.

  “Four?”

  “Let’s list them on the white board. Alessia?”

  “The first one was to allow others to finish what they’re saying without interruption.”

  “Good.”

  “Lisa?”

  “Asking questions to gain understanding.”

  Others contributed maintaining comfortable eye contact and staying open minded. The teacher asked Derek for the last two.

  “Paraphrasing the speaker’s point and picking up on non-verbal signals and body language.”

  “Very good.” She smiled at him. “You get a star.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Now, how will these traits be used in your classroom?”

  There were a variety of answers: the most obvious, teaching the students the elements and the teacher must focus on what the students are saying, again without interruption. Then she could paraphrase the comments.

  Finally, class ended. He waited until Alessia came up to him and they walked out the door together. He stayed close to her, their shoulders touching. “Let’s go to the café downstairs.” Once they were seated with coffee, he asked point blank, “Your eyes are so bleak. Is that because I kissed you Saturday night?”

  “Are you kidding? That made me smile all night and the next day, until I got home.”

  “Me, too. Is it your kids?”

  She nodded. “Pete.” She told him the story of his marijuana use. “He’s too young to be experimenting.”

  Derek thought about kids and raising them. “I agree it’s a concern, especially that young. But tell me, would you be this upset if the infraction was drinking?”

  “I don’t know. Smoking pot just threw me.”

  “Think about it that way. And think about what we learned in Adolescent Psychology this semester. Kids are going to do these kinds of things. It’s how you handle this that’s important.”

  She told him what she’d done.

  “I think those are good punishments. But remember, if punishment goes on too long, it’s counterproductive.”

  “I suppose. Derek, did you ever smoke pot as a kid?”

  “Yeah, I did. It didn’t lead to other drugs. You?”

  “Billy and I experimented for a bit. But then we had Pete and quit the marijuana and drinking. Highs or hangovers when you have a baby are dangerous. Besides, we were too tired to handle the aftermath.” She sighed. “You must know that from your kids.”

  He struggled not to cringe. “I do.”

  “Have your girls experimented? They’re thirteen, right?”

  “Uh-huh. And not that I know of. I had the talk about drugs with them, but no stepping out of line there as far as I know.”

  “I should have talked to Pete more.”

  “Not necessarily. You can pick up the conversation at any time and it’s probably best to let it all sink in.”

  She studied him. “I feel better.”

  “Good, glad I could help.”

  “So, you brought up the kiss. It was very nice.”

  His blue eyes flared with sexuality. “Alessia, it was much more than nice.”

  She cocked her head in a flirty gesture. “Are we, um, going to keep kissing?”

  He laughed. “I hope so.” Then he turned serious. “But I want you to know I’m not ready to get serious with a woman yet. I need a bit more time to grieve Linda.”

  “That’s to be expected, Derek. Lord knows I have enough on my plate right now.”

  Reaching across the table, he took her hands. “You’ll be fine. Keep following your instincts.”

  However, following his own instincts brought him trouble. Later, when he read the summoning text from Grant, he knew what it was about. He headed to the field office.

  “So,” Grant said, pushing out his chair from his desk. His office was small but swank with built-ins and lots of windows. “What the fuck didn’t I make clear the last time you were with Alessia Benatti?”

  Derek dropped down in the chair across from him. He vowed he wouldn’t be defensive and he would be respectful. Even if it killed him. “You made yourself perfectly clear, Grant.”

  “But you went to a family wedding with her.”

  “I did.”

  “Why, Derek? This isn’t like you. I’ve never known you to break the rules of the FBI and I’ve worked with you since you were a rookie.”

  He realized Grant had a lot invested in him. “I’m sorry I let you down. I do appreciate everything you’ve done for me, but I’m not going to stop seeing her.”

  “You could be fired for this.”

  “Is that the price I’d pay? And before you answer, I’m aware that agents through the years have fallen for someone on the job. Some of them married.”

  Grant averted his gaze then looked back to Derek. “Is it that serious?”

  “I-I’m drawn to her. I’m not sure why. I can sit here and tell you I won’t see her anymore, but when the time comes, I’ll go back on my word. I don’t want to do that.”

  “You usually have more will power.”

  “I know. That I don’t with her is telling.”

  “What if I take you off the case?”

  “You can do that. But it would be foolish. I’ve had that one success so far, with identifying a victim and making sure she was safe. I’ve given you names of more. But Grant, I have to say I’m frustrated this has gone so slowly.”

  “I am, too. But every human trafficking case I’ve ever worked on has been slow. And we have lines on other students, now, from you. They have the same things in common with Stuart Breed.”

  “That kid was so shy. I can’t imagine how he’ll face what they’ll make him do.”

  “He probably doesn’t know much at this point. They keep the victims drugged up at first.” He gazed out the window, then said, “We need locations. We got one but lost her when she got on that plane to Abu Dhabi. We thought we had a line
on another but we couldn’t get inside the building and had to break in. By then, they were gone. The last two just went poof.”

  “I’m sure Jane Carlin is involved.”

  “Are you making headway with her?”

  “We’ve talked a lot. She’s into power, big-time, which figures into human trafficking. She and I only had one date. But I feel it in my bones that she’s a lynchpin.”

  “Well, then, I can’t very well remove you right away.”

  He didn’t think Grant would kick him off this in any case. “Thanks.”

  “What if you have to sleep with Carlin?”

  “I don’t think that’ll happen right away. I’ve thrown up the grieving-widower roadblock.”

  “All right. Keep going. But don’t get impatient and do something stupid.”

  “I won’t.”

  “On more thing. You’re dealing with really nasty people here. You might be endangering Alessia, too.”

  His heart started to beat at a clip. Christ, he hadn’t thought about that.

  * * *

  The weekend before Thanksgiving, Alessia walked into her mother’s house to meet with her siblings and their spouses. They sat in the big dining room and Rafe started since he was having the day at his house. “We got the turkeys and ingredients for stuffing.”

  Gideon added, “I picked up corn, peas, and the stuff for the relish tray.” Since his divorce he didn’t do much cooking. But he could shop.

  Alessia had agreed to make sweet and whipped potatoes and homemade cranberry sauce and apple sauce. Julianne and Seth got desserts.

  Mama leaned forward. She looked really pretty with her new haircut, a shorter bob with bangs. “I’m uncomfortable not cooking anything.”

  “Mama,” Seth said sweetly, “You made this meal for decades for us. It’s about time we provided one for you. Just enjoy.”

  “I will.” She cleared her throat. “I have something else to say. I’m bringing my plus one.”

  “The same guy from the wedding?” Seth asked.