Her Man: An Interracial Romance (The Bentini Brothers Book 2) (13 page)

     “Ah, so there it is.  You assumed that my
falling in love with a black girl twelve years ago was some kind of fluke or
that I had been going through a phase and that I had worked it all out of my system? 
Is that it Mother?”

     “I don’t know what it was…or what it is.  I
don’t understand why you won’t settle down with a nice proper girl… and if not
Italian, then surely Caucasian.  I don’t understand why you always want
something different…why you keep choosing girls who are not right for you…who
are not right for the family.”

     “You don’t have to understand it Mother, you
just have to love me for me, and allow me to live my life as I see fit.  And if
that means falling in love with a beautiful, intelligent, loving woman who
happens to be black, then that is
my
choice, Mother.  I’m too old to
keep having this discussion with you.  So, I’m going to make it easy on both of
us.  Since the woman that I love and have chosen to spend my life with is an
embarrassment to you and your narrow views, I’m going to walk out of
your
life.”

     “Antonio please!”

     “No Mother, I’m done.  I will not allow you to
dictate my life.  I love you dearly.  I will always love you.  Unfortunately,
your love comes at too high a price.”  Walking over to his mother, he kisses
her on both cheeks before stepping back.  “I love you, Mammina.  Take care of
yourself.”

***

     “Welcome back.  I have a personal assignment
for you Vitto.”

     “Anything Boss.”  Antonio’s lips twists as he slides
Vitto Rossi, his top security man, a folder across the desk.  “Tiressa?”  At
Antonio’s nod, he glances back down at her dossier then back up with a
questioning eyebrow.

     “The shit has hit the fan.”  Antonio states
with a grimace.

     “So…Mrs. Bentini finally found out about you
two?”  Vitto says, fully aware of Tiressa being the boss’s woman.

     “Yeah.  Tiressa has been gone for a couple of days
now, and I don’t know where.  She won’t answer her cell.  Between you and me, my
mother fired her and she’s run off—said something about needing time.”

     “Understandable.” 

     “I don’t care.  I want to know exactly where
she is, right now.”

     “Considering how she may be feeling, why not
just give her a few more days.”

     “Because I want her here with me, and I’m not
willing to wait a minute more than I already have.”

     “Okay, Tony.  I get it…you miss your lady, and
you want her back.  After meeting her, I can’t say that I blame you.” 

     Antonio’s brows immediate slant downward in a
fierce scowl.  “What the hell is that supposed to mean!”  Enjoying the irritation
on his boss’s face, Vitto chuckles and admits, “It simply means that she’s not
only beautiful, she’s fine as hell.  It’s a good thing that you saw her first
or I’d have to give you a run for your money, old friend.”  He chuckles again
with a sly look in his eyes.

     “Go to hell Rossi.  Look, let’s get down to business. 
We’ll start locally; put men at her apartment, her parents’ home, her friends,
and her sister’s place.  “Yes Sir, Boss.  I’m on it.”  Antonio rolls his eyes. 
Vitto only calls him Boss because he knows how much Antonio doesn’t like it.

     “Rossi?”

     “Yeah Boss?”

     “I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that this
is a confidential assignment.  Choose only those men that have our complete
trust.”

     “Will do, Boss.”

***

     “Enter.”  William Bentini walks into
Katherine’s office.

     “Hello Katherine.  Do you have a minute?”

     “Yes, I suppose I can spare a minute.” 
Katherine replies reluctantly.

     “I overheard you tell Gabby that you haven’t
seen or heard from Tiressa.”

     “It isn’t polite to eavesdrop, William.”

     “I wasn’t eavesdropping, Katherine, I just
happened to overhear your conversation.  At any rate…are you sure you don’t
know where she is?  Tony is torn up about this.”

     “No, I don’t.  Like I told Antonio the day
your mother fired her, she said she had to get away for a few days.”

     “And she hasn’t contacted you since?”

     “I don’t appreciate being interrogated.  First
by Antonio, then Jason and Nicholas, and now by you.  The answer is still the
same!  She has not contacted me since that first day.”  Looking William
straight in the eyes, she continues in a hard voice.  “And I’m not sure that I
would tell any of you if she does.”

***

     “Yes?”  Mya Stephens opens the door to find a tall,
very handsome man standing on her front porch. 

     “Hello, my name is Vitto Rossi—”

     “I know exactly who you are Mr. Rossi.”  Tiressa’s
sister grates out between clenched teeth.  “We met at the club a couple of
weeks back.”

     Vitto smiles his most charming smile.  “Yes,
well, I’m sorry that we meet again under less than ideal circumstances.”

     “What less than ideal circumstances are you
referring too, Mr. Rossi?”

     “I thought we were on more friendly terms than
that.  Please, call me Vitto.”  He smiles again.  “I’m sure you remember me
just as surely as I remember you.  I’m Antonio’s chief security officer and
you’re Tiressa’s sister.  She took off, and Antonio has sent me to find her.  She’s—”

     “She’s been hurt and humiliated by the
Bentinis!”

     “That may be, but it isn’t my job to know the
particulars of what occurred, my job is to bring her back to Antonio.”

     “I don’t give a damn what your job is, and I
sure as hell don’t give a damn what
Antonio
wants.  My sister wants all
of you people to leave her alone!” 

     “Is she here?”  Vitto asks quickly, seeing her
step back away from the screen door.

     “She’s not here.”

     “But she told you what happened—”

     “That doesn’t mean that I’ve seen her…there
are other ways of communicating you know.”

     “Mya, please…I just want to talk to her for a
minute.”

     “As I’ve said before, Mr. Rossi, my sister is
not here and even if she were, I wouldn’t let you anywhere near her.”  She says
before slamming the door in his scowling face.

***

     Pressing the intercom button on the telephone console. 
      “Ms. Fuller, I’m expecting Mr. Rossi.  Please send him in as soon as he
arrives.”

     “Yes sir, Mr. Bentini, he’s heading this way
as we speak.”

     Less than a minute later, two quick raps on
the door and then Vitto Rossi, enters Antonio’s office –minus his usual smile
of greeting.  Taking a seat across from Antonio, he gives him the information
he has been waiting for.  “She’s not using her cell phone, bank cards, checking
account, or credit cards.  In fact, she hasn’t used her cell since the day she
left, and she hasn’t used her checking account since withdrawing three grand on
the day she left.  She hasn’t returned to her apartment, she’s not at her
parents’ home and she’s not with her sister or staying with friends.  But I’ll
double back to the sister’s place.  I’m sure she’s lying about Tiressa not
being there.  I have a man on look-out at each location.”

     “Good.  I believe she’s still in the area.  Have
your men check hotels within a fifty-mile radius.”

     “Already on it Boss.  Do you want to proceed
with audio surveillance?” 

     “No, we’ll hold off on that for now.  Tiressa
and her sister are close.  What happened when you went there?”

     “She basically gave me the brush off and
slammed the door in my face.”

     “Did she say anything useful?”

     “She’s talked to Tiressa and was told what
happened with Mrs. Bentini.”

     “Not surprising, sisters talk…but it doesn’t
mean that she’s there.”

     “Yeah, but I’ll bet your best bottle of cognac
that she is or has been.”

     “I’ll go see her.  Maybe she’ll let something
slip if I push her hard enough.”

***

     “I have nothing to say to you, Mr. Bentini.”

     “I know I’m the last person you want to see
Mrs. Stephens, but I love Tiressa, and I’m not going to stop looking for her. 
I would truly appreciate it, if you would tell Tiressa that I’m here to see
her…please.”

     “She’s not here Mr. Bentini and I don’t care
how many times you come back, that will be the answer you receive.”

     “Can you tell me how she’s doing?  Is she
okay?  I need to know that she’s okay.”

     “She’s not okay, Mr. Bentini.  She came to me
distraught and in tears.  And if you know my sister like you claim you do, then
you know that she doesn’t drop tears easily—”

     “So she is here?!”  He pounces on her
unintended admission that she has seen Tiressa.

     “She’s not here Mr. Bentini.”  Mya stubbornly
insist.       

     “Please hear me out, Mrs. Stephens…Mya, I know
what you must think of my mother, what you must think of us… But, please…if I could
just see her—”

     “No.  My sister doesn’t need to be involved
with a family who can’t appreciate her for who she is…who thinks she’s inferior
because she’s black!  And what about you, Mr. Bentini?  Is my sister only your latest
little play thing?”

     Antonio’s face flushes red with anger.  No one
has ever dared to speak to him in this manner.  “Look, Mrs. Stephens, I
understand that you’re upset on your sister’s behalf, but you don’t know a
thing about me and Ti’s relationship.  And my family cares about Tiressa, just
as much as I do.”

     “Well, apparently your mother doesn’t.  She
made my sister feel like shit and then she fired her!”

     “What my mother did is indefensible and unforgivable. 
That’s why I’m here.  I need to see Tiressa.  I want to apologize to her…to
talk to her… I need—”

     “What about what Tiressa needs?!”  My shouts
with tears in her voice.  “She doesn’t deserve to be treated like trash!”

     “I love her.  I can make this right, if you’ll
just tell me where she is.”  Antonio beseeches.

     “I don’t know where she is Mr. Bentini.”

     Antonio exhales a hard, irritated sigh.  “Are
you sure?”  He asks again through gritted teeth before reluctantly conceding.  “Can
I give you my number?”  Antonio asks reaching into his pocket for a business
card.  “When she contacts you, will you please let me know?”

     “Of course I won’t.  If my sister wants to
talk to you, I’m sure she has your number.”       

     “Mrs. Stephens, I know that you want to
protect your sister.  I understand that, I’m a brother and I would do the same
for my sister.  I swear to you that I love Ti, and she feels the same way about
me.  I just want to know that she is okay.  I want to take care of her—”

     “No, Mr. Bentini…”  She replies shaking her
head adamantly. “You and your family have done enough.  Just leave Tiressa
alone.  She has a family and we’ll take care of her!”  Mya coldly insists just
before slamming the door in his face.

     Antonio sticks the card in the crack of the
door, turns and angrily stomps off the porch.

***

     “It’s late, what are you doing here, William?”

     “I want to talk to you.”

     “You could have easily done that at the
mansion or the office.  You didn’t need to come to my home.”

     “True enough, but I wanted to talk to you
without having to worry about being interrupted and I doubt you would have
willingly come to my office.”

     “Like I said…what do you want?”

     “It’s not like you to be so inhospitable,
Kat.  Are you really going to make me stand out here like this?”

     She grudgingly steps back, allowing him to
enter her apartment.  “Okay, William you’re inside.  I have a lot more to do
now that Tiressa is no longer working for your mother.”

     “Yeah, Tony hasn’t talked to Mom since.  When
he sees her at the office, he goes the other way.  He’s doing everything he can
to avoid her.  He’s even talking about moving his firm to a different
building.  Mom and Pop are angry at each other.  Pop’s actually sleeping in a
separate bedroom.  This entire situation has the entire family walking on egg shells.”

     “I’m sure you’re not here to share all your
family woes with me.”

     “Kat, why are you being so hostile?  You know
this isn’t like you, I’ve never seen you this unsympathetic before.”

     “And I’ve never seen you so obtuse before. 
Don’t you get it William!  What happened to Tiressa, could have just as easily
happened to me!  And probably still could.  The only difference is, Antonio is
standing by Tiressa.  You would have left me high and dry to fend for myself! 
You say you love me, but you don’t…not enough!  Not enough to defy your mother
for me!  Not enough to defy your mother for us!”  Kathy cries tears flowing
down her cheeks.