Italian Stallions (25 page)

“Where are you going?” she said.

“I need to catch up on some work,” he said curtly.

“Vince, come back to bed,” she said, and he felt a cold delight at the note of despair in her tone. Maybe she wasn’t the only one playing games. “Don’t be mad at me, please?”

“I’m not mad,” he lied, coming over to the bed and placing a dry, perfunctory kiss on her forehead. “I really have work to do.”

And for the first time, Vince left her to sleep alone in his bed.

T
he sound of thirty assorted Bellessis and Ciprianis hit Theresa as she and Vince walked into Ciao Bella the following afternoon. It should have been a comforting sound, a welcoming sound, but instead the loud, boisterous voices clashed in her head, rang in her ears, and made the nervous pit in her stomach take hold and grow roots.

Vince’s silent presence beside her was small comfort. He’d been acting distant all day, and she knew why. Somehow he’d known she was lying about the necklace. She’d seen it in the way his eyes had narrowed, the way his mouth pulled tight.

She’d been in bad situations before, tasted the bitter edge of desperation. But she’d never spent a longer, colder night than last night, when he’d left her with a dismissive kiss. He’d taken her to the edge, taken her to the brink of falling apart. Taken her completely. Then left her, as though he had no more use for her.

That wasn’t fair, she knew. He was angry and had every right to be. He wasn’t a man who was often stonewalled. No, Vince Mattera generally got what he wanted.

She knew what he wanted. The truth. About her. And about what had her jumping like a scared cat every time her phone rang. About the necklace.

But she didn’t kid herself. She knew if he found out she’d given the necklace—along with the contents of her checking account—to her ex-boyfriend, and why, Vince wouldn’t stick around.

And she still needed him to make it through today. She reached for his hand, breathing a sigh of relief as he wove his fingers through hers. As though sensing her anxiety, he pulled her to his side and bent his head for a brief kiss. “Relax. This will be fun.”

“Says you,” she muttered. This was the first time since her uncle’s funeral that she’d seen the entire family. Then, everyone had been too distracted by grief and shock to do more than offer Theresa a brief hello.

Determined to be there for her cousin, Theresa had been able to block out the curious stares and whispers. She knew they wondered where she’d been, what she’d been up to, what she’d done to make her father refuse to speak of her for the past three years. She could only imagine the theories they’d come up with. Her large, loud, extended family was nothing if not imaginative.

“You look like you’re about to face a firing squad,” Vince said, running his big hand across her tight shoulders.

“I might as well be,” she said, painting on a smile as her Zia Lola, her father’s older sister, spotted Theresa and shrieked her name. With her big head of obviously dyed, teased black hair, red lipstick painted on with more enthusiasm than accuracy, and her big Italian ass stuffed into black pants a size too small, Aunt Lola was a living example of what Theresa would look like in thirty years if she wasn’t careful.

“Tressie!” She enfolded Theresa in a hug so tight Theresa was afraid she was going to smother in her aunt’s ample cleavage. Lola shoved her abruptly away and cupped her face so firmly Theresa’s teeth cut into her cheeks. “You look so gorgeous. I meant to tell you at Alberto’s funeral, God rest his soul,”—she crossed herself quickly—“but you were barely there.” She lowered her eyebrows in an admonishing look. “Now I know you and your father aren’t seeing eye to eye, but that’s no reason to avoid the rest of us. Now you have to tell me—” Her gaze drifted past Theresa and locked on Vince. Her eyes widened with surprised delight. “Vince!” she said, and practically shoved Theresa to the floor to envelope Vince in an embrace so powerful Theresa heard the breath whoosh out of his chest.

“You two know each other?” Theresa said as Vince greeted her aunt with the affection of long acquaintance.

Her aunt released Vince just enough to look back at Theresa. “Of course we know Vince. He’s been coming to the restaurant for years now and to Thanksgiving for the past, what, two years?” She looked to Vince for confirmation.

He grinned at Theresa’s accusing look. “What can I say? Gia felt sorry for me.”

“So if I hadn’t invited you?” Theresa said.

He didn’t get a chance to answer before Lola broke in. “You came with Theresa?” Her eyes flicked between them in rampant speculation. “Are you two—”

“I’m his dogsitter,” Theresa said primly.

“Among other things,” Vince said with a grin that made her want to smack him. “I’m going to go say hello to everyone.” He kissed Theresa on the cheek and left her to meet her aunt’s wide, slightly scandalized stare.

“You and Vince? Do you know what a catch he is?”

Theresa shrugged off her aunt’s excitement. “Don’t make a big deal out of it, Aunt Lola. It’s nothing serious.”

“You listen to me, Tressie, a man like Vince doesn’t come around very often. Handsome, rich, good Catholic boy.”

Like she needed someone to list all the reasons Vince was a great guy. And Lola hadn’t even touched on the real reasons Theresa had fallen so stupidly in love with him.

“I always see him in these magazines with these socialites, these stick women who wouldn’t know how to make a decent lasagna to save themselves. I told him he needed to find a nice Italian girl and settle down. Looks like he finally took my advice,” she said, nudging Theresa with her elbow and winking conspiratorially.

“Even if Vince were looking to settle down, I’m not exactly a good little Italian girl. Just ask my father.”

A shadow fell over Lola’s eyes and her bright smile lost some of its vibrancy. “Nello was very upset when you left to live with that man, that is true. What you did, Theresa—” She shook her head and Theresa’s heart swelled with old regret. “You broke his heart.” She forced the brightness back in her smile and patted Theresa’s shoulder. “But he’ll come around. You’ll see. Especially if you get a man like Vince to make an honorable woman of you,” she said with another wink.

She let her aunt pull her to the table where everyone was mingling over glasses of chianti and trays of bruschetta. Gia bustled around, making sure everyone’s glasses were full and the food kept coming. From the way everyone was casting speculative looks at her and Vince, Theresa knew they had drawn the same conclusions as Lola.

“How could you get engaged and not tell me?” Her mother’s question made Theresa choke on her chianti. Vince, seeing her distress, ran over to pat her on the back.

“Who told you that?” Theresa choked out.

“Cousin Maria,” her mother said indignantly. “I know we haven’t spoken much, Theresa, but I shouldn’t have to find out you’re engaged from Cousin Maria.”

“We’re not engaged!”

“You don’t need to sound so horrified by the idea,” Vince said, a note of laughter in his voice. “It’s not a completely horrible idea.”

“Vince,” she said warningly.

“We haven’t made it that far, Mrs. Bellessi,” Vince said, leaning down to greet Theresa’s mother with kisses on each cheek. “Give us a little time.”

Theresa had no idea if he was at all serious, but she wanted to laugh and cry at the way he could even entertain the idea of their engagement. Something that could never happen.

Her mother smiled girlishly and patted Vince on the cheek. “Not that I would mind having you as a son-in-law, Vincent. Someone needs to keep an eye on this girl, keep her out of trouble.”

Vince laid a proprietary hand on her shoulder. “I don’t know if any man is up to that challenge,” he said, an almost imperceptible edge creeping into his voice, “but I’m certainly willing to try.”

This conversation was taking Theresa’s heart, her hopes, in a direction they had no business going. “Where’s Daddy?” Theresa said, desperate to change the subject.

“He’s over there, talking to Gabe,” her mother answered. Theresa looked over to the table where her father was waving his hand enthusiastically while Gia’s boyfriend listened patiently to her father’s rant.

Theresa took a deep breath and started over to him. Better to get it over with sooner rather than later. Her mother caught her before she’d even taken a step.

“Come say hi to your cousin Frankie,” she said, tugging her in the opposite direction. “He was asking about you.”

“But I haven’t said hello to Daddy yet.”

“It’s Thanksgiving, Theresa. Don’t get in his face today.”

“Saying hello is hardly getting in his face.” Blood rushed into her face as she realized Vince was listening to all of this.

“Give it a rest, Theresa,” her mother said tiredly. “I’m not in the mood to deal with you both tonight.”

A sick knot settled in her belly as she saw the tired slump in her mother’s shoulders. Of course her mother was weary, tired of being caught in the middle of her husband and her daughter. “Maybe I should go,” Theresa said. “I don’t want to cause any trouble or make a scene just because Daddy and I aren’t getting along.”

“Oh please,” her mother said, rolling her eyes. “Paola still isn’t speaking to Uncle Angelo, and you know by the end of the night your cousin Frankie will be so drunk he’ll try to pee in a potted plant. So don’t worry about making a scene.” The humor faded from the dark eyes, so like Theresa’s own. “But don’t press your father yet. He’s just not ready.”

Theresa swallowed back her bitterness. Railing against her father’s medieval views of proper female etiquette wouldn’t get her anywhere. She turned to the nearest relative, pasted a smile on her face and resolved to make the best of the evening.

As she helped Gia clear away the appetizers, she envied Vince’s easy interaction with her family. She could hear his low rumble of a laugh as he listened to her family’s stories, and she caught the bright flash of his grin as he winked flirtatiously at her aunt. He fit so well, like he was already part of the family.

Hell. She saw two of her older cousins avert their eyes when they caught Theresa’s eye. Right now he was more a part of the family than she was.

In spite of the curiosity and speculation that pervaded every moment, Theresa enjoyed reconnecting with her family after so many years. She managed to dodge their pointed questions and glossed over the details of her time in New York. By the time they all sat down to dinner, she was comforted by the fact that Gia wasn’t the only family member who was happy to have her back in the fold.

Everyone sat down to dinner, oohing and ahhing at the lavish spread Gia and the aunts had put out. Theresa’s father sat across the table and four seats down from her, not even letting his gaze wander in her direction.
It’s fine
, she told herself, ignoring the piercing ache in her heart. Maybe in a couple more months, if she stayed on track, if she kept Mark from spilling any secrets, maybe then her father would stop pretending she didn’t exist.

Then as part of their family tradition, everyone around the table listed what they were thankful for this year, starting with Gia.

Her cousin tearfully raised her glass. “This has been a very hard Thanksgiving for me, the first without my father,” she said, her lips trembling as she held back a sob. “But I am so very thankful to have all of you, my family,” she said, gesturing with her glass over the group, “surrounding me with your love and your prayers.”

“Alla famiglia!” Everyone enthusiastically raised their glasses and drank.

“I am also thankful,” Gia said with a shy smile and a rosy blush, “to have my fiancé Gabe in my life. Not only did he help save this restaurant, my legacy, he’s also brought me joy the likes of which I have never known.”

There was a chorus of ahhs.

“Finally,” Gia said, “I want to give thanks to another family member. I am thankful to have my cousin Theresa, the sister of my heart, back in my life. I am so glad you’ve come back to us,” Gia said with a warm smile to Theresa.

Tears welled in Theresa’s eyes at her cousin’s gesture.

A fist slammed on the table, and thirty wine glasses quivered with the small earthquake. All eyes locked on Theresa’s father, whose fists were clenched, his eyes stormy with barely contained rage. “I can’t sit here. Not with her!”

“Zio Nello, she’s your daughter,” Gia said sharply.

“She stopped being my daughter the day she decided to become a whore!” He shoved back from the table and stormed from the room.

The room was dead silent. Theresa was caught in a spinning vortex of humiliation, every eye in the room spearing her with such force she was pinned to her chair, unable to move, to run, to hide.

“Theresa,” Vince’s voice broke through the haze. For the first time since they met it wasn’t comforting, but only served to make her humiliation more acute.

She stood up on legs that felt about as steady as overcooked linguine. “I need to go.” She swallowed back the burn in her throat. Her brain scrambled for an offhand remark, a snappy one-liner that would ease the tension in the room. All she could manage was, “Gia, thank you for a lovely dinner. It was nice to see all of you.” Then she turned and walked as quickly as she could to the door.

She heard the scrape of a chair but didn’t turn to see who was following her. “Theresa, please stay,” Gia called. Theresa didn’t spare her a backward glance, knowing if she tried to utter a single syllable she’d start bawling like a baby.

She stopped on the sidewalk outside the restaurant and struggled to compose herself. Hard, strong arms slipped around her. She buried her face into Vince’s shirtfront, inhaling his warm, spicy scent, losing herself in the muscular security of his embrace.

“He didn’t mean it, baby, he didn’t mean it,” he soothed.

“Yes he did,” she said, squeezing her eyes against the onslaught of tears. “I thought he was getting over it, but he really thinks I’m a terrible person.” And her father didn’t even know the half of it.

She felt Vince’s muscles flex and he held her even tighter as he pressed his cheek against the top of her head. “If he weren’t your father, I’d go kick the shit out of him for hurting you.”

“That won’t be necessary, but I appreciate the thought.” She slipped her arms around his waist and consoled herself that the day couldn’t get any worse.

“Theresa, I thought I’d find you here.”

Her blood turned to ice and she turned to look, praying as she did that Mark wasn’t really standing behind her. That Vince wasn’t staring hard at the wiry blond man who seemed to know Theresa very well. That her entire extended family wasn’t inside. If Mark were so inclined, he could tell all and ruin her life in one fell swoop.