Kissed Blind (A Hot Pursuit Novel Book 2) (18 page)

I stuffed my face and drowned my sorrows in junk food and stopped when my stomach started to hurt. In the afternoon, Patrick and Jodi arrived, stylists from
Saks Fifth Avenue
who’d brought a selection of clothing for me to choose from for the big event. I called Becca over and asked her to help me.

Patrick and Jodi brought a couple of cute black dresses. I tried them on, but Becca and I both agreed that a pant suit would be more appropriate. I slipped into an Oscar de la Renta black silk evening jacket with silver and blue iridescent, hand-stitched flowers. It zipped in the front and flared in a delicate, short ruffle at my waist.

“Ohmagosh,” Patrick said. He adjusted the collar and tugged on the fabric so it lay just right. “This is fabulous on you. I need to see the pants on immediately. I think this is it.” He clapped his hands at Jodi.

She handed me a pair of coordinating slacks she called smoking pants. “These should be exquisite on you. Just exquisite.”

I had no idea what smoking pants were, but they had a satin ribbon stitched onto the outer seam running from the ankle to the waist. They reminded me of a man’s tuxedo pant, but sexier, and I fell in love with them the second I zipped into them. They were slightly long on my frame, so Jodi started pinning the hem of the pants up. I’d never been fussed over quite so much in my life, and I liked it a lot more than I would have thought.

“There now.” Patrick circled me and grabbed a couple of pins from Jodi. “I think we could bring the jacket in just a tiny bit at your shoulders, and shorten the sleeves just so, and this outfit will be complete. I don’t think we need to bother trying on anything else. Wouldn’t you agree?” He stepped in front of me and held my shoulders.

“Um, yes. I think so. It’s great, right?” I smiled to Becca, and she shook her head with an enthusiastic yes.

“Hands down a winner. You’re stunning in that. Do you have shoes?”

“I have black sling backs that’ll work.” I wasn’t sure how practical they’d be for work, but I’d make the sacrifice.

Jodi finished pinning up the left leg and then pinned the right sleeve while Patrick did the left. They carefully helped me out of the outfit so I wouldn’t get stuck with any pointy edges.

“Now, normally this would take a few days for alterations, but since it’s Oliver Pierce, we’ll have this ready Monday. Would that be okay?”

I nodded. “Oh, that should be fine. I don’t need it until next weekend.”

“Perfect. We’ll get these sent over on Monday.”

Jodi zipped both pieces into a black garment bag. They gathered everything they’d brought, and I showed them out.

“My, my Diana Cain, you’re leading a charmed life,” Becca said as I shut the door.

I lay down on the couch and covered my face with a pillow. “Hardly.”

“Hardly? Are you kidding? Girl, I snuck a peek at the price tag on that jacket, and do you know how much that thing cost?”

“How much?” I muffled into the pillow.

“Just shy of four thousand dollars!”

I snatched the pillow off my face. “Oh my god, do you think that’s too much? Can you imagine how much the pants were? I should call them and cancel it. That’s too much.”

“If you even threaten to do that again, I’ll destroy your phone myself. That money is nothing to Oliver Pierce. Please. He won’t bat an eye signing that bill.”

“A four thousand dollar jacket,” I repeated.

“See, charmed life. I’m telling you. I’m totes jelly.”

“Don’t bother being jealous. Everything’s a mess right now.” I stared up at the ceiling and looked at the star pattern stamped into it.

“What’s wrong? Something with Gabe? Vance?”

I swung my legs down and hugged the pillow in my lap. “If I tell you something, you have to swear you won’t repeat what I say.”

“Of course! I swear. What happened?” She leaned in.

“Oliver Pierce kissed me.”

Becca gasped so hard she launched into a coughing fit. She had to get a glass of water before she could speak again. “Holy cow. Oh my God. I can’t believe it. You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Nope.” I frowned.

“Then explain why you’re acting like someone shot your dog?”

“Because Gabe saw it, and, um, it was bad.”

Her mouth fell open. “How the hell did he see it?”

“That’s a whole other story, but he saw it. All of it.”

She made and
oohing
noise.

“Yep.”

“Did he and Oliver get into a fight?”

I shook my head. “No, nothing even close to it. He yelled at me and drove off, and now won’t take my calls.” I sighed. “We were supposed to go over to Vance’s parents’ house tomorrow for lunch, and now I’m going to have to lie about why he’s not there.”

She waved her hand. “Oh, just make something up. No one will give it a second thought.”

“Yeah.” I groaned. “But there’s also this stuff with work. Vance and I kind of did something, and we could end up getting into a lot of trouble.”

“Did you kiss him too?”

I slapped my hands over my eyes and fell face first into my couch. “Nooo.” I moaned. “But what we did do is something that could end up getting us fired.”

“Oh wow.” She grunted. “That does sound kind of serious.”

“No kidding. Just when you think life can’t get any worse, it does.”

Becca was still for a moment before she slapped her hands down on her thighs. “I can’t say anything to make things better, but we can go out to eat. Come on, I’ll buy you dinner. What are you hungry for?” She’s stood up and tugged on my shirt.

“I can’t eat anymore. I went on a junk food bender earlier.”

She moaned. “Then keep me company. Get dressed in something presentable.”

I rolled over on my back and yawned. “I haven’t slept. I’m exhausted. I should go to sleep so I can at least function tomorrow.”

She sighed. “Fine. I’ll go to dinner by myself and be bored and lonely.”

“Thanks for coming over and keeping me company.”

“Hey, man, anytime you need help spending a few thousand dollars of someone else’s money, I’m your girl. Rest up and call me if you need anything.”

“I will.”

I saw Becca to the door and locked up. I crawled into bed and prayed when I woke up in the morning this day would have been nothing but a dream.

Twenty

I stood outside Vance’s parents’ house and could hear the flurry of chatter from the porch. I had to ring the bell twice and pound on the door with a closed fist before someone heard me.

“Diana!” Teresina DeLuca greeted me. She held me in a warm embrace and enveloped me with the scent of roses and garlic. After she squished the air from my lungs, she looked behind me with pinched brows. “Where your boyfriend?”

“He wanted to be here but got called away on business. He asked me to bring you this.” I handed her the nearly one hundred dollar bottle of Barolo. “He sends his apologies.”

She held her fingers to her lips and kissed them.
“Que bello!”
 

“He knew you’d like it.” I smiled as she ran her fingers over the label.

She threw her hands up. “How can he leave you, eh?”

I shrugged and glanced down at my feet. “Oh, it’s okay. It happens.”

She pinched my cheeks. “You’re such a good girl. I send you home with food for him so he has something to eat when he get back. Come in. Come in.”

She wrapped her arm around my shoulder and led me into her home. The aromatics sent my appetite into overdrive. Lasagna, creamy cheese sauce, fettucine, baked penne, meatballs, garlic bread and countless other dishes were laid out in one long line on the buffet in the dining room. Vance’s family was the only one I knew who actually had their own set of chafing dishes. Sunday dinners were not for the shy. You entered their house with a raised fork and an appetite.

Everyone congregated in the kitchen, and when I walked in, they stopped talking. I waved and was immediately assaulted with hugs and kisses and a chorus of hellos.

Vance’s sister, Jina, came up to me. “Hey, Di. Great to see you again!” She kissed my cheeks while toting her youngest child, three-year-old Isabella, on her hip. Her Shirley Temple curly black pigtails were the cutest I’d ever seen, but when I hugged Jina, little Isabella buried her face in her mom’s neck. Jina patted her back. “Can you say hi to Diana, Isa?” Sweet Isabella shook her head and squeezed Jina tighter. A half-naked baby doll dangled from her hand.

I rubbed her back. “It’s okay, we can talk later. Maybe you can introduce me to your baby after she has a full tummy?”

Her head popped up, and she drew her doll into her chest. She gave me my first smile and nodded. Arianna, Jina’s five-year-old, clung to her skirt. She was equally as adorable but had a much more sophisticated ponytail high atop her head wrapped in an enormous purple bow.

I squatted down to meet her at eye level. “Hi Arianna, I like your bow.”

She gave me a huge grin, but was missing her front two teeth. “Thanks,” she whispered with a lisp.

“I see you got a new smile.” She nodded, and her ponytail bounced up and down. “Did the tooth fairy pay you a visit?”

“Yeah, and she leaves me a dollar every time!”

“She’s a pretty cool lady, that tooth fairy.” My hair fell forward over my eye, and I brushed it back behind my ear.

Arianna stroked a strand of my hair draping my shoulder. “You have really pretty hair.”

“Thank you, but it’s only half as pretty as yours, though.”

“Wanna come play in my salon?” She looked up at me over her thick row of deep black lashes.

“Are you kidding? I was hoping you’d ask. I’d love to. Do you have any more bows like yours?”

“I have a purse with brushes and stuff.”

“Yes,” Jina said. “We don’t go anywhere without our beauty supplies, do we?”

I stood up. “What girl leaves the house without her essentials?” I glanced down at Arianna. “No girl I know, that’s who. How about after dinner?”

“Okay.” She nodded. Her black patent leather Mary Janes tapped against the porcelain tiles as she trotted off.

I hugged and said hello to at least a dozen other family members: aunts, uncles, Vance’s oldest sister Christina, in-laws, they were all there. I found Vance tucked back in a corner, watching me get through the procession, resting his chin in his hand and wearing a smile. Someone handed me a glass of red wine. I joined Vance and sat on a small window sill near the kitchen table. I smelled the bouquet and sipped my wine. It was the perfect temperature and tasted of chewy plums and tart cherries.

“How’s it going?” I asked.

“Good. You survived, I see.” Vance laughed.

“Yep, made it through. You have such a great family.”

“Yeah, they’re pretty cool.” He looked around the room. “Where’s Gabe?”

I swirled the wine in my glass. I hated lying to Vance, but I had to. “He had to go to New York on short notice. I’m sure you’re broken up about it.”

“I can barely contain my grief. I’d like to say I miss him but...” He looked at me out of the corner of his eye and grinned.

“But you’d be lying.”

“Yes, I would.” He leaned over and kissed my cheek, tickling my skin with his facial hair. “Thanks for coming. It means a lot to Ma to have you here.”

“Don’t mention it. It smells so amazing, I feel lucky to be invited.”

“You know you are always welcome, open invitation anytime. You’re another daughter to my parents.”

Vance’s family was like my second family too, but hearing it warmed my heart. “That’s sweet of you to say.” I leaned out to look in the direction of the dining room. “I don’t know how you’re not three hundred pounds.”

“You’ve seen the photos scattered around this house from when I was little, I practically was. Now meals like this are limited to once a week, but it’s so worth it.”

“You don’t need to tell me.”

Vance’s mother walked into the kitchen and tossed a pair of oven mitts next to the stove. “Okay, everybody.
Mangi! Mangi!”

“The food’s ready,” Vance said.

I put my glass down on the round table in front of us set for six. It was one of three eating areas since the number of people in attendance far exceeded the capacity of the dining room. My stomach growled thinking about shoving cheesy fettucine in my mouth. I took one step toward the dining room when Vance caught my hand.

“Don’t go yet.” He pulled me toward him.

“Why not?”

His face was overtaken by an intense expression. “Because, you’re better off waiting until the line dies down. My sisters have to fix plates for the kids and it takes a long time. Hang back with me for a second.”

“Sure.” I picked my glass back up and sipped. “How’s your dad?”

“Getting stronger. They’ve gotten him back on his feet and he’s already walking laps around his therapists.”

“Of course he is. You’re mom seems to be handling everything well considering all that’s happened. I’m surprised she still had the dinner considering he’s not home yet.”

“She’s Italian. She’s tough but hides behind her iron smile.”

“Kind of like someone else I know.”

He bumped me in the ribs with his elbow, and I flinched, almost splashing the wine. “Hey, watch it. If I spill this and waste even a drop, I might have to hurt you.” Vance didn’t smile despite my attempt at humor. “Hey, what’s going on in that head of yours? Talk to me.”

“She’s barely talking to me about the hospital bills, but it’s bad.”

“Still nothing from insurance?”

“Yeah, sure, but the amount their helping is a joke.”

“You’ll have the money from Camille, though. That’ll help, right?”

“It’s not going to be enough.” I felt the heaviness on Vance’s chest. I hated him being so consumed with worry. “My parents gave too much to me and my sisters. They hardly left any for themselves. Now look where it’s gotten them.”

I squeezed his hand. “I bet something will happen, and all this will work itself out. I just have a feeling. Your family is too good to let this take them down.”

“I know. Thanks.”

Isabella and Arianna were led over to the table where Vance and I were. Jina set their plates down and scooted each child into her seat. I hadn’t noticed it before, but she had a little baby bump.

“Jina, are you expecting again?”

She patted her belly. “Four months along already. Edmond always said he wanted a big family, and I suppose we’re well on our way.” She smacked Vance on the back of the head. “We just need this knucklehead to settle down already.”

Vance gave her a tight-lipped grin and tugged on my arm. “Looks like we can go grab our plates now.”

Jina shook her head in silence. “You can run but you can’t hide,
Cucillio
!”

“
Badate a’ fatti vostri
.”

Jina groaned, and Vance and I went into the dining room.

“What’d you say to her?” I asked.

“That she needs to mind her own business. Every week it’s the same thing. I’m not in any rush like they all were to get married and crank out a barrel of kids. They need to stop pressuring me.”

I picked up a plate at the front of the buffet and handed it to him. “Nothing will take your mind off it sooner than this food. Guaranteed.”

“You’re right. Please.” He held out his hand. “You go first.”

I walked the line of food and took a little bit of everything. All of the seats were already taken in the dining room, and the spill over table was full as well. Everyone’s plates were domed with piping hot food. Multiple conversations overlapped one another halted occasionally by bursts of laughter. It was loud and wonderful.

Vance and I joined his nieces in the kitchen. Jina brought over a sippy cup for Isabella and set a glass of milk down in front of Arianna.

“What are you two doing in here with the kids?” Jina asked, not looking at us. “There’s plenty of room at one of the other tables, isn’t there?” She tucked a napkin into Arianna’s collar and fastened a bib around Isabella’s neck.

“After all these years, I think I deserve to be called an adult in front of Isa and Ari.” Vance shot a silly smile at the girls. It went over Isabella’s head but Arianna giggled. “No, the other tables are full.”

Jina smacked Vance’s shoulder. “All right, girls, it’s up to you to keep Vance and Diana in line, okay?”

Arianna sat up straight. “Yes, mama.”

“And no fighting.” She shook a finger at both of us and leaned down to kiss Vance on the cheek, whispering something in his ear.

He closed his eyes and nodded. “I know.”

Jina walked away, and two of Vance’s nephew’s joined us, Anthony and Dominic, rounding out our six person table. They set their plates on their place mats and sat iPads down in front of them. They flipped them open in their cases and turned them on.

“No, no, no.” Vance shook his finger at them. “Put those away. Dinner is for talking and spending time with family, not being absorbed in electronics.”

“But, Uncle Vance.” Anthony pouted. “We’re watching Minecraft videos, we’re learning.”

Vance tilted his head down. “Nice try. Close ‘em. And honestly, what would your mother say if she saw you?”

They both grimaced and closed their cases.

“Yes, Uncle Vance,” Dominic said, laying his iPad on the window sill. 

I leaned into Vance’s ear. “Look at Uncle Vance dropping the hammer.”

“Someone has to. Give ‘em an inch, they take a mile.”

With a chuckle, I twirled my fork in the center of the creamy mound of fettuccine and shoved the generous bite into my mouth, barely caring as a greasy, garlicky noodle slapped against my chin
.

“Don’t forget to breathe.” Vance snorted.

I closed my eyes and groaned. “Oh my God, this food is love.” When I was released from the food euphoria, all four children were staring at me. “What?”

Arianna’s eyelids fluttered while she looked from me, to Vance, and back to me. She tilted her head. “What does love taste like?”

Vance finished shoving in a bite of lasagna. He covered his mouth with his napkin, chuckling to himself while he continued to chew. “It’s just an expression, Ari. Love isn’t really a taste. It’s a feeling.” He smiled.

The little angel looked down with rosy cheeks.

I had to interject. “I don’t know. I think you might be wrong. Love can have a taste.”

Vance pushed his plate and crossed his hands on the table. “Listen up, boys and girls, this is going to be good. Please, go on.”

I laid my fork on my plate. “Love is absolutely a feeling, but it’s not
only
a feeling. Love can be a smell, a taste, the feeling you get from being wrapped in your favorite blanket fresh out of the dryer, a kiss on your forehead from your mom when you’re sick.” I glanced at all four children. “Who here loves that?” Everyone at the table raised their hands. “A lot of things can make up love. So I think love can definitely be a taste, but what love might taste like to you can be different from someone else’s.” I glanced at Isabella as her tiny fingers shoved bite-sized pieces of chicken in her chubby cheeks. I noticed Arianna’s plate had no chicken. “What’s your favorite food on your plate, Ari? Looks like your sister probably loves the chicken.”

She crinkled her brows and released them, scanning her plate. “The garlic bread. It’s so yummy.” She smiled big and wide.