The Italian's Passionate Return (8 page)

They dined at one of the fancy restaurants and visited the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum. It was painfully crowded, since it is one of the most visited museums in the capital city, but that didn’t diminish the wonder on Dylan or Adriana’s faces as they looked at giant rockets, sleek fighter jets, or the enormous Saturn V engine. She had to admit there were some pretty amazing things there.

Afterward, they headed back to the farm. The return helicopter ride was a little more enjoyable, now that Jemma knew what to expect. She made a simple dinner of burgers and fries, then tucked the kids into bed, exhausted from all the excitement of the day.

Jemma was also exhausted, but one look at Damien’s expression and her fatigue floated away. She started to shake her head, to tell him that they couldn’t have sex, but he ignored her. Instead, he carried her into her bedroom and made love to her until she was clinging to him, crying out for release. And when it was all over, she slept in his arms, forgetting her plans to keep her distance until they knew each other better.

Sunday, she herded everyone out the door to church and Adriana experienced her first church service. Jemma had to laugh at how excited she was, but it was a good feeling. But by Sunday night, when Adriana and Damien left, she and Dylan curled up on the beaten down sofa, both of them feeling a little depressed after such exciting experiences.

And so went each weekend for the next month. Damien and Adriana would arrive either Friday night or Saturday morning and the four of them would spend the weekend together. And no matter how much Jemma protested that she and Damien should hold off on an intimate relationship, despite her attempts to have a conversation instead, Damien simply overcame her objections by kissing her, or touching her until she was shivering with desire.

By the sixth weekend, as soon as Damien showed up, she sent the kids off to the barn to play with the much larger puppies. They were no longer confined to the stall at this point but encouraged to run around the field where the kids would be out in the sunshine as well.

“We have to talk,” she said as soon as the two of them were alone but within watching distance of the kids.

“I agree,” he said and handed a large, rolled up sheaf of papers to her.

“What’s this?” she asked.

“Plans for a new house.”

Her hands froze from unrolling the papers and her eyes shot up to look at his dark ones. “What new house?” she demanded, stepping back again.

Damien sighed and took the papers back, spreading them out on the wooden picnic table in her backyard. “It’s for a house large enough for the four of us,” he explained carefully. “I told you going into this that I want to marry you.”

Jemma shook her hands. “We’re not ready for that conversation,” she said, still scared.

Damien pulled her down onto the wooden seat, taking her hands in his. “Jemma, this has nothing to do with the relationship I want with Dylan. Adriana and I can move here on our own, I have already started putting in motion the shift of my headquarters from Milan to here. In fact, I’ve found a building that is almost empty and the savings in property management fees alone will negate the cost of moving key personnel from Europe to Virginia.” He let those words sink in. “I understand that you can’t as easily move Dylan to Milan as I can move to Virginia, and it is done.”

She swallowed painfully, trying to figure out what it was she wanted, what he wanted from her. And if she could give it to him. “Dylan will be thrilled to hear that.”

“What you don’t understand is that I don’t just want a relationship with Dylan. I want you too. I want the whole thing.”

Jemma struggled, thinking that his words sounded so sweet, so tempting. She shook her head. “I won’t keep you from seeing Dylan. I can see how important both of you are to each other’s lives. It’s just…”

“You’re not seeing the whole picture, Jemma. I want you. Over and over again, I’ve told you to think about the two of us and our relationship but you’re not hearing me. You keep thinking that it’s only sex between us, or only Dylan that I want.” He squeezed her fingers slightly. “I want you. I want all of you. I want to give Adriana and Dylan siblings, I want to adopt Adriana with you and make this a whole family. I want you to teach all of us how to ride and I want to teach you how to grow your business. I want it all. And I’m not willing to settle for weekends any longer.”

Jemma bit her lower lip, not wanting to hear the words that sounded so sweet and wonderful. “You don’t know what you want. You might say that you want me now, but you don’t know enough about me.”

He shook his head. “Jemma, how many weekends do I need to spend with you before you can trust my feelings for you?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know, but six weeks just isn’t…”

“Stop it!” he commanded. “We both knew that we wanted each other that first night six years ago. And you’ve been pretending that wasn’t the case for too long now.” He pushed the house designs away for the moment. “You and I were meant to be together. If you hadn’t run away all those years ago, I would have proven it to you. Everything about you fascinates me. I love the way you walk and the smile in your eyes when you talk. I think watching you ride your horse is the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen and when you come apart in my arms, I think you’re the most beautiful woman in the world.”

“You haven’t met all the women in the world,” she blurted out.

He leaned back slightly. “Is that what this is about? You think I’m going to stray?”

She froze, considering what he had just said. But when she thought about it, she nodded her head. “Yes,” she finally whispered.

He threw back his head and laughed. She tried to slide away from him but he held on to her hands while he tried to get his amusement back under control. She wanted to hit him or walk away, but she’d probably hurt herself more than him if she punched him since the man was covered in muscles. Besides, he wouldn’t release her hands so she couldn’t get away from him.

When he finally stopped laughing and looked down at her, he couldn’t help the additional couple of chuckles at her irritated expression. He leaned over and kissed her. Jemma, you’re nuts if you think I could ever be with another woman after being with you.”

She pulled back, but not completely out of his arms. “Are you telling me that you haven’t been with another woman for the past six years?” she asked him, already knowing the answer.

He looked back at her like she was crazy. “Well, I can’t make that claim, but there haven’t been as many as you might think.”

She rolled her eyes. “Damien, I looked you up online. I’ve seen all the women you’ve escorted to various places around the world. There were more than a few!”

He shrugged his shoulder. “Escorted yes. Had sex with, no.” He pulled her onto his lap. “Honestly, after being with you six years ago, women didn’t have the same appeal.”

When she continued to look at him with disbelief, he laughed again. “Yes, I’ve had sex with other women, but only after I’d spent months looking for you. I came back to that spot, had my security detail look for you and even hired private detectives to search the local areas for about six months before they finally refused to look any further for you. No one could come up with any trace of you.”

She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “You searched for six months?” she whispered.

He nodded his head.

“I only searched for about two weeks.”

He smiled gently. “I think there was a significant difference in my ability to search for you versus your ability to search for me. Besides, weren’t you pregnant?” Once she’d nodded, he touched her cheek gently. “From what I’ve heard, the first couple of months of pregnancy are difficult. I don’t blame you for being unable to search longer. You were protecting our child.” His hand rested on her flat stomach. “I wouldn’t have wanted you to risk the life of Dylan just to find me.”

She hesitated. “I wanted to. So badly,” she finally admitted. “I wanted to find you and yell at you and demand that you help me, but I was also afraid that you might not be the man I wanted you to be.”

His hand moved around to her waist. “And am I? The man you want?”

She bit her lower lip and scooted forward tentatively, her arms slipping around his shoulders. “I think so.”

He laughed. “Think?” he asked, his hand slipping onto her bottom and he smacked her playfully as he stood up. Not hard, but enough so he had her full attention.

Jemma heard some whispering behind her and twisted in his arms. “What are you two doing?” she demanded when she spotted her son and Adriana peering around the corner, hiding by the big butterfly bush.

They both giggled, covering their mouths to stifle the sound. “Dad just spanked you,” Dylan said, taking Adriana’s hand and pulling her forward. As soon as they turned the corner, the area was filled with yellow lab puppies, jumping up and trying to topple the kids.

“I only gave her a love pat.”

Dylan nodded his head. “She loves you too,” he told Damien.

Damien’s eyes widened. “How do you know that?”

He smiled smugly. “Because she cries when you’re not here. She reads stuff about you on the computer all the time. And because she gets all gussied up when she knows you’re about to arrive.” He looked at Adriana. “We figured it out.”

Damien looked down at Jemma after those pronouncements. “Is that true?” he asked.

She was about to shake her head no, but she couldn’t lie to him. “Yes. It’s all true.”

“Even the loving me part?” he asked.

She nodded her head again. “But I’m scared,” she told him.

He pulled her closer, ignoring the puppies that were trying to jump up onto their laps. “I know. But we’ll get through it together, okay?”

Jemma sighed, snuggling deeper into his embrace. “Okay.”

“Now tell me you love me,” he commanded.

She laughed, thrilled with the admission. “I love you,” she said.

He leaned down and kissed her tenderly. “I love you too.”

“Mom!” Sixteen year old Adriana called out, rushing into the living room of their seven bedroom house, dripping wet from the pool. “They did it again!” she cried out furiously.

Jemma turned around to figure out exactly which “it” had re-occurred. When she saw her eighteen year old Dylan laughing around the pool with his three younger brothers, Jemma put two and two together. There was Davis, who at twelve was almost as tall as Dylan, Antonio who was her youngest at eight, and Marcus, a very mature ten year old. Adriana’s latest boyfriend, Andrew, was also by the pool – dripping wet although fully clothed.

Standing up, she walked to the edge of the living room doors and glared out at her sons. “Guys, I think you owe Andrew an apology,” she called out firmly. Walking out to the stone patio, she whipped a towel off of the stand and unfolded it, handing it to Andrew to dry off. “I’m sorry that my boys are so inconsiderate, Andrew.”

Andrew took the towel gratefully, pulling it around his shoulders. “It’s okay, Ms. Alfieri.” He blushed as he tried to dry off. “I’m fine.”

“He’s not fine, mother!” Adriana said, almost stomping her feet even while she glared at her brothers. Jemma and Damien had adopted Adriana two weeks after their wedding thirteen years ago. Now, it was as if she’d always been a part of their family. Damien was careful to tell her stories about her birth mother and father, but she didn’t feel sad about her loss any longer. Only joy that she’d had them for three years and had such a wonderful uncle who had turned into her father.

That didn’t mean she wasn’t dealing with the regular sibling issues. Most of those problems were made worse because she was a beautiful blond sixteen year old surrounded by four brothers who all took after their very Italian, very possessive father. Damien wasn’t ready for her to date boys, and his attitude indirectly gave them permission to fend off any suitors.

“He was trying to kiss her,” Dylan whispered into Jemma’s ear as he walked by, grabbing a towel himself. Marcus and Davis both grinned, loving the prank and unconcerned with why they’d had to punish the “outsider”. Antonio, the more serious member of the clan – despite the fact that he was only eight year old – glared at the interloper. He even shoved his shoulder into Andrew as he walked by, completely unremorseful for their prank.

“Antonio!” Adriana yelled at him, going to Andrew’s rescue.

Andrew stepped back, smiling at the blond beauty warily. “I’d better go,” he said, eyeing her brothers warily.

Adriana started to say something, but something caught Andrew’s attention behind Adriana and the boyfriend practically ran off the patio.

That reaction could only be generated by one person. Sure enough, as soon as Jemma turned around, she saw Damien standing in the doorway looking marvelously ferocious in his dark tailored suit and black hair. He was tall and gorgeous and terrifyingly intimidating, especially for a sixteen year old high school student, which was why Andrew was nowhere in sight.

Jemma would have laughed at the boy’s reaction if she weren’t so disgusted. “Really, Adriana. Couldn’t you find a boy that isn’t afraid of your father?” she asked, walking over and kissing Damien on the cheek.

“Mother,” she sighed, “there’s no such person. Men like that don’t exist.” But she walked over and kissed her dad as well. “You have horrible sons,” she said and disappeared into the living room.

Damien looked down at Jemma, his arm still wrapped around her waist. “Tough day on the home front?” he asked.

Jemma laughed. “Not at all,” she replied. “I sold seven more horses today. The buyers are coming by to pick them up over the next three days. The only issue was fifteen minutes ago when, apparently, Dylan thought it would be a good idea to get rid of Adriana’s latest boyfriend by dunking him in the pool.”

Damien looked over at his four sons, none of whom looked even slightly repentant.

“I’m off to make dinner,” she said and walked back into the house. “I’m trusting you to explain to those boys that what they did was wrong.”

Damien slid his jacket off of his shoulders and loosened his tie even while he walked over to his sons. “What happened?” he asked in a lower voice.

Dylan was the first to step up, never afraid of his father’s intimidating glance. “That sap was kissing Adriana, Dad,” he explained, glaring at the side of the house where Andrew had raced off. “I didn’t like it.”

Damien didn’t either. “So you dunked him?” he asked. All four of his boys nodded their heads. “Good job,” he told them all and gave each of them a high five, but on the down low. He didn’t want Jemma to see that he wasn’t admonishing their children appropriately. “Good thing I wasn’t here. Andrew might not have gotten away with just a dunking.”

Davis crossed his arms over his chest. He might be only twelve, but he was scary smart and more than ready to dive into any mischief the others proposed. “He’s not good enough for her, Dad. He’s weak.”

“Adriana should wait until she’s older,” Antonio announced, mimicking his older brothers’ posture and attitude.

Marcus raised one dark eyebrow, so similar to his father’s. “And are you waiting?” he asked his brother, already knowing that Antonio had kissed his latest crush behind the school yard just yesterday.

“That’s different,” he announced. “I’m a guy.”

Jemma was stepping outside, carrying a tray filled with dishes and utensils. “That’s a completely sexist attitude,” she told him with irritation. But she knew that he got it from his father, who treated Adriana like a princess. Jemma was just relieved that Adriana wasn’t a spoiled brat. Spoiled, yes. But not a brat. The girl was sweet and kind and, thankfully, brilliant. She was definitely ready to tackle the world! But secretly, Jemma would like to put a bubble around that girl. She was too pretty and it scared her every time she went out on a date. Well, it scared Jemma any time one of her children left her house. Dylan was going off to college next year. Adriana had boys panting after her constantly and the only good thing about that is that she wasn’t truly interested in any of them. Her three younger sons were mischief makers at heart, as the afternoon had certainly confirmed.

And she loved every one of them to bits. “Set the table,” she told her boys. She looked directly at Damien, knowing exactly what he’d been saying to them.

Damien winked back at her, which only confirmed her suspicions. When she started to walk by him, he grabbed her, spinning her around so that he could greet her more thoroughly. “Hello,” he said softly a moment before he kissed her gently.

Jemma’s arms wrapped around his neck, her body pressing into his and sparking to life, just like it had that very first night. “Hello,” she said and lifted her face to kiss him back.

In the back of her mind, she heard her four boys vacate the area. Vaguely, she heard one of them say, “Aren’t they too old for that kind of stuff?”

Damien must have heard it as well because he chuckled, breaking off the kiss. “Never too old for this,” he replied and kissed her deeply, making her mind whirl and her body shiver with delight.

“Definitely never too old,” she agreed.

Thank you for trying out The Italian’s Passionate Return! This is only a short story to give you, the reader, a chance to sample my writing style. In my full stories, I try to put more controversy and more character development into my plots. I add more twists and turns, more tension!

I love writing novellas because they are just short little romances. They are fun to write and, hopefully, fun to read.

If you like this story, please check out my full length romances. An excerpt from one is in the next chapter. At the end of this book is a list of all my stories, including other free novellas that you might like to try.

Look for the next books in The Alfieri Saga – full length stories of Damien and Jemma’s children, coming in Fall & Winter 2014 and available via your favorite e-book retailer.

Adriana & Mitch
– She hates him but can’t keep her eyes off of him. He drives her crazy, but she finds herself wondering what he looks like underneath his impressive suits. Can she maintain her dislike of the man when her body is telling her that she is lying to herself?

Mitch is blown away by Adriana. Their instant attraction can no longer be ignored. When he finally breaks down her defenses, why does she become so angry when he tells her he won’t share her with anyone else?

Dylan & Georgette
– As a southern belle, Georgette has certain standards she must maintain. But when Dylan walks into the ballroom, all of her southern manners and poise are unable to hold up under his heated stare. She can’t believe a Yankee could break through her walls so completely, but she must maintain her distance. She has goals of her own and she can’t let some man, no matter how delicious he might be, interfere with those goals.

Dylan can’t believe that the lovely lady is even trying to ignore her passionate side. She is sensual and funny, intelligent and passionate. And when they touch, they set each other on fire. So why is she running away from such a perfect union?

Davis & Katherine
– Davis hated art; he thought the art world was pretentious and superficial. Until that night in the gallery, art was only an investment to him – something that he could buy now and sell later for a profit. So he was completely unprepared for the emotional punch he experienced when he looked at the paintings on the walls at this gallery. Within five minutes of walking in, he’d bought the entire collection of the anonymous artist.

Katherine couldn’t believe she let her friend talk her into showing her paintings. She’d always considered her art work to be private, simply an outlet for her own emotions. If her father ever found out that she painted, he would be disgusted with her. When she meets Davis Alfieri, those emotions take a dangerous, terrifying turn, releasing the pent up passion she’d been pretending wasn’t inside of her.

Marcus & Juliette
– Marcus moved through life expecting everything to be logical. Science could explain everything and he’d learned to make enormous profits understanding science. So when he runs into the illogical Juliette, his mind has a hard time understanding why she would walk down the street singing and dancing. There wasn’t any music! But no matter how much he craved logic and reason, his body craved Juliette more.

Juliette is fascinated by Marcus’s stoicism. How could he walk down the street and not feel the joy in the sunshine? How could he ignore the sounds of the grasshoppers and birds? Or smile at the perfection of a flower? And how could her mind and body need a man who didn’t understand the joy of living life for the moment?

Antonio & Joelle
– Sorry, I’m still in the process of working this plot out!