14. Spoiled
fourteen
Spoiled
Between the toe-curling orgasm and the tender aftercare, Grace felt better than she had since leaving Romeo’s side hours earlier. Or she had, until Mo turned onto Dante’s street and reality began to seep back in.
They were headed to Dante and Iris’s home for dinner with Romeo’s family. The entire family, because apparently Felicity and Eleonora had been there, so Cris was joining them, and of course no one wanted to leave Mikey out. The dinner was impromptu, but that didn’t stop Grace from feeling nervous about it.
Romeo had confessed to having told his mother about them. They both knew Dante knew, and it was reasonable Cris and Felicity had figured it out to some degree. Truthfully, little Lucia was likely the only one who didn’t know. So Grace had insisted that he tell her at the first realistic opportunity, because she felt like she was simultaneously keeping a secret from and being kept a secret from the young girl and the entire prospect was unpleasant.
Granted, so was spontaneous dinner with her boss-slash-future-in-laws.
Romeo rubbed his thumb across her knuckles. “It’s fine, angel. Everyone in that house is fond of you. Even Mikey.”
Her lips twitched and she held tighter to his hand as the SUV eased to a stop at the gate. “I’m glad to know that,” she said, “but it does change things when you look at a person as potential family. You hold those people to different standards.”
“True. But my family is … unique.” He lifted her hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it, then set it down again by her side as they rolled forward. “Just trust me.”
That she did.
The SUV came to a second stop inside the garage and Mo cut the engine. Romeo let himself out as Mo did the same, and Romeo rounded the vehicle to open her door. The garage itself was quite spacious, and she recognized both Dante’s and Iris’s preferred vehicles, as well as one she associated with the brothers’ mother, Eleonora. So that added up. She was less sure what anyone else drove, so she didn’t try to match the rest as she let Romeo guide her back outside and up to the front door.
She spotted men in black suits, obviously security, standing at intervals around the property. Only one met her gaze, and the moment he did he quickly averted his eyes.
Mo pulled open the front door, inclining his head.
“We’ll be at least a couple hours. Go kick up your feet,” Romeo said to his friend before continuing to lead her inside.
Grace had never actually been inside Dante and Iris’s home. As she’d expected, it was impressive. Somehow stately and modern, but avoiding the heavily industrial pitfalls. Pops of color and greenery shocked various spaces in the form of live plants in tasteful pots, some hanging, some standing in corners.
Rapid footfalls drew her attention away from the décor as a tiny figure darted around the corner up ahead. “Daddy!”
Romeo took a half-step forward and caught Lucia as she launched herself at him, squeezing her tight before setting back on her feet. “There’s my princess,” he said, ruffling her hair. “Have you been good while I was busy?”
She bobbed her head. “I was, I promise. Aunt Felicity even helped me with my homework!” Her gaze moved over to Grace and she blinked, as if not recognizing her. Then she tugged on Romeo’s shirt sleeve and stage-whispered, “Is that Miss Grace? Does Uncle Dante know she’s coming to dinner? What’s wrong with her head?”
“Yes, Lucy. Don’t be rude,” Romeo whispered back in the same tone, flashing Grace a grin when Lucia looked her way again. He patted her encouragingly behind her shoulders in a wordless instruction.
Lucia stepped up to her, smiling almost sheepishly. “Hi, Miss Grace.” She rolled her lips. “Are you okay? Did Daddy have to take you to the doctor?”
Grace smiled. “Hi, Lucia. It’s nice to see you again.” She offered the young girl her hand so they could walk and talk, and Lucia took it easily. “I’m okay,” she continued. “Your daddy actually was kind enough to come pick me up from the doctor.” She indicated the wrap still around her head. “They won’t let me drive like this.”
Lucia grinned. “Daddy doesn’t drive ever. He always makes Uncle Mo do it.”
Romeo laughed.
When they rounded the corner, the muted voices that had been speaking upon their arrival developed faces and Grace’s nerves returned.
“Daddy brought Miss Grace for dinner!” Lucia announced as if no one could see her for themselves.
Grace felt herself flush, but at the same time an amused smile teased her lips. Hers, and several others.
Lucia tipped her head up to her once more. “Miss Grace, do you like my daddy?”
“Lucy,” Romeo said as he reached out and pulled his daughter’s attention away, “let’s not interrogate people, hm?”
Iris stepped up, drawing Grace’s focus, and wrapped Grace in a hug. “I’m glad you’re okay,” she said quietly.
Grace reached up, nearly forgetting to only use one arm to hug back. “I am,” she whispered. “I hope you didn’t worry too much.” She smiled at her friend as the other woman let go.
Iris’s smile was soft and easy. “Only the right amount.”
Dante appeared behind his wife, one hand on her shoulder. “Dinner’s not for another twenty minutes. Come, sit down.” He cut a glance toward his brother. “If you’d rather make a different use of this time, use my office.”
“Right.” Romeo met Grace’s gaze and inclined his head, then dropped down beside his daughter. “Princess, there’s something I need to talk to you about. Do you mind if I steal you away before dinner?”
Grace smiled and turned, following the direction her boss had indicated and moving toward the cluster of furniture and remainder of people. The sound of Lucia’s responding giggle filled the room for a moment, and brought a warmth to Grace’s chest that she hoped she would get to keep. She knew Romeo’s feelings were genuine. She believed that as much as she believed in her own. But if Lucia outright opposed the idea of them getting married, Grace didn’t know how it would work. The girl might only be seven, but she was Romeo’s world. That wasn’t the sort of conflict a new relationship was supposed to be built on.
“Looks like it’s a good thing I grabbed you multiple outfits,” Felicity said after a moment.
Grace blinked and looked over at the younger woman, only then remembering she’d wanted to thank her at her next opportunity. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry. Thank you, both of you, for going so out of your way for me this morning. I really appreciate it.” She glanced down at her feet, and the house slippers she was currently wearing. “Although I did lose one of my heels kicking out that taillight.”
“You’re lucky you didn’t slice an artery,” Mikey said.
“Goodness,” Eleonora said, “you really had to do that? I haven’t heard a story like that since I was probably around your age.”
Grace really had no idea how to feel about that statement. So she nodded, slow enough to keep her head from hurting again. “I did.” She glanced across to Mikey. “And I am,” she added, raising her bandaged wrist so the sleeve slid back. “Apparently if it had gone much deeper, I’d have been in way worse shape. Or something like that.”
“Well,” Felicity said, “it seems like a silly thing in light of the day’s events, but you’re welcome. I hope I grabbed things you’d want.”
Grace smiled. “Some of my favorites.” She didn’t point out that she’d already, very inadvertently, ruined one of those favorites. Instead she drew a breath and steeled herself, because she wasn’t going to get a better time to say something else that had been simmering in the back of her mind for most of the day. “So … I don’t want to bring down the mood or anything, but in light of the fact that other people’s secrets have nearly gotten me killed like three times in less than twenty-four hours, I’m going to be blunt. Everyone in this room has been lying to me, and where it impacts my own safety, I’m within my rights to be mad about that.”
The aura of the room shifted, going uncomfortably still.
“Are you?” Dante asked.
Grace turned, facing him as directly as she could without standing. “Do I need to repeat my reason? As a woman living alone, of course I always took certain measures. The higher I climbed on the corporate ladder, the more I tried to increase those measures. But I never had a fair and honest scope of the danger I was dancing with, so I was never able to take adequate precautions for my own safety.” She swept her good arm toward the room. “I would bet I’m the only one here who’s literally never touched a gun.”
Iris laughed softly. “I’m lousy with a gun.”
Mikey snorted. “I might use stronger language, even, but I like my head where it is.”
Grace had a perfect view of the glare Dante shot at his brother before returning his focus to her, simultaneously lifting his hand to rub along the back of Iris’s neck. “And what would you have done with that gun, if you’d had your fair and honest scope?”
She didn’t flinch. “Taken shooting lessons, for one thing,” she said. “It would have stayed in my apartment, so I could have it for self-defense. You know, in case my employer’s enemies thought I was a more vulnerable target than their heavily guarded private homes. Like last night.”
Eleonora spoke next, her tone calm and otherwise unreadable. “Is that all you would have done with that information?”
Grace adjusted her position to see the older woman. She wasn’t surprised at the scrutiny or the cautious, observational looks on everyone’s faces. “That is harder to say,” she acknowledged. “The flip side is that learning at this stage, I’ve had time to get to know most of you. Or at least I feel like I have. So I can’t disassociate from you the way I know my sister does most of her clients, or the way people disassociate from the faces on their favorite docuseries.”
She drew a quiet breath, casting her gaze around the room and trying to remind herself they were all mature adults who could handle unpleasant conversations. Finally, her stare settled again on her boss. “I’m sure you’re worried about who I might talk to, but you know me by now. You probably had a pretty good idea about me before you offered me the promotion. I don’t have a social life and I’m not close to my family, there’s literally been no one around I would have told. So at the very least, I should have been made aware when the boundaries between professional and personal started to blur.”
Dante was silent for a moment. It was hard to tell if he was angry or merely thinking over his response. “I had my reasons for keeping you in the dark. I won’t apologize for that. However, I am also grateful that you’ve survived. If you’re serious about gun training, Romeo is your best option for a teacher.”
Mikey snorted. “If he can stay focused.”
Grace flushed.
Iris leaned over and pulled Grace’s nearest hand into hers. She met Grace’s gaze with an imploring smile. “Can we move forward?”
Grace clasped her friend’s hand. “Full disclosure?”
“Within reason,” Dante said.
That was probably preferable, actually. Grace smiled and opened her mouth to respond when suddenly Lucia was running into the room again. All eyes turned to the girl as Romeo’s voice carried from the hall, indicating he was trailing behind. No one was fast enough—no one was prepared—to stop Lucia from darting right up, tears streaming down her face, and swinging one shoe-covered foot right into Grace’s lower leg.
Sharp, startling pain chased the air from Grace’s lungs for a prolonged second.
“Lucia!”
“Lucy!”
Lucia wobbled back a step, still glaring and crying. “You can’t take my daddy away! You can’t have him! Go take someone else’s daddy!” Her voice was choked and, as she cried, she swung forward as if to kick again. As if she just intended to wail on Grace until Grace disappeared.
Cristiano scooped her up a heartbeat before her booted foot could make contact. “ Lucia . That’s enough. You don’t kick people.”
Lucia squirmed as much as her uncle’s hold allowed, her voice rising. “Let go! Let go, Uncle Cris! You don’t understand! Daddy said— Daddy said he wants to replace me because of her!”
It felt like her whole chest cracked as Grace listened to the anguish in Lucia’s words. I didn’t want this.
“I said no such thing, Lucia,” Romeo said as he stomped into the room. “You were only half-listening again.” He glanced around, gaze lingering on Grace, then looked straight at his still-crying daughter. “What did you do?”
Lucia sniffled. “It was self-defense,” she said.
Both of his brows disappeared beneath his bangs.
Grace looked away before he could try staring the answer out of her. She felt badly enough that she’d caused that sweet girl so much upset. I should leave… She didn’t belong at this family dinner. What she’d chosen to say earlier had been awkward enough, but now, with Lucia’s response to the engagement clear, she couldn’t possibly be welcome. More importantly, she didn’t want Romeo to feel like he had to make a choice. His choice should be—would be—obvious, the least she could do was spare them both the need for him to say the words.
“She kicked Grace,” Cristiano said. “Would’ve been twice if I hadn’t grabbed her up.”
“She did what ?”
“What sort of habits are you teaching her?” Eleonora asked, a note of reproach in her tone.
“Definitely not that,” Romeo said. “You’re grounded, young lady. Starting right now.”
“No!” Lucia cried, shouting again. “It was self-defense, Daddy! She can’t grow your new baby if her body is broken, and if there’s no new baby, you’ll still love me! No, put me down!”
Grace squeezed her eyes shut, not even wanting to watch their shadows move as Cristiano passed the shrieking girl to her father or as her father carried her away. There was no not hearing Lucia’s cries as Romeo hauled her from the room, his heavy steps echoing like thunder as he ascended the stairs.
“Damn,” Mikey said after several seconds. “Not sure I’ve ever seen her like that.”
“Maybe my flower analogy didn’t work so well,” Iris said quietly.
“That had nothing to do with this, Snapdragon,” Dante said.
Grace found herself fighting tears. The pain in her leg was already gone, but the pain in her chest … she feared that would last much, much longer. This was not the place to succumb to that. I need to get out of here.
But she’d lost her purse, her phone, her wallet, and everything that came with such things, when she’d been dragged from the Aviator. She had no quick access to her funds, no way to prove her identity, and no legal right to drive.
A piercing wail that could only have been Lucia shattered the awkward semi-silence.
Grace rolled her lips between her teeth and lifted her head, praying she could keep her broken heart off her face a little longer. “I’m sorry,” she said, her voice barely a whisper, “but could I … borrow someone’s driver? Or at least a car?” She knew a guy who managed a local motel. Not super well, but she could probably convince him to give her a room overnight on credit or an IOU. All she needed was a phone, really, but she wasn’t comfortable making that call in her current company.
She didn’t want to make it at all.
“Grace,” Iris said, her voice sad.
Grace shook her head. “I’m the one ruining your family time. The least I can do is leave. But I can’t really do that right now on my own—”
“Where will you go?” Dante asked. The subtle challenge in his tone was not unfamiliar.
She hesitated. She couldn’t go back to that apartment. It wasn’t safe, for one thing, but even if they insisted it was, it wouldn’t feel that way. She wouldn’t see anything but blood, disaster, and death. But she couldn’t exactly go back to Romeo’s house, either. She had nowhere else to land. Not in Newark. Not in all of New Jersey. Do I … have to quit, too?
Grace averted her gaze. “I can probably bribe my way into a free night at Skyline Inn.”
“Absolutely not,” Iris said.
Grace looked up at her friend on reflex. “Iris, I don’t have—”
Dante turned his gaze across the room. “You have a couple vacancies, don’t you?”
“2708’s all cleaned up,” Cristiano replied calmly. “I could find some quick furnishing for the basics.”
Grace shook her head, but she wasn’t even sure if she was refusing or simply confused. “What? No, I just—”
“Nonsense,” Eleonora said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “That tower of yours is perfectly fine, Cristiano, but not for a single woman without any resources. Particularly one who’s still recovering from injuries. She’ll come home with me, then. I have more space than I know what to do with.”
Grace felt her jaw drop.
“ After dinner,” Dante added.
No one was listening. No one was considering all the obvious reasons, even for the sake of their own family, that she shouldn’t be staying. She shouldn’t even still be sitting on the sofa. Feeling a surge of anger, Grace shoved too quickly to her feet. “Never mind. It was rude of me to ask. I’ll walk.”
Iris made a sound of protest and frowns marred nearly every face she could see, but only one voice glued her slipper-covered feet to the floor.
“Walk where, angel?”
Her stomach twisted, the once-delicious smells drifting from the kitchen turning sour inside her, and Grace locked her jaw in an effort to stop the trembling. It was cowardly, but she’d wanted to slip away before he came back downstairs. She thought the next conversation might be easier if the core of it was already obvious. And if they were alone.
She should have known better.
Romeo walked around the sofa and stepped in front of her, curling a finger under her chin to tip her head up enough to meet his gaze. A frown curved his lips and something like sadness haunted his beautiful, usually mischievous, eyes. “Are you not feeling well?”
“Well,” Mikey said, “she did just get kicked in the tibia by a tiny ninja.”
“Michele!” Eleonora reprimanded.
Romeo cut a glare over his shoulder. “I’d appreciate it if you don’t joke about that, Mikey.” He released her chin in favor of taking her hand in his and said, “Brother, I need to borrow your office again. Sorry.”
Grace had no opportunity to argue, not that she thought he would listen, before Romeo guided her away in the direction he’d previously taken Lucia. The pain in her chest only worsened, until it was all she could do to keep breathing. She stumbled quite literally into him when he finally stopped and turned to face her again, the impact jarring the faint but remaining ache in her head.
Romeo’s hands settled on her shoulders and he squeezed, his voice rumbling all around her. “Do I have to take you over my knee, too?”
Grace dragged in a breath. “What?”
“I heard enough. I know you were trying to leave.” His hands dropped to her hips, pulling her closer, tighter, against him. “I thought I told you I wasn’t letting you go?”
Grace closed her eyes and let her fingers twist in the fabric of his shirt. “I can’t hurt her like that…” She swallowed, trying desperately to find words. “But I also want my own. If I’m going to have a family, I want at least one biological child.” Her tears slipped free, but still she lifted her head to find his gaze again. “Don’t I deserve that much?”
Romeo cursed and kissed her, his hands dragging up to tangle in her hair. He seemed to forget all about being gentle as he pushed his tongue into her mouth and kissed her as though the act meant the difference between life and death.
Maybe it did.
She was certainly a little unsteady when he eased back, and grateful when he guided her to the dark leather sofa.
“Listen to me,” he said, voice rough and hushed at the same time. “I love my daughter, but for all her life she’s pretty much been treated like a princess. Not even just by me. So it turns out she’s spoiled, and she’s only now learning how to share.” He wiped tears from Grace’s cheeks as he spoke, not letting her look away. “Each new addition to the family’s been a little harder for her than the last. I was delusional to think I could speak gently and have the idea of me bringing someone new into our home go over smoothly. She barely comprehends the whole ‘baby’ thing, and I did not tell her she was being replaced, but all she heard was ‘new child’ and she spiraled into a royal, raging temper tantrum.” Romeo cupped her cheeks. “That’s what this is, angel. A child’s temper tantrum. It’ll pass. She’ll calm down, she’ll see that she’s not losing what she wants to keep—that she’s actually gaining. I promise, she’ll come around.”
Grace sucked in a wet, emotional breath. “I want that,” she whispered. “I want all of this to work. But I don’t want to destroy your relationship with your daughter just to get my dream.”
Romeo offered her a warm smile. “It will work. I’ve never been more sure about anything.” He leaned forward and kissed her forehead, over the bandage. “The fact that you would hurt yourself to protect mine and Lucy’s relationship only solidifies that.”
She wanted to believe him, to trust his words, but Lucia’s cries still reverberated in her ears. He was looking at this from a rational, adult perspective. Lucia was not.
Romeo adjusted his grip to fold her hands between his. “What Lucia needs to see is some normalcy, and something better. Let her see how much warmer the house is with all three of us together, and that she doesn’t lose me by gaining you. Make sure you spend some time with her, once this tantrum has passed, and give her a chance to see you in a new way. Everything will be fine.”
Grace sat with that for a minute, pushing his words through her emotional turmoil until things inside her settled. And something he’d said earlier resurfaced. “How can we accomplish that if she’s grounded?”
He made a face like he was both amused and confused simultaneously. “She was out of line, angel. I can’t let her go thinking kicking people—especially family—is okay.”
Grace couldn’t help but arch a brow. “Excuse me, Mr. Mafia, how hypocritical is that?”
He barked out a laugh. “You have no idea.” He gave her hands a squeeze. “But yes, she’s grounded. Two weeks—once for each kick.”
“She only kicked me once.”
His head tipped to the side, curiosity sparking in his eyes. “It was the intent.”
“Then she’s innocent. Her intention was to protect herself and her relationship with you. She can’t be blamed for not understanding something she’s never had to face before.”
“She knows better than to kick people, Grace.”
Grace frowned. “One week, then, for one actual kick.” It wasn’t how she wanted to start this relationship, but she recognized his point. And she really shouldn’t be overstepping.
Except Romeo’s lips lifted in a smile. “See? She has no idea how good life’s gonna get.” He kissed her again, short and startlingly sweet, then pulled them both to their feet. “Dante won’t hold dinner for us. Come on.” He didn’t actually wait before threading their fingers together and guiding her out the door, in the direction of the food that once again smelled amazing.