Chapter 34
Frankie paced the floor as he waited for Sophia Toscano’s arrival.
It was time for him to clear his conscience.
He had to tell her everything, because he didn’t want to lose her.
Ray was right that sex wasn’t everything when it came to love.
And he’d been with enough women to know what he felt for Sophia was love.
As real as the love he’d witnessed over the years between his parents, who in a few years were planning to celebrate their thirty-fifth wedding anniversary.
Ray was also right when he said he couldn’t be trusted because he had broken a number of promises he’d made to his uncle.
It wouldn’t be the first time he would invite Sophia to meet him in the apartment above the laundromat because it was more intimate than the street-level one in his family’s brownstone.
The chiming of the doorbell shattered the silence, and he went over to the intercom and tapped a button. “Yes?”
“It’s me. Sophia.”
“Come on up,” he said, tapping another button to disengage the lock on the door leading out to the street.
He didn’t have long to wait when he saw her coming up the staircase.
Frankie had taken one look at the young woman with a pair of hazel eyes and hair the color of roasted chestnuts and knew there was something about her that had appealed to him as no other had.
When she told him her mother was Irish and her father Italian, he knew immediately they were ancestral kindred spirits. They were destined to meet.
Frankie knew it had to be fate when he walked into his family’s restaurant and saw her sitting alone at a table.
He approached her, asking if he could share her table because he was dining alone.
At first, she was hesitant, but then invited him to join her.
When he mentioned that he didn’t recall seeing her come into the restaurant before, she told him she freelanced part-time to gather historical information for writers whose names she wasn’t free to divulge because she was bound by a non-disclosure agreement.
She’d recently moved to Manhattan and had secured the part-time position to supplement her salary, because rents were higher in Manhattan than in her old Queens neighborhood.
Not only was it easy for them to carry on a conversation, but Frankie was captivated by her natural beauty.
At some urging, she finally told him she’d been raised by her father after her mother passed away the year she’d turned thirteen, and that’s when her father had become overprotective to the point where she felt smothered.
It was only after she’d finished college and got a job with a small publishing house that she was able to move out on her own.
Now, at twenty-six, she was not only emancipated, but also in control of her life and destiny.
When he asked if he could see her again, she accepted his phone number but held back giving him the number to her home and office, saying she would be in touch whenever she had a free moment.
The moment stretched into more than a month when she returned to the restaurant to share dinner with him.
Frankie was forthcoming when he told her the restaurant had been in his family for three generations, and it was a favorite to longtime neighborhood residents.
Unfortunately, she had come to the restaurant on the weekend Kenny wasn’t scheduled to come in, because he’d wanted to ask his friend what he thought of her.
Their next official date was to the New York Botanical Garden, followed by a trip to the Cloisters, because she loved history.
He’d lost track of the number of museums they had visited that summer, followed by brunch at sidewalk cafés, and Frankie knew he’d fallen in love and wanted Sophia to be the last woman in his life.
At first, he thought she was frigid, because she would allow him to kiss her, but nothing beyond that.
When he asked her why, she said she’d promised her dying mother that she would remain a virgin until married, because Bridget Cunningham was forced to marry a man once she discovered she was pregnant when she’d slept with him after two dates.
Her mother had drilled it into her head that she was to refrain from premarital sex until married.
One time, he became so aroused that he put his hand up her skirt, and she freaked out, spewing expletives and screaming that she never wanted to see him again.
He had arranged for a florist to send candy and flowers to her office every day until she called him and asked that he stop.
He told her he would stop if she accepted his apology and that he would never pressure her to do something she didn’t want to do.
Sophia accepted his apology and said she would see him again. That was weeks ago.
“Hey, you,” he crooned, curbing the urge to lean over and kiss her.
Sophia smiled. “Hey, yourself.” She rubbed her hands together. “I feel like it’s going to snow.”
Frankie sandwiched her hands between his, warming her cold fingers. “Why didn’t you wear gloves?”
“I misplaced them, and I forgot to buy another pair.”
Frankie reached over and closed the door. “I’ll get you a pair lined with fur.”
Sophia removed her ski cap, shaking out her naturally wavy hair. She took off her peacoat and handed it to Frankie to hang up. “I don’t need a pair with fur.”
“Can I get you something hot to drink?”
“No, thank you. I’m not going to be here that long, because I promised my father I would spend some time with him.”
“How is he?”
“He’s good. I keep telling him that he’s working too much, but whatever I say goes in one ear and out the other.
He claims if he can find a mechanic who is as good as he is, then he’ll cut back on his hours.
I know Daddy is just talking out the side of his neck, because he doesn’t believe anyone can be as good as he is. ”
Reaching her hand, Frankie led her into the living room. “How long has your father had his shop?”
“More years than I can count. Remember, I told you the garage belonged to a cousin, and my father began repairing cars when he was still in high school. Once his cousin retired, Daddy took over.”
“That sounds familiar, because I took over the family business even before my uncle passed away.”
“There’s something to keeping it in the family,” she said, smiling.
Frankie stared into the large gold-green eyes framed by long black lashes. “I want—no need—to talk to you about something that may affect whether you’re willing to continue to see me, or if this will be the last time we’ll be together.”
A slight frown creased Sophia’s smooth forehead. “You’re scaring me, Francis. What are you trying to say?”
“I’m trying to say that I love you and that I’m willing to wait, if you agree to marry me, and not make love to you until our wedding night.”
She lowered her eyes. “What brought on this epiphany?”
“I met with some friends, who set me straight about things I’d done in my past life that should remain there.”
“Like sleeping around?”
“Yes,” Frankie admitted.
“And abusing drugs?”
He looked at Sophia as if she were a stranger. “Why would you say that?”
“I may be innocent when it comes to sex, but I’m not that na?ve when it comes to drugs. And no, I’ve never indulged, but I know people who do.” She looked at him as if she dared him to refute her accusation. “Cocaine?”
Frankie knew he was between the proverbial rock and a hard place. If he hoped to have any kind of future with her, he had to be open and honest about his life. “Yes, babe. I’ve snorted cocaine.”
Her eyebrow lifted slightly. “Snorted or still snorting?”
He nodded. “I did a few lines last night.”
“Why, Francis? Why do you feel the need to medicate yourself with drugs that will eventually destroy you? There’s no way I’m going to agree to have a future with a man who can’t stay away from drugs. Do you think I want our children to see their father high all the time?”
All he heard was “our children,” and realized Sophia was seriously thinking about marrying him. “I’ll stop.”
“You better, or there’s no way I will consent to marry you. And by the way, who do you buy your cocaine from?”
“I don’t buy it from anyone.”
Sophia shook her head. “I don’t believe you. And if you fucking lie to me, Francis D’Allesandro, it will be the last time you’ll ever see me after I put my coat on and walk out that motherfucking door.”
It wasn’t often that Sophia used profanity in his presence, and when she did, he knew she was enraged. He’d witnessed her explosive temper once and vowed to do everything he could not to see it again.
“After I tell you what I’m going to confide in you, if you want to walk, then I won’t stop you. But you ever repeat what I’m going to tell you, then I’ll hunt you down and blow your brains out.” His lips twisted into a cynical smile. “And it won’t be the first time that I had to shoot someone.”
Sophia sat up straighter. “You’re sick when you talk about loving and shooting me in the same breath.”
“I do love you, Sophia. It’s something I’ve never said to another woman. And I would willingly give up my life to protect you and the children I hope to have with you.”
“Protect me from what, Francis?”
“I’ve been living a double life.”
Sophia rested a hand over her throat under a bulky green turtleneck sweater. “I want you to tell me everything, and please don’t leave anything to my imagination.”
Frankie knew he was about to break another promise to his uncle when he told Sophia everything that he’d become involved with and concealed from his godfather.
Once Frankie Delano relinquished all responsibility of running the family business to him, he’d reestablished the connections his grandfather had before his eldest son decided to take the business in another direction.
He’d become known as the incarnation of Salvatore—the Serpente—D’Allesandro, who was feared by anyone who dared cross him.
When he finished telling Sophia what he’d vowed never to disclose, he waited for her reaction. She was just looking at him with those beautiful hazel eyes, and he wanted to know her inner thoughts. He wanted to shake her and tell her to say something.
The seconds ticked until they became minutes before she said, “I will never repeat what you just told me.”
Frankie slumped and huffed a groan. “Thank you, babe.”
“Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, we should talk about our relationship.”
He smiled at her. “What about it?”
“I want you to check yourself into a drug rehab program. And once you’re cleaned, we can get engaged. I want a long engagement.”
“How long, babe?”
“More than a year and less than two years.”
He frowned. “That’s a long time.”
“It’s not as long when compared to what we’ll spend together as husband and wife.”
Frankie’s frown vanished when he smiled. “You’re right about that. Now can I kiss you?”
Sophia shook her head. “Not until you’re drug-free.”
“You’re a hard woman, Sophia Toscano.”
“That’s because my man has a hard head.” She stood up. “I have to go now, because I told my father I would meet him before he closed his shop.”
Frankie helped her into her coat and watched as she walked out of the apartment, feeling freer than he had in a very long time.
He knew he had to kick his cocaine habit, but there were times when he needed to experience the euphoria that made him feel invincible.
He had a few grams lying on the bedside table he would save for later when he needed to feel good again.
Then when it was gone, he swore it would be the last time he would use, because he’d promised Sophia he would get off the drug.