Chapter 4
Chapter Four
Kara left Angelo to rest, but her mind was still whirling from the unexpected turn her life had taken as she rejoined his family in the waiting room.
“How is he?” Francesca asked. She grasped Kara’s shoulders gently and studied her face for answers. “Was he happy to see you?”
Kara nodded. “He… um… told me he wants everyone to go home, eat dinner tonight, and rest.” She hadn’t forgotten his worry about her. “Me included,” she added with a somewhat awkward smile.
Matteo and Francesca nodded in agreement.
“All right. Home it is,” Francesca stated as if that settled the matter.
“I just need to stop at my place for a few things. I can meet you at Angelo’s home.
” She still had Angelo’s wallet and the bag holding his things with her.
She could double-check his driver’s license to find his address.
Kara knew could call Jared since he was in Angelo’s cellphone.
It was nice to know she had a failsafe of sorts.
“Nonsense,” Francesca turned to her other son. “Dante, you will drive Kara home to get her things. Alessia will come home with us and check on the children.”
Dante smiled wearily at Kara, but it was also a look that warmed her heart. “Come on, my car is this way.” He led her out of the waiting room and headed to the parking garage, stopping next to a new azure gray Bronco.
The footrest to get inside was as high as her knees. She reached out to grab the handle on the interior of the door to help herself climb up.
“You’re tiny, let me help.” Dante chuckled as he grabbed her under one elbow and hoisted her up. He was around the same height as Angelo. She could only look him in the eye once she was in the front seat.
“I’m not that tiny,” she protested. “I only look small compared to you and Angelo. I’m average height for a woman.”
He chuckled again.
Once he was inside, she gave him the address of her apartment complex in Englewood. His dark brows lifted.
“You live in that part of town?”
She nodded. It wasn’t a good part of town, but it wasn’t like she had a choice. In a big city like this, you took what you could get, especially if you didn’t plan to stay long.
“O—kay…” He drew the word out into two distinct syllables as he started the engine. “I bet Angelo doesn’t like you living in Englewood.”
“He doesn’t,” she answered carefully, knowing exactly how Angelo would act based on her short time knowing him.
“So, how did you and Angelo meet?” Dante asked as he left the hospital’s parking garage and onto the street which was bright with light reflecting on the snow.
“We met at the soup kitchen.”
“So you volunteer there, too?”
“Yes.”
“Angelo has a soft heart,” Dante said, his tone suddenly gentle. “Not like me, Renzo, or Faro. We’re wild, but Angelo? He’s the best of us.” He laughed, then flashed her a charming smile. “I’m glad he’s found someone. I think he’s been lonely for a long time.”
Kara almost gasped. How was that possible? How could a man so kind, gentle, and attractive be lonely? Women should have been beating down his door. Kara would have had her life been different. If she could have her way, she’d tuck herself into his warm embrace and never look back.
But she couldn’t. Couldn’t stay anywhere too long. Couldn’t be in a real relationship. She couldn’t ask anyone to give up their life to go on the run with her. It would be wrong ask someone to put their life at risk and take away their future. Other people settled down, but Kara could only move on.
They reached the apartment around 3:30 PM, and Kara told Dante to wait in the car.
She didn’t want him to see the inside of her apartment building.
If he wasn’t judging her by the part of town she lived in, he’d definitely judge her when he saw she was living in a bare tenement house.
And it would raise more questions about her background.
“I don’t think so. Vertucci men never let a lady go to her door alone.”
In another time and place she might have found that statement sweet, gentlemanly, but right now all it did was spike her rising anxiety.
She entered the building and ignored the broken elevator sign, opening the door to the stairs.
They had to climb three stories. Dante, though fit, huffed a little as he caught up with her.
She unlocked her door and stepped inside.
There really was no way to hide the state of her apartment, so she might as well get this over with.
“You can wait the hall or come in if you want.” Refusing him would only seem suspicious.
“Thanks.” Dante followed her inside and closed the door.
With a pang of embarrassment, Kara turned on the lights and revealed a mostly empty apartment.
There was one folding chair tucked up against a folding card table which she’d found at Goodwill.
The mattress in her bedroom was on a cheap wireframe.
An old lamp sat on even older nightstand by her bed with a couple of paperback books next to it.
She had a few posters on the walls of places she wanted to go, like Paris and England.
She had a stainless steel French press for coffee and her one favorite mug in the kitchen.
There was even a little wooden box she kept her favorite teas in.
That was it. The summation of her life in Chicago. She had no photos of herself, no pictures of places she loved hanging on the old fridge. Nothing. Her life wouldn’t allow more than what she had.
She had to be able to carry her possessions out in a backpack and a rolling suitcase that she could fit on a bus. The furniture was always left behind when she moved on.
She snuck a glance at Dante from the corner of her eye, checking for his reaction and knowing it wouldn’t be good.
Even though she hadn’t seen Angelo’s home, his clothing had been classic, masculine and expensive looking.
If Angelo’s restaurant could donate food to the soup kitchen, then he had to have a nice home with all those spare bedrooms for his family.
And here she was with her dingy little apartment, barren of any trace of someone living there except for the basic necessities.
His brother Dante was no different, he wore an expensive looking watch, and a new Bronco wasn’t cheap.
She couldn’t help but wonder what Dante would tell Angelo or his family about her?
The poor girl dating their rich son? Was she after his money?
They’d probably start to wonder. But then again… the Vertucci’s seemed like kind people.
“So… Kara, what do you do for a living?” Dante asked a little too casually. It was obvious he was trying to understand why her home basically had nothing in it.
“I work at a bodega down the street. I run the cash register. It’s not glamorous, I know,” she hedged.
Dante’s cheeks turned red. “I didn’t mean—” He cursed softly and then tried again. “Does Angelo know you—” He halted again.
Kara had to think fast and come up with something halfway convincing.
“There was a fire at my old place, a lot of smoke damage. I had to basically start over. My insurance was supposed to cover some of it, but they still haven’t paid out.
” As far as lies went it wasn’t bad. “Angelo is unhappy about it but he—”
“I can imagine he is,” Dante said. “Because I’m pissed, and I’m not engaged to you.” He added. “I probably sound like some privileged asshole, but you deserve more, Kara. You shouldn’t be living like this.”
“I don’t want to,” she replied, her tone curt. “Trust me, I don’t.” She didn’t want someone with money and a stable life lecturing her. He didn’t know half of the things she’d gone through just to stay alive.
He let out a frustrated little sigh. “And here I am, being the asshole. Honey, you’re moving into Angelo’s place tonight. Pack everything up that you want to take with you. If you want any of this furniture, we can come back for it later.”
“But Dante, I—”
“Pack everything,” Dante said even more clearly. “Why Angelo would allow this I don’t know, but I won’t.”
Kara swallowed the lump in her throat and did as he said. She tried to ignore the guilt that prickled at the back of her mind because she was actively lying to Dante. He was a kind man. She had never known men like this could exist until Angelo had stepped between her and a knife.
Perhaps it was the fatigue she felt that made her comply so quickly. She felt like if she could trust anyone in the world right now, it would be Angelo or someone in his family.
After she’d packed everything, she met Dante at the door. He took her suitcase from her and stepped into the hallway.
Neither of them spoke on the drive back, and Kara’s stomach knotted anxiously as she wondered what he was going to tell Angelo and how Angelo would react.
Angelo had no idea she lived like this, and he’d have to be on his game to keep his reaction of surprise hidden from his brother.
She wished not for the thousandth time she had a cellphone so she could text Angelo.
Even though there was a landline phone at the hospital in his room, Dante would overhear if she tried to call him.
Instead, she discretely picked up her cellphone and texted Jared.
Kara: It’s Kara, I’m on Angelo’s phone. Dante saw my crappy apartment and made me pack up and move my stuff into Angelo’s house. Can you call him at the hospital and warn him about this? There’s a phone in his room, but I’m with Dante so I can’t call him right now.
Jared: I can do that. What does he need to know?
Kara: That I live in Englewood and my apartment is basically bare.
She watched the dots appear in the text thread for a few moments.
Jared: Okay. I’ll take care of it. Glad you’re not staying in Englewood anymore.
Kara: Thanks.
She tucked Angelo’s phone back in her coat pocket.
Dante parked his Bronco in front of a beautiful two-story brownstone. Kara’s heart began to pound. Of all the houses on the street, this one stood out, not because of any bright decorations on the outside, but the light coming from within.