Chapter 4
Chapter Four
Valentino
“Do you want to go and get something to eat?”
Leighton nods. “Lunch sounds good. Where did you want to go?”
“The bakery has sandwiches. Or if you want, we can go to the restaurant or the cafe.”
“The cafe sounds nice. Let me get Davis’ food and we can head out.”
I watch her go to the kitchen and pull out a few jars of food. I’m not sure watching her do that should turn me on…but it does. I look at Davis and he’s looking at me. He starts giggling, which makes me laugh. He’s so fucking adorable.
“Okay, we can go now,” Leighton says to us. “Do you want me to take Davis?”
“No, I can carry him if that’s okay.”
I can see she wants to take him from me, but she lets me keep holding him. We walk to the cafe and take a table outside. We order sandwiches and drinks.
“What do you do in St. Cloud?” I ask her as I watch her feed Davis.
“I’m a legal secretary for a law firm, been there for two years now.”
“Do you enjoy what you do?”
“I do. Do you enjoy what you do?”
I nod at her. “I love what I do, even though my sister is a pain in my ass. But protecting her is an honor.”
“If you’re here with me and Davis, who’s with your sister?”
“My other sister, Luciana has a bodyguard too. His name is Amante, and he’s guarding both of them today.”
“You don’t have to hang out with us, I don’t want to take you away from your work.”
“You’re not, I want to be here. Plus they’re not little.”
She looks at me and chuckles. “Why do they need bodyguards?”
“It’s something that’s part of our lives. When the women in our family turn sixteen, they get a bodyguard. And when a woman joins our family, they get one too.”
“Why? I don’t want Davis to be in danger.”
“There are parts of my life that I can’t really talk about. But I can promise you this. If Davis is my son, I will tell you what I’m allowed to so you don’t have to worry.”
She frowns but nods slowly as she eats. It’s like I can see the worry that’s in her head. And I wish I could tell her there’s nothing to worry about. But I’d be lying and I don’t want to lie to her.
“What do you do when you’re not working? Or are you always on duty?”
“No, I’m not always on duty. Isabella has a boyfriend, so there’s lots of times where I don’t have to be with her. But that’s mostly when they’re on our property. As long as she’s off property, I have to be with her.”
“Even if they go to dinner? Or dates?”
I chuckle. “Yes. But I don’t sit with them, I sit somewhere I can see them. It’s my job, and I won’t take the chance that something could happen to her when I wasn’t watching.”
“I can see that. You take your job very seriously.”
“I do. And it’s not just because she’s my sister, I’d do this for anyone that I was a bodyguard for.”
“Do kids in your family have bodyguards too?”
“Sometimes, yes. My brother Francesco’s daughter has one, he stays with her when she’s in school. But when they’re home, she’s with her parents or one of the family. Basically we’re all family so everyone helps out.” I smile at her.
“I like that. And Caitríona, she’s really nice and welcoming.”
“After you meet everyone, you’ll see they’re all like that. It can be overwhelming because there’s a lot of us. But we all take care of each other. No matter what.”
She gets a faraway look in her eyes.
“Do you have a big family?” I ask her.
“No. It’s just my twin and our younger brother. I uh…I haven’t spoken to my parents in five years. Our childhood wasn’t the best time for any of us.”
I keep my anger in check. The way she’s talking about her parents, it makes me think they were abusive. And if that’s the case, they better stay far away from my girl and Davis.
Leighton
It looks like Valentino is getting angry as I talk about my parents.
“Were they abusive?” he asks softly.
I stare at him and debate whether to tell him the truth or not. I mean why would he really care how I grew up?
“You can trust me. I know that you had an idea of who I was before you got here. But I promise you that if I had known about Davis, I never would have left Kayla to take care of him by herself. And I would never lay a hand on either of you.”
I take a deep breath.
“My father was a drunk. Or I guess I should say is a drunk. He’s alive and well, living in Randall, Minnesota. At least that’s the last I heard. I haven’t seen or talked to him or my mother in five years.”
“You didn’t answer my question. Did they abuse you?”
“Yes. When my father drank, which was daily, we learned to stay away from him. If we didn’t? There was a good chance he would end up screaming at us and then hitting us. My twin sister Lynton and I took the brunt of it. And we tried to shield Levi, our younger brother, from his rage. A few months before we left, he started getting physical with Levi. Levi was bigger and stronger than our father by then, so I was afraid that he would do something to hurt him and get in trouble. So we made a pact that as soon as Levi turned eighteen, we would leave.”
“How old were you and Lynton when you left? And did your dad do more than hit you?”
“We were nineteen. And no. He yelled and belittled us a lot. Never anything sexual.”
“What did your mother do? And where are Lynton and Levi now?”
“Our mother ignored all of it and the few times I tried to bring it up to her? She told me I was overreacting and I needed to stop making up stories. Lynton is a school teacher now and she loves it. Levi is in the Marine Corps and stationed in Japan. We got to see him when Kayla passed, they gave him a month to be with us.”
“I’m so sorry you had to go through all that. Your mother should have protected you from your father. No father should do that to his children. In fact, no parent should do that to their children.”
“Thank you. But I’ve come to realize that my father doing what he did was his problem. He was miserable, so he took it out on us. And now? Now he’ll never know me again or the family that I’ll have one day. And it’s taught me that I will never let anyone treat my children that way.”
Valentino smiles at me as he plays with Davis.
“I used to think that I was unwanted because I grew up in the foster system. And I rebelled because of it. I ended doing some bad things and getting arrested. The judge was lenient and my punishment was to clean up what I did and repaint the part of the building that I vandalized. That’s what led me to the Bastianini family. It was their building. The first day I was there to clean, Giacomo came to talk to me. Then he came down everyday. Eventually he brought Caitríona and I got to talk to her too. Then they brought their kids and every time they came down, they’d help me scrub, then we painted together. Then the last day that I was there, I remember feeling like I was being left behind. I mean why would they still want to have me around, right? Well to my surprise, Giacomo and Caitríona asked me if I wanted to come and live with them. And the rest is history.”
Everything I thought I was going to learn about Valentino was wrong. He’s not the monster that I was expecting to find. He’s caring and protective, even after all he’s been through. The more he tells me about himself, the more I hope that test says he’s Davis’ daddy.
Valentino takes my hands in his, and it sends a jolt through me. I look at him and the look on his face is telling me he felt it too.
“I don’t know how to say this and not sound like a total creep. But I’m going to say it the best way I can. I do remember Kayla. I remember meeting her and I remember that night. I also remember the next morning when we had breakfast together. We talked about how what we shared was fun, but neither of us felt anything. She also told me about you and how if you had been there, you would’ve liked me. Now that I’ve met you? I wish it had been you that night.”
I frown at him as I think about what he’s saying. When I first saw him, I wanted to punch him. I came here knowing I had to do this for Kayla, and for Davis. But now? There’s a part of me that wants to get to know Valentino. Then I remember the other letter that Carl gave me. I need to read it when I get back to the hotel. I look at Valentino and try to figure out what to say to him. Then his phone rings. I clean Davis up as he takes the call.
“So the results are in. We can head over to the hospital now if you want,” he says to me as he hangs up.
“Okay. Let’s go,” I say as I stand up.
Valentino takes my hand again and pulls me to him.
“I hope you’re willing to give us a try,” he whispers in my ear.
His breath sends shivers through me and I involuntarily moan softly. Fuck me.
I look up into his hazel eyes, just as he leans down and kisses me. It’s like I’ve lost control of my mouth as I kiss him back, our tongues duel as I moan again. I finally pull back and steady myself.
“Let’s go see if Davis is mine. Then we can work on making you mine too.”