Chapter Ten The Spark
Julianna
We made it to breakfast on time. I immediately sat down and grabbed a slice of toast to munch on. I was starving. Of course, I was. After what we did? The sex, then more sex and the ‘hot’ shower. Wow, I never knew it could be like this. I’d guessed Romeo might be very powerful when it came to something he felt strongly about. I’d sensed it somehow. Despite the sweet, charming part of him, I believed a lion might be hidden beneath all of that. And boy did that lion come out to play. Santa Madre! I had almost passed out a couple of times. I shuddered a bit from just the images in my head of it, even as I sat here in the dining room.
The man was a force to be reckoned with.
I knew I was doomed now. Well, maybe I shouldn't use that word because I hadn’t experienced doom at all. I’d experienced heaven. The doom part would be if it all ended in heartbreak. But I had literally gone on the ride of my life. Reality had totally blown away any fantasy I had ever had. He had loved me almost too well. I felt like he had secretly known what I liked in bed. But that just couldn’t be true. How could he? The way he played me like a musical instrument as he’d actually made my body sing. As the old saying goes, ‘I’d never felt so alive.’ I reached for the serving platter and snatched two pieces of bacon. I ate that really quick too.
I’d become a live wire. I now knew what that phrase really meant because I had just lived it. Seeing colors behind my eyelids as I’d orgasmed with him. To say I’d felt pleasure would be an understatement. Then he combined it with laughter. The man was helluva funny. I’d noted this before at the Descalia offices and when we were at Mr. Mancini’s estate. However, Romeo seemed to be the total package. With the high risk of a false romance nowadays and a severe lack of trust, most girls would think of his plusses like a wish list.
Has a solid career as an attorney. He rocks my world. Truly good looking and wow, those emerald eyes. Super smart, kind hearted and honest. A sense of humor that’s clever and quick. And my mother would add…he’s Italian! Oh and he rocks my world. He told me he was falling in love with me.
Ok, as for number eight…That confession had scared the freaking daylights out of me, though I tried not to show it. Could it be true? He loved me? I only met him three weeks ago. But I suppose it could happen in three minutes if it was real. My mother told me she knew the very second she met my father. She knew he was the one for her…for always. I would nod at her, but in reality, I believed their falling in love so fast had been a fluke. The spark . Yes, that had been what she said. If you experienced a spark, it was most likely love. She had advised though that I shouldn’t mistake attraction for the spark.
Truth was, back then, I had no idea what she was talking about.
Until now.
I had been attracted to a few men along the way. I was human after all. Once in high school, the guy had been a popular jock. So that had only been infatuation. Then once in college, the man had been super smart and great at math. So that had been admiration. Finally, one time on a vacation. He could dance, had a dazzling smile and bought me too many drinks…Attraction. This had been clear to me even back then as I found out they were just dates, all casual and light. I had never felt the spark, not like my mother meant.
I had to face the truth about Romeo though. He and I sparked like there would be no tomorrow. Like electrical popping currents. Literally, he kept at me this morning, like he thought there wouldn’t be another day with me, another chance to explore each other.
“Together, we are fire.”
This was what he’d said earlier and I had to agree. When I met him and found him to be very attractive, I had sworn that I would not get involved with him. But as soon as he told me how he felt about me, I capitulated. Besides that, I now was keeping something from him. I didn’t mean to do that. I never intended to be here at the Descalia Estate until Stephano said he’d wanted to hire me. I never knew Deacon Walker would be here either. I hadn’t planned any of it. I had literally fallen into this situation.
“Julie!”
With a start, I jumped in my seat.
Romeo laughed. “Wow, you were miles away.”
I blinked at him. “Yes, I think I was. And did you just call me Julie?”
He took my hand and squeezed it. “I did. Do you mind?”
I shrugged. “That’s what my family calls me.”
He grinned. “See? I knew it was the right name. Unless you don’t want me to call you that?”
I now remembered he had called me that earlier today when he…My cheeks heated up as I smiled at him and squeezed his hand. “It’s fine.
“As long as you come when I call, right?” he asked as his eyes twinkled at me.
I stared at him then I got it. I tilted my head back and laughed. Yeah, did I say he was funny already?
He chuckled. “Sorry, I just couldn’t resist.”
I stared into his eyes and wished I could have resisted him. Yet, I didn’t regret being with him. I don’t think I ever would. I only hoped this worked out. I was in dangerous territory here. I hadn’t seen it coming, but here I was.
“So that's how it is, eh?”
We looked over at Dante sitting across from us.
“How it is?” Romeo asked him innocently.
“Oh, come on!” Dante scoffed. “You two are holding hands.” He lowered his gaze to our joined hands.
“Yes, and you caught us red handed,” Romeo quipped. “Bully for you.”
I laughed.
Dante kept shaking his head as he replied, “I thought you were gonna walk the plank and sacrifice your job as an apology?”
“He had nothing to be sorry for,” I interjected. This was true. He told me how he felt about me. It wasn’t a come on.
Dante looked from me to his brother, then back at me. “Well, hot damn! So brother, how did you manage to…” he paused. “ Talk her into it?” he asked as he spread jelly on his toast.
I again interjected, “It was the other way around.” I beamed at him although I know my cheeks flamed. I looked down in a little embarrassment as I did literally storm Romeo last night, actually locking him in my room. Not looking up at Dante, I took a forkful of pancake and shoved it into my mouth.
“No way!” he stared at me then opened his mouth to speak.
“Dante!” Zia Maria called out.
We all looked over at her.
“Yes, Zia?” he asked his aunt.
“Why are you being so nosey?” she demanded.
“You must be joking, right?” Stephano cut in as he stared at his sister.
“Whataya talking about?” she asked him as she poured some juice from a small pitcher on the table.
“You,” he scoffed. “Have to be THE nosiest person in this house!” He took a sip of his coffee.
“Ha!” she exclaimed. “So says Mr. I Am In Charge Of Your Lives Descalia .”
“Ok, here we go,” Romeo mumbled under his breath as he smirked.
I glanced over at him.
He shrugged and told me, “No worries, it’s always fun to listen to them.” Then he looked back over at Zia. “Just wait for it.”
“So?” Stephano asked her. “I am their father, am I not?”
“Well, let’s see…” She smirked as she raised a serving spoon and set it into the scrambled eggs bowl. “Being a parent lasts forever, I know. But having the right to control their lives does not last forever.”
“I helped bring them into the world.” Stephano shrugged.
“So that means you can make them your puppets?” she argued. “I had thought they were all grown by now.”
He scoffed. “Age doesn’t matter, when it comes to knowing your responsibilities.”
She scoffed back. “Ohh, so since I am older than you, I can tell you what to do then, eh?”
“Chiudere il becco. Why do you keep claiming that?” Stephano exclaimed. “You are not older than me.”
“Don’t you tell me to shut up,” Zia retorted then she grinned at him. And I am older than you by at least two minutes.”
“Two minutes! Sciocchezze. Nonsense. That is not true,” he retorted.
Truly curious, I swung my gaze over and asked Romeo in surprise, “They’re twins?”
He shook his head at me. “I’m not sure.”
“What?” I asked. “How can you not be sure?”
Taking a bite of his toast, he chuckled. “Sounds wild, right? But honestly, this has been an argument between them for all of my life.”
“Exactly,” Dante spoke up and took a sip of his coffee. “We aren’t sure who is older.”
I looked back and forth at them, stunned. “That's just…”
“Odd?” Dante asked me then added, “Weird…Abnormal?”
I laughed and set my juice glass down. “A bit but I was gonna say astonishing.”
“Nothing astonishing about it,” Romeo said as he smiled. “I think they secretly love feuding.” Reaching over, he forked two links of sausage and set them onto his plate.
I glanced over at Talon, who sat next to Dante while munching on some bacon as he grinned.
I elbowed Romeo and motioned my head to Talon. The man hadn’t seemed to be the whimsical type at least since I’d met him. He looked serious all the time, so his smiling was curious.
Romeo looked over to study him. “Hey Talon,” he called to him. “What’s so funny?”
He chewed his bacon and shrugged his shoulders.
“The sibling bickering reminds him of home,” Liv answered for her brother with a chuckle as she set her coffee cup down.
“Yep.” Talon nodded. “We have identical twin brothers, Dagger and Hawk. They still argue about who’s the oldest, at least every other day.”
“In truth,” Liv said. “They argue about a lot, not just age. Like who’s more badass. Who can outbox, outrun, outfight or outfish the other.”
We all looked back over at Stephano and Maria.
“Maybe that’s why?” Romeo said as he handed me my coffee mug. “It’s a twin thing?
“Yeah, I never thought about it like that,” Dante agreed.
“That has to be it,” Redemption spoke up from two chairs over. “I’ve got fraternal twin brothers, Liberty and Fate. They’re constantly competing or one upping each other. Drives us insane at times.”
“That includes pranks and practical jokes,” Glory spoke up from next to Legend, 4 chairs down. “Of course, our middle brother Justice always stayed out of that stuff. And that made sense later on when he became a lawyer by the way.” She raised her juice glass at us.
I looked back and forth at Redemption, then at Talon as I finally realized the odd names. “Ok so, what’s with the names? Justice. Liberty, Fate. They can’t all be MC, right?”
Redemption smirked. “Redemption is my real name. In fact, my dad named us all after traits or standards he admired. So all those names are our legal names.”
“Yep,” Glory agreed.
Legend smirked and said, “And no other name would fit you, Glory.” He popped a sausage link into his mouth.
She kissed his cheek and cooed at him, “Awww… and Legend fits you for reasons I will not disclose publicly.”
Legend burst into laughter.
“My real name is Weston,” Talon spoke up as he raised his coffee mug. “But our father…their uncle…” He motioned at Redemption. “... named us in his dojo when we were kids. He trained us in various martial arts, starting at five years old. He chose names he felt described each of us. Like we had to earn the name first.”
“Talon though?” Dante asked him. “Why would he call you that?”
“Yeah, like what do you have to do to be called that?’ Dante asked him.
Liv snorted. “You’d have to fight him to know why,” she spoke up as she sipped her coffee. “It is said, when he grabs hold, he never lets go.”
“Don’t let her fool you,” Talon said. “Liv can kick ass next to the best Navy Seal in the ranks.”
“Yeah?” Redemption said as he stared at his cousin Talon. “You would be hard to beat. I saw you fight, remember?”
“You mean when I coaxed Prophet into the ring?” Talon asked as he set his cup down. “Dumbest thing I ever did.”
“Prophet?” I asked while feeling lost in this odd world of names.
“Our cousin,” Glory said. “His dad raised him semi-religious, but he could wrestle bulls at branding time. So he really gave Talon a run for his claws.” She chuckled.
“I stuck to Italian names,” Stephano cut in. “Luca, Amadeo, Dante, Romeo and...” he paused as he looked over at Legend. “Giovanni.”
“I don’t know,” Dante spoke up. “I would have liked to be named Hurricane.”
Several of us laughed.
“Why?” Romeo asked as he chuckled.
“It’s just badass, ya know? Like… Hey, here comes Hurricane!”
We smiled at him and there were a few laughs too.
“I would have never named you that,” Stephano claimed. “But you sure like the jokes, figlio. Maybe Joker would have been a good name for you, no?”
“NO!” Dante looked astonished. “I do not live in a Batman movie, Papa. I’ll stay with Dante.”
“That’s what I thought.” Stephano chuckled.
“So where is Luca and Amadeo?” I asked Stephano.
“Working,” he replied.
I wondered at his short answer.
Staring at me, he explained, “Amadeo is at the office, taking Luca’s place.”
“Really?” Dante cut in. “So where is Luca then?”
“He has been looking for this V woman.”
I simply stared at him as my stomach clenched a little. Well damn, I was looking for her too. I wore my lawyer's face as I always called it. An emotionless expression that I hoped would look semi-friendly.
What the hell kind of mess was I in?
Things were going to get tense as tomorrow would be the day. Or rather, tomorrow night we would look like we were making the exchange. I looked around and spotted Zia getting up and removing a few dishes from the table. I stood up and grabbed my plate, then Romeo’s too.
“What are you doing?” Romeo asked as he stared up at me.
“I’m going to help your aunt.”
He stared at me. “What?”
I laughed as I followed her to the kitchen. All across the long room, I could feel his eyes on me. My skin felt too warm and I realized that he didn’t even have to be touching me to make me hot for him. Damn, that was super sexy. I felt my body humming as I flushed all over.
Did it just get hot in here?
When I got to the door to the kitchen, I realized what I was doing. Not just enjoying having his eyes on me, but I had enjoyed a lot more of him. I spent the night in bed with him then took a shower with him this morning. Not a regular shower either. I scoffed to myself. I had done the opposite of what I had vowed. I had told myself so many times over the last two weeks or so. Do not date Romeo Descalia. Especially on one particular day when we were having lunch, he just looked so hot. Dressed in Armani and smelling like heaven’s door. My fingers itched to reach out and rake themselves through his silky looking hair. I of course didn’t give in, but it had been a fight as he made me laugh and kept using that dazzling-drop-your-panites smile of his.
So after fighting off the feeling and being proud of myself for resisting…What did I do? I leapt past dating and jumped into bed with him. I was the one that made it happen too. Locking him in my room? I know it was far too late now but…
The fuck was I thinking?
I halted when I almost ran into someone.
“Holy cannoli!” Zia exclaimed as she placed her hand on her chest.
Gasping, I reached out with my free hand to pat her arm. “Covolo, Zia. I am so sorry!”
She smiled at me. “I can see something is on your mind. Let me take those dishes.”
I paused. “I wanted to help with the cleanup.”
She chuckled as she managed to remove the plates from my grasp without me even realizing it. “No worries, I don't do a lot of dishes, dolce ragazza.” Sweet girl . “We have several maids and a housekeeper. I am sure they can handle it.” She smiled at me. “I wanted to tell you that you and Romeo sure look good together.”
My head shot up… Together. I tried to fight the panic. I’d never been the kind of person to lie. Although this was more like hiding something, not lying. I needed to tell Romeo and his family the truth about V. The truth about me. “I-I…”
At my senseless rambling, she chuckled and took my arm. “Come into the kitchen. I made some espresso. It is deliciosa.” She dragged me along, not giving me a choice.
I already knew Zia Maria was a force of her own as Romeo had phrased it. But she also seemed so wise and sweet to me. I admired the way she spoke out. I especially loved the way she handled Mr. Descalia. She knew how to do that for sure.
“Have a seat, dolce ragazza.” Zia waved her hand to a chair. Grabbing a tray with a few cups, she then sat a carafe and the cream-sugar pots onto it. Turning, she brought the whole thing over to set it down. Taking a seat across from me, she poured our espressos into tiny cups or what the Italians call demitasse, just like they used in Italy. Handing a cup to me, she smiled. “Have a sip. You will feel bene.
I did as she told me and took a small sip of it. The flavor was fantastic, warm, semi sweet and a bit frothy. I smacked my lips and said, “Così buono! So good.”
Raising her cup up to her lips, she blew on it to cool hers a bit. “Si, it’ll make you sit up and notice!” She chuckled.
I took another sip and hummed my enjoyment.
“So, why are you troubled?” she asked.
I set my cup down and asked, “Troubled?”
“Yes, even I can see that you are nervous. You looked very happy when you first came down this morning.”
I stared at her in confusion. “What?”
She chuckled and took a sip, then set her cup down. “ You looked like you were floating on a cloud. Then suddenly you became inquieta?”
“Uneasy?” I repeated.
Nodding, she sighed. “Non essere pazzo. I’m not the goomah for nuthin’, ya know? I can see you are scared of something. I know it might not be my preoccupazione, but there are plenty of people here that care about you.”
I lowered my head. “It's like a long story with short notice.” That was the way I saw it. My past history hadn’t made a difference here. It was just that in my past. Then it suddenly came up when they asked me about Deacon. Now it was my reality and very current.
Zia laughed. “Now that is a wonderful answer! A long story with short notice. Maybe I can help? I know by the look in your eyes that it’s something you are troubled about.”
I sipped my espresso shot then realized I’d drunk it all. I laughed nervously as I noticed my hand shook, so I set the cup down again. “It’s my past.”
“Oh?” she asked. “You got secrets then?”
I nodded and kept my head down as I replied, “Doesn’t everyone?”
The room went quiet, so I looked up at her. I cocked my head at her. “So, you do know about keeping secrets.”
Nodding, she reached over to pat my hand. “Si, I do. And when I am sure you are part of the family, I will share the biggest one.”
I stared at her and opened my mouth to speak.
Raising her hand at me, she said, “I really cannot tell you more yet. But I know you will be with Romeo for a long time.”
I blinked at her. “How do you—”
“Neva you mind that. We need to get your problem solved right away. There isn’t much time for all of this to happen.”
I furrowed my brows as I stared at her. “For all of this…” I shook my head.
“The rescue of Jarret and for you to find who you are looking for, then a happy ever after for you and Romeo.”
I stared at her. Either she was a clairvoyant or she knew more about me than anyone here. To find who you are looking for… I suddenly found myself telling her, “It’s someone from my past and I didn’t know I would find out about it when I came here. Now, I don’t know what to do.”
She nodded sagely. “First, you must decide if your secret will help or hinder the situation if it were known. Then you tell them and see what happens. I have learned that two things are always true. Love and life.”
I loved the notion of this saying, but in real time I couldn’t see how it would help me. “I’m not sure if…”
She patted my hand again. “Those are the two most important things, don’t you see? Without love there would be no life and vice versa.”
I stared at her. She’d made it into such a simple concept. Like an ideal that really wasn’t true.
Before I could reply, Zia stood from the table and said, “There will come a time when you understand this totally. Then when that happens…” She leaned down close and added, “Fight for it. Fight all the way.”