Chapter 2 #3
She vaguely remembered the mother saying something about calling the neighbor to watch the grandchildren. “Oh…” Kara was feeling numb and tired again.
Angelo’s father and brother found empty chairs to sit in while Francesca escorted Kara to the bathroom.
For a long moment she stood there, still so numb with shock over everything that happened. She stared at the battered, wild-haired woman in the mirror, blood on her clothes, tears in her eyes. She just couldn’t compel herself to move.
“You poor thing,” Francesca tutted as she turned on the water in the sink.
Angelo’s mother tested the water and when she was satisfied, she pulled Kara close, holding her hands in the water for her, gently rinsing them. Then she took a wet paper towel and gently wiped at smudges of dirt and blood on Kara’s cheek.
Neither of them spoke for a long moment as Francesca cleaned her. Something inside Kara fractured at the woman’s gentle, motherly care. By the time Francesca was helping her dry her hands, Kara was crying, her eyes full of big fat, detestable tears.
“Oh bambina,” she soothed as she pulled Kara to hug. “It’s okay... it’s okay.”
The stress and fear of the attack, the fear she felt for Angelo, and the sight of all that blood was simply too much for her at the moment. A man could die because of her. A man who’d only ever been kind to everyone.
Francesca held her for a long while until the sobs subsided.
“Feel better?” Francesca asked.
Kara nodded, feeling like a silly child as she rubbed her hands against her eyes and cheeks to wipe away her tears.
“This is scary for all of us,” Francesca said. “You love my son, and you watched him get hurt. That must have been terrifying.” Francesca brushed a hand over Kara’s wild red hair. “But Angelo is stubborn. All my boys are. He’ll be fine. You’ll see.”
“He has more than one brother?” She regretted the question the moment she asked it. Angelo’s fiancée should know how many brothers he had.
“Yes, of course! He has three.” Francesca laughed. “He didn’t tell you about us?”
Kara struggled to cover her tracks. “He mentioned he had brothers, just not how many… I’m so sorry I didn’t know.”
“You and Angelo have been dating a long time?”
She shook her head. “Not long… only two months.” The lies continued. “That’s why the engagement was still unofficial. We were mostly just talking about it. We hadn’t made any concrete plans yet.”
Francesca suddenly chuckled. “That boy. He was teasing me tonight about having a girlfriend. I assumed that he was joking because he said, ‘You can be a very intimidating mother.’”
For a moment Kara panicked. Did Angelo actually have a girlfriend? Or had he just been teasing his mother? She had no way to know.
Francesca sniffled still apparently lost in her memories of a conversation from earlier that night.
“I said to him ‘I am not,’ but… I am, I know. But I won’t be to you ever, my bambina.
You are Angelo’s, and now you are mine too.
” She squeezed Kara in a hug that warmed up so much of her cold, shivering heart.
Oh God, she’d missed this so much. A hug from a mother. Being someone’s child.
“You’ve had a long day. It’s all right.” Francesca rubbed Kara’s arms, as though trying to warm her up. “You’ll have plenty of time to learn all about us later. We should get back to the waiting room.”
The bathroom door opened, and Alessia came inside, holding a big green sweater, a lot like the one Kara was wearing.
“Thank you, you angel.” Francesca kissed her daughter-in-law’s cheek.
Alessia held out the sweater to Kara. “I think we have the same sweater, might even been the same size.”
Kara’s fingers closed around the fabric as she shyly thanked Angelo’s sister-in-law. She changed in one of the stalls and Francesca put her blood soaked sweater into a large shoulder bag.
“I’ll find a way to get the stains out,” Angelo’s mother promised her.
They returned to the waiting room where Kara fell into a chair beside Dante and Alessia and fell almost immediately asleep.
When she woke, she blinked, her body stiff and tired as she glanced at the waiting room clock.
Midnight. It had been four hours since Angelo had been stabbed, but somehow it felt more like four days.
“Feel better?” Alessia asked her.
“I can’t believe I fell asleep.”
“It’s the adrenaline,” Alessia explained. “It finally wore off and you crashed.”
“Did I miss anything? Did the doctors come out or…”
“No, not yet,” the other woman said.
A man pushed the waiting room doors opened just as Alessia spoke and he glanced around. He had dark hair and soft brown eyes. The second he spotted Angelo’s family, he headed straight for them.
“Jared!” Francesca gasped when she saw the man. “Thank you for coming. Did we wake up the baby when we called?”
“Of course! Felicity knows I’m here, but no, you didn’t wake Hayley.” He smiled wearily, but stress tightened his eyes as he embraced Francesca and Matteo.
She noticed Jared was staring at Kara. “Jared, do you know Kara?”
“Er… No?” Jared said in genuine confusion. His gaze swept over her with a critical eye.
Francesca beamed. “She’s Angelo’s fiancée.” Kara wanted to crawl into a hole all over again. This lie was just compounding on itself.
“Angelo’s fiancée?” Jared’s eyes narrowed on her and then softened. “It’s lovely to meet you, Kara. Angelo never mentioned you—”
Crap! She had to think fast.
“Our relationship is kind of new. I don’t even have a ring yet. We...” Her face was beet red. “That is, I—”
Alessia came to her rescue, putting an arm around Kara’s shoulders. “Okay now, let’s leave Kara alone. She’s been through enough.” She led Kara over to a chair away from Jared.
“I’m so embarrassed,” Kara confessed. “I don’t know anyone.” Of course, she had no way of knowing anyone here, but Angelo’s fiancée should have.
Alessia squeezed her hand as she sat down beside her.
“Don’t worry. I’ve got your back. I know what it’s like to be inducted into the craziness of the Vertucci family.
Tons of names, tons of personalities. It’s a lot.
Angelo had good reason to keep you to himself for a while.
Once the Vertuccis take you in, you become part of the family.
Then everyone will be sticking their nose in your business for the rest of your life,” Alessia laughed.
“Thank you. So, who is Jared? One of Angelo’s other brothers?” She needed to know more about him. He had a look about him that warned her he was the suspicious or at least perceptive type. He wouldn’t fall for the fake fiancée routine for long.
“Jared?” Alessia chuckled. “He’s not a Vertucci.
His name is Jared Redmond. He’s been Angelo’s friend for a long time.
They met when Angelo went away to a prep school in ninth grade.
They sent Angelo there to give him some space from his three younger brothers.
Jared’s a lawyer now. He’s married with the cutest baby girl.
His wife, Felicity is one of my best friends. You’ll love her.”
For brief instant Kara fell for her own lie and let herself believe this was all real. That she would get to meet all these people and be a part of their world.
A moment later, the waiting room door opened and a doctor in blue scrubs entered. She had her surgery masked pulled down to below her chin and her hair was tucked up in a blue cap.
“I need to speak to Angelo Vertucci’s fiancée,” the doctor said, her weary gaze moving between the people in the waiting room.
Kara slowly got up, her heart slamming in her chest as she watched the doctor’s face for any hint whether the news she had was good or bad.
“That’s me. And, uh, this is Angelo’s family.” She waved at the others who now stood behind her. At least she wasn’t alone, whatever happened.
The doctor motioned for Kara to sit in a chair. “Why don’t we sit? You look dead on your feet.”
“Thank you.” Kara’s head spun, and Alessia helped her back down into a chair.
Please God… let Angelo be okay.