Mrs. Duhamel blew her nose into a tissue and
scolded, "Dominic, you tell your mother right now that you have
forgiven her. There will be plenty of time to hug Abby after you
marry her."
Everyone looked at Mrs. Duhamel in surprise
as she continued to address Dominic in a stern tone that was almost
comical. “You know I’m right. You’re usually a good boy, but you
tend to lose your head around Abby and there is no need to let your
mother continue to suffer while you moon over her.”
Dominic smiled ruefully down at Abby. "I do,
you know. Completely lose my head around you.”
Abby tearfully, joyfully smiled back up at
him. "That's ok, because I'm very comfortable telling you what to
do."
His smile became a bemused grin. "And what is
that, Abby?"
Never one to be at a loss with advice, Abby
squared her shoulders and stated, "Well, in order of execution, I
believe you should go hug your mother and tell her that you love
her. You should give Marie a hug, too, because as a stand in mom I
think she has done a fabulous job. And then I think we should
invite everyone inside before we all melt in the sun.”
Dominic's eyes widened with wonder. "Is that
it?"
"For today," Abby joked and stepped back from
him. "Tomorrow I start a whole new list."
There wasn't a dry eye in the group when
Dominic opened his arms to his mother and she flew into them,
sobbing. Dominic hugged her, closing his eyes to hide what Abby
suspected was a flow of his own emotion.
Eventually, he released her to hug Mrs.
Duhamel. Before long the two older women were hugging each other,
each grateful for the role the other had played in caring for the
son they both loved.
Lil burst out, "Ok, I can't take this
anymore. It’s like a soap opera. I'm bawling my eyes out over here.
Can we go in the house yet? Colby must be starving."
Jake looked down at the baby he'd forgotten
he had in his arms. "Is that why she's eating my tie?" It was
partially soaked with drool. For a man who had a baby phobia, Jake
was taking his role as a glorified chew toy in stride.
Mrs. Duhamel moved forward to take the little
girl. "If you have a bottle, I'll feed her." Then she looked at
Dominic's mother and said, "Why don't you help me, Rosella. You
might as well get back into the habit, because the way those two
are all over each other -- you'll probably be Nonna Rosa before you
know it. They’d better pick a wedding date soon.”
Dominic’s mother flushed with real pleasure.
“This is so much more than I dreamt possible when I called Thomas.”
Happy tears began to pour down her face. “Dominic, you have so many
cousins in Montalcino. Your children could summer with me there and
get to know my side of the family.”
Dominic made a pained sound deep in his
chest.
In response to what was to her a horrific
thought, his mother asked, “You do want children, don’t you,
Dominic?”
Mrs. Duhamel answered for him. She said, “Of
course, he does, Rosella. He’s just still in shock. Come inside,
we’ll feed Colby and plan their wedding.”
Dominic sputtered something incomprehensible
then looked down at Abby for support. She laughed and fell even
more in love with the gloriously flustered man who had maintained
his composure while being grilled by the international press, but
lost his ability for speech in the face of family.
Jake was equally amused by his friend’s
predicament. His smile didn’t dim, not even when Dominic glared at
him. “I’m laughing with you,” he stressed.
Dominic growled, “I’m not laughing.”
Jake continued to chuckle and winked at Abby.
“Minor technicality.”
Shaking his head with self-deprecating humor,
Dominic joked, “Do they know that I am now one of the ten richest
men in the world? I should command some respect.”
Abby patted his arm in mock sympathy. “I
know, honey.” She took him by the hand and led him toward the
house. “Let’s go inside and cool off. Your secret is safe with
me.”
Once within the much cooler walls of the
mansion, Abby settled everyone in one of the living rooms and asked
the staff to bring refreshments. Emotions were running high, but
there was a general comfortable banter within the group.
Abby and Dominic sat on one couch, Jake and
Lil on another with Thomas and Dominic’s mother on still another.
Mrs. Duhamel circled the room, feeding Colby and gazing down at her
warmly as if she’d known the baby from birth.
Thomas patted Rosella’s leg, but looked
across at Dominic. “While we are all clearing the air, I also owe
you an apology, Dominic. I’ve always known where your mother was. I
helped her escape and fake her death, but I thought keeping the
truth from you would keep you all safer. I thought you’d stay with
your father and eventually take over his company. I was wrong and
by the time I knew how wrong, too much time had gone by; I didn’t
see a way to unravel the mess I’d help create.”
Dominic studied the older man sitting next to
his mother and said slowly, “You love her.”
Thomas and his mother exchanged a meaningful
look. “Yes, but I kept myself away from her for the same reason I
kept you away. Your father would never have allowed her to be happy
away from him. He had a cruel streak that I couldn’t risk
unleashing on Rosella.”
Dominic’s mother laid her hand over Thomas’
in silent understanding.
Dominic’s expression twisted painfully as he
reflected on Thomas’ apology. He looked down at Abby and said
urgently, “I’ve made so many mistakes with you, Abby. To the
outside world, I probably do look like I am following in my
father’s footsteps, but I need you to know that if you ever decided
to leave me, I would never think of harming you. Hurting you would
be like killing a piece of myself. I need you to know that.”
Abby squeezed his hand. “As much as you are
not your father, Dominic, I am not your mother. I’m not afraid of
you.” She smiled because she knew she meant those words and
marveled at what a difference a week could make in the way she saw
the world. “Hell, I apparently even have military support at my
beck and call. Maybe you should worry about what would happen if
you ever tried to leave me.”
Lil warned from across the room, “Don’t even
think she’s kidding, Dominic. You are marrying one tough lady.”
“Hey,” Abby said in amused protest.
Lil’s eyes were full of love for her sister,
even as her words teased. She told her small audience, “I’m not
sure if all of you know, but Abby raised me after our parents died
several years back. She kept me out of trouble and in school while
putting herself through college. She’s the strongest person I know.
I’m proud of her, but I hate to say it because she gets really
bossy when she thinks she’s right.”
Jake interjected, “She probably had to be.
I’m sure you were not an easy child to raise.”
Lil flounced on the chair beside him, “Unlike
you, I suppose? Dominic, was Jake born with a tie on? He never
takes it off. Never. I took him bowling and he showed up exactly
like this. People thought I was dating the mafia.”
Abby couldn’t help but pounce on that juicy
tidbit. “You two went bowling?”
Dominic sat back and laughed, “I would have
loved to have seen that.”
Jake looked adorably defensive. “It was her
idea.”
Mrs. Duhamel paused behind Dominic’s seat and
gently scolded, “Don’t tease Jake, Dominic. Can’t you tell he
really likes her?”
A slow and deep red flush swept up Jakes neck
and face, drawing a mixture of amused and sympathetic laughter from
everyone in the group. Lil was the only one who didn’t find it
funny. She said, “What he likes is telling people how they should
live their lives. He’s as bad as Abby.”
“It’s like trying to advise a wall,” Jake
grumbled and the group broke into laughter again.
In that moment of shared camaraderie,
Dominic’s mother gushed, “I wish Nicole were here with us.”
The room stilled and all eyes turned to
Dominic. For once, the mention of his sister didn’t make him
defensive. He said, “She will be, Mother. We’ll work it out.”
Abby hugged her future husband. “We. I like
the sound of that.”
He looked rather pleased with himself. “Me,
too.”
Thomas cleared his throat and awkwardly
added, “I know the past few days have been insane for you, Dominic,
but there has been a development regarding Nicole that I think you
should know about.”
Dominic leaned forward in his chair;
instantly concerned. “What is it?”
“She thinks she has found a way to break the
will, but I fear she’s selling her soul to do it,” Thomas said with
some hesitation.
Dominic stood and walked toward the older
man. “Just say it, Thomas. Don’t dance around the subject.”
Pushing his glasses up the bridge of his
nose, Thomas announced, “She is working some deal with Stephan
Andrade. She didn’t give me all the details. Something about prior
contracts having to be fulfilled before the terms of the will can
be executed.”
Dominic straightened in fury, appearing to
double in size. All traces of the affable man from a few minutes
ago disappeared, like a tamed jungle cat reverting back to its
instinctive aggressive behavior in response to a threat. The room
pulsed with the intensity of his anger. Here was the man
dignitaries made way for. Abby didn’t doubt for a second that this
Dominic could have walked away from Corisi Enterprises and clawed
his way back to the financial top within years.
He punched his thigh in frustration. “Of all
the asinine things to do. Doesn’t she know that he’d love nothing
more than to find a way get to me?”
Thomas shook his head sadly. “I tried to tell
her, but she wouldn’t listen to me. She said they were old
friends.”
Dominic ran an angry hand through his hair.
“What the hell does that mean?”
Thomas responded blandly, “Your guess is as
good as mine, but rumor has it that she has been spending a lot of
time at his house outside of New York City.”
“I’ll kill him,” Dominic growled.
Jake was at his side in an instant. “Not if I
get my hands on him first,” he said, looking every bit as furious
as his friend.
That gained an appreciative grunt from
Dominic and then a sarcastic question, “I thought you didn’t do
things that could have you hiding in a third world country to
escape extradition?”
Jake loosened his tie defiantly, “This would
be worth it.”
Abby looked to Thomas for help. “Can’t you
talk some sense into them before they do something stupid?”
Thomas shrugged, “Dominic, just consider
today a professional consultation so I won’t be able to testify
against you in court.”
She looked around helplessly, “Marie, can’t
you calm them down?”
Mrs. Duhamel grimaced, “He has a long history
with Stephan. I agree that Nicole is going to get hurt if nothing
is done.”
Someone is going to get hurt either
way
, Abby feared.
She stepped in front of Dominic and Jake and
planted her feet. Part of what Dominic loved about her was her
ability to stand up to him and this was one of those times when
Abby knew she had to speak her mind. “No one is going to do
anything before we talk to Nicole.”
Dominic’s jaw was still set at a stubborn
angle. “You don’t know how dangerous this man is, Abby.”
“Is she in physical danger?” Abby asked.
“Probably not,” Jake conceded.
“Then we are going to have to find a way to
work this out without driving a permanent wedge between you and
Nicole. What is more important here, an old grudge or healing your
relationship with your sister?” Abby put a soothing hand on
Dominic’s tense arm and felt his muscles instantly relax beneath
her touch.
Dominic’s anger melted away. “I hate when
she’s right,” he said.
“Me, too,” Lil piped in from behind.
“Nothing is going to happen to Nicole,
Dominic. We won’t let it.” A suspiciously quick look passed between
Dominic and Jake, reminding Abby of a feral cat she’d once tried to
tame. It had purred when pet, even accepted being groomed, but
beneath its domesticated veneer, it had maintained a degree of
wildness. Abby would have to work fast to find out what was going
on with Nicole or there was no doubt that the two men before her
would handle things their way. She waved a finger in their
direction. “Promise me. Promise me that you won’t do anything until
we figure what all of this is about.”
Dominic made a noncommittal grunt. Jake
looked away.
Mrs. Duhamel stage whispered to Dominic’s
mother, “Isn’t she a great addition to the family? I knew she was
good for him the first time I spoke to her.”
Her words seemed to have a strong affect on
Dominic. He looked around the room as if seeing each person for the
first time. His eyes lingered with approval on the close bond
between Thomas and his mother, warmly moved on to Mrs. Duhamel who
was gently swaying with a now sleeping baby in her arms, and
crinkled with amusement at how quickly Jake had returned to Lil’s
side. Finally, he smiled down at Abby, tucked her into his side and
said, “Family. I like the way that sounds.”
“Me, too,” Abby said. She’d felt his thoughts
as clearly as if he’d spoken them aloud. Regardless of their varied
pasts, they were indeed a family, bound by love if not
genetics.
Somehow they would figure out a way through
this; the way families do -
together
.
###
If you enjoyed meeting Dominic and Abby,
rejoin their family in the next book in this collection: For Love
or Legacy. (Now available.)
Sample Chapter:
For Love or Legacy
By Ruth Cardello
Copyright 2011 Ruth Cardello
Smashwords Edition