by Metsy Hingle
And then before anyone could stop him, Derrick jumped off of the fire escape and sent his body plummeting into the dark, cold street below.
Later as she stood on the sidewalk bundled up in Federal Agent Reese Jackson’s coat and watched the medical examiner load Derrick Barone’s body inside the coroner’s wagon, Bianca felt as though she were awakening from a nightmare.
“That was a very brave and very stupid thing you did up there,” Agent Jackson told her, censure in his deep voice and in his green eyes. “You could have gotten yourself killed.”
“But I didn’t,” Bianca informed him, miffed to have him chide her for defending herself.
“No, you didn’t,” he said with a scowl. “But you could have. What in the hell were you thinking, pulling those karate moves on a man twice your size? You’re lucky he didn’t snap that pretty neck of yours in two.”
“Luck had nothing to do with it,” she fired back. “I knew what I was doing. I have a black belt in karate.”
“I don’t care if you’ve got ten black belts, what you did was stupid. You shouldn’t have risked it.”
Bianca bristled. “It was my neck,” she informed him. She didn’t care if the man did look like Brad Pitt, she didn’t need some macho agent admonishing her. “And instead of criticizing me, you might want to thank me for saving your neck.”
“My neck?”
“That’s right. If I hadn’t done what I did, Derrick might very well have shot you and your partner.”
“What’s going on here?” Steven asked as he walked up to the two of them with Maria by his side.
“Agent Jackson and I were just discussing whether or not he should be thanking me for saving him from taking a bullet in that handsome face of his.”
“Oh God,” Maria said and turned her face into Steven’s shoulder.
“I’m sorry,” Bianca said, regretting her sharp tongue. Now that her ordeal was over and her fear had subsided, so had her initial shock upon discovering that Maria was the woman her brother had been seeing.
“It’s all right,” Maria told her. She took the handkerchief that Steven offered and swiped at her brown eyes still bright with tears. “I’m the one who’s sorry for what my cousin did.”
Compassion stirred in Bianca for the young woman pregnant with her brother’s child. “I hated Derrick for what he put me and my family through. But I didn’t expect…” She swallowed. “I didn’t want to see him dead.”
Maria nodded. She looked up at Steven. “I’ll need to tell Emily and Aunt Sandra and Uncle Paul what’s happened to Derrick.”
“You should go with her,” Bianca told him.
“But we need to let Mom and Dad and Aunt Lucia know that you’re okay,” Steven said.
“I’ll do it.”
“All right. Tell them I’ll call them later. I think it’s time we arranged for a meeting between both families,” Steven told her. “And the sooner, the better.”
“That’s probably a good idea,” Bianca replied. But she didn’t envy her brother or Maria the task ahead. Aside from everything that had happened, she didn’t imagine news of Steven and Maria’s relationship would make either family happy. She looked at the couple, saw the depth of love between them. Reaching out, she touched her brother’s arm. “Whatever happens, I’ll support you. Both of you.”
“Thanks. I appreciate that.”
“Me, too,” Maria added.
Steven smiled. “Come on, I’ll bring you home and then Maria and I need to go see Derrick’s family.”
“You two go on. I’ll see that your sister gets home safely,” Agent Jackson said.
“That’s not necessary,” Bianca scoffed. “If you’ll just call me a taxi—”
“I said I’d take you,” Jackson insisted. “After all, it’s the least I can do, seeing as how you saved my handsome face.”
Maria exited the ladies’ room of Antonio’s the next morning at the sound of Lucia Conti’s voice. Nerves began in her stomach as she peered around the corner at the scene.
“Answer me, Steven. What is the meaning of this?” Lucia demanded. “Why have you insisted we come here this morning? And what are the Barones doing here?”
“I’ll explain everything in a moment, Aunt Lucia.”
“I’m sorry we’re late,” a sad-eyed Emily said as she entered the restaurant with Shane Cummings.
Maria’s heart swelled with sympathy at the sight of her cousin who moved to stand beside her grief-stricken parents, Daniel and his wife, Phoebe, and Derrick’s sister Claudia. Despite everything that had happened, they had all loved Derrick.
“Everyone’s here now,” Bianca said as she joined her brother. “And I’ve told the staff that the restaurant won’t be open for lunch today.”
“You did what?” a red-faced Salvatore Conti asked. “Have you forgotten that this restaurant is our business?”
“No one’s forgotten, Father. But this is more important,” Steven told him.
“Listen to him, Daddy,” Bianca added.
“All right. I’m listening,” Sal told them.
“By now most of you know about last night’s tragedy,” Steven began, and as Carlo and Moira wept, he, Bianca and Emily related the chain of events leading up to Derrick’s suicide.
“I loved my brother,” Emily told them. “And while it breaks my heart to admit that he was capable of doing such deceitful, hurtful things, it was Derrick who sabotaged Baronessa’s. It was Derrick who set fire to the plant, kidnapped Bianca and pretended to be kidnapped himself. Derrick was guilty, but he knew we would blame the Contis,” she continued, tears streaming down her cheeks. “And we did blame them.”
When Emily’s mother began weeping aloud, Maria pressed a fist to her breast to ease the ache she felt for her aunt.
“Emily, can’t you see you’re upsetting your mother? What’s the point of rehashing all this now?” Uncle Paul demanded.
“The point is that Derrick was sick and while nothing can excuse what he’s done, maybe if he hadn’t been able to feed on our distrust of the Contis, things would never have gone so far. And maybe,” she said, her voice breaking, “maybe he wouldn’t be dead now.”
“You are blaming us for Derrick’s death?” Maria’s father asked incredulously.
“I’m blaming all of us, Uncle Carlo. You, me, all of us,” she told him, sweeping her arms in a broad gesture. “We should never have allowed this stupid feud between our families to go on all these years.”
“The Barones are not the ones who started the feud,” Carlo informed her.
“Your father and mother started it when they betrayed me and my brother,” Lucia countered, her dark eyes flashing brightly in contrast to her pale face and white hair.
“It doesn’t matter who started it,” Emily countered. “The point is we’ve all kept it alive.” She turned to the Barones. “We suspected the Contis of being saboteurs, of kidnapping and arson. It’s time for it to stop. I want the feud to end now.”
“And how do you propose we do that, child?” her uncle asked.
“By taking the first step. By apologizing to the Contis for blaming all of our misfortunes on them.”
When stunned silence followed, Maria feared it was a lost cause and then her oldest brother, Nicholas, said, “My cousin is right. It’s time for this feud between our families to end.” Then he marched over to Sal, Jean and Lucia Conti. “You have my apologies,” he said to them. When no response was forthcoming, he repeated the phrase to Bianca and Steven, who nodded their assent.
“My son and niece are right. It is time for this feud to end,” Carlo said and Maria wanted to run out and kiss her father when he stepped forward to stand before the Contis. “I believe I speak for all of us here and for my daughter Maria as well when I say that we were wrong to suspect your family and to blame you for our misfortunes. Please accept our apologies.”
Sal Conti made no attempt to take Carlo Barone’s extended hand. Lucia pursed her lips into a disapproving scowl, the
n folding her arms, she turned away. There was no mistaking the insult or the angry flush burning her father’s cheeks. Maria’s heart sank. If their families couldn’t even get past an apology, what chance was there that they would accept her and Steven together?
“I accept your apology, Mr. Barone,” Steven said, breaking the tense silence. He took her father’s hand, shook it.
“So do I,” Bianca said, echoing her brother.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Lucia hissed at the pair.
Steven faced his aunt. “There’s been enough bitterness between our families. It’s time to end it.”
“No,” Lucia cried out.
“Steven’s right,” Bianca added. “Let the bitterness end now. Accept the Barones’ apologies.”
Sal Conti looked at his wife. She nodded and taking her husband’s hand she walked with him over to the Barones, where they shook hands first with Carlo and Moira Barone, then with Nicholas.
Steven turned to his aunt. “It’s time to bury the past, Aunt Lucia. Accept the olive branch the Barones have extended to us, put an end to all these years of hatred. The Conti/Barone feud is over and we have all suffered enough because of it. Declare the curse null and void and let us be done with it.”
“I will do no such thing. Have you forgotten what the Barones have done to me? To our family? They kidnapped your sister and accused us of sabotage when all the while it was one of their own.”
“The man responsible is dead. So are Marco and Angelica Barone. What good will come of keeping this anger and hatred for them alive? It’s time to forgive them and move on.”
“Never,” Lucia told him. “I will never forgive them for what they did to me. Do you have any idea what it was like to have the man you loved, that you planned to spend the rest of your life with, run away with the woman you thought of as a sister?”
Although Maria knew Lucia Conti to be eighty-four, the pain in her voice, in her eyes, belonged to a young girl. And Maria couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. Any hopes she’d harbored that Lucia might accept her and remove the threat of the Conti curse withered.
“Aunt Lucia,” Sal Conti interceded. “Steven is right. A young man is dead. It might well have been our Bianca. It is time for us to put an end to the hatred. Do as Steven asks. Accept the Barones’ apology and call off the curse.”
Lucia waved her nephew’s remarks aside. “I’m sorry the boy’s dead. But a few pretty words and tears cannot make up for the wrongs we Contis have suffered at the hands of the Barones all these years.”
“Aunt Lucia,” Bianca began.
“Enough,” Lucia said, making a slicing motion with her hand. “You do what you want. But I see no reason why I must accept their apology or nullify the curse.”
“Then I’ll give you one,” Steven told her. “Maria,” he called out.
Nervous, Maria stepped from around the corner wall where she’d been hiding and walked over to join Steven on legs that felt like jelly. She heard the gasps of surprise, could feel all eyes on her swollen belly. But she kept her gaze fastened on Steven who held out his hand for her. When she reached him, he held her hand tightly in his, kept her close by his side.
“You want a reason to end the feud and void the curse, Aunt Lucia. Here is your reason. I love Maria, and the child she’s carrying is mine.”
Maria barely heard the shocked gasps or the whispers that sounded around them. Her total attention was on the old woman clad in funeral black who gripped the cane she held so tightly, Maria feared the bones in her fingers would snap.
“You have betrayed me,” she said, her voice and expression filled with venom.
“I have not betrayed you. I love you,” Steven told her. “That’s why it’s important to me that I have your blessing and that you agree to end the curse.”
Lucia shook her head. “Never. Never!”
“You said you needed a reason. I’ve given you one. The baby Maria carries is half Barone. But it’s also half Conti. We, Maria and I, want you to be the baby’s godmother. Are you willing to let your godchild come into this world with a curse on his or her head?”
Lucia’s lips trembled. Her dark eyes searched out Maria. “Is what my nephew says true? Do you want me to be your child’s godmother?”
Maria stepped forward, took Lucia’s thin, wrinkled hand into her own. “It’s true. And if the baby is a girl, we plan to name her Lucia Angelica after you and my grandmother.”
“What do you say, Aunt Lucia? Will you be our baby’s godmother?”
Tears misted Lucia’s eyes for a moment. Still holding Maria’s hand, she released her cane and captured Steven’s hand. “Yes. And I, Lucia Conti who called down a curse upon the Barones and their descendants, hereby declare the curse forever void.”
Cheers went up and suddenly her parents and Steven’s parents, her sisters, brothers, cousins and extended family were all flocking around them and asking a dozen questions at once.
“When is the baby due?” her mother asked.
“I didn’t even know you knew Steven Conti,” her sister Rita chimed in.
“Now I understand why you weren’t feeling well at the family reunion,” her sister-in-law Gail told her.
Suddenly the rapping of Lucia’s cane brought all conversation to a halt.
“What’s wrong, Aunt Lucia?” Steven asked.
“I want to know why everyone is wasting time, asking a bunch of silly questions when we have a wedding to plan.”
“Your Aunt Lucia’s right,” Steven’s mother, Jean Conti, said. “You are going to get married, aren’t you?”
“Absolutely,” Steven said and hugged Maria close. He asked her the same question with his eyes.
“Absolutely,” she replied, her heart filled with love and hope.
“Then we need to get busy,” Lucia said, taking charge. “The first thing we need to do is have Moira Barone use that Reardon family clout of hers and get the Church to waive the bans so that these two young people can be married right away. Because I refuse to have my godchild born out of wedlock. And you’ll have to forgive me, Maria, but from the looks of things,” she continued, pointing at her rounded belly, “that baby could be arriving at any time.”
“Moira will make a call to the Monsignor right away,” Carlo offered.
“Forget the monsignor,” Moira replied. “I’ll call the archbishop.”
Her mother called the archbishop. And the following weekend just before Christmas she and Steven became man and wife in the chapel before God and assorted members of the Conti and Barone families. The end to the seventy-year-old feud and curse had been the only wedding gift she and Steven had wanted. But her mother and sisters had insisted on a small reception after the ceremony. The size of her family alone made a small reception nearly impossible, Maria mused as she surveyed the more than thirty guests gathered in the hotel banquet room. For a moment, she felt a pang of sadness as she thought of her cousin Derrick. His death and betrayal had devastated them all. And she certainly would have understood if her aunt and uncle and cousins had opted not to attend the wedding or the reception.
“My secretary told me that every caterer and musician in the city was already booked through the New Year,” Steven said, dragging her thoughts away from the past. “How on earth did your mother manage to pull this off on such short notice and with Christmas next week?”
“You don’t know my mother and cousin Claudia. They can charm just about anyone into doing anything.” And they apparently had, Maria thought as she swept her gaze over the elegantly decorated room. Tables had been draped in ivory damask. Chairs had been covered in matching damask and tied at the back with elegant bows. Red and white roses with baby’s breath spilled from crystal vases. Poinsettias, in red and white, seemed to be tucked in every corner of the room. A six-tiered wedding cake trimmed with sugar roses sat atop a table with real rose petals scattered at the base. An ice sculpture bearing the Baronessa logo sat next to a gelato station, where she’d been told b
y Karen that the passionfruit flavor was being renamed True Love in honor of her and Steven’s wedding. It pleased her to see that another ice sculpture bearing the Conti logo had also been created for the reception.
“Maybe I can convince them to come work for me,” Steven teased.
“Not much chance of that,” Maria informed him. “My mother’s far too busy with my father and Claudia’s already on every charitable committee you can think of. Besides from what my sisters tell me, your friend Ethan has plans for Claudia’s future.”
“So he does. Did you know they’re planning a Valentine’s Day wedding?” He smiled and touched her belly. “That’s going to be a busy day.”
“Are you okay with their engagement?” she asked. “I mean since he was married to your sister?”
“I’m fine with it. He and Bianca weren’t right for each other, but Ethan’s still a great guy.”
“And Bianca?”
“It doesn’t seem to be a problem for her.”
Maria looked over to where her new sister-in-law stood with federal agent Reese Jackson. “I think you’re right.”
“But I’m far more interested in you than in my sister,” Steven told her. “Have I told you what a beautiful bride you are?”
“Yes,” Maria said, laughing. “Several times in fact. Although I don’t know how you can think that when I look like I’m carrying a basketball.”
“Easily. Because it’s true. You are beautiful, Maria,” he said, his face suddenly serious, those blue eyes of his moving over her like a caress. “And I love you with all my heart.”
“And I love you,” she replied, moved by the sincerity in his voice.
When the band began to play, he leaned close and whispered, “Dance with me, Mrs. Conti?”
“Of course,” she told him and as Steven led her to the dance floor, she thought of that very first dance they had shared at Nicholas and Gail’s wedding nearly a year ago. But then he took her into his arms and Maria forgot all about their families. As he waltzed her around the room, she forgot all about the feud that had caused so much pain. She forgot about the Conti curse and her fears. She forgot about everything except for Steven and the happy life that stretched out before them. And she knew in her heart that she and Steven and both their families had been granted their own special Christmas miracle.
