by Angie Derek
Nina shot a look at Lessa as if remembering an outsider was listening in.
Clarissa continued on her tirade. "Daddy was positively medieval. He was never faithful to Mama. He did whatever he liked, and she was just supposed to go along with it. All of us were supposed to go along with whatever he decided. Well, we don't have to now."
"How much have you had to drink, Sis?" Edoardo looked pointedly at the glass in front of her.
"Just enough to take the edge off." Clarissa whacked him on the shoulder. She turned to Lessa. "No sisterly advice?"
Lessa was completely and utterly speechless and had no idea why Clarissa would want her to say anything. "I'm sorry for both of you." Boy, that was lame.
"Sorry about what?"
She shrugged at the challenge in the question. "I think I'm supposed to say I'm sorry it didn't work out, but you didn't seem to want it to work out."
Clarissa narrowed her eyes. "I was given to Marc when I was eighteen, or should I say Father informed me I'd be marrying Marc as soon as I finished college. I've proceeded to take as long as I could. I've changed my major more times than anyone, and when I finally couldn't put it off any longer I entered graduate school. Does that give you any idea of how unsorry I am our engagement didn't work out?"
"Okay." Lessa still wasn't certain what Clarissa was trying to get her to say.
Clarissa slapped her hand on the table. "I will not be one of those women."
Lessa was both taken back by the comment and intrigued by it. "Those women?"
Clarissa took a sip of her drink and grimaced. "You'd have to understand how it works in this world. The men marry the virginal daughter of someone else important in the business. She has their babies, but isn't the woman they desire. They all keep a mistress for fun and games, while we remain dutifully at home. Some men, like my father, have a string of short-term and long-term mistresses their entire life. Others just bed-hop when they feel like it."
Had her mother been a short- or long-term mistress? It was hard to think of her mother as a mistress to anyone. A contradiction in terms.
"Thanks, Sis," Edoardo said sarcastically.
"Don't worry, little brother, you'll get there one of these days. It's in the blood. I've never wanted to marry into a family, and now I don't have to." Clarissa took another sip of her drink and looked out across the pool.
Had Marc kept a mistress or more than one mistress while he was engaged to Clarissa? How the heck had she jumped from her mother being a mistress to wondering if Marc had one? And she shouldn't be thinking about his mistresses or lack of them. It wasn't any of her business. Besides, from the stories she'd heard from her friends and co-workers, men in general cheated on their wives and girlfriends. She should be focusing on the oddness of her new family and the bizarre way they talked about themselves.
"What are you going to do now?" Nina asked in her soft voice.
Clarissa pulled her gaze from the pool. "I haven't decided, but there's a whole world of possibilities out there."
Edoardo laughed unkindly. "Just because you were able to weasel your way out of marrying Marc doesn't mean you get to take off. Don't forget who you are. You'll never be able to get rid of us."
"That's not what I said." Clarissa jumped up. "You just don't get it, Edoardo."
Edoardo surged to his feet to face off with her. "I don't get it? You've got to be kidding me. I'm the only one who gets it, but I've faced reality while you still think you can get away. Just put enough distance between you and the family and you'll be normal. Normal is what we'll never be."
Clarissa swiftly changed moods. "Oh, Edoardo," she pulled him into a hug, "I'm sorry. I know you're right. But it's fun to dream sometimes isn't it. I know it's hard for you. Have you talked with Jio about school?"
Edoardo sank back into his chair. "What's the point? Jio's like Dad. It's not macho enough."
Nina shifted. "He's not like your father."
Edoardo looked sheepish. "I didn't mean it that way."
"That's not what I'm talking about." Nina brushed off the reference to Jio's fidelity or lack thereof. "I'm talking about you. Tell him what you need. Not what you want, but what you need from the family. He'll give it to you."
"Do you really think so?" Edoardo's eyebrows came together into a frown. "I don't know."
"Jio knows you won't be in the business." Nina shrugged out of her black swimsuit cover and stood. "He's not expecting it of you or you, Clarissa."
Her smile looked forced as she walked to the pool. Jay and Belinda called for her to join them. Plucking Suzannah off the steps, she carried her into the pool.
Clarissa leaned over and smacked Edoardo's shoulder. "You idiot."
"I didn't mean—"
"Doesn't matter. You shouldn't have said Jio was like Father with her here." Clarissa gestured to Lessa. "No offense."
Lessa raised her eyebrows at Clarissa. She was still doing her best to follow the conversation and take in the subtext which was always there when family members talked. She wasn't doing too good a job of it so far, as they were making less and less sense to her.
"Oh, that's smooth, Sis," Edoardo said.
Lessa almost smiled, since he had basically said the same thing to her yesterday.
Clarissa shrugged as if she didn't care. "The point is Nina."
"I told her I didn't mean it that way." Edoardo slouched into his chair.
Slightly riled by Clarissa's comment, Lessa decided to stop listening and learning, and actually take an active role. "You should stop talking in circles."
Clarissa turned on her. "You know nothing about it."
"I know you're talking about Jio and his lack of fidelity." Her eyes automatically strayed to the picture Nina made with her three children.
Clarissa crossed her arms. "The men in this family are idiots. Present company not excluded."
Edoardo sighed at her wrath.
"You know it's true," Clarissa said. "What Jio's done to Nina is wrong. I don't care if he plays the victim of an arranged marriage. He's married to Nina."
"You're preaching to the wrong people," Edoardo said. "You can't change him. Only Jio can make the decision of what he's going to do, and one of these days he'll have to decide."
"He's going to be just like Daddy," Clarissa said, her voice trembling.
"I don't know." Edoardo glanced at Nina. "He's been skating. Nina didn't know at first, and when she finally realized, it broke her heart. Now, she just keeps hoping. One of these days the hope is going to die, and Jio won't like what's going to happen."
"Nina's just like Mama."
Edoardo shook his head. "You're wrong, but that's okay. You're wrong a lot."
Clarissa narrowed her eyes at him, but appeared to drop the argument. She turned back to Lessa. "Anything else to add?"
"It's like watching a soap opera."
Edoardo laughed and stood up. "She's got you there, Sis. Our family is very much like daytime drama."
He walked over to Nina and leaned down to say something. After a moment, she nodded and he headed back into the house.
Clarissa kept her eyes on Lessa, as if trying to decide what to say. "But we're real people."
"That's what makes it sad," she responded. "I like Nina."
"So does everyone. Except her husband, it would seem." Clarissa paused. "Perhaps Edoardo's right, and I've had too much to drink today. I'm usually better at keeping up family appearances. Of course, Marc says you're family and I should treat you as such."
"You spoke to Marc about me?"
"It was a part of our long, drawn–out, drama free conversation. Marc takes his duties very seriously. That's why Daddy trusted him more than any of his other boys." Clarissa tapped her cup with her red nails as she lost herself in thought. "The question is what role he'll take with Jio."
"What do you mean?"
"Nothing. None of our business. It was nice talking to you…Sis." Picking up the glass she'd set on the table, Clarissa walked back into t
he house.
Lessa listened to her clicking heels until they faded off. She sat for a minute watching Nina focus exclusively on her children, and her thoughts went back to what Edoardo had said about Jio. She suspected that whatever he'd whispered into Nina's ear had been some sort of apology.
"Alessandra," Jio called softly from the open door.
She glanced over her shoulder, surprised by his appearance when she'd been thinking about him.
Jio looked past her to his wife and children. "The doctor's here for the DNA test."
CHAPTER SIX
Jio led the way back to his office without saying a word or looking back. Lessa had a sudden wish for Marc's company. She hated needles.
"Alessandra." MacDonald's voice from inside the office startled her as she stepped through the doorway. "This isn't required. You don't have to submit to any test Jio asks of you."
Jio didn't laugh, but his lips almost curved into a smile, and his face relaxed. "What other tests shall I ask of Alessandra?"
The attorney glowered at him, surprising Lessa. He didn't seem to care about offending his new boss. Was he that loyal to Jiovanni, or did he have a reason to hate Jio? "Alessandra—"
"I want to do the test." Lessa smiled at the still glowering man to soften her interruption.
She walked deeper into the office, her gaze on the unfamiliar woman leaning against Jio's desk.
"Doctor Vivian Johnson." Jio finally looked directly at Lessa. The smile was gone, but his face remained relaxed. "Miss Alessandra Noelle. We're ready when you are, Vivian."
Vivian smiled as if to put Lessa at ease and held her hand out. "It's nice to meet you, Miss Noelle."
Lessa smiled uncertainly as she took the hand offered. The words seemed casual enough, and she hadn't added the tell-tale 'finally' but Vivian's tone somehow implied the woman already knew far more about her than she should. "Doctor Johnson."
"Call me, Vivian. Everyone does." Vivian's smile broadened. She released Lessa's hand to pull on a pair of disposable gloves.
Lessa rubbed her arms and psyched herself up for the blood draw. She paused mid-rub as Vivian turned back to her, holding a tube with a giant q-tip sticking out of it.
She glanced at Jio as he leaned back in his chair. "I thought we were doing a blood test?"
"Vivian informs me this is the test we want."
"Quicker and pain free," Vivian assured her. "If you'll open your mouth, I'll take the sample."
Lessa followed her directions, and Vivian rubbed the cotton along the inside of her cheek a few times before closing the tube around the swab. She put a sticker over the seal and wrote something across it.
"Your turn." Vivian pulled out a second tube and stood in front of Jio.
"What's all this?" Tony asked from the doorway.
Lessa spun around to face him, instinctively not wanting him at her back. He barely glanced at her before striding to the desk. Vivian finished getting Jio's sample, unfazed by Tony's glare.
"It's the test to prove that Lessa's our sister." Jio stood up and leaned forward on his desk, his relaxed expression vanishing as he did.
Vivian pulled a third tube out of her bag. "Perhaps, Tony could be the third sample."
"Third sample of what?" Tony snarled.
Jio shook his head and sighed. "For the test, Tony. It'll be quicker and more accurate if there are more samples to test against than just mine."
"No." Tony crossed his arms and shifted his glare from Vivian to Lessa.
Lessa stopped herself from moving away from his hostility and met his gaze.
"We need someone," Vivian said. "You seem to have the strongest objection to her. Why shouldn't it be you?"
"Getting awfully comfy here, aren't you, Vivian?" Tony stepped up to her, close enough to force her to take a small step back. "Jio should know better than to discuss family business with an outsider."
"Enough!" Jio stepped around his desk to get between Tony and Vivian. "If you need to say something, you say it to me in private."
"Whatever you say, big brother," Tony drawled.
"Are you going to give a sample?"
"No."
Jio narrowed his eyes, but gestured for Vivian to pick up her bag. "We'll go track down Edoardo."
Jio's hand brushed Vivian's back as he escorted her out of the room, and Lessa wondered at what Tony had been hinting at. She wasn't the one Jio was . . . No, he wouldn't bring her right in under Nina's nose.
"I think you've been excused," Tony said shortly to Ryan MacDonald.
The lawyer sat stiffly in his chair. "I'll stay here with Miss Noelle."
Tony frowned at him in warning. "Your services are no longer needed."
"I have business with Miss Noelle."
"You're working for her now. Why doesn't that surprise me? Isn't that a conflict of interest?" Tony pivoted on his heel to glare at Lessa. "You may have weaseled your way in here, but don't think you're fooling all of us with your Little Miss Innocent, I had no idea I had such a wealthy father, act."
She couldn't help the small step back at his venomous tone as he leaned over her.
"You won't like what'll happen when your con is revealed. People who mess with the Tazios tend to have an expiration date."
"Enough!" Marc strode into the office. He pulled Lessa away from Tony and put himself between them. "She's done nothing to you."
Tony grinned. "You're certainly playing the hero for all the females in this family. Shouldn't you be with your grieving fiancée?"
"Not that it's any of your business, but Clarissa and I are no longer engaged."
Tony laughed meanly. "Really? So who dumped whom? Let me guess, Clarissa dumped you. So, here you are working on the other daughter? She's just a bimbo cheerleader, right?"
Marc stepped closer to Tony. "Are you that worried about your place in the family?"
Tony's face turned red and his hands curled into fists. "I'm not the one who has to worry. Clarissa dumped you. Jio will be next. He hates you as much as I do."
Tony shoved past Marc and glared at Lessa as he rushed from the room.
"He always knows how to make his point." Ryan shook his head as he stood.
Marc's gaze swept over her, and he touched her shoulder with his hand. "You all right?"
"I'm fine." Lessa forced a brave smile. She wasn't really. Tony had frightened her in a way she hadn't thought possible. "He doesn't like me much."
"Has nothing to do with you." Marc frowned at Ryan. "What's going on?"
"Jio had Vivian do the DNA test."
"Vivian." Marc raised an eyebrow and shook his head, mumbling under his breath.
She almost asked if Vivian was Jio's girlfriend, but gritted her teeth shut. Adrenaline ran through her veins, and she recognized the "fight or flight" response working perfectly.
"What did the test show?" Marc touched her arm this time, as if letting her know he was talking to her.
She took a deep breath and forced her edgy thoughts to focus. "She has to send it in for the results. They went off to get a sample from Edoardo. Something about the test being more accurate and quicker if there was more than Jio and me to compare."
Marc nodded, but his eyes weren't focused on her. He seemed distracted.
"I saw you'd gone out." Ryan changed the subject "Find anything?"
Marc's frown returned. "No, we'll go back out tonight"
MacDonald picked up his briefcase. "Hope you learn something." He smiled at Lessa and offered his hand. She grasped it, hoping she wasn't trembling. "If you need anything, call me."
Marc's hand touched her back. Lessa nodded and dropped Ryan's as a completely different type of tremor made its way up her spine.
The attorney looked from Lessa to Marc. "Take care of her."
"I am," Marc growled.
"Good." Ryan hesitated a moment, but left the room at last.
Marc's hand dropped as soon as he was out of sight. "What did Tony say to you?"
Lessa turned her head
to look fully into his face. Surprisingly, his mask was gone, and she could see concern clearly written in his features. "He thinks I'm a conniving gold-digger, but we already knew that." His frown deepened. "I'm all right, Marc." As she said the words, she made herself believe them. "Tony wanted to speak with me alone, but Ryan refused to leave."
"It shouldn't have happened." His voice remained rough. "Where's Nina?"
Lessa instinctively smoothed her hand down his arm to sooth his distress. "I was with her when Jio came to get me for the test."
"Where's Jio?"
She cocked her head. "He went to find Edoardo."
"He shouldn't have left you with Tony."
His insistence on that point did nothing to help her calm down. She huffed a breath out. "You aren't reassuring me."
"I don't want to." He shook his head. "Sorry, it's been a bad day."
She forced a small smile. "Yes, it has. How are you?"
Marc answered her meager smile with a slow one of his own. "I don't want to talk about it." He took a deep breath. "You're getting along with Nina?"
"Yes, she makes a very good babysitter."
He slanted an amused look at her. "Someone has to watch over you, as has been so clearly demonstrated."
"I wasn't complaining." Well, maybe just a little, but what she really wanted to complain about was her family's lack of welcome. She didn't know how much more outright hostility she could take. And why would she want to? "There doesn't seem to be a reason for me to stay. I've met my family, taken the DNA test, had not-so-pleasant conversations with my siblings, hung out by the pool." Her frustration was clear in her voice. She wasn't good at the poker-face thing like Marc and didn't feel like acting like everything was all right.
"It's just going to take a little time for them to get used to you. The family's a tight-knit group." He paused. "What did Tony say?"
How had he known that her confrontation with Tony was why she wanted to leave? "It'd be better for me to head home. If any of them want to talk with me, they know where to find me."
Marc frowned and put his hands on her shoulders. "You agreed to give it a week."
