by Shayla Black
Crap! He’d overheard her on the phone with Mila earlier. “Jason…”
He shoved the car in park and turned to her. “You admitted that we have some issues to work through. The fact that I haven’t met your family is a huge obstacle. I want to remove it now. Hell, do they even know we dated?”
No. She’d been worried when she’d met Jason that her folks wouldn’t understand. He represented so many things her old-school, old-world parents didn’t like—establishment and money. He’d never worked with his hands. He wasn’t a part of the Church. No one in her family—not a single one of her sixteen cousins—had married anyone who wasn’t both intensely Italian and devoutly Catholic. She didn’t care about any of that, but her parents would. They would understand even less that she’d concealed her marriage from them.
Most of all, she didn’t want to put her family through this upheaval unless she believed that she and Jason could truly make a life together.
“It’s complicated.”
“It’s not,” he contradicted. “I’m not who they would have chosen for you. I understand that, but it’s your life and ultimately your choice. You say they ‘love’ you.”
“They do, but—”
“No buts. If they value your happiness, then they will allow you to make the best decision for you and respect it. Am I wrong?”
“You’re oversimplifying. They’re parents; they always think they know best.”
“You’re an adult with your own life.”
He was absolutely right. “But they’ve been the biggest part of it for years. I couldn’t do without them.”
“Well, I won’t be your dirty little secret any longer.” Jason gritted his teeth and sucked in a breath. “We are going to walk into that restaurant, and you’re going to introduce me as your husband. Or you are going to say your safe word. Tell me again what it is.”
“Divorce,” she choked out.
“That’s right. And we will never escape that possibility as long as you hide me from your family. All refusing to introduce us does is prove that you never intended to incorporate me into the important parts of your life.”
“I need time.” But as soon as the plea slipped from her lips, Gia knew she asked for too much.
“You’ve had nearly a year.”
She had more objections, but they were all about her escaping her family’s disappointment. About her not having to endure their shock and anger. Waiting did nothing but convince Jason that he wasn’t important to her. And that wasn’t true. If they could work it out, she wanted to stay with him. She loved him and wanted his happiness.
Her world tilted on its axis for a breath-stealing second. She steadied herself against his car as her thoughts raced. Could she even make him happy? Cold dread gripped her. Gia had no idea what Jason really saw in her. Maybe nothing.
Maybe that’s why he cared but didn’t love her.
God, she needed answers and she simply didn’t have them.
“Gia?” he asked, concern deepening his voice as the setting sun slanted through the windshield and cast a golden glow over his inky hair and bronzed skin. He watched her with blue eyes, fixed and unwavering.
“I’m fine,” she said automatically.
But she wasn’t. She’d been that insecure girl who’d let self-doubt cloud her brain and screw her up. She’d let fear rule her—and still did. She wasn’t a supermodel or a brainiac. She hadn’t come from a gilded background or even finished college. All along, she’d been unclear what she could possibly give him, and the moment her family obligations had separated them, she’d allowed her doubts to creep in and craft a million excuses for why they should remain apart.
Self-flagellation and guilt blistered through her.
“Then it’s time for you to decide. Do we meet your family or are you saying divorce?”
Instantly, Gia knew that if she uttered that word, he would take it literally and file tomorrow. On the other hand, if she stayed with him and he lost interest in a few months or years? It would hurt so much more.
No, she couldn’t look at it that way. She refused to lose him again because of her fears or to save her feelings. It reeked of cowardice and self-doubt, and she would not be that woman. Even if she disappointed her parents, she had to believe they would never stop loving her. She owed it to them to come clean. And she owed it to Jason to try making him a part of her family.
“Let’s go.” She grabbed her purse from the floorboard and shoved open the car door, shaking from head to toe.
They walked through the shadowed parking lot. Jason took her hand, holding her father’s professionally wrapped gift in the other, leading her to the door. He opened it for her, and the heavy wooden thing squeaked on its hinges. Delvecchio’s wasn’t big. The small bar area and takeout counter sat to the right, doing a steady business already. A dining area big enough for maybe fifty people lay beyond the hostess stand in front of a half wall just inside the foyer.
Gia swallowed, her palms turning sweaty as the familiar hostess turned to her. “Hi, Renee.”
“Gia!” The Delvecchio’s youngest daughter, only recently graduated from high school, called out to her with a little squeal. “I haven’t seen you in forever.” She eyed Jason not so discreetly. “Your parents said you weren’t coming tonight. They’ll be surprised to see you.”
Completely. That filled her with an anxious dread, but she wasn’t backing down.
“What corner did you sit them in? You know they’re going to be loud, right?”
“Mila warned me.” Renee winked. “They’re in the big booth right outside the kitchen. Need a menu?” she asked Jason, looking a little star struck.
“I’ll wing it.” He gripped Gia’s hand more tightly.
She flipped her gaze up to her husband. He’d pushed to make this meeting happen…but he was nervous. This mattered to him, and Gia found that endearing. Maybe she should still be mad at him. God knew she was so worried, she probably looked a charming shade of green.
“Can you have your brother bring a bottle of that Cabernet I like?” Gia asked the girl.
“Sure. Nick will take care of you. Holler if you need anything else.”
She nodded at Renee and figured it was time to stop hiding behind the hostess stand.
Sucking in a deep breath, Gia led Jason around the partition concealing the restaurant from the front door. Instantly, she saw her family in the corner. Longing buckled her chest. Dad laughed. Mom held his hand. Mila rocked the baby while smiling at her folks. Tony Jr. played with a pair of plastic cars on the table, crashing them together and making explosive sounds. He looked so much like her brother sometimes that it hurt.
The boy looked their way, his dark eyes piercing, then they lit up with recognition. “An’ Gia!”
As he clambered from his chair, nearly toppling it and his booster seat over, he darted across the restaurant toward her. Jason released her so she could crouch and welcome the happy child into her arms. The moment the little boy crashed into her, Gia reached back to right her balance and laughed. Automatically, Jason braced her with a hand on her back. She sent him a grateful glance before she turned back to Little Tony.
“How’s our big boy? You been good for your mama?”
He nodded earnestly. “I helped.”
“Of course you did.”
“Colleen helped, too.” The little boy grinned.
From his smile, Gia had no doubt that he liked the woman Jason had hired to help Mila and the kids during her absence. “That’s great.”
As she stood and ruffled his hair, Jason took her hand again and nudged her forward. She looked up to see her parents and sister-in-law all gaping and silent.
She held up her palm in greeting as she closed the short distance between her husband and her family. “Hi.”
They all gave her the once-over before their collective gazes slid over to Jason. They studied him unabashedly. Her father frowned.
Her mother stood. “Hello, dear. Mila said you would
n’t be here. I’m glad you could make it. You brought a…friend.” She smiled wanly. “Why don’t you introduce us?”
Here went nothing.
“They’re not just friends, Sil,” Mila corrected her mother-in-law gently.
His frown morphing to a scowl, her father stood and looked Jason in the eye. “You dating my daughter?”
Gia sighed. “Daddy, be nice. If you’ll give me a minute—”
“No, sir.” Jason held out his hand and waited until her father shook it. “I married her.”
What the hell? She turned a peeved glare at Jason, but he just sent her a cool glance.
Maybe it didn’t matter if he’d blurted the truth. There was no good way to drop this bombshell.
Her mother gasped and blinked at her. “You’re married to Jason Denning?”
He cleared his throat, and they looked around to see most of the restaurant staring at them. She recognized a girl she’d gone to high school with. Their neighbors down the street sat two booths away. She and Jason had managed to keep this marriage secret for nearly a year. Between crazy Twitter peeps and gossipy folks in the neighborhood, the truth would travel so fast, they might make the local ten o’clock news.
“Why don’t we sit down, Mom?” She looked pointedly around her.
Mama pursed her lips. Her short dark hair didn’t quite hide the flush of her cheeks. “All right.”
Her father followed them. Mila just stared. This meeting wasn’t going down as she’d hoped.
Awkward prevailed as they pulled up spare chairs. Gia lifted Little Tony and set him in her lap, glad to hold him again and have a buffer. “Mom, Dad, Mila, you’ve obviously heard of Jason Denning. He’s my husband and he wanted to meet y’all.”
“Why didn’t you do the proper thing and ask me for my daughter’s hand?” Daddy scowled.
Her mother looked uncertain. “Do you love her?”
Mila frowned. “How long have you been married and how did we not know about this?”
Gia slapped a hand over her face. “Can we skip the interrogation, please? Dad, we chose to elope. Mom…” She sighed. “Can you let me handle the whole love thing? I’m a big girl.” Then she turned to her sister-in-law. “We married the night before Tony’s death. When I got the phone call with the news, Jason and I were in Vegas. When we returned, everything was crazy, and I couldn’t bring myself to lay more upheaval on any of you…so I made the choice to live separately from my husband while you needed me.”
Her father’s scowl deepened, then he leaned across the table to glare at Jason. “You supported this decision?”
“Not in the least. She slipped through my fingers for a while, but no more. I’ve been trying to convince her for nearly two weeks that we belong together. She’s proving a little stubborn, but I intend to persevere.”
Her father seemed to like that answer. A little smile lifted the corner of his mouth. “Good.”
“Happy birthday.” Jason set the present on the table between them.
Gia watched the exchange, stunned. Her father hadn’t growled or thundered? She turned to her mother, keenly aware of the woman’s confused stare. She also looked a bit hurt.
“I didn’t marry him to upset you,” Gia vowed.
With a tilt of her head, the older woman acknowledged that truth. “He’s not Italian.”
“Men of other nationalities can be equally wonderful,” she pointed out.
Mom looked at her husband of thirty-two years. “Perhaps. I might be a little biased.”
“I’m not Catholic, either, ma’am,” Jason jumped in, sending her mother a reassuring expression and placing his hand over hers. “But I assure you that I’ll always take care of your daughter and any children we have for as long as she’ll let me.” He smiled. “I’ll probably do it even when she fights me kicking and screaming.”
A reluctant grin tugged at her mother’s lips—and broke the ice. “Which she will. My daughter is more than a little stubborn.”
“And who does she get that from?” her father teased, pressing a kiss to Mama’s forehead and dropping a hand to her thigh.
“You, of course,” her mother quipped.
Her father laughed, then bent to murmur something in her mother’s ear that made her blush.
Little Tony squirmed off her lap and ran around to his grandpa with his toys, looking for someone willing to join in the fantastic imaginary car crashes. Bella started fussing, and Gia’s mother took the baby from Mila with a fond smile.
Jason’s gaze bounced back and forth between her parents, seeming to look for any other objections he could stop before they began. Honestly, Gia couldn’t believe they weren’t more shocked or angry. In fact, they hadn’t really protested much at all. Oh, they’d have words later, but she’d been sure the announcement would immediately cause World War III. So far…no.
Of course she was pleasantly surprised, but what the hell was that about?
A harried waitress came over a few minutes later, and Gia immediately recognized that the blonde was new. She smiled and asked for their order as Nick, the Delvecchio’s son, brought the bottle of red wine she’d asked for.
“Thank goodness,” Gia muttered as Nick poured the wine and gave Jason a speculative stare.
The second her glass was full, she took a long swallow and downed half. Gia still couldn’t relax. She kept waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Dad opened his gifts with thanks and smiles aplenty. He loved what she’d picked for him. Wine flowed. Food came. Mila actually looked happy. Little Tony sidled up to Jason and wanted to play cars with him. Her husband was patient and attentive, and Gia watched, falling a little more in love with him every moment.
By the time they finished the food, her father was telling Jason jokes. Her mother patted his shoulder with a welcoming smile. Bella woke, and Mila stood, placing her in Jason’s arms. He blinked and sputtered a bit, but her sister-in-law gave him instructions on holding her properly. The girl eyed Jason with an avid brown stare, then placed her little hand on his chin with a giggle. He grinned back.
Gia breathed through a sting of tears. He looked natural with children. He might have a ruthless bastard side, but he would also be a fierce protector who would move heaven and earth for his kids. When Jason caressed Bella’s head, she also knew he’d be a giving but firm father—exactly like her own.
As the waiter took their food away, Jason engaged Mila in conversation about the kids and their habits.
Her mother rose from the table and kissed Dad, then turned to her with a pointed glance. “Why don’t we go to the ladies’ room?”
Mama wasn’t asking exactly, and Gia knew the woman must have questions.
“I’m right behind you.”
Jason watched as she rose, his expression bolstering her. Yes, she could handle whatever happened with her family. Gia had put off this introduction, building it up in her head to a terrible confrontation that simply hadn’t materialized. He’d been right to give her a shove. She’d wanted to wait until she “knew” they would last to make him an official part of the family, but no couple had a guarantee of forever. It hadn’t been fair to him.
She’d made more than one decision about her marriage that she regretted.
As Gia and her mother left the table and wended through the growing crowd to the restrooms, she felt Jason’s eyes still on her. But when they disappeared into the ladies’ room, her mother turned to her immediately.
“You’ve been married nearly a year and didn’t tell us?”
Gia winced. Her mother rarely beat around the bush, but she was often gentle enough not to put someone on the spot. No mistaking her mom’s determination for information now.
“I didn’t know what to say.”
Her mother frowned. “You thought the truth would upset us?”
She should have realized Mama would see right through her. “I know he’s not Enzo.”
“Honey…” Her mother’s face softened with understanding. “You don’
t love Enzo the way you love Jason.”
“Yeah. I wanted to for your sake, but…”
“Don’t. I know your dad and I put a lot of pressure on you in the past, but Tony’s death made us realize that no one is assured a tomorrow. We want every day you spend in this life to be a happy one. Enzo doesn’t love you the way Jason does.”
Well, since her husband didn’t love her at all, according to him, she wasn’t exactly sure how to reply to her mother. “It’s been a really tough year, Mama. I cut Jason out of my life and it hurt so much. I don’t know why he’s forgiven me, why he wants me back, why he chose me in the first place. I’m scared.”
“If loving someone doesn’t scare you at least a little, then they don’t really mean much to you.” Her mother pulled her into a hug. “He chose you because you’re beautiful and giving, because you’re selfless and smart. What more could he want?”
“Someone like him. Someone raised in his circles with all the money and the advantages it buys. Hell, sometimes when he takes me out, I’m embarrassed that I don’t know which fork to use.”
“You didn’t fall for someone raised in your circles. Do you love him less because he’s not Italian or a cop or Catholic? Because he knows which utensil to use when?”
“No.” When her mother said it, the whole idea sounded silly. “But I thought you might.”
“Would you really have left him for good if your father and I didn’t approve?” Mama cocked her head in a silent scold. “You’re a grown woman, Gianna.”
“I know. You’re right.” She loved Jason too much to leave him again. “It’s what’s in my heart that matters.”
“Exactly. Does he make you happy?”
“Yes, but we have some unresolved issues between us.”
“Then work them out. That’s what people who stay married do. Talk. Be as honest as you can. Share your fears. Give him your worries.”
Gia grimaced. “I haven’t been really good at that. When I got the phone call about Tony, I just…broke away. I knew the family would need me.”
