Tony and Jemma gasped in unison.
Mike turned toward them, his expression and tone matter of fact. "Kate and I have been dating for a while now. We learned a few things about the two of you from each other. It's time for everything to be out in the open."
Tony huffed and turned away, walking toward the parking lot. Hurt, Jemma made her way to her mother.
Kate interjected, her voice stern, "Both of you are going to sit with us over by the lake while Mr. and Mrs. Keith fix lunch."
Tony and Jemma turned back toward one another, staring into each other's eyes, generating their own hurt and pain. Jemma stubbornly stood her ground, waiting to see if Tony would follow or leave. Only when he turned to walk behind them did Jemma follow suit, but not before flashing a death stare over her shoulder toward her mom.
"It's for your own good, honey."
I'm pretty sure Anne Boleyn's uncle said something like that as she was dragged to the courtyard and beheaded.
Jemma stood with her arms folded and stared out over the lake, waiting for someone to explain what the hell was going on.
Kate took the lead. "Well, everyone here knows I lost the baby, left Dalton, and Daddy fired him."
That was the first she'd heard about Dalton being fired. Jemma didn't even realize she was smiling until she saw tears welling in Kate's eyes. Slapping her palm to her forehead, she immediately apologized. "I'm so sorry, Kate. That was horrible of me. I honestly didn't know Dalton got fired. I truly am sorry for your loss…of the baby, not of Dalton. I'm really sorry for my part in all of this, too."
Shut up, Jemma!
Kate blinked past the tears and stared at her wringing hands on the table, obviously searching for her next words. "Mike told me what really happened between you and Dalton. I completely understand your happiness to hear he was fired."
"Wait a minute." Tony's strong voice broke into the conversation. "How can you understand anything from her, Kate? She was dating Dalton at the same time you were. She even tried to get him to cancel the wedding right beforehand. That's what needs to be understood!" He punctuated every syllable of the last sentence by pounding his finger on the tabletop.
Mike stood up next to Tony and defended his sister's honor. "It's all a big mess, and a huge misunderstanding. Dalton lied about a lot of things and stretched the truth on everything else. My sister, in fact, dated Dalton at the same time he was dating Kate. The truth to this is that Jemma knew nothing about it. Kate was away at school, and Dalton had enough gall to move Jemma into his house and use business trips as a ruse to go visit Kate on her breaks." He climbed off of his imaginary soapbox and resumed his place at the picnic table next to Kate.
Tony looked back at Jemma, and for a brief moment, his eyes held regret. Anger regained control though, contorting his handsome features. "I know I didn't imagine the kiss in the hallway at the wedding reception. I saw that with my own eyes."
The anger spread to Jemma. She walked over to Tony and pushed a finger into the middle of his strong chest. "For your information, I tried to explain everything to you that night. I saw Stacy lure Dalton into the hallway and I happened to catch them kissing. Either that or Stacy was performing mouth to mouth to save poor Dalton's life, which I'm sure would be the spin he would put on it. I took a picture of it, though. He was trying to convince me to delete the photo or steal my camera. Evidently, that is when you walked out into the hallway. He shoved his little lady around the corner and put a show on just for you."
Tony's eyes widened, and he looked past Jemma for confirmation from his cousin. She sat at the table, enthusiastically bobbing her head. He threaded his fingers through his hair. He walked in small circles, muttering to himself for a few moments. "That lying little bastard…" He stopped pacing and stared out over the lake. "I can't believe I fell for all of it. I listened to my family, and then the kiss sent me over the edge. I was so pissed. I felt like someone plunged a knife right into the middle of my heart."
"Yeah, I know the feeling all too well." Jemma stared at the pebbles by her feet, nudging them around into a mindless pattern with her toes.
Tony raged, "I'm going to kill him with my bare hands. No, wait. I will force him to right every wrong, and then I'll kill him. No matter what happens, I'm calling in a few favors."
"No, Tony! Please don't put a hit on him." Jemma walked to his side, her fingertips lightly brushing his arm.
Mike had just taken a drink of soda and spit it all over the table. Some even dribbled out of his nose. Side splitting laughter followed from both him and Kate.
Jemma jabbed her fist on her hips, cocked her head to the side, and puckered her face into a scowl. "Exactly what do you find so amusing?"
Mike swiped some of the soda from his face with his hand. "Yeah, that's the other thing I wanted to tell you. Tony isn't Little Ant'ny. Little Ant'ny's last name is Giovannini, which, in my defense, is close enough to Giovanni for anyone to make that mistake." Mike tried to contain himself, but it only lasted a few seconds before he was laughing so hard he snorted.
Thoroughly embarrassed, Jemma felt her face flush as she turned a wide-eyed look toward Tony.
A hand covered his mouth in a poor attempt to hide his amusement. His eyes sparkled with mischief. "You thought I was a mob boss?"
"Well, it's not like the thought never crossed my mind, but it was my idiot brother who planted the seed to begin with," Jemma muttered through clenched teeth. She tossed a glare at her brother, before looking back toward Tony. "To what connections are you referring, then?"
Tony cleared his throat in an ill-fated attempt to quell his laughter. "My fellow business owners in the area. I want to make sure the bastard never has a decent job again."
Kate giggled this time. "I don't think that will be much of a problem." Obviously sharing a secret, she and Mike pushed their foreheads together, matching clever smiles on their faces.
Mike stood up and stretched. "You know what? I think we need to take a drive, the four of us."
Kate stood next to him, still beaming. "I agree; we should. We can take my car."
Tony and Jemma shared a look of apprehension.
Mike's words carried easily through the air to his parents. "Mom, Dad, we're going for a drive before lunch. Okay?"
"You kids have fun. We should have the food ready in about half an hour." Their mother waved goodbye.
As they walked toward the lot, Kate handed Mike the keys to her black Cadillac STS-V. "Here, you can drive."
His mouth gaped, eyes widened. Soon, the smile on his face was big enough and creepy enough to make the Joker jealous. "Hop in, folks, we're going for a ride."
Jemma gave Kate a concerned look and shook her head. "You honestly don't know the monster you've just unleashed."
Kate shrugged nonchalantly. "It was my father's wedding gift to Dalton and me. If he does any damage, it would almost be poetic." Jemma slid into the back seat next to Tony. Their eyes met. The familiar sensual buzz that tingled through Jemma caught her off guard, stealing her breath away.
"I owe you the world's largest apology. I should've let you explain."
Jemma melted. "Thank you, but I understand there were a lot of forces working against us." Mike slammed his foot onto the gas pedal, throwing all of them back against their seats. "I'm just glad the force in the front seat right now is on our side."
Turning his rounded gaze between her and the front seat, Tony said, "Literally, I guess. I'd hate to be a pedestrian right now."
"Mikey," Jemma started. He flashed a quick frown over his shoulder. "Excuse me, Mike, please slow down." Jemma reached forward, clamping a hand on his shoulder, hopefully pulling him from his fast-car induced bubble.
"Yeah, sorry about that." The car slowed some as he wound them through the Galloway area and up the hill toward Springfield. They turned onto the main road, and Mike said, "Oh, there's a Mickey D's. Mind if I pop in there for a sweet tea?"
"Please just take us to wherever it is you are taking us. I'm s
ure Mom has some waiting for you back at the park." Knowing her brother's stubbornness, Jemma fought a useless battle.
"I could use a glass myself," Kate added.
He turned toward Jemma, a gloating sneer lighting his face. "Mickey D's it is, then."
They pulled into a spot near the front door. Mike and Kate hurried out, staring into the backseat at Tony and Jemma. "Come with us!" they chimed in unison, waving them on.
Tony raised an eyebrow at Jemma. "Sure, why not."
Racing around the car, he looked befuddled when Jemma sat in her seat, waiting for him to open the door. She graced him with a sweet smile, as he held out his hand for her. They walked into the lobby of McDonald's hand-in-hand. Warmth flooded her as his thumb gently slid against hers.
"Would you like fries with that?" The monotone, familiar voice caused Jemma to whip her head toward the registers. There, behind the counter, hair net and all, stood Dalton Octavius Blackwell. The same man who thought everyone on the planet was beneath him. She couldn't help but stare.
And giggle, though that part probably could've been helped.
Kate's small hand appeared on her shoulder, and she whispered in Jemma's ear, "We just came here to show you what Dalton's been up to lately."
She shook her head, not really believing her eyes. "Seriously, the man thinks fixing his own meal is mortifying, and this is what he chose?"
"He didn't have a lot of options. It was either this or a sanitation worker. Daddy knows everyone else."
Jemma laughed so hard she snorted, which, in turn, caused the rest of her party to laugh as well. Amid giggles, she said, "This isn't funny because of what he's doing to make a living. This is funny because it's him."
They nodded in unison.
Their commotion caught Dalton's attention. He immediately slid his hair net off and fluffed his blond locks.
A young woman in a manager's uniform sauntered over, shaking her head so hard her high-topped ponytail slid down. She poked a tiny finger to his chest. "It's a health code violation to be around food without a hairnet. How many times do I have to tell you?"
Dalton's face flushed red with embarrassment and anger as he spouted, "And how many times do I have to tell you to leave me the hell alone?" He swatted the woman's hand away.
The manager's face flared to a matching shade. "You are fired!"
Dalton darted around the counter, stomping toward Jemma with his jaw set and fists clenched at his side. "Are you guys happy now?" He pushed into the group, spinning to evil-eye each person. "This," he spat, spreading his arms wide, "is the only place in the whole city that would hire me, and you got me fired." He turned toward Kate, inching forward until his nose almost touched hers. "I'm taking you to court and emptying your daddy's bank accounts. If he can make it impossible for me to work, then you can pay me alimony."
Kate's spine straightened, adding height to her tiny five-foot frame, but she didn't back away. "We didn't even consummate the marriage afterward, so how do you plan on getting alimony?"
"Hmm, let's see?" He stroked an imaginary beard; his eyes squinted in over-exaggerated thought. "You were pregnant with my baby when we got married, so prove that we didn't consummate the marriage. I've already told you that I won't sign an annulment, and this just seals the deal on the whole alimony case." A malicious look devoured his face. "I'm not going to have to work another day in my life." He released a enthusiastic laugh as he strutted away.
Kate's shoulders slumped when he finally disappeared out the doors, and she shook her head in defeat. "How am I going to prove we didn't have sex after the wedding? The burden of proof will be on me once he files the appeal. The baby I lost, his baby, will be the first evidence he'll bring up, no doubt." A single tear made a slow trail down her cheek.
Jemma wiped the renegade droplet from her face. "I think I have just what the doctor ordered." She reached into her purse and pulled out a USB drive. "I've kept this here for just such an emergency. I was actually beginning to lose hope that I'd ever be able to use it against him."
Kate's brow crinkled in confusion. "What is it?"
"This is the answer to all of your Dalton problems. On this little zip drive is a picture I took of Stacy and him in the hall during your wedding reception. I believe that she's attempting to suck the lips off his face."
Kate threw herself into Jemma's arms and squeezed her in a surprisingly solid hug.
It must be a family thing.
Jemma pushed her to arms length and curled the drive into her hand. "It's all yours now. I don't need it anymore. Just promise me you'll nail his ass to the wall." She waggled a brow. "You might not want to tell him about this until you're in court. The element of surprise would be so wonderful and give him less of a chance to explain it away. I just wish I could see the look on his smug, pompous, holier-than-thou face."
"Well, you did take the picture." Revenge contorted Kate's soft features into a lopsided sneer. "So, you'd probably have to testify. Are you up for that?"
"Wow." Jemma fanned her face and clutched the collar of her dress in mock excitement. "I thought you'd never ask."
Kate and Jemma plotted revenge as they walked out to the car. Sliding into the seat next to Tony, everything seemed right with the world. Peace, for the first time in a very long time, enveloped her during the ride back.
Tony opened her door and held a hand out for her and didn't let go even after she was standing next to him.
Jemma's mom caught sight of them as they walked toward her, still hand-in-hand. She bounced up and down, erratically waving her arms about like one of those plastic inflatables in front of a store's grand opening. Squealing, she bellowed, "Oh, my baby got her man back!"
Over and over.
Jemma skidded to a stop. Mortified, she turned rounded eyes to Tony before clamping them shut. Silently, she prayed for a hole in the ground to open and swallow her.
It didn't happen.
Instead, when she opened her eyes, her mother was standing in front of her.
"Oh, honey." Throwing her arms around Jemma, she continued bouncing on a smaller scale in an attempt to share her excitement.
That didn't happen either.
"What's the matter?" she stopped and pushed her daughter back to arm's length. "Aren't you happy, too?"
"Mom, I'm ecstatic. Please calm down. Now," she begged quietly.
Tony avoided her pleading gaze, snickering to himself.
Jemma stomped over to her father and took Penny's leash from him, so she would have an excuse to wander off into the trees alone.
But, Tony followed close behind. "What? It was funny. I don't know that I've ever seen such a deep shade of red on anyone before, and your expression was priceless. You know you would have laughed if the shoe were on the other foot."
Jemma groaned. "I could never imagine your mother screaming 'my baby got his woman back'." She continued on her trek at a heated pace, Penny pulling hard at her lead.
"I'll have you know, my mother has embarrassed me many times."
"Yeah, well, I wasn't there to laugh at you then, was I?"
He grabbed at her arm. "Slow down."
Jemma shrugged away. "Hey, talk to the dog. She's leading this expedition."
She mentally willed Penny on so she didn't have to face Tony just yet. Anger and awkwardness boiled to a head over a silly little embarrassing instance, and she wasn't quite sure why. Penny made an abrupt stop to sniff at a tree, and Tony bumped into Jemma's back. He wrapped her in a bear hug to keep from plowing her over.
"Whoa. When she decides to stop, she makes it happen," Tony murmured into Jemma's ear.
The familiar feel of his embrace melted away the turmoil.
Tony spun her toward him. "Jemma, I'm so very sorry for everything, even for laughing when you were embarrassed. Can we get past what happened? Can I ever make it up to you?"
She blinked up at him, studying his handsome features, reveling in the feel of his hands nestled in the small of her back. She grab
bed the front of his T-shirt and pulled him closer. So close, she could smell the mint of his gum. "You can start by kissing me."
"That's a tough request," he growled. His lips inched closer to hers.
The sensual hum of his words echoed through her.
Penny took off after a squirrel and nearly yanked Jemma's arm from the socket, burning her palm as the leash scraped from her hand.
"Ouch!" She turned and watched the dog run back toward the picnic table and her father.
"Would you like to walk for a bit?" Tony asked, waggling a brow and bobbing his head in the opposite direction.
"Walk, huh?" She gazed down the path through the thickening woods and remembered all of the times she and Mikey had blazed new trails. The cave. "Okay, I'm game."
Hand-in-hand, they wandered farther into the wooded area, with Jemma guiding the way. They came upon a small, shallow cave. It was just where she'd remembered, though her pre-pubescent memories portrayed it a bit larger.
Tony stopped as she tried to tug him through the opening. "That doesn't look safe."
"Trust me?"
Two little words should not have caused such somber looks and inner turmoil, but they did. It wasn't the sketchy looking cave or anything either of them did. It was Dalton and all of his lies.
Tony's hand traced the side of her face, stopping to cup her chin, tilting it upward. His gaze scanned her face, settling on her eyes, reaching clear through to her soul. "I will do whatever it takes to make this up to you, to erase the hurt still lingering in your eyes, to regain your trust, to convince you…" His hands dropped to his sides, and he leaned against the cave, staring off into the trees.
Jemma shifted herself into his line of sight. "Of what?"
He pulled her into his arms, his head lilting to the side, and whispered, "That I'm falling for you. These past weeks have been hell."
"Me, too," she breathed.
A single brow arched. "The falling or the hell?"
She nodded. "Yes."
His mouth seized hers in a kiss brimming with need and passion. Jemma's heart swelled with hope again, while the rest of her filled with want.
My Ex-Boyfriend's Wedding Page 12
