Dani returned the hug, relieved their feud was over. “I should have called, so I’m sorry, too, Mom.”
Annalisa released her and then crossed her arms. “Now it’s your turn, buddy.”
Mario joined them and then cupped her mother’s face in his hands.
Dani cringed. She hoped he knew what he was doing, because when her mother had that expression on her face, no one was safe.
He whispered, “Well done, my love.” After laying a lingering kiss on her lips, one that left her mom with a slight grin on hers, he turned to Dani. “Why don’t we all sit down?”
She’d seen her mother kiss other men, but never one who made her knees go weak.
Dani shook her head in wonderment at the way Mario handled her mother, too, as she settled into the cloud-soft sofa. She’d never have believed it if she hadn’t witnessed it.
Her mom sat next to her and took her hand, as if the news he was about to share was going to be bad. Dani braced for the worst and dearly hoped her mother hadn’t talked him into asking for the money back. For Emma’s sake. She needed her mother.
Mario took a seat on the couch across from them. “Dani, I was born into a family that made their living in a questionable manner. In my early twenties I’d had enough, and because I’d met your beautiful mother, I wanted to be a legitimate businessman, for her sake and mine. My grandfather was the romantic sort, not to mention a huge fan of Annalisa’s, so he sympathized with my plight. He released me from my family obligations and gave Annalisa and me permission to marry. But, not long after I was released, my grandfather died, and my father did something that made our marriage impossible.”
Mario stood, then walked away toward the large wall of windows. Staring out at the skyline with his hands folded behind his back, he continued. “My father wanted me back in the business and threatened to kill Annalisa, who was pregnant at the time, if I didn’t continue his dirty work. I was heartbroken, but knew his threats weren’t idle ones. So I went back to work for my family, and your mother and I staged a very public breakup. I couldn’t risk her life or”—he turned and faced them—“yours, Daniella.”
Her mom tightened her grip on Dani’s hand. She felt the squeeze, but the rest of her body went numb. It wasn’t a shock to hear that Mario was her father—she somehow knew the first time she met him. It should have been a relief or maybe even made her angry, but it left her feeling slightly ill. The same ruthless blood that ran through Mario’s father’s veins ran through hers as well, and it sickened her. Sure, she’d done a few things that could have gotten her thrown in jail, but they were always to help others. She’d never intentionally steal or, for God’s sake, kill someone. Had Mario killed anyone?
Did she really want to know?
She met his hopeful gaze. What did he want her to say? What should she say? It takes time to develop feelings for someone, and while she was grateful for the way he’d handled her gambling, and he seemed like a nice man, she felt nothing more than a mild fondness for him.
A sudden urge to flee came over her. Slowly rising from the couch, she said, “Well, thanks for telling me. I don’t understand why you kept it a secret this long, especially because now I know you’ve obviously been seeing each other, so you must’ve worked things out. But, at least I know now, and that’s something. I need to get back in case Emma wakes up. Good night.”
Finding it hard to draw a deep breath, Dani turned and started toward the elevator. Her mom could’ve told her. She’d kept her mother’s secret about her dreams her whole life. Why would this secret be all that different? Her mother’s lack of trust in her still hurt.
She was searching for a button to summon the elevator when Mario appeared beside her. “After I returned to the family business, your mother and I saw each other on the sly. I continued arranging for my freedom, but my father found out and had you kidnapped as a warning to me. After that, I thought it best you never knew who I was. Annalisa and I didn’t see each other for over twenty years out of fear of my father and what he might do to you. When he died last year, he left the family business in the hands of my brother, who released me because he knows how much I love your mom. I’m no longer involved, and it’s important to me that you understand this casino is a legitimate business venture.”
She was still trying to wrap her head around her own family kidnapping her when he laid a hand on her arm and turned her toward him. “I love you, Dani, but I don’t expect you to reciprocate. I regret not being a part of your life until now, but I couldn’t tell you of my existence until I was sure it was safe, and that’s only happened recently.”
So that’s why they’d never told her. Made a lot more sense after hearing all of that.
Her mom joined them, circling her arm around Mario’s waist. “I’ve asked Mario to marry me, but he won’t. He’s afraid it would damage my career if anyone dug too deeply into his past. He might be right, but my publicist tells me he could spin it in my favor. So for now, I have to settle for seeing him whenever our schedules allow.”
Her mom slipped her other arm around Dani’s waist and pulled her close, making a tight triangle among the three of them. “I’ve tried making Mario jealous by making it look like I was sleeping with younger men—which you noticed, and I’m sorry for that, too, by the way. But I wasn’t. I hoped he’d see what a mistake he was making by not marrying me, but it didn’t work. It just pissed him off instead of motivating him, because Mario knows I love him. You get your stubborn streak from him.”
She’d always figured she’d gotten her stubborn streak from her obstinate mother. But at least that explained her mom’s recent attraction to younger men. She’d hated the thought of her mother acting like those desperate, aging celebrities who tried to hang on to their youth by being with people half their age. Her mom would always be a great legend no matter what and could afford to age gracefully—with the help of Botox and plastic surgery, of course.
To her surprise, Dani gave into her urge, giving her father a quick, sympathetic hug. “Any man who has the guts to take on a Botelli woman has to be stubborn and have the patience of Job. I’ll wish you luck, Mario.”
“Thank you.” He grinned as he slowly released her. “Please come back and see me again, Dani. But I stand by my requirement that you gamble somewhere else. I’d be happy to provide you the names of my biggest competitors.” He pushed the elevator button.
“Okay, but maybe you’d like to come to New Mexico? Thanksgiving’s coming up.” She blinked back her tears as the elevator doors slid open, and she stepped inside, where the same guard waited for her.
Mario said, “I’ll be there.”
When the doors closed, she sighed. She finally knew for sure who her father was. Maybe since Mario had gone to so much trouble to be with her mom, he’d been serious about cleaning up his act and really was a legit businessman. Maybe he’d turn out to be an okay guy. Especially because it was obvious how much her mother loved him. She’d never seen her mom so googly-eyed about a man. It warmed her bruised heart.
When the doors parted again, she walked to her room, waved to the guards, and then quietly let herself in. She didn’t want to wake Michael but had an overwhelming need for him.
She wanted to be held, safely wrapped in his strong arms until the world righted itself again.
Stripping down to her pj’s, she checked on Emma, then lifted the covers on Michael’s bed and slid beside him.
Mumbling something unrecognizable, he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. She molded her body against his warm one and laid a soft kiss on his pouty lips.
He blinked his eyes open and grinned. “Hey.” Then his hold on her tightened, and he tucked her head under his chin. “So what was that about?”
“They wanted to tell me that Mario is my father. They couldn’t tell me until recently because of Mario’s family. They really are what we’d thought. Mobsters of some sort, I guess. It’s so weird to think I have relatives who are criminals. I’ve always hated t
hat thought.”
He shrugged. “Every family has black sheep. Some are just darker than others, I guess.”
“Dark enough to have me kidnapped?” That crossed too many lines to count. It made her shudder again just thinking about how evil her grandfather must have been to do something like that.
Michael lifted his head. “Seriously? That’s who kidnapped you? Your own family?”
She nodded. “I suppose that’s why I wasn’t hurt. It was just a warning to Mario. But now I can finally understand why my mom never married—she’d been waiting for Mario—and why she was always so protective of me and Sara.”
Michael let out a long breath. “If there’s one thing I know for certain, it’s that your mom loves you, Dani. And I love you, too. I never stopped.”
Never stopped?
She’d assumed he’d never loved her like she’d loved him. It was the only way she could make sense of her painful dream. The one in which she’d watched him marry someone who wasn’t her.
She sat up and took Michael’s face in her hands. “Then why did you marry Heather?”
He laid his hands over hers and smiled weakly. “Because you’d removed yourself from my life, and she was the opposite of you in most every way. I didn’t want the painful reminders. You, Dani Botelli, are one of a kind, and no one could ever take your place in my heart.” He pulled her close and kissed her.
It was the first kiss they’d shared that wasn’t filled with urgency and lust. Instead, it was patient and sweet. Like a salve to her already tender heart.
It was disturbing to find out who her father was, and it hurt a little, but at the same time it was a strange relief. But hearing Michael say he’d always loved her made everything right in her world again.
When his lips left hers, he whispered, “I know this has been a tough night for you, but when a guy spills his guts, it’s torture to leave him hanging.”
“Oh, sorry!” She leaned her forehead against his and smiled at the uncertainty in a pair of eyes that rarely were. “I love you, too, Michael. Always have.” She lay down beside him and snuggled against his side. Had that dream forced her to create her own fate? If she hadn’t parted ways with Michael in high school, would he have still married Heather?
It was all too much to think about for one night. The important thing was that Michael loved her.
“So, are you okay?”
“Yeah.” She closed her eyes and smiled. “I am now.”
Michael awoke with his arms filled with a curvy, sexy woman. Dani was wrapped around him like a stray vine, and he wanted her so bad it hurt. His desire to make love to her consumed him, but he still worried about the rest. Dani was a complicated package and would never be easy, but wasn’t that what made her so different from any other woman he’d ever known?
He lifted his head to check on Emma, dismayed when her blue eyes stared into his from the opposite bed. When she grinned sweetly, he was swamped with guilt over his frustration that he couldn’t have Dani because of Em’s presence.
But he could fix that, or at least he hoped so, and he gently slid out of Dani’s embrace. After Emma was dressed, her hair combed, and teeth freshly brushed, he knocked on Jerry’s door. Dani had slipped into the shower, unaware of his big plans for her.
When the door opened, Michael tugged his wallet from his back pocket and held out two twenties. “Would you take Emma down to the corner and grab us all some breakfast?”
Jerry frowned and shook his head. “That’s not in my job description, dude.”
“I need you guys to disappear for forty-five minutes or so. I want to be alone with Dani. Comprende?”
Jerry snagged the bills from Michael’s hand. “Okay. I’ll try to keep her away as long as possible, but the kid gets itchy when Dani’s not around.” Jerry leaned down and scooped Emma up. “Hey, kid. Want to go to Mickey Dee’s?”
After spending time with Jerry the day before, Emma seemed more comfortable with him, so Michael held his breath and hoped she’d agree.
Emma clapped her hands and grinned. “Yay, Mic Dee’s!”
When the door slapped closed behind them, Michael grabbed a condom and jogged toward the bathroom, wrestling his shirt off on the way. He opened the door, letting billowing steam escape, and stepped inside. Tossing his shirt aside and stripping to the skin, he called out, “Dani, can I join you?”
She must not have heard him over the din of the water, so he yanked on the shower door and leaned in.
The sight of her was like getting hit in the gut with a two-by-four. Dani was stunning. Her head was tilted back, eyes closed, as she rinsed the shampoo out of her long, silky hair. His heart stuttered as he gazed at her goddesslike body. She had exceptional, soft curves, and his hands ached to caress each one.
When her left eye popped opened, he waited for her to throw him out or invite him in. A grin tilted her lips, and his hopes soared right along with the heat in his veins. She finished rinsing the suds from her hair, then turned around. “It’s not a lake, but there seems to be plenty of water. Want to do my hard-to-reach places?”
“I could do that.” He stepped inside and closed the door behind him, reminding himself to take it slow. He owed her that. He wanted to make up for their last time together. It’d just be an added bonus if he could make her beg for him in the process.
Reaching for the soap she held out, he slicked the bar across her soft shoulders as he nibbled on her long neck. She tasted faintly of flowers from her shampoo, and when he’d had his fill, he trailed his soapy hands lower, along her back toward her tight butt. Using both hands, he kneaded her firm, slick, heart-shaped rear, pleased by her low groan of pleasure when he dropped to the floor, taking extra time at the back of her knees When he reached her calves, he turned her around and started up the front.
Her legs were so long and sexy it was no hardship to take his time, but he nearly lost it when her muscles quivered as he slowly made his way past her thighs toward the heat in the center.
When he replaced the soap with his mouth, she writhed as his tongue laved, stroked, and teased her. She let out a strangled “Oh God,” so he slipped his fingers inside her and moved in a rhythm her hips instantly matched. He was rock hard, barely able to tolerate the need building inside, but refused to stop until she came.
Her hands slapped the sides of the shower as she strained against him. She let out a low moan just before she tightened around his fingers with a viselike grip, and her head fell back. “Michael, I can’t—”
Then she let go. That tempted him to plunge inside of her so he could join in the intensity of her orgasm. But he’d made a promise to himself, so he held back and waited for her to still again; then he rose and slipped his hands up her slick, supple body until they found her full breasts.
While nibbling on her ear, he whispered, “You’re so damn beautiful, Dani.”
Dani felt she should say something back, like “So are you” or something, because God knows he was. But her mind was mush. He was doing things to her body that made her weak. His big hands gave her such intense pleasure, and he’d made it all about her. Not asking for anything in return.
She was finally able to whisper in his ear, “I haven’t held up my end of the deal.” Her hands slid down his muscled chest past his narrow waist and found him hard and ready. She slowly stroked him, wanting him even more when he let out a low sensual moan.
He stopped her hand. “I didn’t treat you as gently as I should have the last time. I’ll always be sorry for that. Please let me make it up to you.”
She met his gaze as memories of that night filled her thoughts. It was the most unbelievable night of her life, making love to a man she loved. She’d turned down so many boys, but didn’t feel a bit of guilt about being with Michael. She’d meant to put a stop to things, but deep down, she hated to admit that she hadn’t wanted to. She’d always vowed to wait until she was married, and because she couldn’t—or because it wouldn’t be Michael—she hadn’t wanted to. �
�I loved that you were my first. It was incredible.”
His mouth twitched into a grin. “For me, too. But let me show you how I wanted to treat you the last time but was too young and stupid to know better. Please?”
She leaned her head back as his large hands covered her breasts. His tone was so serious she felt the need to lighten his mood. “Well, okay. If you insist. I don’t want to be difficult.”
A laugh rumbled deep within his chest before he kissed her. After he’d stolen every rational thought from her brain again, he whispered, “Difficult is exactly what you are.”
He was doing magical things to her breasts again that were taking her to the edge of reason, so she’d just let him take over and go with the flow.
Michael’s thumbs found her nipples, which were hard and standing at full attention. He leaned down and laid his mouth on one, teasing and sucking until she made low whimpering noises.
When she couldn’t take another minute of his sweet torture, she said, “Now. Please.”
“Almost there, baby.” He slipped his hands around her waist and lifted her up, leaning her back against the stone wall. She wrapped her legs around him, and after grabbing the condom from the soap dish and wrestling it on, he kissed her. Then he grabbed ahold of her butt and slipped inside her. The onslaught of sweet sensations stole her breath.
As his tongue caressed and teased her mouth, her body tightened around him, inviting him to venture deeper. Her hands moved of their own accord, clamping onto his hard ass, and she pulled him against her, silently begging him to take her harder and faster.
But then he slowed the tempo, switching to long, slow strokes, pushing deeper and deeper with each one. Dani groaned as her body pulsed harder around him.
When he picked up the pace, she couldn’t hold back any longer and closed her eyes. Bright lights burst inside her lids as she came again.
After one last groan, Michael pumped furiously inside her until they both found glorious relief.
Dani struggled to draw the steamy air into her lungs as she slowly ran her fingers through Michael’s wet hair. Hot water poured over them while she was still wrapped around him. She was probably heavy, but moving just yet wasn’t an option. Her legs felt like rubber bands.
Seeing Double (A Heartbreaker Novel Book 1) Page 21
