“I forgot about dinner. Yeah, that would be great. I know just where we can go, too.”
We headed over to the Red Cat and ordered from the amazing selection on the takeout menu. It was just going to be Anna, Joseph and myself, but I still chose something for Dominick; a Parmesan Risotto and Seared Seas Scallops platter, his favorite. I knew he would be in late and that he would be hungry, so the dish and a good bottle of wine and some dessert would be ready for him when he returned home.
Tommy drove me to the townhouse and walked me to the door. I kissed his cheek and told him that I would call him tomorrow.
I walked in around 7pm, the house was quiet. I placed the bags of food on the kitchen island and I called out to Anna and Joseph, but they didn’t answer. I checked the twin’s room and they were sound asleep. I stood over them and stared. I felt a smile form on my face as I watched them sleep.
“I love you both, more than you know.” I whispered, as not to wake them from their slumber.
It was hard to get them to sleep precisely at the same time, so I didn’t want to ruin it. I left them to search for Anna and Joseph. They didn’t answer when I called out to them again, but they never would have left the twins alone in the house.
I called out again, as I opened the doors to the living room. It was dark, except for the glow of the flames in the fireplace. It was getting a bit chilly in the city, so it was very considerate of Joseph to start a fire tonight. I was just about to leave to make my plate and bring it back here to eat by the firelight when I heard him. From his tone, I knew it would not be a good night for us.
I looked and there in the corner, in the dark, sat my husband. He had a glass of brandy in his hand and by the sound of his voice, it wasn’t his first. Anger emanated off of him and filled the room. I felt like I could suffocate from the negative energy that had begun to build before me.
“So, you and Conte went behind my back and spoke to Stack.” He took a swig of the amber-colored liquid and hissed through his teeth, before he slammed the crystal tumbler down on the table next to him.
The darkness of the room began to consume me. My heart raced and my ears throbbed with a powerful pressure from the beats. Although I was caught off guard by his presence, I knew what he was doing. He wanted me to believe he knew everything, in the hopes that I would just tell him what I told Detective Stack, but I knew that Detective Stack wouldn’t have run to Dominick with the information I gave him, so I surmised that this was his way of trying to pry the information from me.
His tactics were the old Dominick. Or maybe the pressure of today had gotten to him and apparently so did one too many glasses of brandy.
I was pissed and unmoved by his current state of madness, so I proceeded to leave the room in search of my well-lit kitchen and our dinner. I wasn’t about to stand here and take this shit from him.
I walked away and said nothing. He called out to me, as he followed me down the corridor to the kitchen.
“Rain, I’m speaking to you!” He bellowed.
I whipped around and now caught him off guard, which propelled him off balance in his current inebriated state. I grabbed his suit jacket, so that he didn’t topple over, or worse.
Once he was standing somewhat upright, I put my pointer finger over his mouth. “Shhh…you’ll wake our babies. They’re sleeping.” My tone was firm, motherly.
He swayed slightly. I tried to keep from laughing, because in his current condition he looked almost comical.
“I know they’re sleeping, I…put…them…to…bed.”
“You did?” I knew he couldn't have, not in this condition.
“Well, Anna did, but I kissed them goodnight. Yeah, that’s what I did.” He stated indignantly.
This made me believe that he probably acted crazy when he had gotten home, so once Anna put the twins to bed; she must have retreated with the baby monitor to her room.
“Where is Anna now?”
“She and Joseph went to their room to read before dinner.” He slurred.
I grinned, as I caught him in my arms and arduously moved him across the kitchen to the sectional in the family room. I struggled with him, but was able to drop him into the corner of the seating area, taking my body with him. I removed myself from his chest, but he pulled me back into his arms and searched my face.
“I love you, Mrs. Kane.” He was barely audible, as he began to pass out before me.
“I love you more, Mr. Kane.” I kissed his cheek, as he closed his eyes to sleep it off.
I stood up and watched him, just like I had with the twins moments ago. Although Dominick amused me with his antics tonight, I was grateful that the brandy fully kicked in and we adverted a full-blown argument. I was pretty sure the conversation would be taken up in the morning.
Joseph, Anna, and I had dinner, and I filled them in on what happened. I told them that much of it was now in the hands of the authorities, because I went as far as I could go with the lists and I needed the help of the police.
Needless to say, they were relieved. I just hoped that Detective Stack found some sort of connection with the families on the list, so that we could find out what Vincent Kane had on the Van Buren’s.
Daylight came all too soon and so did Dominick’s inquisition. It was 4am, when he started in on me and all before I had my coffee.
“So are going to tell me why you and Conte had a meeting with Stack at your old place? Was it because you didn’t want me to hear what you had to say? Is that it or is there more?” At times, he was just too much.
I rubbed my eyes and tousled my hair, as to wake up my senses. It’s not like I never get up this early with the twins, but they are much more cheerful than the big baby I was dealing with this morning.
“Dominick, I’m only going to say this once and…I’m not going to repeat myself. I met Detective Stack at Tommy’s so we wouldn't be interrupted, plus I wanted to go get takeout at The Red Cat which was closer to my old place than here, so it was for convenience sake, that’s all. I fully intended to sit down with you, when you came home, to tell you all about the meeting, but unfortunately you were in no condition to have a serious talk.”
“So this is my fault?” He was defensive.
“Dominick! This is not about whose fault this is. It’s about timing and our timing was off last night.”
“Yet, the timing with Conte is never off, right Rain?” He was snide with his remark.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I was bewildered by what he just stated.
“You have no problem talking with him about the case, but you won’t talk to me.”
I was shocked by his statement. “You must be joking. You're telling me that I don’t talk to you. I try to talk to you all the damn time. You and my dad thwart my every effort to discuss what happened.”
“Why can’t you just understand that we are trying to protect you, Rain?”
“Dominick, I don’t need protecting anymore. I’m not that little girl from Capri anymore. I’m a grown woman with a family. I’m not a child.”
“Then stop acting like one.”
“What?” I scrambled out of the sheets and stood up on the bed. “You’re talking about me? You're calling me a child? What was that stellar display of adulthood, I witnessed from you last night, hmmm?”
This wasn’t going to end well. Control was a tough subject between the both of us, but there wasn’t a chance in hell that I would back down from him now, not this time.
“Listen, I had a rough day, so I kicked back a few to relax, so what?”
“You call acting the way you did, relaxed? You were ready to start in on me the minute my feet stepped through the door.”
“Arghhh…” His hands shook in the air. “I don’t know how your dad or I can get through to you. We don’t want you looking into this case. You don’t know what you're getting into and we don’t either, for that matter. Rain, I don’t want you hurt in any way.”
“Dominick,” I sighed and lowered my body t
o the mattress, he came and sat next to me, shoulder to shoulder. “I wouldn’t do anything that would jeopardize myself or our family, but I won’t let anyone hurt us either. Besides, I can take care of myself.”
“No, you can’t, Rain.” He was shameless in his remark.
“Really, Dominick, because I’ve been taking care of myself for years now. Long before we had ever gotten together. So enlighten me on this revelation of yours?” I was blatantly sarcastic in my rebuttal to his comment.
“You have never really taken care of yourself… all by yourself. You had your mom when you were little and your dad when he came out to Capri. You had Mema and Antonio and even Vincent, when your mom had gotten sick. Let me see, you had Michael and Raven when your mom was finally dead and then there was Tommy. You have always had Tommy. He’s still by your side helping you every step of the way. So you see, Angel, you have never truly had to take care of you…all by yourself.”
My body shook in response to his words. They hurt, but he wasn’t wrong. Perhaps this was why I needed to continue to delve into this investigation. Maybe I needed to do it for our family and me? I needed to prove that I could do it all by myself. Whatever the reason was, to hear him say it was painful and hurtful and because of that I needed for him to feel as bad as he made me feel right now.
I stood up to face him, as he sat before me on our bed.
“You know, Dominick, you're right. I have to hand it to you. You summed up my meager existence in less than two minutes. I wish I had met you years ago. Then perhaps all of this shit that I carried inside of me for so long could have been settled, just like that.” I stopped, as I snapped my fingers in response to his view of my life.
“Rain…”
“No…you started this. Now you're going to listen and let me finish it. I guess the reason you are so sharp at looking into my life is because your life was no picnic either. The woman you thought was your mother was actually a criminal, a baby stealer. And because Vincent finally figured out that the woman he was married to… the woman he bedded down with every night for years, was a complete liar; then he decided to turn his back on her and on you too, so he didn’t have to see her again. I guess you really do get it. You had to take care of you…all by yourself, as you put it, so that must be why you recognized someone less fortunate than you or shall we say, weaker than you? I guess it stands to reason that you’d feel the need or maybe you're compelled by your past to protect me, so I don’t hurt myself…hmmm?”
“Rain…please.”
I stopped him again.“No… let me help you now, Dominick. Let me make this easier on you. You don’t need to have the urge to protect me any longer. If fact, I don’t want you to. You see, Dominick, the words you stated to me just now hurt me more than anything you have ever lied to me about. Just so we’re clear, all I ever dreamed of in that lonely room as a child… was a family. Ironically, I wanted a dream man that would want to care for me and our children, like a many should. I never thought back then that it would ever happen. Then you came along. Regardless how this relationship began and no matter how bad things were between us, I always felt loved by you, protected, but you always felt the need to go overboard. You were that dream and that man, but now in true Dominick Kane fashion...you crushed my dream with your reality.”
I got up to leave and check on our babies, but he wasn’t having it. He came up behind me and pulled me to him, as he always had before. His arms were wrapped around my shoulders and they crossed the top of my chest. My hands, without a second thought went to them and held on tight. Right now my body was in a love/hate struggle with Dominick Kane, a tug-o-war with my heart strings.
“No, now it’s my turn to speak, Baby. I know what I said may have seemed harsh, but I was trying to make a point. I was trying to get through to you, Rain. I’m sorry I said it the way I did, but I felt I had no other choice. I needed to get your attention.”
“Well, now you have it.”
“You are the strongest person I know. You are even stronger than I am, most of the time, but lately you’ve become so pre-occupied with finding these criminals that I’m disturbed by it. It’s like you need to prove something to yourself, but is it worth risking your health or even possibly your life to get your point across?” He tugged at me just a bit more.
I huffed out an exhalation and shook my head, but I stayed in my spot close to him. I didn't fight us.
“I don’t really know. I mean no, no, it’s not worth it if it hurts our family in any way. The funny thing is that I hated what you just said, but as you were speaking, I knew it was my truth. I have always been surrounded by people in one way or another. Whether I wanted them to be there for me or not. The thing is you can’t imagine how much time I’ve spent, wasted time, in my life fighting for my independence. Just so that my family would let me go or maybe to just let me grow a little bit.” I felt defeated at this point.
He turned me around to face him. He held my shoulders and looked me straight in the eyes, as he spoke. “You listen to me, Mrs. Kane. You’re a smart, sexy, and beautiful woman. You have a successful career that you love, but most importantly, you have a family that loves you more than anything. I love you more than anything. If that means that I feel the need to protect you at all costs, no matter how angry I make you, then so be it. At least I know you’re okay. Baby, we don’t know what this impending indictment is going to do to our family or us. Please I need you to stop taking risks, please, Rain, for the twins and for me. I’m begging you.”
I closed my eyes to get my bearings. “Okay, on one condition.”
“You are the most frustrating woman I have ever known.”
“Good… now, here’s the condition, I’ll stop investigating the assaults and leave it to the experts, if you let me help you find out who turned you in.”
He grinned.
“You mean, we will actually work together?”
“Yes, Mr. Kane, we’ll work together. What better way for you to keep your protective eyes on me?”
Instead of a negative response, his was to wrap his strong arms around me completely and mine around him. We held on like we couldn’t let go. We held on like our lives depended on it. No matter what, this was who we were and this was how we would remain…always.
Chapter Thirty
More Than I Could Have Hoped For
Dominick
After our long talk, Rain and I took the twins for a walk in the park. It was a beautiful day. It felt good to be out in the crisp fall air. It gave me time to reflect on my case and plan a strategy in my head for what I needed to do to win.
I didn’t have to be at the office today. It was odd for me to say that. I wasn’t at all comfortable with the fact that my clients and my cases were turned over to other lawyers at the firm, but until the charges were dropped, this was my new normal.
I did appreciate the fact that Victor headed back to the office full time to work on my case and to oversee what the other attorneys were doing in regard to my briefs.
I was relieved that he agreed to inform me daily on the statuses of each case and he let me consult, off the record, to make sure that the outcomes were as I wanted them to be.
I had agreed earlier this morning that I would let Rain help me with my arrest case. Specifically, I promised to let her work with me to find out who could have possibly turned me in. My money was on Michael Conte. Rain was not yet convinced.
Although I respected what Rain thought, it wasn’t going to change what I believed was true. Michael Conte did this to me. I didn’t know what his motives were, but I was determined to find out.
The one thing I was sure of was that even though I had agreed to let Rain help me with my case from home, at no point would I allow her to be involved in it any way more than that. I would control how much information I gave her and what she was allowed to do when it came to my hearing. This way I could keep my eye on her and make sure she stayed out of trouble.
I called Rain’s dad and he agreed that
this was the best way to protect her and satisfy her desire to help at the same time.
Once we returned to the townhouse, we fed the twins their lunch. It wasn’t a big surprise to Rain or myself that they fell asleep without a fuss. The cool fall air and bright sunshine from our walk totally knocked both of them out. They could barely keep their eyes open while we fed them.
After we laid them down for their nap, Rain suggested that I stay and make sure they were fast asleep while she prepared some lunch for us. She suggested we eat in the family room and go over a few things that she thought would be helpful to my case.
I agreed, but wondered what exactly Rain had that could help me.
I stayed a few moments more with my babies and once I was sure they both wouldn’t wake for a while, I left to join Rain for lunch.
Rain explained that I missed my dinner last night, so she heated up the Parmesan Risotto with the grilled Sea Scallops. She poured us each some wine and we sat down on the floor around the coffee table in the family room to eat and get to work.
The Ties That Bind (Miss Taken Identity #3) Page 27
