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“You are a bastard! You think you are so high and mighty. You think that just because you are Dante Luciano, you can keep him away from me!” I can barely make out what she is yelling about. Her voice is so slurred. I look at my watch; it is only 2pm.
“It is fucking 2 in the afternoon Angelina. Get your fucking shit together!” I scream at her, totally losing my shit. I know I shouldn't, but I am stressed. Stressed at her constant demands and calls, but more stressed because I can’t find fucking Dominic.
“You are not going near him. You are not fit to be a parent. You are not fit for fucking anything!”
She is quiet then. My hands are still in fists. I am ropeable. At her, at myself, at the world. Leo deserves better than this. He deserves a mother who is clean and sober. One who is loving and will cherish him. I grew up without a mother, and I know what it is like to just need that special female in your life to give you those cuddles, read you the stories and kiss your grazed knee. Leo shouldn’t have to go through life without that and I am a fucking failure for not providing it for him.
“Get some fucking sleep, Angelina, and stop calling me.” I hang up the phone, throwing it across the room, grateful that it hits my soft armchair rather than the wall.
Pissed off, I throw open the door and stalk into the kitchen. Both Little Red and Leo look at me, their bodies are still, eyes wide, not scared but unsure, like they don’t know what to say in case I yell at them. I don’t unleash my anger at home very much. I like this to be a nice and quiet, loving home for Leo, and a sanctuary for me.
I stop midstride, and look at them, realizing too late that in the rush to see the two people I want the most in my life, I didn’t school my features quick enough. Two of the last people I want to scare look hesitant and uneasy, all because of me. Sighing, I run my hand over my face. Understanding washes over me that I was louder than I thought as I yelled at Angelina just now. I have been trying for years to keep myself in check when it comes to Leo’s mother, not wanting him to have to be subjected to any of the negativity that will only upset him more. He’s been through enough. But, I let it slip just now and feel awful for it.
I walk across to Leo, slowly, my body language now more relaxed, and I ruffle his hair as he looks up at me. His eyes crease and a look of concern flashes across his face, but I give him a small smile of reassurance.
“Don’t worry, Leo, she won’t take you. She won’t touch you. Never again.” I mean it. “You are safe, no matter what. You are safe here with me.” He nods at me slowly. I see his small body begin to shake slightly; the fear he has of his mother is something that has never left his body. I have no idea what he experienced because he won’t talk about it, but it is still blindly clear that it was traumatic for him. I look at Little Red then, and she stares at me with so many questions that will have to wait for another time.
“Here, Leo, eat the tiramisu I made your dad. I know it’s his favorite, but I am sure he won’t mind you having the last piece,” Little Red says to him from the other side of the breakfast bar as she pushes a small bowl of my favorite creamy dessert across the bench. She made it for me? She knows it is my favorite, and other than Maria, no one has ever made me anything. I am in awe of her, and my body relaxes even more on the exhale as I watch this woman, all domesticated in my kitchen, looking after my boy. It all fits. She fits.
“Hmmmm, just this once, Leo. Next time, I am not sharing,” I say to try and lighten the mood, and I get a brief smile from him. I decide to push him a little more and dip my finger into the cream before he can dig in his spoon, shoving it into my mouth.
“Mmmm, on second thought…” I begin to say as I reach out to grab the bowl, but he is quicker. Tiramisu is also his favorite, so he snatches it away, and I smile, ruffling his hair again. He looks up at me and gives me a big grin, scooping up a big spoonful before I can take anymore from him.
Little Red seems unsure, and I fucking hate that I did that to her. It is the first time I have had to think of anyone aside from Leo, but I defrost a little more as I take her in, the joy in her eyes at watching Leo devour her cooking, the light as it reflects off her bright red hair that flows down her small frame in waves. Looking at her, I am enamored. I am totally and utterly amazed by this woman.
21
Annie
I have no idea what just happened, but I get a sick feeling in my stomach as I watch Leo start to scoop up the cream and eat the dessert like it is his last chance to ever eat again. He is shaking slightly, but seems okay now, completely focused on the bowl in front of him, as his father stands by his side. My eyes flick between him and Dante as I try to sort out in my head what the hell is going on.
Dante is angry. Really angry. I heard him yelling in his office, and from what I can gauge, it was at Leo’s mother—his ex-wife. Someone we haven’t really talked about, and I haven’t brought it up since the time I spoke to Maria about it. By Dante’s outburst, they don’t get along at all. As I look between Leo and Dante, I am angry and equal parts scared. I’m angry because I don’t know what she has done to elicit a response from Dante and Leo like this. But I am also fearful because Maria said she wasn’t a nice woman, and I wonder what she is capable of if she has such an effect on them both.
What did that woman do to these beautiful boys? My boys! I still at the thought. The feelings I have for both of them are all-encompassing, and I want them in my life more so than on a temporary basis.
Dante runs his hand through his hair, before resting it on Leo’s shoulder, providing him the comfort he needs, and I see him visibly calm, clearly needing his dad’s support. I haven’t seen Dante this angry before; the volume and grit in his tone were pure venom. While it wasn’t directed at me, it was a little frightening to hear. I am sure whatever he does when he is away during the day and night, his fearful tone may be necessary, but here in the comfort of his home, he has never once raised his voice. I can’t ever imagine him taking that tone with me, but we have only just started to get to know each other. There is still so much I don’t know about him. And him me.
I rub my chest, trying to get my beating heart to slow down, and draw in a breath to fill my lungs with much-needed air. I try to center my thoughts and take the snippets of information I overheard to piece together what is going on and if I should be worried. Our tranquil day is now all out the window.
Dante must see my hesitation at everything that just occurred, and leaving Leo to eat his dessert, he walks around the breakfast bar, straight to where I am standing in the kitchen. I watch him as I wring my hands together, and then without hesitation, he grabs me, pulling my body flush with his, and drops his head to the crook of my neck. My arms automatically run up his torso and wrap around his neck, my fingers caressing his hair at his nape.
“It’s okay, Bella,” he whispers. “She is not an issue, and will never be an issue for you.” His hands remain firm on my hips, pulling me to him, not wanting to let me go.
I blush a little. As Dante breathes me in, calming himself. I look past him over at Leo, who is watching us eagle-eyed, so I reach out my hand to him, to encourage him to come over too. I wait on bated breath to see what his reaction will be. Jumping off the stool and running around into the kitchen, his little body slams into my side, his small arms wrapping around me and his father, and the three of us stand like that for a moment, feeling secure in each other's embrace, before Dante is calm enough to speak.
“It is very good tiramisu, Little Red,” he says, as he lifts his head from my neck, a small grin appearing on his face.
I smile at him. “Well, Maria taught me everything I needed to know,” I say before looking at Leo. “And little Leo here is a great taste tester…” I add with a big smile, one which he returns. I grip his hand tighter to show him that I am here to support him. Why would anyone want to harm this little boy? There is so much that I don’t know, and I am beginning to feel out of my depth a little. But, Leo has one of my hands in a vice grip and Dante has the other now enclosed in his, and I would be lying if I said I didn’t think that the three of us made a good team.
Dante lowers his head to my ears. “I can think of something else I would like to eat with my favorite dessert…” My skin prickles as his breath skims across my cheek, where he plants a kiss, and lets go of my hand before moving it to my ass and giving my cheek a squeeze. My breath quickens, but before I can reply, he steps back and scoops Leo up into his arms and flings him into the air.
“C’mon, buddy, Little Red is going to make me another tiramisu—that you can’t eat on me—while we go outside and kick the soccer ball around before I need to go out to work,” he says, tickling Leo at the same time. Leo squirms in his arms but has a big smile on his face, and I watch the two of them walk down the hall. Turning at the last moment, Dante looks back at me, gives me a wink, then steps out of sight.
The door closes and the house is quiet, and I sit on the kitchen stool that Leo just vacated to take a moment. Angelina. From the conversation I overheard just now, she isn’t allowed anywhere near Leo, and I wonder why.
Sitting here in my jumbled thoughts is not going to achieve anything, so I release the breath I was holding and look around the kitchen. I need to start baking.
* * *
