CHAPTER THREE
“But darling, you do matter to…me,” Dominic assured her from the doorway. He had been listening to her explanation the whole time and it damn near broke his heart to hear her words. At this moment in time, he wanted to kill Benny Singer for what he put her through. He came into the room slowly, almost half afraid she would demand that he leave. When he came to stand next to her, he reached for her hands. He gazed into her eyes. “I know in my heart, you are my daughter. You are the spitting image of your mother, and that is good enough for me. God I loved that woman, I still do even though she’s been gone all this time. Your mother will always hold a special place in my heart, as do you.”
She sniffled through her tears
He brushed the hair away from her face and dried her tears with his thumbs. “I’m sorry I tried once again, to make you accept the trust fund. It’s just that I am so excited about finding you, I never took into consideration what you wanted. As your father, I want to give you the whole world. I want to lay heaven down at your feet. I want so much for you but I lost my chance to give you everything when I lost you so long ago.” Dominic sighed heavily. “I can’t make up for the past but I can be there for you in the future. I guess I’ll have to learn as we go.” He paused then asked, “Is there anything I can give you?”
Izzy nodded. “Yes, there is something that I want from you.”
“Name it and it’s yours,” he vowed.
“I would like something that belonged to my mother. It doesn’t have to be anything very big, just something that she cared about. Something for when I look at it, I know I have a little piece of her with me. Can I get that?”
Dominic smiled. Then he reached into his jacket pocket and brought out a ring. He gazed at it for a moment, then he put the ring on her finger. It didn’t surprise him to find it fit. “I gave this ring to your mother just before we were married. I didn’t tell her about the history of the ring but when she saw it, she cried. She loved that ring and when she died, she still had it on her finger. She’d taken off her wedding bands before she left me but she kept this ring.” Dominic raised her hand to his lips and kissed the place on her finger where the ring laid.
“What is the history of the ring?” Izzy asked.
“This is given to the eldest son’s wife and has been for six generations of Marconi men. It has been passed down for a couple of hundred years now and if you have a son, you will pass it along to his wife when its time.”
“But my son will not carry the Marconi name,” Izzy told him.
Dominic smiled. “I know but he will still have Marconi blood in his veins and as my grandson, he will be proud of where he comes from.” He looked at Mountain and smiled. Turning back to Izzy he asked, “Speaking of family, how is your brother settling in?”
Izzy smiled. “Pretty good, he can feel his legs now. We’re getting to know each other again and it’s almost as if we were never separated. I think all those years, I missed him the most.” She paused then had to ask, “What have you heard about Michael and Sonny?”
“You don’t have to worry about either of them anymore.” He hesitated then added, “Or about Stephan. All three of them know you and Boone cannot be touched and if they do come around, I want you to tell me. Some men are just stupid and don’t listen to good advice. I’m hoping these three will listen.”
Izzy took a deep breath and exhaled. “Then they are still alive?”
Dominic grinned. “Yes, they are still alive. As much as I wanted to kill them for what they did, I restrained myself. It wasn’t easy mind you, but I did it.”
“I do hope you didn’t restrain yourself too much.” Mountain hinted.
Dominic grimaced. “No I didn’t, but I figure they had that much coming for the misery they caused.”
“Did you ever find Roxi?” Izzy asked.
Dominic shook his head. “She escaped her final judgment. She died a year ago in a bar fight. Someone stabbed her for cheating him. She was trying to rob him while he slept.”
“I can’t say that I’m all that surprised to hear it.” Izzy shook her head.
“There’s a special place in hell waiting for her and I hope she enjoys it,” Dominic said. “Everything that woman ever touched has turned out badly.”
“Not everything,” Izzy reminded him. “Boone turned out pretty damn good.”
Dominic smiled. “Ahh, yes, Boone, but then he had you fighting on his side and that my dear, made a big difference.” He glanced at the two of them. “And now he has both of you in his corner.”
“Yes, he does.” Mountain stared back at the older man.
“So what are your plans now?” Dominic asked. “When are you planning to get married?”
“As soon as Boone is able to stand the pain,” Izzy replied. “I want him to enjoy the wedding. It’s more than just a marriage, it’s a celebration of life.”
“Well, let’s not wait too long,” Dominic urged. “I would like to see you married before the baby is born. My grandchild deserves a name.”
“He’ll have it, when the time is right,” Mountain promised the other man with a steely violet gaze.
~* * * *~
Cordy Tannis parked her cycle a block away from the dance club and watched as Deke met up with two other men outside the club. She followed him all the way here. She watched him laugh and joke with the others, then she watched him walk inside. The whole time her heart was breaking into tiny pieces. She thought she’d been broken when he left Maine seventeen years ago, but she was wrong.
Now the pain was a thousand times worse. She knew what life was about now, more so than then. Then she’d been a child, her love for him had been that of a younger love. First love was always the worse kind of love, it was new and untried, but now her love was different. It had grown into something more substantial over the past years—to consume her entirely. Deke had been all she thought about since her father died.
Orrin Tannis had told her to let him go, that she was foolish to hang onto a child’s dream of forever and make a life of her own. He always told her she could do better than Deke, but she secretly never gave up on her dream.
Then today, her dreams had shattered when she realized Deke had moved on. He’d found someone else to take her place in his heart. And he’d had children with the bitch. Cordy frowned as a thought came into her mind.
Deke had told her all those years ago, he would never have children. He spoke of what his life was like living with his mother then with his father and he swore he would never put a child through that.
They’d spoken about a number of things that last summer. Deke had talked to her, told her his dreams and shared his secrets with her. They might have been young but she felt sure he loved her. She had certainly fallen in love with him.
She glanced down at the marking on her wrist. It was crude but permanent. When she’d been fourteen she and some friends had tried to tattoo themselves. One of the older bikers, Bunky had taught them how to do it the way they did in prison. Bunky had spent some time in the big house and he often bragged about how things were done behind those stone walls. It had hurt like hell and Orrin had been furious with her but she had done it. She had put a D inside a heart on her skin proclaiming to the whole world how much she cared for him. Turning her arm around, she viewed the other scars she bore. Tiny little white lines, some thin, others not so much. Each and every line on her skin meant something to her but she couldn’t tell anyone. No one understood how or why she did what she did. They would look at her with pity in their eyes and she never wanted pity. She hated pity. They would never understand the pain she felt or how she coped with the pain. Outwardly, she appeared calm but inside, she was a mess. The only person still alive that could read her mood was her sister, but Cordy knew Cricket would never betray her. She didn’t dare glance down at her boot. The slim handle of the knife she carried was always there, always standing guard whenever she needed it. She couldn’t take it out at the moment that would be dangerous, both for her and anyone who came near her. Cordy liked her privacy to dwell in the darkness that crept up on her.
But for now, her tears splashed down on the letter etched on her skin in dark ink. Cordy shook her head and refused to let her dreams fall to the wayside. She vowed then and there to reclaim the man she’d loved for most of her life. She would get him back. Hardening her heart, she reasoned that if he couldn’t love her the same way she had loved him all these years, then she would use force to bring him back to her. And it would be his fault she had to tear his world down. His fault because he hadn’t waited for her. She vowed she would get him back and she would make him pay for not waiting.
Starting up the bike, she rode away leaving him behind. She had to watch and wait for her chance to come up, but she was watching the wrong person. She needed to find out as much as she could about the other woman in his life. She needed to study her, find her weaknesses and faults. Then when she knew where and when to strike…she would.
She wanted the other woman out of his life and she wouldn’t let anything or anyone stand in her way. As she rode away, she knew she had some planning to do.
About twenty minutes later, she pulled into a driveway in Albany. The small house was a dump but for now, it worked. She wasn’t planning on staying long. Cordy got off the bike and went to the front door. Pushing the door open hard as the bottom scraped against the floor. “Cricket,” she yelled. “Where the hell are you?” Running her hands through her short light brown spikey hair, she gazed around at the interior of the dump.
The sofa to her left was old and smelled funny and the chair next to it was faded and ripped. The place was quiet, too quiet and that just set her off. “Cricket, where the fuck are you?”
A door off the living room opened and her sister stepped out, closing the door behind her. Cricket glared at her sister. “I’m right here, what are you yelling about?”
Cordy glared back at the other woman. She noted her sister’s long black hair and glaring green eyes. She was taller than Cricket by at least four inches but Cricket had a way of commanding respect that Cordy didn’t. Cordy had to use force to get her way sometimes and this was going to be one of those times. She stomped over to her sister and raised her hand. Slapping her hard, she watched as Cricket stumbled and hit the wall behind her.
Cricket slumped to the floor and tucked her head into her shoulder, trying to avoid being hit again.
“Oh, get up!” Cordy screamed. “Stop being so dramatic.” She turned and walked a few feet away then turned to her sister. “I found him,” she told her excitedly. “I finally found Deke!”
Cricket got to her feet slowly, watching every move Cordy made. Rubbing her face she asked, “Deke? Deke Tory? What do you mean you found him?”
Cordy reached out and grabbed her sister’s arms then shook her. “After all this time, I found him again!” She stared at Cricket. “I’ve been looking for him for almost a decade.”
Cricket grimaced at the grip her sister had on her arms. “I know you’ve been looking for someone I just didn’t know it was Deke Tory.”
Cordy frowned. “It’s always been Deke. Since I was twelve years old, he’s been the only man I ever cared about.”
“What about Dusty’s dad?” Cricket asked staring at the door behind her. Dusty was Cordy’s six year old son.
“What about him?” Cordy sneered. “You’re the one who wanted him. I would have left him behind after he was born.”
Cricket shook her head. “How can you be so unfeeling about your own son?”
Cordy shrugged. “He was a mistake from the beginning. I’d been dreaming about being with Deke when I got pregnant and you wouldn’t let me get rid of the thing. We made a bargain. I would have the baby and you would take care of it. I did my part, now just shut up and do your part.”
Cricket glared at her sister. “You can be a real bitch when you want to be, can’t you?” she whispered.
Cordy sneered. “And don’t you forget it. I’ve taken care of you since Dad died but that can stop anytime. All you have to do is walk out the door.”
Cricket curled her fingers into a fist. “But you won’t let me take Dusty with me.”
Cordy laughed. “That’s right bitch, I won’t. As long as he’s here, you’ll be here too. Now, I have plans to make regarding Deke.”
“What kind of plans?” Cricket looked troubled.
“Another woman has taken what’s mine,” Cordy announced. “I plan to get him back and take her out of the picture altogether. I just have to figure out how to do it, so he won’t know it was me.” Cordy paced the length of the small room while she thought.