Her Dark Dragon (23 page)

"Afterward, she went east to college, my father went to Texas A&M. They never got back together, the families made sure of it. Distance made it easier on both of them. She stayed on the East Coast, working near the New Jersey shore. It reminded her of the beaches in Los Angeles. Her relationship with her family was never truly mended after my adoption. She knew it was the right thing to do for me as a baby, but it hurt her deeply that her family didn't understand her emotions afterward. They were embarrassed by her pregnancy and never let her forget her mistake."

"Does she have any other children?" Nico asked, refilling everyone's wine glasses.

"No. She was married to a New Jersey state trooper for seven years but they never…she never got pregnant again. He was killed in an auto accident, she never remarried. After his death, she moved back to California and found work up north. She's been there ever since."

"So close…" Antonio whispered, shaking his head, verbalizing the thought everyone at the table was having.

"Yes, but not meant to be. I'm telling you all this because I consider you my family, and someday, I'd like her to meet you all. To see there were positive influences in my life."

"We'd love to Danni," Maria said quickly. "Any time you're both ready."

"In a while when I'm finally settled." Danni drew a breath adding, "She met Matteo, liked him. She actually handed me to him, hoping she'd done the right thing for me. He told her about the winery, but she never wanted to insert herself in my life, figuring if I wanted to find her, she'd made it easy enough. I've told her the truth about everything, but not in so much detail to make her feel guilty. Can you all understand what I'm saying?"

"Of course we do," Maria said.

"Given perspective and time, I've come to realize I had a great childhood in many ways. Anna doesn't have to know the degree of Felice's actions." All three women teared up, making Nico and Antonio uncomfortable as they started to squirm a bit in their seats. This time when Antonio and Carmen excused themselves, she didn't resist, thankful for the coffee Carmen produced as they all sat quietly watching the night sky.

"So, who's going to drop the bomb?" Danni asked. "I know the house sold. Are they good neighbors?"

"We don't see much of them; they're both architects working in Los Angeles. Usually they come for weekends and holidays."

Nico started to laugh, lightening the moment. "They both love the design of the house, and think it's a marvelous addition to the location." Danni started to laugh and Nico and Maria joined her. Knowing what had been there before and what stood now could only be considered monstrous, at least by her thinking.

"Remind me not to let them design anything for me." Danni said in jest. "What about Felice and Robert?" She watched the look passed between Maria and Nico. "What?"

Nico had been quiet most of the evening. He cleared his throat apprehensively, apparently not wanting to have to be the one to give her the update. "They divorced, almost immediately. Last we heard Robert was doing the country club scene in Santa Barbara, looking for a wealthy widow."

Danni had expected they'd separate. Without the Cirillo wine money, they wouldn't have lasted. "And Felice?"

"Remarried, just last month." Nico was obviously uncomfortable but continued. "To the Los Angeles lawyer they used during the turnover."

"Well, good luck to him!" Danni said with a smile. "Kind of a poetic justice, don't you think? A high-priced attorney winds up with Felice. I wonder how long it will be before he regrets his choice." Danni laughed again, shaking her head. "I hope he got a prenuptial."

"Danni," Maria said quietly, "by the time the dust settled around here, well, Felice managed to turn Robert into the scapegoat." The disgust in Maria's voice was evident that she had known the truth for too many years to hold any sympathy for Felice.

"She pulled her wilting Southern belle card. Got everyone's sympathy, the poor widow, hoodwinked by the con man in her darkest time."

"Some of us know the truth. Those who accept her version, well, mostly the country club group, none of them are friends or business associates."

"People will believe what they want, and what they don't know they'll make up to suit their versions."

"Well said, Danni," Maria offered as she stood. "You two stay, I'm going in." She dropped to hug Danni adding, "Sleep well, Danielle. I'll see you both in the morning." To Nico, she said, "Don't let her carry her bags in by herself." It earned his aunt a scowl, which she ignored, while Danni tried to hold back a laugh.

* * * *

The quiet wasn't uncomfortable, but rather, a strange tranquility fell between them. Nico offered her more coffee, which she declined. "Did you find out anything about your birth father?" he ventured.

"Only that he stayed in Texas after college and then went on to work for NASA. The last Anna heard he was down in Houston with a wife and family."

"Does hearing that bother you?"

"Not really. He's only a concept to my mind. I never knew him, only that he existed in the abstract, so I don't feel like I lost him. And no matter what, Matteo will always be my father."

"You've come a long way in the past year, Danielle. You matured with a level head. I'm truly proud of you."

"But still angry!" She smiled and he scowled. "Don't deny it. You have a right to your feelings. I didn't keep in touch as much as you wanted. But, Nico, I gave you what I could at the time."

"Let's take a walk, Danni. You said earlier you wanted to talk." He stood, and she started to clear the coffee cups from the table. After depositing them in the dishwasher, they went through the main house to the front door, where her truck was parked, Nico waiting while she grabbed her denim jacket. "Still driving this old trap. I'm surprised it didn't leave you stranded on the side of some desert road."

"Hey, watch how you talk about her. She's been across the States and through Canada. And I keep up with her mechanically. She runs great, very dependable." His look told her he didn't really believe it. "Is that what you were afraid of, me traveling by myself or something else?"

"Lots of something elses," Nico said, taking her hand and wandering into the vineyard.

"Nico, you may not believe this. I had no choice at the time but to leave. I had to figure out who I was as an individual. I understand I hurt you by leaving, but self-preservation prevailed. How could I commit to you or any other man…" She felt him stiffen beside her. "No, Nico. I didn't have time for other men. This time away was for me. All my life I'd been programmed to finish school and take over the vineyard. When that didn't happen, when everything else came out…"

"I was here for you, bella, but that wasn't enough, was it? You wouldn't have left if I was."

Danni heard the disappointment in his voice, as if he'd let her down somehow. "Don't you see, Nico, that was the problem? You were always here for me to fall back on. If I'd have stayed, you would have wound up taking care of me for the rest of our lives. I'd be no better than Felice in some way. I had to know I could survive on my own. I had to be whole before I could love you completely."

"And now, you've had your year. Are you whole now?"

"Yes and no." Her cryptic answer got her a quick look as they wandered between the vines. "Yes, I'm whole in many ways I'd never realized I needed to be. I can take care of myself. I can make a living and survive in the world on my own."

"And the no?"

"The no part is that I still love you, only it's a different kind of love. I don't see you as my fallback, rather a man I want to spend my life with. I feel like now I can be independent and dependent at the same time and not have it be a negative to us in the long run."

"That's a strange way of looking at things, Danielle."

"Maybe, but it's my perspective. I came back because I wanted to know if you still had feelings for me, or if I killed them by going away. If you've moved on, Niccolo, it's okay. I knew leaving was a calculated risk, but I had to take it for myself."

Danni wasn't prepared for him to grab her upper arm and pull her to him, his mouth crushing down on hers with the intensity she remembered, her own needs pushing past his. It was a kiss that answered many questions without words. When he pulled back, she was breathless, her body heated and needing his touch. She'd felt his erection pressing against her belly and wanted to drop to her knees in front of him, to take him until he relinquished all control. But not yet, she knew. Things had to be straight between them.

"Does that answer your question? Do I need to tell you I felt like the walking wounded this last year? That I was horrible to anyone who tried to help, or even get close? Do you need to hear there were no other women, Danielle, no woman measured up to you?"

Her lips started to curl at the corners, and she bit her bottom lip to stop the smile.

"Danielle, so help me, if you laugh at me now, I'll…"

"You'll what, Niccolo?"

It was a taunt, and they both knew it. He didn't take her bait. Instead, he forced a calmness she rarely saw. She detoured them toward the hillside where he'd planted the olive grove. It was a tense walk for Nico, she knew, yet a strange serenity settled over her. Danni knew immediately she'd been right. This was where she belonged, beside Nico, if he still wanted her. When they reached the edge of the fledgling grove she teared up, carefully walking between the rows of saplings. "I knew you did this, but I couldn't picture it."

"Is it correct?" Nico asked. "What would you have done differently?"

"Nothing," she managed, "nothing at all. It's as if I'd been here and laid it out myself." Danni bent and gently touched the trunk of one tree, then another. Soon she was all but running along the rows, a new freedom inside her, bursting to get out.

"Danni, you really did find yourself again, didn't you? I don't think I fully understood before, but I do now. You amaze me at times."

"You've always amazed me, Nico, even when you give me your dark drago scowl." She wandered several rows away and back toward him. "Nico, do you still love me?" He only nodded. "Then will you marry me?" she asked, walking with purpose toward him. "I don't have a ring, but I have this as a token of my promise," she managed to say, pulling the Worship netsuke from her jacket pocket.

"I've loved you all my life, Niccolo Severino, in so many different ways. But I've always loved you, beyond the land and what it produces." He didn't answer her, and she added quickly, "I'll sign a prenuptial agreement. I'll never take your land or label, Nico. If you'd rather just live together for a while…" She knew he was close but he moved quickly, pulling her up against him.

"We'll live together, Danielle, without a prenuptial agreement and with a marriage license. I want my children to know they're loved and wanted. And if they want to stay on the land, fine. If not, we'll let them have their own lives. But it will be together, bella, always. Do you understand? No more trips to find yourself. You came back to me, now you're mine."

"Always, Nico," she managed, her hands wrapping behind his neck, her fingers tangling in his hair. "Kiss me, Nico," she whispered before stretching up on her toes to reach his mouth. Danni broke the kiss, pressing the netsuke into his large palm before dropping to her knees in front of him, her cheek to his erection. "No others, Nico," she whispered as she pulled open his belt, carefully taking the zipper over his skin. "Mine," she said aloud just before engulfing him in her warm mouth.

Danni knew instinctively to back off several times, felt him surging between her lips when she pulled away, sitting back on her heels. "Nico, one stipulation," she said, her fingers keeping him alive in her palm. "I thought maybe…Severillo or Cirino for the olive label?"

"No, Danni, the olive grove is yours, along with the business and all its pros and cons. It's Cirillo olive oil, a gift to my bride." His strong hands pulled her up the length of his body, his mouth to hers. "In memory of Matteo," he whispered, feeling her quake against him. Pulling back, he used his thumb to wipe away a stray tear rolling down her cheek.

"There's something else I have to share with you. Do you remember Tia Maria mentioning the letters between your mother and my father?" He nodded. He'd forgotten all about them. "I have them. I'd like you to read them, too."

"All right, but why specifically? They should have remained private."

"Matteo left them to me with a note that I should read them, to gain perspective. And mostly so we never let others separate us." He gave her his dark smile, the one she knew so well, sending heat to her lower lips, her nipples budding.

"You realize if they had gotten together we'd be brother and sister!"

"Yes, ironic, isn't it? But there was so much love between them. They cared so deeply for each other and the land. They understood both, Nico. He wanted me to read them so we wouldn't let others come between us. He saw the relationship between us, understood we'd most likely become lovers at some point. Matteo basically gave us his blessing, not wanting us to be separated by any other outside influences. Your mother was of the same mind." She drew a breath, a small frown crossing her brow, adding, "And if they had gotten together, I wouldn't have been in the picture at all. Matteo wouldn't have adopted me. He'd have had children with Angelina, your sisters. That would have made me
extraneous!"