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damaged face. “He came back for you. It was always about you.”

Looking into his face, so similar to her lover"s, Sela thought back to the

conversation she"d had with Rome about Turin staying with their father instead of

joining their mother at her new home. He was too angry with Rome and too hurt to

listen to reason. His mother believed Turin was old enough to decide who he wanted

to live with. Rome vehemently disagreed. Watching the emotions play across

Turin"s face, she realized they both were right.

Turin was young enough to make mistakes yet old enough to learn from them.

She reached across and intertwined their fingers, silently reassuring him. “I can

never take him away from you. You will always be his family, and that makes you

important.”

He turned away, but not before she saw the fine blush crept across his face.

She grinned at his response, wondering if the red on his cheeks resulted from her

words or touch. Knowing that they both needed to change the subject, she asked

him, “Do you want to lie down, rest?”

He looked back at her, his face devoid of emotion. “No, not really.”

She wanted to laugh out loud at his lack of expression. She thought that was a

Rome thing. She now knew it was a family trait. “Want to watch a movie? I"ve got

kettle-corn popcorn.”

“That depends. Is this movie a chick flick?”

She chuckled. There was no doubt what he thought about that genre. “No. I"m

more an action-flick girl.”

He grinned. “Well, then I"m down.”

She pointed out the media center. “How about you pick something out while I

work on the popcorn?” She waited until he was standing before the DVDs before she

left the room.

The microwave just started when the doorbell rang. Sela stuck her head out of

the kitchen and caught Turin"s gaze. “How about you man the popcorn while I check

the door?”

“Sure.” He stood and headed to the kitchen while she went to answer the door.

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She glanced at her watch. Maybe this time it was her mother and sister. It was

around the time her mother and sister were supposed to return.
Better late than

never
. She opened the door without checking and immediately regretted it. Standing

on her doorstep was Anthony Vicenza. She stepped onto the porch, closed the door

behind her, and asked, “How can I help you, Mr. Vicenza?” she asked quietly, not

wanting to alert Turin to his father"s presence.

“Where is my boy?”

“Rome is out of town. I"m not sure where he is,” she said, knowing fully well

which son he was talking about.

He glared at her. “I"m not talking about that good-for-nothing son of a bitch.

I"m talking about my boy.”

Sad and disappointed, she looked at him. “That"s the only son I know about.”

His mouth twisted into a sneer. “I knew you were no good the moment I saw

you. Even then I knew you would destroy my family, letting that bastard think he"s

good enough to be anything he wanted, do anything he wanted. Now, you got my

boy thinking the same way.”

“I"m sorry. I can"t help you.” She turned and reached for the door handle. Her

fingers curled around it when he yelled.

“Don"t you dare walk away from me! I"m talking to you, damn it.”

Prickles of awareness warned Sela. She whipped around to face Anthony just

before his hand reached her. She backed up instinctively. “Look, I already told you I

can"t help you. I don"t know where your son is, either of them.”

He straightened and looked down on her. “You think you"re something, don"t

you? I knew I was going to have problems the moment I heard you and Rome both

went to that reunion. A few days later Mary Beth is gone. I let it go at first,

thinking she would come home the next day like she always does, but she didn"t,

and I can"t find her. Even Turin doesn"t know where she is.” He took a menacing

step to her. “I know Rome is hiding her, but I let it go. Figured if the bitch wants to

take off, that"s her business, but now my boy is missing, and no one is going to take

my son from me.”

“Your son is not a piece of property. You don"t own him. Maybe if you treated

him better, he wouldn"t have run away,” she said, angry at the way he treated and

talked about his family. He acted as though they were trinkets he could discard

whenever he felt like it.

His head jerked up, and the skin around his eyes tightened. A look of

comprehension came over his face. “You got it in for me, don"t you?”

“What?” she asked, honestly confused.

“Your daddy and I lied about your miscarriage, and now you want some

payback, huh?” He folded his arms across his chest. “I didn"t do anything wrong.

You two were too young and never were good for each other. We did what was

right.”

“That wasn"t your decision to make,” she yelled.

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“Like you got a right to keep me away from Turin,” he retorted

“I already told you. I do—” Her statement was cut off when he lunged at her.

“Stop goddamn lying. Where is Turin? Where the hell is Mary Beth?”

Sela moved to evade him, but she wasn"t quite quick enough. His hard fingers

grabbed her wrist and pulled her forward. She stumbled a step and righted herself.

She tried to jerk her arm away from him, but his hold was sure. He wasn"t letting

her go, and she couldn"t free herself.

She looked at the door and prayed that Turin could hear them and was smart

enough not to come outside and would just call the cops.

“Don"t even think about it,” he said, his voice icy enough to send shivers of

apprehension through her.

Nervous as hell, she licked her lips and took a deep breath. “How about we

talk this out calmly? There is no need to resort to violence.”

His grip loosened slightly, and he seemed to be considering her words. “Okay.”

He released her and took a step back. The door behind her opened at that moment,

and Sela felt her heart drop into her stomach.

“Leave her alone, Dad. She hasn"t done anything wrong.”

“Thought you said you didn"t know where my boy was.” He sneered at her and

turned to Turin. “Get in the truck.”

“No.”

A little of the hope Sela felt die blossomed. The boy was brave but not stupid.

She quickly glanced over her shoulder, wanting to keep Anthony in her sight as

much as possible. The man was dangerous as hell. “Turin, go back inside and call

the police.” She turned back to Anthony. “I suggest you leave before they get here.”

“Turin, I said get in the goddamned truck.” Hatred burning in his eyes, he

looked at Sela. “I"m not going anywhere without my son, so if you want me gone, tell

him to get in the truck.”

Pulling up every bit of strength she had, Sela stood her ground and held his

gaze. “Turin, please don"t make me repeat myself. Get in the house and lock the

door.”

“But—”

“I know your brother would want me take care of you, so please let me do that,

and lock the door.”

She heard him shuffle his feet, no doubt uncomfortable with the thought of

what his brother would want, but he eventually backed up. Anthony strode forward,

intent on preventing him from closing the door. She stepped into his path and folded

her arms. “I"ve asked you nicely. Now unless you want to spend the night in the

county jail, I suggest you leave.”

“They won"t lock me up for trying to take my son home.”

“They will for trespassing, assault, and battery.”

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Sela lifted her head, shocked to see Rome standing at the bottom of her porch.

His meeting wasn"t scheduled to end for another hour. This was not good.

“You should go home, Tony.”

“What? Not going to give your father a hug?” Anthony snorted. “I"m not going

anywhere without Turin.”

Rome climbed up the steps. “Leave him alone. He"s made his choice. Be a man

and let him go.” He stood before one of the banisters. “Sela nicely asked you to

leave. Please do.” He walked around Anthony to stand beside Sela. At the feel of his

body so near to hers, she felt some of her confidence return. She wasn"t standing

against Anthony alone.

“Turin will come and see you if and when he"s ready. Until then wait for him at

home.”

The look on the man"s face told her she"d made a mistake speaking. “Shut your

mouth, bitch. Now that he"s here, I"m done talking with you.”

Anger flushed through her at his words. No one talked to her like that. She

opened her mouth to retort and then realized she was about to play right into his

hands. Responding with rage would bring her down to his level. She ignored him.

Unfortunately, Rome was unable to do that. “Don"t you dare talk to her like that.”

A look of amusement came upon Anthony"s face, and one eyebrow lifted. “Oh,

protecting your woman.”

“As a man should, but you wouldn"t know anything about that, would you? You

prefer to beat on yours,” Rome said. Then all hell broke loose. Anthony leaped at

Rome. The force of the attack was so great they broke down her front door. The two

men fell to the floor in a great heap, but that didn"t stop them from fighting each

other. They battled with fists, arms, and legs, anything and everything they could to

gain submission.

Turin appeared in the area just beyond the entryway. The horror Sela felt was

mirrored on his face. “Rome! Dad!” he yelled and started to approach them.

“Stay back,” Sela warned him, afraid he would get caught in the crossfire. He

reluctantly moved back.

Voices rose around them. There was no need to turn around and see the

source. The neighbors had come outside to see the commotion. She ignored them.

Rome finally overcame his father. He was kneeling above the older man. Sela

blanched when she saw that his hands were wrapped around Anthony"s throat.

Sirens wailed in the background. Judging by how loud the sound was, they

were very close.

Finally!

“Rome. Rome!” Sela screamed. “Don"t! If you kill him, you"ll get in trouble.” She

didn"t want him to take a chance or feel the guilt of killing a parent, even if the man

was a total asshole.

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Reluctantly, he pulled off his father. The police chose to show up at that

moment. They ran up the porch steps. “Stop. Police.” Sela immediately held her

hands up. The two men looked around the area, saw the situation was partially

under control, but strode forward. They stepped between Rome and Anthony. One of

the officers asked Anthony to step away. When the man ignored him, he pulled him

further back.

She turned to the officer next to her. “My name is Sela Newton. This is my

mother"s house. This is Anthony Vicenza. He came a couple of minutes ago,

screaming and demanding things. I asked the man to leave, and he wouldn"t,” Sela

said and pointed to Rome"s downed father. “Then he attacked Rome, his son and my

boyfriend.”

The officer then asked Rome what happened while the second policeman asked

Anthony for his version. Rome relayed his view of things, admitting that he arrived

not long before them to find Sela, standing outside the front door, demanding that

Anthony leave.

Once it became clear that Anthony was being arrested, Rome stood and walked

over to her. Tentatively, she wrapped her arms around his waist. Together, they

watched as Anthony was read his rights, arrested, and led out of the room, but not

without a parting shot. “You think she cares about you? Well, she doesn"t! She

didn"t give a shit about you then. She doesn"t now. I never should have let your

mother into my life. I never wanted you. See what you did? You broke up my family

for pussy, boy. Nothing more, you useless bastard!” he yelled as she was dragged

away from the house.

Sela looked at Rome and felt her stomach drop. His father"s words had gotten

to him.

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Chapter Twenty-one

Bringing her back to his suite had been a bad idea. Rome should have left Sela

at her mother"s house to be comforted by her sister and mom. The two women had

arrived home less than fifteen minutes after the officers carted his father away.

Though shocked by what happened they had taken the story well and almost

immediately started consoling Turin and calming Sela.

Though he tried to hide it, Rome knew Turin was deeply affected by the

altercation with Anthony. Knowing he couldn"t give his brother the support he

needed he offered to drive Turin to Mary Beth"s and had. He was surprised by Sela"s

call, though he shouldn"t have been. Instead of staying with her family, she wanted

to be there for him. She was so giving, but he wasn"t in the mood to take what she