Casanova In Training (32 page)

“Hello, darling,” a syrupy-sweet voice said. “It’s been a while. Don’t you have a hug for your dear, loving mother?”

Dear, loving mother? The impression would be laughable if she didn’t feel so damn sick to her stomach. She blinked, slowly, giving herself time to recuperate. The woman looked just about the same. Thin and wearing tight clothing to show off her body.

“Vivian.”

“Vivian? Dear, please. Call me Mother.”

She would do no such thing. “What are you doing here?”

Vivian Amos brushed back some of her short black bob. “I came to see you, sweetie. I mean, we haven’t seen each other in a while.”

About twenty-five years. Nine thousand and ninety days. But, hell, who was counting. The urge to vomit filled her and she swallowed, trying to keep it all back.

“You showed no interest in me when I was seven, I hardly believe you’ve stopped by now to attempt to play the nice mother. So I’ll ask again, what do you want?”

A flash of anger appeared in Vivian’s brown eyes but vanished so quickly that Jaydee wondered if she’d just imagined such a thing. The hand slipping around her waist told her nope, she was just preening for a handsome man. Like she’d always done.

“Can’t a mother just visit her baby? And who are you, handsome?” Vivian swayed closer, her hips doing things most people’s didn’t unless they were in bed or swinging around a pole. She held out her hand. “I’m Jaydee’s mo—”

“This is Vivian,” Jaydee interrupted, noticing the tell-tale signs of her having already been drinking this early.

Gio took the offered hand and gave it a polite shake, ignoring the way she held it for a kiss upon the back. “Giovanni Cassano, ma’am.”

“Ohh, are you Italian? You look absolutely divine. Are you dating my daughter?”

Jaydee stiffened, only to relax a bit under the gentle caresses of Gio’s fingers along her side.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Ma’am,” she cooed. “Aren’t you just so polite.” She waved a finger between them. “Now, how’d you two meet?”

“None of your business,” Jaydee interrupted before Gio could respond.

Brown eyes slashed back to her and Jaydee received a perfect flashback of the woman who’d never wanted her to open her mouth at all. Disapproval simmered there. However, she wasn’t the child who’d wanted a mother’s approval. She hadn’t been for a long time now.

“No need to be disagreeable, Jaydee. I was just wondering about the man in your life.”

“My life is of no concern to you. You would do better to worry about why you are drunk at this early hour.” Condemnation dripped from her tone, her nausea had receded but anger had come forth full bore.

“Mind your tone, you ungrateful little—”

“Vivian!”

Jaydee started and stared past the woman at her porch who’d also turned around. So intent had she been on the unexpected and unpleasant visitor that the arrival of a dark SUV had totally escaped her notice. She blinked, only to do it rapidly three more times until she realised that this, too, wasn’t a cruel trick her mind played but reality.

Her father strode up the walk. In a light grey suit and impeccable as was his norm, he moved as if he had every right to be there. She snorted lightly—a family reunion. One she could definitely have done without.

“Reginald.” Vivian’s tone was laden with scorn.

“I thought I saw you trying to be granted access at the lab this morning. Why are you here?” His own voice was colder than Jaydee had ever heard it.

“I’ve come to see my daughter, Reggie. Is there a law against that?”

Her father stood beside her mother, both of them glaring at one another. “There could be. Don’t think I don’t know about your association with Captain Fentress.”

Jaydee could have been knocked over with a feather by that news. Fentress…really? She’d had dinner with his wife before—to know now that her own mother was sleeping with him. Would she ever not feel dirty?

She glared at the woman who had given birth to her. “Is that why you’re here? To try to plead for your lover?”

“You… You know, you always made snap judgements about men. You’re wrong. He is an honourable man and you…with your accusations—”

“
He
was a married man with three children. And you…” She trailed off, unable to credibly voice her disgust without losing the final bit of her composure.

“Leave, Vivian. You have no reason to be here.” Dr Thompson spoke in his typical authoritative manner.

Vivian’s face morphed into an ugly mask. “Neither do you. I remember you didn’t want her either.”

Gio’s arms tightened protectively around her as he stood behind her. For the life of her, she just wanted to run inside and curl up into a ball, allowing the hot tears to fall. But she didn’t. She stood there, like the topic of which parent didn’t want her more had no bearing on her whatsoever. It was all a big lie and it hurt more than she’d ever dreamed.

“Shut up, Vivian. If you are going to talk, please do try to keep your drunken facts straight. I wasn’t sure she was my daughter. You’d been so promiscuous I wanted to be certain she was mine before I agreed. You were a drunken whore then, and you’re one still.”

Her father looked at her. “While it’s true I didn’t want a child at that time, my feelings are not like that anymore. She is my pride and joy. I’ve never been more proud of anyone than I am of her.” He looked back at the woman who’d carried her for nine months and apparently had zero maternal love. “And I’ll be damned before I let you come in here and try to ruin her life, like you’ve ruined your own.”

“Oh, go stuff it, Reggie,” she sneered. “This is between my daughter and myself.”

“She’s not yours any longer, Vivian Amos. Jaydee is my daughter, not yours. She’s not been yours since six months after you left her with me. I took care of that.”

“I don’t remember that.”

“Of course not. You were wasted like usual, in bed with one of your men.” He shook his head at her. “I’ve always kept tabs on you, Vivian. I will not let you interfere in
my
daughter’s life. So turn your intoxicated ass around and get lost. You approach her again and I’ll have you arrested.”

“You can’t do that!” she sputtered. “She’s my child, too.”

“We just went through that and no, she’s not. But let’s be honest here, Vivian. Why are you here? How much money do you need?”

Jaydee’s heart twisted in agony inside her chest. After all these years, this woman sought her out for money? Surely her father was overreacting.
Not something he does often, though.

Vivian turned beseeching eyes to her. “Jaydee, you see how he is. This is why I had to leave him. Let me come in and we can talk. I’ve missed you.”

She narrowed her eyes. “You’re lying.”

“What? No, sweetie. I’m not. He was impossible to live with. You wouldn’t remember that, you were so young.”

She snorted and shook her head. Stepping away from Gio’s touch, she moved to the edge of the top step. “You’re lying. I remember everything. Your drinking, the men, all of it.” She began to tremble and her father grabbed Vivian by the arm and propelled her down the drive.

“Let go of me, Reggie!” Vivian screeched.

Whatever he said to her, they couldn’t hear from the porch, but Vivian stiffened and stomped to the SUV before she was unceremoniously shoved into the back. Dr Thompson slammed the door and the vehicle left with him still at the edge of her drive.

He turned and strode slowly up the walk. For the first time he looked a bit older. Lines drawn tight around his mouth. He paused at the bottom and glanced up at them both.

“They’ll be back to pick me up. I know I’m not who you want to see right now, but do you think I could come in until they return?”

She nodded. “Of course.”

They went inside and she shut the door behind her, staring at the two men in her small rental. Her nerves felt shot and she just wanted to hide from everyone.

Gio broke the silence. “We were just about to eat, would you care to join us?”

“That would be lovely, thank you.” He wiped his hands down the sides of his pants as she moved through to the kitchen to begin preparing a bowl for him.

She glanced up when Gio walked in and brushed his lips along her cheek. “Are you okay, sweets?”

“Where’s Dr Thompson?” she asked instead of answering him.

“Bathroom. Answer me. Are you okay?”

Her lower lip quivered a bit but, before she could answer, her father stuck his head in the doorway to the kitchen. “You’re pregnant?” he asked. His facial expression conveyed his shock.

The floor fell out from under her and it was just too much. She tore away from Gio and shoved past her father before bolting to the bedroom. She slammed the door behind her then stumbled to the bed and gave in to the furious and scared tears which streamed from her eyes.

Pregnant. She was pregnant.

Chapter Twenty

Gio was so stunned by her father’s blurted comment, he didn’t—or perhaps it was couldn’t—move quick enough to halt Jaydee’s rapid escape. Pregnant. She was pregnant. Correction—they were pregnant and he was going to be a daddy.

His knees trembled a bit and he wanted to sit down. He wanted to hold Jaydee and tell her over and over how much he loved her and how excited he was about the baby.
Their
baby.

Dr Thompson moved towards the hallway and that spurred him into action. He manoeuvred to block him. “Let her be. Don’t you think you’ve done enough for the day?”

“That’s my daughter!”

Gio crossed his arms, refusing to budge. “One you’ve never showed any emotion to previously. She’s overloaded right now, can’t you see that?”

“Is she not happy about being pregnant?”

Gio shrugged. “She didn’t know. Neither of us did, before your announcement.”

Her father seemed genuinely distressed by that. He sighed and ran a hand over the short hair on his head. “I…I just…wanted…” He trailed off.

“Go home. Give her some time. Just…let her work through this at her own speed.”

Dr Thompson sighed and turned around. He headed to the front door and said, “I’ll wait on the porch for my ride.”

Gio didn’t speak, just waited for him to leave so he could shut the door and make his way back to Jaydee. But the man stayed there, one hand on the doorframe. Dr Thompson’s brown eyes had a lot of concern in them, but Gio wasn’t budging.

“I should go back and talk to her before I go.”

Gio shook his head. Like hell he was going to subject her to more of this drama. They had their own things to work through and out. “No. She needs to relax and work through all of this.” He paused. “At her own speed.”

The concern segued into a warning. “I know all about you, Giovanni Cassano. The trail of broken hearts you’ve left in your wake. Everything. This is my daughter here.”

“Perhaps,” he said, losing his remaining bit of patience. “But you seem to be forgetting two very important things.”

“What’s that?” Dr Thompson asked.

“She’s the woman
I
love and she’s carrying
my
baby. So I will protect her the best I can and that means keeping the stress you bring away from her. When she’s ready, she will contact you. Not before and I don’t want to see you back here, bothering her.” He stepped close. “You say you’re her father. Act like it and do what’s best for her. Give her some space.”

“And I suppose you do know what’s best?”

“That’s it. Get out. I have more important things to do than stand here and argue who is more knowledgeable about what’s best for her. I just found out I’m going to be a father. I need to spend some time with the mother of my unborn baby. Shut the door on your way out.” He spun around and headed down the hall.

When he heard the door click he knew Dr Thompson had left. At the closed door to Jaydee’s bedroom, he paused. Closing his eyes, he rested his head and one hand against the wood. No noises filtered through the door but he knew she was in there crying. She didn’t make sounds when she cried, almost like she was ashamed to be doing so and not wanting to risk anyone finding out.

His belly was in knots and his palms were sweaty. With a deep breath, he turned the knob, and pushed his way into the room. Jaydee sat in the corner of her bed, back against the walls, and her knees drawn up so her chin could rest upon them.

She never even looked at him, merely stared out at something only she could see. The tears streaming down her face tore a hole straight through his heart to his soul. It killed him to see her this distraught. He quietly shut the door behind him and made his way over to the bed, steps slow and measured.

He made it to the edge of the bed before she rotated her head and looked at him. Such devastation filled her expression and he struggled to say and do something to make her feel better. “Are you okay?” he asked, carefully lowering himself to the bed.

“Go away,” she whispered before turning her head and leaving him to face the back of her skull.

He bit back his immediate retort and ensured his voice remained calm and cool. “Not gonna happen, sweets. And we’ll get to us in a minute. I need to know if you’re okay from dealing with…” he hesitated, unsure how to phrase his inquiry.

“The psychotic mess that is my family?”

Gio scooted along the bed until his back touched the wall as well. He made sure he didn’t touch her, for he truly didn’t know how much more she could take before she broke. And, Lord help him, he already wanted to punch out both of her parents for the incident this morning.

“Go away,” she reiterated. Her voice sounded so defeated.

“I already told you, that isn’t going to happen. I am staying right here.”

“Why? Do you get some perverse pleasure in seeing me at my worst, Giovanni?”

To hell with his no touching rule. A low grumble slipped up from his throat as he drew her into his arms. She struggled a bit but he refused to give and, before long, she sank into him, burying her head in his chest.

He closed his eyes and lowered his face to the top of her head. His nose in her hair, he inhaled slowly and allowed her subtle scent to wash over him. He ignored the wetness of her tears soaking through his sleeveless T-shirt and just held her. Held her in his arms and offered all he could through touch alone.