Casanova In Training (35 page)

“Eagle Two and Three, head up high and get out of here,” he ordered, well aware that the incoming fighter jets couldn’t keep up with them at their full speed.

“What about you, Eagle One? You’re a bomber, not a fighter jet.”

“Eagle One, you need to return to base as well,” their CO commanded.

“Negative, sir,” he replied.

“That wasn’t a suggestion, son, it was an order.”

“No, sir. I will not leave him here to fight alone.” He was pleased that the other two had done as he’d ordered and shot off out of danger.

“Damn it! That’s an order, Commander.”

“Sorry…sir…breaking up.” He switched off the comm for a moment and said, “You in this with me, Lizard?”

“To hell and back, my man. To hell and back. Let’s help this Air Force jock out of this mess. He kept us safe, the fuck we’re leaving him behind to fend for himself.”

Switching back on the comm, Gio said, “Eagle One to Red Three. Eagle One to Red Three.”

“You should head home, Eagle One.”

“Like hell, Red. Like hell. Before I flew these, I was a fighter pilot. We’ll get out of this. We can do enough to keep them at bay until the reinforcements arrive.”

“Well, glad you’re here then.”

“Damn it, disengage, Eagle One. Disengage!” The orders were hollered into the mic and their ears. He ignored each one of them and stayed with the Raptor.

So they flew and fought. Fought and flew. It was kind of like driving a double-decker bus when one had been used to a Maserati—that was how he would equate the experience of flying the Spirit to that of the Super Hornet he’d flown for the Navy. But they made do. Even so, when the cavalry made their presence known he was glad.

Back at the base, the cheers were loud as they disembarked and walked to the building. Handshakes and back slaps all around.

Their CO waited for them and with a scowl on his face barked out, “My office, now!”

At the door he paused and sighed, his mind flashing back to the last time he’d been ordered before his commanding officer. It had been after he had been caught in the B-2 with Jaydee. That one had turned out well but he wasn’t so sure this one would have the same outcome.

“No worries, man,” Lizard whispered beside him. “No matter what, we were in the right.”

He gave him a slight smile before knocking and pushing through at the bellowed command to enter.

* * * *

Jaydee rubbed her expanded belly and stared at her reflection.
Should I be this big?
She was barely hitting five months and she looked much larger. Well, in her opinion. She rolled her eyes and left the bedroom, heading down the stairs to get a snack.

Gio had been gone a little over four months. She missed him, more than she’d believed she would ever miss someone. He called occasionally but mostly they emailed back and forth. She realised, as she read his emails and answered them, she was learning more about him than she’d ever known.

He would write stories about his childhood and growing up in the family he did. At first, she thought he’d been trying to make her feel bad she hadn’t had the same experience. Then he explained he wanted her to know about him. When he would call, he would ask about her and the baby.

She’d asked him one time why he didn’t confine those questions to emails as well. His response had been simple. “You and our unborn baby are worth the phone call while stories of my youth are just fine for emails.”

He had the ultrasound picture—she’d emailed it to him. He’d called her the next day, wanting to talk to her while he looked at it. She sighed and rubbed her tummy again.

Have I said I miss him?

Despite them growing closer, he’d never asked her to marry him again. It was like he’d got past that and was doing what he could just to show his support for her decision. That was what saddened her. She didn’t want to have a shared custody with him. She
wanted
to try to make it work between them. However, it wasn’t anything she would mention over the phone.

Her doorbell chimed and she hurried down the remainder of the stairs and to the front door. She pulled it open and paused. Five people stood on her front porch. Two women and three men. It took her about ten seconds for her to realise who she had on her property. His family.

The older woman reached for her hand. “Oh, aren’t you just beautiful.” She kissed her cheeks. “I’m Antonina and this is my husband, Giuseppe.” She gestured behind her to the remaining three.

“My daughter, Tiziana. Our youngest, Enzo, and the eldest, Valentino.”

Jaydee wanted to run, slam the door, and hide in her bedroom. What were they doing here? And why in God’s name were there bags beside them?

“Hello,” she managed to mutter. “Can I help you with something?”

She looked at them all again, focusing on the children this time. The daughter had an apologetic expression on her face as she stood there dressed in a power suit. The youngest, Enzo, had a grin that made her realise just how good-looking he was. It was the eldest who made her wonder, his face an unreadable mask as he stared at her.

“We’re here to help you. Gio was worried about you, so we’ve arrived to help you out.”

She shook her head. “He’s not here.”

Antonina gave her a smile. One that, to her, meant ‘poor child can’t fend for herself’. Jaydee instinctively stepped back when they moved towards her, and damn if they didn’t all take it as an invitation and swarm the place.

The two sons carried in the bags and set them down. Valentino still without a smile.

“Now,” Antonina said, “don’t worry about us. We can crash anywhere.”

She felt like screaming. Her sanctuary was being violated. But manners were manners and she shook her head, biting back her cry.

“Nonsense. I have rooms upstairs. Second floor. There are five rooms so take the ones you want. I’ll…I’ll get some sheets and pillowcases for each of you.”

They headed up the stairs, chattering easily in Italian, and she followed slowly behind, feeling almost run over. At the hall closet, she gathered what she needed and went to the first room.

Enzo had claimed it and he gave her a disarming grin when she knocked. “You have a lovely home, Jaydee,” he said, stepping forward to take the linens.

“Thank you.”

She moved on to the next. The interaction was the same. Tiziana was in the next room. Then their parents and in the closest one to her was Valentino. She knocked on the frame of the open door and waited for him to acknowledge her.

He looked at her and nodded with his head, not saying a word. She stepped in and made her way to the bed. “Here you go. There are blankets in the closet if you need more at night.”

Valentino grunted. She couldn’t believe it. He didn’t think her worthy enough of an actual word? She bit back her discontent and left to find the parents in the hall.

“I’m afraid I don’t have much in the way of food right now. I was planning on going into town later, but help yourselves. Just, please, my office is on the third floor, so don’t go up there.”

“Not a problem, baby. You shouldn’t be doing much, anyway. We brought food, so let’s go downstairs and we can get to know one another while I cook us a big meal.”

Antonina headed back down and she sighed, releasing a heavy breath. Giuseppe gave her a gentle smile and waited for her to reach his side.

“You’ll fit right in with us, sweetheart. We can be a bit overwhelming at times but all families can.” He took her arm and escorted her down the stairs to a waiting Antonina in the kitchen.

“Enzo, Valentino! You two get out to the car and bring in those groceries so I can start cooking.” She smiled and gave an exaggerated sigh. “Boys, sometimes they just need to be prodded along.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Jaydee said, unsure of proper protocol for this.

The boys thundered down the stairs and outside. Soon the bags had been brought in and unloaded. Questions were being fired at her from all directions and, honestly, she was beginning to come unhinged.

Her phone rang and she excused herself before hurrying to pick it up. “Hello?”

“Hey, hon,” Lexy said on the other end.

She sighed and sat down on the couch, aware of Valentino’s scrutiny. “Hey.”

“I know that tone, what’s going on? Everything okay with the baby?”

Jaydee instinctively smoothed her hand over her belly. “Yes. Baby is fine.” She should really decide what to call this child growing within her instead of ‘Baby’ so it was time to come up with some names.

Lexy muttered her thanks. “So, then, what’s going on?”

Even though they were now all in the kitchen since Valentino had returned there, she still lowered her voice a few notches. “His family is here.”

“Really? He brought his family to meet you? Damn, I’m telling you he’s—”

“No, Lexy.
He’s
not here.” A deep breath and a prayer for control. “His family is.”

“Ohhh, shit. They just showed up? Unannounced?”

“Yes. And they brought bags.”

Lexy started to laugh and she scowled. This was nowhere near anything humorous.

“I fail to see the amusement,” she bit off.

“Come on, hon. You have to see it. It is funny if you think about it. You don’t like people in your house or around your things and here come your in-laws and they make themselves right at home.”

“They’re
not
my in-laws.”

“Not yet. But they will be.”

“Five people, Lex. Five. In my house.”

Damn her but Lexy only laughed harder. “How long are they staying?”

“I don’t know. But then…I didn’t even know they were coming.”

“Hon, you’ll be fine. And you know I’ll come up there if you need me, too.”

“Can you get away?”

“For you? Of course. I’ll tell Eugene he needs to cover for me. I’ll be on the next flight I can swing. A few days tops, just let me set things up here.”

She felt better already. “I’ll tell Travis to pick you up. Just call him with the time.”

“I’ll be there soon, hon. It’ll be okay.”

“Thank you, Lex.” Sure, she might have been a baby but, damn it all, she needed the one person she could count on with her.

“Love you.” Lex was gone.

Hanging up the phone, she made her way back to the kitchen where the conversation still flowed and food cooked.

“Here, honey, drink this,” Antonina said. “It helped me when I was pregnant with these ones.”

She wanted to refuse, so badly. But she swallowed that desire back and curled her hands around the mug of something. It smelt like tea but she wasn’t sure. She ate only a little bit for lunch, which prompted Antonina to tell her she needed to eat more for the baby’s sake.

The boys went outside after the meal while Tiziana cleaned up. Every time she turned around, Gio’s mother was telling her how to feel, what to eat, anything and everything baby-wise, since she’d had four. She excused herself to go to her office and was sent off with smiles and waves. Once up on the third floor she spent more time staring out of the window and wondering what the hell had become of her life until she snapped herself out of it. That was how it went for the next few days. Her life had been overtaken by the Cassano family. She spent a lot of time in her office, just not okay with dealing. They didn’t seem to mind, for they found many things to keep them occupied.

A knock at the door brought her head up in surprise. Valentino stood there, those hazel eyes, so much like Gio’s, watching her with intense focus.

“Can I help you?” she asked, rolling her chair back from her desk.

“Mama said to come get you. You need to eat something and supper will be ready in ten minutes.” He turned and walked away without waiting for a response.

She glanced out of the window and found the sun had gone down. A peek at the time told her it was after seven. She pushed to her feet and headed downstairs. The table was set and the aroma made her stomach growl.

Tiziana gave her a smile, even as she walked around with a Bluetooth stuck to her ear. Enzo played chess with his father and Valentino sat on the couch and just stared at her. Shoving back her nerves, she made her way to Antonina and said, “Can I help?”

“Aren’t you a dear? No, baby. You go sit down. I have this all under control.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“What? No, none of that. You’re carrying my first grandbaby, there is no ma’am from you to me.”

Jaydee’s head felt light and she walked away, heading back to the living area when headlights coming up the drive grabbed her attention. Lexy. Immediately she felt calmer. She moved to the door, barely noticing that Valentino had got up as well. Outside, she made her way down the steps.

Lexy got out as Travis did, too, and he unloaded her luggage.

“Look at you, hon,” she called as she jogged closer for a hug. “You look incredible.”

Jaydee wrapped her arms around her friend and didn’t want to let go. Tears threatened and she didn’t know how she would handle this.

“Hon, let go. There’s something you have to see.”

Reluctantly she pulled back and stared at her friend. Beyond her, coming around the back of the SUV, was none other than Giovanni Cassano. He stopped when he spied her and dropped the bag in his hand.

She flew from Lexy’s arms to his open ones. His familiar scent imbued her soul as he held her. There was comfort in his embrace and she wanted to crawl inside him and never leave. He manoeuvred her chin up and claimed her lips in a kiss that made her legs weak.

“Hello, sweets,” he whispered against her mouth. “I’ve missed you.”

“Giovanni.”

His head snapped up. “Valentino? What are you doing here?” He glanced back to her. “What’s he doing here?”

“He came with his family,” she said. “Your
entire
family.”

She looked over her shoulder to see the rest of them step out on to the porch as well.

“Oh, shit,” Gio muttered, his hold on her tightening.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Gio blinked a few times, wondering if what he happened to be looking at would vanish. But no. It didn’t matter how many times he did it, the result was still the same. His brother stood at the top of the steps at Jaydee’s house.