Dangerous Beauty: Part Four: Beautifully Broken (69 page)

“Wow,” she shook her head, crossing her arms over her chest once again. “Reanna was right.” She smiled. “You are quite a complex man.”

Complex? That was an adjective he’d never heard used to describe him before. He liked it. It was a lot better than cold, mean, and heartless.

“You know,” Tamara said softly, re-capturing Kyle’s attention.

He looked over to her.

“I’m really happy for the two of you … despite what you may have heard about my,” she cleared her throat uncomfortably, “initial reaction.”

“I haven’t heard much, Tamara,” Kyle said in effort to make the woman feel a bit less uncomfortable. “Reanna didn’t give any specifics. She just mentioned that the two of you had a disagreement.” She’d done so in a text she’d sent him earlier, that he’d just read not too long ago.

Nodding her head, Tamara’s eyes lowered. “Yeah,” she whispered. “It was more like me being the unappreciative brat I’ve always been, and Reanna suffering because once again, I said or did something stupid.” She looked up with a sad smile. “In other words … I fucked up, and now I’m here to beg for my sister’s forgiveness and hoping that she doesn’t hate me for all of the stupid and incredibly insensitive things that I said to her today.”

Kyle watched as what looked like unshed tears welled up in Tamara’s eyes before she quickly wiped them away, then looked away from him once more.

She was sad; that much was obvious to Kyle. And what surprised him the most was that he, cared about the woman’s sadness. He empathized with her. And in a show of this empathy, Kyle reached over and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, prompting her to look back in his direction.

At first she looked a bit taken off guard by his gesture, to which Kyle took absolutely no offense. This was still new to him as well. There were very few women that Kyle had ever felt close enough to offer his comfort, two of them were blood related, and one of them was to be his wife, so he hadn’t really expected to offer such a gesture to Tamara either. But here he was, offering her his support in her sadness, offering her comfort. He even said a few words, hoping that it would ease her sadness. He almost didn’t recognize himself; he was turning into Nathan …

“Don’t fret, sweetheart.” No wait, that was Lucca. Definitely Lucca. “Reanna is your sister.” He smiled warmly. “There is no bond greater than the bond between siblings. Words by which my brothers and I live by, and they have gotten us through a lot of rough times.” More rough times than Kyle could count. But even still, the love he had for his four brothers was impenetrable. “She’ll forgive you.”

“Yeah,” the woman said in a breathy cry, nodding once again as her eyes fell to the floor. “I know she will.” Tears fell down her cheeks. “That’s what upsets me the most … She’s not even going to think about it, she’ll just forgive me and …” She shook her head, “I don’t deserve that.”

Dammit. How was she doing this? How was she making him feel shit? She was breaking his heart, and not only because she was crying either, but because … he got it. From one fuck up to another, he understood what it felt like to be the family member that was always saying and doing dumb shit. Shit that he’d never be able to undo, or unsay; shit he’d never be able to take back. It had taken becoming a father to a child that he refused to fuck up to get Kyle to stop being
so much
of a fuck up himself. And even then, even today, he still didn’t understand how his family didn’t just say
‘to hell with him’
and drop his ass off somewhere and desert him after all the hell he’d raised in the past.

“Trust me,” Kyle said, giving Tamara’s shoulder a comforting squeeze, and an understanding smile. “I know exactly how it feels to feel … undeserving of the forgiveness loved ones seem to give so easily.”

“Right,” she cried, lifting her teary eyes back up to his. “And the worst part is, I don’t even agree with any of the shit that I said to her. It isn’t what I feel; it’s not even what I
wanted
to say to her.” She sobbed softly. “It was just fear,” she wept. “I let my stupid fear and selfishness control me.
Again.
And I didn’t even say what was …” She brought a shaky hand to her chest. “I didn’t even say what was in my heart. I love you guys together,” she smiled, laughing softly even as the tears continued to fall down her face. “I think your story is the most twisted … most
beautiful
fairytale I’ve ever witnessed in my life.”

Kyle smiled at that. It was cute.

“… I’m serious,” she chuckled. “I’ve been rooting for you two since the moment I first saw you look at her. I mean really look at my sister in a way that I had never seen anyone look at her before. Ever since that moment, I wanted you for her. I didn’t care about what I knew about you, or your past, all I cared about was that moment because that was the moment that I knew that you loved her. And she loved you two.” She shook her head. “Everybody knew, but no one ever said a word. We just watched you two every chance we got, and made bets, trying our best to predict the moment when you two would just … get out of your heads and
kiss already
… Because we knew that that was all it’d take …” She smiled. “And I saw it, whenever you two kissed in the living room last week. I saw what we all knew would happen. I saw you two finally telling the truth, finally embracing
love
instead of fearing it, and I was so … happy …” Once again, her eyes fell. “I panicked,” she murmured. “When she told me she was getting married, that she was moving out of the house. I couldn’t even process it; I just … freaked out.” She lifted her eyes. “I’ve never lived apart from my sister before, Kyle … I’ve never really had to share her. Not like this.”

“I know,” Kyle nodded in understanding.

“And I’m not even sure I know how to be apart from her like this either …”

“You don’t have to be apart from her always, Tamara,” Kyle said softly. “Our home is your home.”

It was the Italian way. Kyle would never have a home without an extra room for family; just as he’d never cook without making extra food on the off chance that the family came over unannounced, which in his family, happened often. One had to always be prepared. That was a lesson he’d learned from his Nonna.

“There is always a place for you here, sweetheart.” He smiled. “Always a bed for you to sleep in, always a seat for you at our table. You are family, yes?
Abbiamo sempre un posto per la nostra famiglia …
”

Kyle had never been much of a touchy feely type person, but in this case, he made an exception and hugged the woman because she was so obviously in need of it. Hell, who the fuck was he fooling … he needed it too. Needed a quick reminder of the reality he lived in now, especially after tonight. So he hugged her, warmly, tightly, the same way he hugged his daughter whenever she needed some time in his arms. And Tamara accepted the support, almost eagerly. That made him smile …

“You’re a very lucky man, Kyle Valente,” she whispered, never pulling back from him.

Kyle nodded as he watched the numbers rise, nearly reaching his floor.

He knew that. With the family he had, his daughter, and now a soon to be wife. He was a man favored by God. He made a mental note to start going to confession regularly ...

“My sister is an amazing woman.”

“That she is,” Kyle agreed.

“She’ll be an incredible wife to you, a fantastic mother to Sofia.”

Kyle agreed with that, too. Very much.

“Well, if you are any indication of her skills in child rearing, I have to say that I very much agree.”

Damn, Kyle thought, impressed with the compliment he’d just given. He was quickly getting the hang of this ‘being kind’ thing.

He felt Tamara’s shoulders shake slightly, just as he heard her soft sniffling. “She was the best mommy a girl could ever ask for. Raised me, sacrificed everything for me. She protected me, provided for me, put me through college, and then gave me the money to start my line because she believed in my dream. She’s the reason why I am the woman I am today.
Dammit.
You made me cry again.”

Kyle chuckled once more. Even though he was still impressed with himself, he’d only said what he believed to be true. Tamara Pierce, just like her sister, was an amazing woman. Strong, smart, ambitious, with enough attitude to command and
earn
the respect she so deserved. And that was because of Reanna Pierce … And now the woman who raised the admirable woman in his arms would be raising his daughter to be just as strong …

Yes. Kyle would definitely be going to confession and mass in effort to retain this favor.

“Oh my gosh,” Tamara laughed softly, bringing Kyle from his thoughts.

“What is it?” he asked, confused by her sudden amusement.

“Look at us,” she said, holding on to him a bit tighter. “Do you realize that this is the most we’ve ever spoken in the years that I’ve known you? We’ve barely said three words to each other, and now we’re hugging each other in an elevator.” She giggled. “It’s just funny …”

A smile pulled at Kyle’s lips. Yeah. He could admit that it was kind of funny.

Laughing softly, he released her from his embrace.

“Do you feel any better?” he asked thoughtfully. “Comforting isn’t something that I do often, so I may not be that good at it …”

“I feel a lot better, thank you,” she said softly, looking up at him as she shyly wiped the stray tears from her eyes. “You’re better at it than you think.”

The elevator door opened.

“You think so, huh?”

“I do,” she nodded, then allowed Kyle to escort her off of the elevator. “I haven’t been hugged like that since … well.”

Stopping once they reached the front door, Kyle turned to face the woman when her words trailed off, finding her eyes lowered to the ground as an unreadable emotion flashed through her eyes.

Frowning, Kyle placed a concerned hand to her shoulder. “Are you alright, Tamara?”

When she lifted her eyes, Kyle was able to clearly see what emotion she’d been attempting to hide. It was subtle, but clear grief … a sadness. Not overwhelming, but still very visible.

“I’m fine,” she whispered. “You just … I haven’t been hugged like that since my father.” She smiled warmly, even as her eyes filled with unshed tears. “I should’ve expected as much, though. You have a little girl of your own so it makes sense.”

Smiling at the woman’s words, Kyle pulled his keys from his pocket and turned to the door.

“I miss my little girl,” he confessed as he pushed his key into the lock and turned it.

“How could you not?” Tamara replied. “It’s been a long weekend … even longer day.”

A long, horrible, torturous ass fucking day was a better description. But Kyle had made his peace with that. The day had started off fantastic, and it would end even better. That was all that mattered to him.

When he opened the door to his home, he was immediately met with the smell of dinner, the subtle sound of music, and the heavenly sound of laughter coming from the two most important people in his life.

“Smells so good,” Tamara said, walking through the door when Kyle step to the side to allow her entrance. “
Wow,
your home is lovely. And, oh my God, look at that view.”

While Tamara journeyed off to the sliding wall of windows, leading to the large balcony, Kyle followed the sweet sound of Reanna, and Sofia, talking, giggling, and singing together …

“Let’s put some more chocolate icing on the cake. I think Papa’s gonna want some more.”

“Really?” Reanna laughed softly. “Is it Papa that we think is going to want more chocolate on it, or Sofia?”

“Sofia.”

They laughed together at Sofia’s silly behavior, neither of them even aware that he was standing at the entrance of the kitchen watching them, and thinking of all the nights Sofia and Reanna had had in the past that were just like this. Nights where they’d cooked together, joked together, laughed together … Nights that he’d miss because he’d been off somewhere he hadn’t even wanted to be, somewhere he’d never should have been in the first place … He’d wanted to be here. With them. And now he was.

“Sofi. We can’t fit any more on here. If we try the whole cake will fall over, child.” Reaching around Sofia, Reanna snatch the frosting bowl from the child, bringing it back around her and setting it on the opposite side.

Gasping, Sofia poked her lips out in a playful pout. “But Reanna,” she feigned a whine. “We can put some on the side.” She then smiled. “Then after dinner we can lick it off the cake plate.”

Cake spatula in hand, Reanna place both fist to her ample hips, looking down a Sofia— who stood, grinning wide, on a
Princess and the Frog
step stool next to her— with pursed lips. “Sofia Nicole Valente. Are you telling me that you are expecting us to eat this entire cake tonight?”

Sofia nodded. “Uh huh …” she answered, turning back to face the cake. “You and Papa can cut a piece to share, and I can eat the rest all by myself.”

“All by yourself!”

“Yep,” she nodded again.

“No,” Reanna said, shaking her head as she began smoothing the icing over the cake. “Absolutely not young lady.”