Making You Mine (36 page)

Her smile turned into confusion. “I thought she was working?”

“She was but she left.”

She shook her head, saying she hadn’t come home but invited him in. Sal declined and took off in a sprint. He’d try Joey and Taylor’s next. He cursed himself as he rushed down the stairs. He should’ve gone there first. One of them had obviously picked her up and she probably figured he’d come looking for her here so she must’ve gone there instead.

At first no one answered the door at Taylor and Joey’s either. But he heard voices inside. “Gracie, please just let me explain it’s all I want. Then I’ll go away I promise.”

The door flung open and a red eyed Joey stood before him, leaning against the door. “I’d like to hear your explanation before you put her through any more. You have no idea what you’ve done to her.” His face screwed up and he took a deep trembling breath. “This is killing her and
that
kills me. Do you understand?”

If this was the only way he’d get a chance to explain then he had no choice. “Listen to me, Joey. I don’t remember anything about that night. I didn’t spend any time with her the evening all us guys went out. I got totally wasted and somehow she ended up in my room the next morning. But I don’t remember anything about it. She told me that we’d been together and that I’d texted Grace the night before. I didn’t even remember that. But I swear to you I would never do anything to risk losing Grace.”

Joey nearly fell when the door was yanked open further and Grace stepped up. Sal felt the life sucked out of him when he saw her devastated face and how bloodshot her eyes were. “But you did and now she’s pregnant.”

“Baby, I’m sorry. I’ll do whatever I have to—”

“There’s nothing you can do! You said you loved me and I believed you!”

“I
do
love you!”

“No,
you
please, Sal! Please leave and never come back because I want nothing to do with you ever again!” She collapsed onto Taylor’s chest and he held her.

Joey cried openly now, too, smoothing her hair, then turned to Sal, eyes as broken as his own heart felt. “You need to go.”

He closed the door leaving Sal standing there frozen, feeling a sense of utter hopelessness come over him. He hated himself for what he was putting Grace through, as if she hadn’t had enough heartache in her life already.

His whole life nothing had ever been impossible. Hearing anyone even use the phrase,
That’s impossible,
made him angry. There was nothing that would ever stand in the way of his dreams and goals. Where there was a will, there was a way. Now he’d finally hit an unforgiving wall of impossible. Aside from hoping Grace could somehow find it in her heart to forgive him, there was no way around this. He’d lost her and the reality nearly strangled the life out of him.

He left there feeling like his entire world as he’d so perfectly molded it, had just come to an explosive end. He never thought he’d feel like this, but without Grace, nothing mattered. He saw no joy in anything he accomplished from here on. How could one person have such a huge effect on another one’s life? The nightmare that haunted him for weeks now was a reality.

His phone rang as he drove still feeling the haze of overwhelming hurt and doom—Sofie. Great. He’d be hearing it from everyone soon enough. Let the tongue-lashing begin. He deserved every bit of it. He clicked the earpiece and answered.

“Tell me it’s not true, Sal. Tell me you didn’t actually sleep with that
bitch
.”

Sal took a deep unbearable breath. “I wish I could, Sofie.”

“
Why?
Why would you do that? How
could
you?” She sounded ready to cry.

Shit
. As if he didn’t already feel like the biggest dick on the planet. He explained again, the story sounding lamer every time he told it. Being drunk was no excuse, but it was the only one he had.

“Have you ever considered maybe
nothing
happened?” Her voice went from devastated to suspicious.

“Sof, she’s pregnant.
Something
happened.”

“No. That doesn’t mean anything. Even if something did happen, it may not be yours. I hate to say it, but women can be evil and I saw it I her eyes the day she insulted Grace, this bitch is as evil as they come. I wouldn’t trust a word she says.”

Sal sighed, feeling dead inside. “I dunno, Sof. I’ll have to look into it all. I wasn’t planning on just taking her word. But the fact remains she woke up in my room that morning.”

Sofia was quiet for a moment. “Have you talked to Grace?”

“Yeah.” The image of her distraught face and her words came at him again.
I hate
you!
“It’s over. She wants nothing to do with me anymore.”

“For what?” The last thing he wanted was for the whole world to be in on his stupidity. But who was he kidding? With Melissa pregnant with his kid, everyone would know soon enough.

“This doesn’t end here, Sal. Melissa doesn’t get to win this easily. I have serious doubts about this whole thing. And I’m sorry, but if it turns out that she really is pregnant and this
is
your baby, I’ll love it just as much as I’ll love my nieces but I will never accept
her
as part of my family.”

Sal knew that much already. Even if his brothers would somehow find a way to tolerate Melissa, if necessary, Sofie wasn’t about to be that gracious. In fact after seeing her reaction to Melissa showing up at his house, it’d be best to keep those two out of the same room, especially now.

Melissa answered on the first ring. Sal pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant and parked.

“I had hoped to give you the news first but you left me no choice. You’re not mad are you?”

Sal leaned his elbow against the door and rested his head on his hand, feeling completely drained. “Mad doesn’t even begin to explain what I’m feeling right now, Melissa.”

“Don’t act surprised. You know damn well I’d be stupid to just take your word for it. In fact I question the validity of the pregnancy all together.”

“You really think I would make something like this up?”

“Yes. I really do.” Sal wasn’t about to fall for her feigned hurt act. She’d just cost him the one thing he knew with all certainty he could never replace. There was no room for compassion here—none at all.

He was almost relieved. “Not good enough. Unless you take it in front of me, I wouldn’t put it past you to have had a pregnant friend take it for you. If not, I’m sure anything can be faked these days.”

Her forced laugh was a loud one. “Your arrogance is beyond belief. That I would do such a thing just to land the great Sal Moreno, obviously
the
most eligible bachelor in La Jolla is ridiculous. Though I wouldn’t mind us havimg a civil relationship for the sake of our child. I’m not asking you to marry me, Sal. But don’t forget what I do for a living okay? I know my rights.”

“Even having my kid, you wouldn’t
land
me. Besides I’m not an eligible bachelor remember? I have a girlfriend.” He wasn’t about to give the satisfaction of knowing she’d accomplished what she so aggressively set out to do. “And I don’t need to be an attorney to know I have rights, too.” He opened the door to his car. The dull headache he’d begun to feel the moment he got Alex’s phone call alerting him of Melissa’s visit and announcement had now grown into a full blown migraine.

“She’s still clinging to you even though she knows you cheated on her? How pathetic.”

That brought him to an enraged abrupt stop, taking a deep breath he tried to remain as calm as possible. “There’s nothing more pathetic than a girl who jumps in bed with a guy who’s rejected her repeatedly. You knew the only way I’d ever fuck you again was if I was totally wasted. I’m only glad I don’t remember any of it.” He took a deep breath trying to calm himself before he walked in the restaurant. “Just so you know, nothing short of a notarized written note from your doctor will convince me you’re pregnant.”

Sal massaged his temple as he walked in the back door of the restaurant. She was quiet for a moment probably letting his insult simmer.

Silence. And even though that silence brought with it an ounce of hope that maybe she
was
lying, it still didn’t fix the fact that Grace now knew Sal had betrayed her in the worst way. The torment he’d seen in her eyes today would be forever imprinted in his head. The very torment he now carried in his heart and would probably be carrying for a very long time, if not forever.

“I’ve already made an appointment to see my doctor. I’ll just wait until then and bring you the note. After that we can get on with how we’re going to handle this. I know you’re angry now but I do hope you’re going to want to be part of our lives, Sal.”

“First things first, Melissa. And the note alone is not gonna cut it. Even it
were
notarized I’d still have to run it by someone to make sure it’s authentic.” Sal hated sounding like such a dick but Melissa may have single handedly ruined any chance of complete happiness he may ever have. The last thing he wanted to discuss was any kind of relationship with her. “I gotta go. Let me know when you get the note.”

He expected the mood from the other employees to be somewhat somber but he didn’t expect the cold shoulder and downright haughtiness from some of Grace’s closer friends. If it were for any other reason he might be irritated by it but he was just as pissed at himself as they were. He’d never forgive himself for the pain he’d caused Grace. If the pain of knowing he’d lost her was this excruciating for him, he could only imagine what she must be feeling, knowing he’d done this.

Sofia was on the phone in the back room when he walked in. “Perfect. Oh, he just walked in. Let me make sure.” She looked at Sal. “You stayed at the Hard Rock Café that night in Vegas right?”

Sal nodded. He knew Sofia was adamant about this but it surprised him that she was already on the phone with someone about it.

“Yeah, it was the Hard Rock. Okay. Thanks.”

She hung up and smiled big at Sal. “Romero said he might be able to get the tapes from the casino that night you were there. He said casinos hold on to their surveillance tapes for months or in some cases, years. Normally we’d need a court order to get a hold of them but,” she winked, “good ole Romero has connections.”

As much as Sal appreciated the effort, it was too hard to get past the hopelessness of the situation. “Sof,” he said, plopping down in the chair, as the memory of Melissa unzipping his pants came flying at him like a slap across the face. “She was in my room that morning. Her damn panties were on the floor. Romero is better off looking into whether or not she’s lying about being pregnant. That’s probably the only thing we can hope for at this point, because even if she’s not, Grace won’t be forgetting and much less forgiving the fact that I cheated on her.” He shook his head disgusted with himself. “And with Melissa of all people.”

Sofia shook her head also. “And you call women naïve? You don’t think that psycho bitch would have it in her to plant her stink ass panties in your hotel room? I put nothing past her.” She opened the cabinet and pulled out her purse. “Now that you’re here I can leave.”

She stopped when her eyes met Sal’s. He must have looked as miserable as he felt because her hard expression changed immediately to commiseration. Sal let his head hang back and closed his eyes. He opened his eyes when he felt her lips on his forehead. “It’s gonna be okay, Sal. Something tells me Grace will somehow find it in her heart to forgive you.” Before he could retort she added. “If, in fact, there is anything to forgive.” She straightened up and pulled her purse over her shoulder. “And if it does turn out Melissa made this whole thing up, that sorry bitch is gonna have a lot answer to.”

If it wasn’t for his heart feeling the weight of the world crushing it, Sal might’ve laughed. His brothers and sister were always so ready to kick some ass. If only that could fix everything, his siblings would rule the world.

Once left alone, the dread really sunk in. He leaned his face into his clasped hands like a man praying for a miracle as visions of Gracie’s anguished expression assaulted him. He’d done that to her. And if
he
could never forgive himself, how could he ever expect
her
to? It was over.

~*~

It took a few minutes after opening her eyes for Grace to realize she was in Joey and Taylor’s bed. But it took less than a few seconds to remember why. She closed her eyes again, wishing to God she hadn’t remembered.