The Boyfriend List (14 page)

“I’m her
father
.”

“And I’m her
husband
. I love her with all my heart. I will take care of her, protect her and our children, love her until I die, and that’s what you should be worried about. Your choice, Mr. Albanese, is whether you want this to be easy on Jenna or hard. Will you accept her decision or not?”

“And if I don’t accept it?”

This guy was stubborn, and Nate was losing his patience. “What do you want me to say? That I’ll kick your ass? We both know I can, but that’s not my style. You will, however, have to go through me before you get to her unless she tells me to stand down. I’ll do whatever I have to do to protect her.”

“Going to throw your millions around, is that it?”

“Actually it’s
billions
. With a
B
. Remember? And yes, I will. Don’t push me.”

Without warning, Jenna’s father grinned and stuck out his hand. “Good man. I was afraid with all that money you’d be a candy-ass. Call me Rocco.”

Nate shook his hand. “Was this a test?”

“Yes it was. And you passed with flying colors. I don’t like how this all went down, but I’m glad my daughter has someone who’s solidly in her corner.”

“I am. No question there.”

“She has a big soft heart, my Gia. She’s been hurt, badly. Manipulated. I worry about her. So, let me put you on notice, Nate. If you hurt her, I will rain hell down on you a thousand different ways. I won’t give a shit about your billions.”

“Noted.” No longer playing a caricature of the tough Italian father, Rocco Albanese was a man to be reckoned with. “Will you be able to get her mother and sister to stand down?”

“My wife, yes. Christina, I don’t know. I have a feeling she’s going to be as difficult as your sister Leah.”

“Great.”

“She’ll be here tomorrow. So will Francesca.”

And a hundred other people who would gossip and talk crap about him and Jenna and their quickie wedding. He definitely should have kept her away from here. “I’m going to go find Jenna and let her know everything is okay.”

Rocco nodded and walked with him. “This is some place. I can’t imagine what it would be like to grow up with this kind of space.”

Nate nodded. “It’s one of the reasons I never moved to the city. Where I grew up, we have over forty acres. I couldn’t handle being so closed in.”

“I spent the first ten years of my life in an apartment in Astoria. Then we moved to Levittown, and we had a yard to play in. That was heaven for a kid like me. Forty acres . . .” He whistled through his teeth. “That’s a lot of space.”

“That we share with a lot of horses.”

“Wow. I’ll have to come by and see it sometime. I spent eleven years in the mounted unit.”

“Yeah?” If that didn’t take all. You never knew where you’d find common ground. “Jenna didn’t tell me.”

He chuckled. “I’m not surprised. It was a very sore spot for my little girl. Still is. She wanted to ride in the worst way, and we couldn’t afford it. Not with four kids.”

“I’ve given her a couple of lessons, she’s a natural. If you’re up, take a ride with us tomorrow; we’re going out early. I’m sure we can find you some gear.”

Rocco smiled. “Maybe. I haven’t been on a horse in twenty years.” He stopped and watched a group of horses playing in the distance. “You’re going to let your pregnant wife on a horse?”

“Did you just say the word
let
? Have you met her?”

Once they returned to the group, Rocco went to his wife and Nate found Jenna. She was talking to his sister Amy, who gave him a hug when he came in from the paddocks. Leah was standing nearby, scowling.

“Come on,” he said to Jenna. “Let’s go inside and get you something to eat.”

“Everything go okay?” Her face was filled with concern, but she had to see both he and her dad came back unscathed. “I mean . . .”

“I know. Everything is fine. Your dad and I had a nice talk. Now, let me feed you.”

The kitchen was very much like the one in Muttontown, including Sally, who was puttering around putting food in containers. “Now you get here. Took you long enough.”

“Hi, Sal.” He kissed her cheek.

“Are you trying to starve your bride, you evil man? Where have you been all day? And she’s carrying your baby.”

“We had ice cream.”

Jenna giggled. “You evil man. What is wrong with you?”

Sally grinned as she put food on the plates. Fried chicken, ribs, potato salad, and grilled vegetables. “I like her.”

“Yeah,” Nate said as he took a seat at the kitchen island next to his dark-haired beauty. “Me, too.”

“So,” Sally folded her arms and leveled her gaze at Jenna. “When is the baby comin’?”

“I have to go to the doctor, but I think late February, early March?”

“Good time to have a baby.”

Nate took Jenna’s hand and rubbed his thumb back and forth over the soft skin. “How’s your mom handling things?”

“Eh. She told me that I was incredibly selfish. I guess maybe I was.”

He brought her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. “It was not selfish, but even if it was, it’s not on you alone.”

“How was my dad?”

“He pulled his bad cop routine, tried to provoke me into beating the shit out of him, but even though he doesn’t like how we got married, he’s okay with it. I passed the test.”

“The test?”

“They had a pissing contest.” Sally refilled their water glasses. “Who’s tougher? Who loves you more?”

“Seriously?” Jenna asked.

“He started it.” Nate took a healthy forkful of potato salad. “It’s fine. He’s also going to get your mother to back off. He said no promises with Christina. Although he did suggest sending Leah after her. The two of them could stay occupied with each other.”

“She really doesn’t like me. Amy is nice, though.”

“Amy is a sweetheart.” Just as Nate said it, everyone, and it truly was everyone, entered the kitchen. Two sets of parents, siblings, his friends, and his grandparents were all there. “Crap.”

Jenna lowered her head to Nate’s shoulder and clutched his arm. “I want to go home.”

It wasn’t a bad idea, and if he didn’t think they’d run him down, he might just take Jenna out of there. But he wouldn’t get away with it for a second. Knowing his father, at least one tire on the Maserati was already going flat.

Of course, they’d planned their attack and, not willing to take any chances, they sent in the big guns first. His grandmother—his sweet, beautiful grandmother, whom he would never deny anything—reached out and touched his shoulder.

“You guys play dirty,” he growled.

“Of course we do,” his da snapped back. “What did you expect?”

“I expected you to respect our privacy!” he shouted. Everyone in the room jumped because Nate never raised his voice. Jenna rubbed his back in a steady motion, trying to calm him down. “Jesus . . .”

“Nathaniel?” Grandma again. They were relentless. “Why don’t you two just tell us all about it?”

In his head, he was wondering if they really wanted to hear about how he and Jenna couldn’t keep their hands off each other, because what he felt for her he didn’t know if he could put into words. He didn’t know if he wanted to. Those feelings were for her and her alone, and he couldn’t believe his family had reduced themselves to this kind of meddling.

“What do you want to know?” Jenna spoke before he had a chance to tell the lot of them to take a hike.

Kim approached cautiously. “Everything just happened so fast. That’s all. We’re worried.”

“Well, it’s a little late for that, isn’t it?” Jenna’s eyes locked on his for a split second. In their depths he saw love, faith, and determination. He had to trust her with this.

She continued without giving Kim a chance to answer. “Look, we met ten months ago when you and Owen first got together. Everything just clicked at your wedding. Nate is the kindest, most generous man I’ve ever met. He’s good to the bone. Smart, resourceful, loyal. I can tell you that this—
interrogation
—hurts him. He’s given the lot of you his time, his friendship, and his love. And you question him like he doesn’t know what he’s doing.”

Jenna hopped off the stool and walked toward Kim. “No one questioned you, or Owen, about your relationship. Based on his telling, he fell in love with you a year before you ever really ‘met’. Why do all of you get to ask questions about our relationship? We’re not teenagers who need guidance.” She turned to both sets of parents. “None of you should say anything. One pair of you eloped, and the other pair had a ‘premature baby’ who weighed eight pounds.” Her mother’s eyes bulged. Christina’s quick arrival after their marriage was
never
discussed. But all the meddling and snide comments meant all bets were off.

“Nate’s never been impulsive. He’s methodical to a fault,” Leah interjected. “That’s all changed. I want to know what you did to my brother. What are you holding over him other than your
pregnancy
?”

“Leah!” His grandmother was officially horrified, and everyone else was equally shocked—they wanted information, but no one would ever sling mud like that. That was the last straw for Jenna; she headed for the door. Nate got up to go with her, but before he walked out he went over to his sister. “That was out of line, Leah. If you can’t be civil, don’t say anything. Back. Off.” He shot a look at everyone in the room. “All of you, back the hell off.”

He was regretting coming back to the States already. The stress couldn’t be good for Jenna. Walking outside, he saw her immediately. She was on the far side of the patio, curled into a large wicker chaise lounge. There was a fire going in the outdoor hearth and the sun was just below the horizon, allowing the light from a few bright stars to shine in the sky. He heard some neighing from the stable, and he wished they were back at the farm in Brookville.

Every time Nate saw Jenna, his breath caught a little. It wasn’t just the physical reaction to her beauty, it was her. Her vision, her intelligence, her humor, her ability to understand him, her vulnerability made her so much more than a pretty face. But her sweetness, her willingness to give of herself, is what stole Nate’s heart. That his family was lashing out, especially his sister, was unforgivable.

He was planning on making the best of the barbecue tomorrow, but now, if Jenna wanted to go, they were out of there. He wasn’t going to wait around for another ambush. Not when it chased away her inner light.

Giving her a nudge, he sat on the chaise and stretched out his legs. She immediately curled against him and he wrapped his arms around her. “I really don’t like your sister,” Jenna said quietly.

“I don’t like her, either, right now. I don’t like any of them.”

“What kind of information do they want? We’re married, we’re pregnant. I don’t understand.”

“I don’t know.” And Nate didn’t. There was no logical response.

Jenna picked up her head and faced him. “Leah asked what I did to you. What does that mean? It’s not like I cast some spell. I . . . I . . .”

Not wanting her to get more upset, Nate pulled Jenna in and held tight. “She was out of line. You’ve done nothing except make me happy.”

“Why has everyone gone crazy? This should not be a federal case.”

“It shouldn’t. That’s why we’re going to leave. Neither of us should have to deal with this.”

Easing himself off the chaise, he pulled Jenna to her feet and started toward the house, only to be met by his father. For once, Da looked sheepish. He never fully admitted to being wrong, but the expression on his face told Nate he was probably as close as he was going to get.

“Don’t leave. Please, Nathaniel.”

“And why should I continue to let Jenna be subjected to this bullshit? You want to tell me that?”

“You shouldn’t, and it’s a testament to the man you are that you’re not going to allow anyone to insult your wife.”

No kidding he wasn’t going to let anyone insult her. He was on the verge of punching something, he was so fucking pissed. “This is no one’s business, Da. No one but mine and Jenna’s.”

“I know. You’re right. But you two are members of families. There’s a big picture here.”

Stuffing his hands in his pockets, Da was trying to explain why everyone had gone off the deep end. “Your mother feels a little left out. Yours too, Jenna. A marriage is the kind of thing that’s celebrated with the people you love. You two went off and did it on your own.”

He was trying to appreciate his father’s point, and he could see it was rolling around in Jenna’s head as well. “We didn’t mean to make anyone feel that way,” she said. “We wanted some time to think about all the changes we were facing. To make a plan. Getting married made sense to us. We’re in this for the long haul.”

“I understand. I do.” Da’s hand settled on Jenna’s cheek. “I couldn’t be happier for my son or our family that you’re with us. And that there’s going to be a grandbaby, well, that’s gone and put us all over the moon.”

“I’m glad you’re happy, Mr. Bayard.” Maybe there was hope.

“Oh, darlin’, no more Mr. Bayard. You call me Da. You’re family now, and I’m sorry we didn’t make you feel welcome straight away.”

Jenna nodded and Nate saw a small smile tick the corner of her mouth.

“Da,” Nate said. “Leah has to stop.”

“Yeah, well. She’s a tough one, your sister. I can’t get her to do anything. If I say the sky is blue, she’ll tell me about how the carbon footprint of the farm is going to turn it gray. I don’t know how she grew to be so contrary. She wasn’t always like this.”

Nate had an idea, but he wasn’t about to share it with his father.

“Why don’t you two go to the guest house and get settled in. Tomorrow’s a long day. If you want to meet me at the barn around six, Nate, I could use a hand.”

“Sure, Da.” Nate wasn’t too thrilled about leaving Jenna in a comfy bed that early in the morning, but he wasn’t going to let his father handle the work on his own.

Jenna slipped her hand into Nate’s, but before they left, she stood on her toes and kissed his father on the cheek. “Goodnight, Da,” she whispered.

His father grinned, knowing he’d won her over. For now anyway. Nate still didn’t know how tomorrow was going to go.