All of Me (8 page)

“I’m telling you, it’s not like
that.  But feel free to continue your fantasies if it keeps you entertained,”
Nathan replied.

Nathan stole one last look at
Marinelli’s as he drove out of the parking lot.

Okay, things were looking up. 
He’d figured out why the Stella woman was always staring at him.  Now it made
perfect sense and he could stop thinking about her.  The world was, once again,
in tidy order.

He was, once again, in total
control.

Chapter Seven

“So, Stella’s into
somebody.” 

All clanking of
utensils against plates and lively Sunday dinner conversation came to a halt. 
And all eyes were suddenly on Stella. 

She swallowed her
ravioli and shot Kat the biggest
malocchio
she could manage.  “I am not.
There’s this police officer who I think is…attractive.  And nice.  We bumped
into him at Marinelli’s last night and Kat’s got it in her head that I’m into
him.”

“What cop?” Nina
asked.  “Cleveland or a suburb?”

“Cleveland,”
Stella answered, knowing what was going to happen next.

“It was one of the
cops who showed up at Eddie’s that night.”  When Stella shot her another dirty
look, Kat mouthed “what?” and shrugged.  “Stella was almost drooling over him. 
It was extremely entertaining to watch.”

“Which one?” Nina
asked, like it was no big deal that Stella was panting after one of the cops
who’d almost arrested her. 

“Never mind. 
Doesn’t matter.”  Stella stuffed more ravioli in her mouth and hoped against
hope the conversation would turn.

“He was really
tall and had short sandy brown hair,” Kat said. “And he doesn’t say much.”

“Ah, okay, I know
which one you’re talking about.  Drazek, was his name, I think.  Nice guy.” 
Nina cut up some sweet sausage for Sam and passed her the plate.  “You into
him, Stell?  I thought you swore off cops.”

“Drazek…Drazek…”  Pops’ fork
paused halfway to his mouth.  “Why does that name sound familiar?”

“Maybe you dealt with him a few
years ago.  When you were going through one of your rough times,” Fi said. 

Pops hadn’t handled their
mother’s death well.  At all.  But he was hanging in there now. 

Time and antidepressants:  the
cure all for most everything.

Nina and Carla’s six year old,
Gabby, turned to her four year old baby sister, Sam.  She patted her chubby
little hand and said, “Pops went a little nuts.  But don’t worry.  Mamas and
zie
say it’s alright…we all go nuts sometimes.”

“That’s right, Gabs!” Marco
bellowed, laughing.  “Especially in this family!”

“Hey!”  Kat ducked as Fi threw
a roll at Marco.  He made an expert catch and ate the thing in two quick bites.

Stella’s nephews – all riled up
at the prospect of an adult-sanctioned food fight – had to be reined in by Gigi
via various threats regarding Xbox, DS, and Wii deprival. 

“I know that name from
somewhere,” Pops muttered, unaffected by the mass chaos around him.  With a
frustrated sigh, he returned to his meatball.

The family finished dinner and
the men cleared the table.  Stella stood at the kitchen sink washing while Fi
rinsed and Carla dried. 

Fi hip-bumped Stella.  “Sorry
we haven’t had a chance to talk.  Things were…crazy…with what went on.  And the
firm too.”  Fi sighed.  “Just so messed up.  I’m so sorry.”

“I know, babe.”  Stella gave Fi
an awkward wet-hands-in-the-air hug and a peck on the cheek.  She pulled back
and met her sister’s eyes.  “You’re done with him now, right?  No more talks,
emails, texts, nothing?”

“Nothing.”  Fi handed a glass
to Carla.  “I don’t know when things got so screwed up.  He was always a jerk,
but not like that.”  The sad look on Fi’s face was enough to send Stella bee-lining
for Eddie’s to finish what she’d started.

“It’s the way they play it,
Fi,” Carla said.  She ran a worn chintz dishtowel over the plate.  “It’s all
about manipulation and control.  And they are so smooth, so practiced at it,
that you don’t even know they’ve manipulated you until it’s too late.”  Carla
patted Fi’s arm.  “But it’s over now.  You’re safe.  And by the grace of
Stella’s boyfriend
she’s
not in jail-

“Hey!”  Stella interjected,
laughing.  “Don’t you start!” 

The
talking/bantering/laughing/coffee/dessert ritual went on until Stella finally
got into her car two hours later to head back to her house

At 8:30 pm, Stella poured her
nightly glass of wine complete with a handful of ice.  She was heading to the
back porch for a few minutes before “Everybody Loves Raymond” started when her
doorbell rang.

It startled her so badly she
sloshed wine down the front of her jeans.  “Who in the hell…”  Sisters and
killers didn’t ring the doorbell and magazine salespeople usually didn’t come
after sunset, so Stella was stumped.  She set her glass down and crept toward
the peep hole in her front door.  It was her house and nobody could see in, so
God knew why she was tiptoeing around like a cat burglar.  She closed one eye
and peeped.  And her heart jumped into palpitation mode. 

It was
him
.  At her
house.  At night. 

“Hold on a sec…”  Stella
unlocked three deadbolts Nina had installed when her baby sister had insisted
on living alone and opened the door. 

Officer Drazek’s furrowed brow
sent her into an instant panic.  “What’s wrong?  Is it my sister?  Or my dad? 
I-I just left there a few hours ago…what could have happened?”

Never mind that he wasn’t in
uniform and the look was more angry than official.

“Why in the hell would you open
your door to someone at 9 o’clock at night?” he demanded.

“Wait…what?”  Stella reared
back, hand still on the door.  “What do you mean?”

“What I
mean
is, didn’t
you ever learn not to open your door to strangers?  Especially male strangers
and especially at night?”  He looked really pissed, which only made Stella
laugh.

“You rang my doorbell!”

His whisky eyes narrowed.  “You
open your door to everyone who rings the doorbell?”

“Uh, no, but you’re a police
officer and not exactly a stranger.  You didn’t kill me the first two times we
met, so I guess I took a leap of faith.”

Sweet Jesus, the man was
beautiful.  In a hard, sad, separated way.  And the way he was standing – long
legs apart, muscled arms across his chest, staring down at her like that – was
enough to make any woman swoon. 

Even women who’d sworn off
swooning.

Stella snapped to and flushed a
little when she’d realized she’d been caught staring at his bicep.  She’d spied
the tail end of some arm ink peeking out of the left side collar of his black
tee and she’d gone from admiring to panting in two seconds flat. 

For some reason, she was really
grateful she still had her fake boob on.  Not that it mattered, but still.  

“So, are you going door-to-door
performing safety tests?  Seeing which women are dumb enough to open their
doors to you and then chastising them when they do?”  Stella smiled, but
Officer Drazek’s grimace only deepened.

“That was a joke.  A funny. 
Ha-ha.”  This guy wasn’t going to give her an inch.  “Alrighty then.”  She
dropped her arm and walked into her living room. “Come on in.”

But when she turned around, he
hadn’t moved.  He was still standing on her porch, arms over his chest, giving
her the stink eye. 

Stella threw her hands up. 
“Seriously, officer, you’re letting in mosquitoes.  If you’re here to kill me –
or for whatever reason - then come in and let’s get to it.”

Moving as if he was entering
the bowels of hell instead of a tiny bungalow in Old Brooklyn, Officer Drazek
very slowly uncrossed his arms and stepped over her threshold.  And stood
there.

“A little more,” Stella said,
laughing.  She went to grab his forearm to pull him in, but he jerked away
before she made contact.  It wasn’t an accident, but she instinctively knew not
to take it personally.  Because there was something about it that seemed
really, really sad.  Suddenly, Stella felt like crying.

“Okay.”  She sidestepped him
and shut the door.  He smelled as incredible as she remembered.  She inhaled as
quickly and as discreetly as possible before heading back over to wine glass. 

“I was going to have a glass of
wine.  Would you like something?”

He shook his head. 

“Nothing?  I have some beer for
when my dad visits.”

Another silent shake.

“Canoli?  Coffee cake?  A cup
of coffee?”  At his third shake, Stella exhaled a laugh.  “This is an Italian
household.  Guests don’t leave until they’ve eaten.  Or at least had a drink. 
You’re not gonna win this one.”

He studied her for what seemed
like forever before saying, “I’ll gave a glass of water.”

“How about a bottle?”

He nodded.

As Stella grabbed a cold Ice
Mountain out of the fridge, she called over her shoulder, “Do you mind if we
sit outside?  It’s so nice out tonight.”

“It’s not necessary.  I-”

Stella handed him the water and
unlocked her sliding patio door.  He followed her out, but didn’t sit down.

She gestured to the other
chair.  “Sit.”

“That’s not necessary.”

“I know it’s not necessary, but
you can still do it,” Stella said.  She smiled and pointed to the chair.  “Take
a load off.”

When he stood there, stoically
and motionlessly, Stella laughed again. “For me?  Please?  So I don’t feel like
I’m undergoing an interrogation?”

Officer Drazek – Nathan –
finally perched himself on the edge of the chair.

“Such a nice night out,” Stella
said, looking around.

She loved her little backyard. 
It was one of the major selling points for her when she’d bought five years
ago.  It wasn’t big, but it was private, with a privacy fence on all side and
tons of plants, trees, and vines making it really cozy.  She’d installed a
gaudy water fountain in one back corner and a little garden (that Fi managed)
in another.  There were outdoor lights strung up in the trees and a fire pit
for when things got really wild.  It was Stella’s little piece of heaven…and
she couldn’t believe she was sitting in it with some dude she barely knew.  Who
looked like he was about to pull a jump-and-run at any moment.

She had no idea why she’d
invited him in or offered him a drink.  She’d barely spoken to anyone other
than family, friends, and patients in a year - let alone sniffed them, forced a
beverage on them, and demanded they invade her private space.  She didn’t know
what it was about this guy that had her letting her guard down. 

Not smart, Stell.

“So, officer, assuming the
whole ring-and-test thing wasn’t true, what brings you here?”  A thought popped
up.  “Wait, how did you find out where I lived?”

Even in the veiled moonlight,
Stella detected a flush creeping up the collar of his shirt.

He cleared his throat.  “My
partner and I followed you home the other night after your…altercation.  We thought
there was a good chance you’d jump into your car and head back there.”

“The only reason I didn’t is
that it would kill my dad if I got arrested.” 

His brows dropped.  “Leave the
law enforcing to law enforcement.  Vigilante justice is always a bad idea.”

“Would you feel that way if it
was your sister?”  When he didn’t answer, Stella pushed.  “Would you?”

His intense gaze soaked into
her bones.  “I don’t have a sister.” 

“How about-“

“I came to return this.” 
Officer Drazek dug into his front jeans pocket and pulled something out.  He
handed it to Stella.  “I was conflicted about returning it, but it does belong
to you.  Or to someone you know.  So I thought it was only right.”

Stella tried to ignore the
tingle where his fingertips brushed her palm.

She glanced down at the item. 
It was the little purple Bic lighter from that night at the hospital.  Stella
grinned.  “Thanks. On behalf of the ER nursing staff at St. Mary’s.”