Doris O'Connor (16 page)

Nothing like being the butt of the school
gossip. If Kitty had to hear one more innuendo about the size of a
fireman’s hose, or Eva’s more vivid descriptions of Alex’s other
attributes, she might just scream. She was far too aware of them
herself, thank you very much. In fact she seemed to be living in a
permanent state of libido overdrive, like some love-struck
teenager. Every day she promised herself that today she would keep
Alex at arm’s length. And every morning found her renewing that
promise with a blush on her face, recalling how thoroughly Alex had
proven to her once again, that her body was, quite literally, putty
in his hands.

The nights he was on duty she missed him
terribly, and if that wasn’t enough she worried over him endlessly.
Thankfully, Noah had no such worries. All he ever seemed to talk
about was Lex, this and Lex that and, increasingly, Tella this and
Tella that.

Right now, Noah sat on Stella Giovanni’s lap,
his head resting on her shoulder whilst the two of them looked
through the family albums. Alex looked on with a tender smile on
his face, and Kitty felt very much the outsider. She narrowed her
eyes at Irene sidling up to Alex. The woman rested one red taloned
hand on his shoulder as she said something in Italian. Alex,
sinfully sexy in his tight, well-worn jeans that left little to the
imagination, laughed at whatever she had said and pointed towards
something in the photo album.

Stella looked across at Kitty, her eyes their
usual frosty blue, and Kitty sighed to herself. She mumbled an
apology to Francesca, which she was sure the other woman did not
hear, as she stepped past her. She looked decidedly green, and
Kitty felt a stab of pity for Alex’s sister. Her husband had
announced their pregnancy at the start of lunch. Everyone seemed
delighted, and Alex’s eyes had locked with hers across the table,
his eyes as frosty as ice. Pregnancy announcements were certainly a
sore subject between them.

Damn the man! She was not going to sit here
and watch that Irene play happy families with Alex. What was the
deal between those two anyway? Irene had tried to drape herself
over Alex all afternoon, and she’d been sickeningly sweet towards
Noah.

Kitty sought the refuge of the bathroom. All
the joy of the gloriously sunny day left her in a big whoosh, when
she recalled the way Alex seemed to be enjoying the view of Irene’s
cleavage. She had dangled it in front of him like the proverbial
carrot.

Maybe she should let Alex take Noah to these
things by himself, but then that would be playing straight into
their hands.

Oh, this was all so darn complicated. She
almost collided with cleavage dangler when she turned the corner.
Oh fudge, that was all she needed.

Irene smiled at Kitty in such a way it set her
teeth on edge.

“
Oh, that’s where you’re
hiding.”

“
I was using the bathroom, Irene.
That’s hardly hiding!”

“
If you say so. If I were you I
wouldn’t bother to come to these family gatherings. After all, this
isn’t your family, is it? And I know for a fact that Stella doesn‘t
want you here.”

Oh
,
the nerve of the
woman.

“
Neither is it yours, Irene! And as
Noah’s mother I am perfectly entitled to be here. What would your
claim be exactly? Apart from your all too obvious interest in Alex,
of course.”

Irene’s eyebrows were doing their helicopter
impressions again, and Kitty had to smile.
Bring it on, lady. I
am spoiling for a good fight.

“
My claim? Alex and I practically
grew up together; did he not tell you? We were always meant to be
together. Oh the stories I could tell you. He’s mine, Kitty. It’s
only a matter of time before he sees sense. You’re not right for
him at all, and besides he’ll never forgive you for keeping him
from his son all those years. I mean, how could you? Such a mean
thing to do when family is so important to him.”

Kitty almost groaned out loud. “And what would
you know about it? This is none of your business, Irene, so just
butt out, will you? And keep your claws off Alex.”

The other woman sneered at Kitty. “I should
keep my claws off him? Oh that is rich, when you were the one who
got her claws into him in Amsterdam. He was
my f
iancé, and
he spends one night with you, and he tries to break it off with me.
Well, I couldn’t have that of course! Especially with the
baby.”

Irene made a show of dabbing at her perfectly
dry eyes with a tissue she produced out of nowhere. Seriously, the
woman was something else. No wonder Stella and she got on so well.
Two peas in a pod.
Hang on. What did she just
say
?

“
Did you say baby?”

“
Yes, my baby! There was no way I
was going to let him go, and then—”

“
Irene, don’t upset yourself, my
dear, revisiting those dark times.” Stella’s cool voice interrupted
her, and she drew the other woman into a warm hug. The look she
threw at Kitty was like a slap in the face. Kitty’s heart squeezed
painfully in her chest, processing the fact that Alex had had a
pregnant fiancée when they had spent that night together in
Amsterdam. No wonder he hadn’t responded to her message, and all
this time he had put the guilt trip on her.
Oh you just wait
‘til I get hold of you, Mister.

“
Noah is looking for you, Kitty,
but before you go.” Stella put one hand out to stall
her.

“
Yes?”

“
I have booked Noah an appointment
with a private speech therapist. We really need to do something
about his speech impediment.”

****

Alex held Noah’s little hand and smiled down
at his son. “Where Lummy, Lex?”

“
I don’t know, little man. Let’s go
and find her, shall we? She can’t be far.” She never was. In fact,
Alex was surprised she had left Noah on his own for as long as she
had. She normally watched over him like a hawk whenever they were
at his mother’s place. Not that he could really blame her. Only
yesterday his mother had read him the riot act for Noah still being
unaware that she was his
nonna
. He would have to broach the
subject with Kitty. He certainly yearned for his son to call him
dad.

He heard Kitty before he saw her. Uh oh, what
was going on now? Kitty was clearly having yet another argument
with his mother.
Great, just great
. Every time that
happened, Kitty withdrew a bit more. He had no idea how to bridge
the gulf between them as it was. The only time they really
connected was in the bedroom, not that he was complaining about
that. He smiled to himself as he rounded the corner. The view of
Kitty’s tight bum in the cutoff jeans shorts was poetry in motion.
The strappy vest top clung to her curves. Thanks to his cooking she
had put some weight back on again, and she looked fantastic.
Ok,
best not think on that too much. These jeans are tight enough as it
is.

They seemed to be arguing about a speech
therapist?
What on earth?

“
Ah there you are, Alex. Perhaps
you can make Kitty see sense. Will you tell her that your son needs
to be seen? As his grandmother I insist! Oh, hello there,
Noah.”

Kitty swung round, eyes blazing, fists balled
at her side.

“
My
son does not need any of
your fancy therapy. I’m well aware of his needs, and we are working
on his speech. He’s only three, for pity’s sake. It’ll
come.”

“
Alex, I insist. He’s your
son,
too, and I’m sure little Noah would like to talk
properly for his
daddy
. Wouldn’t you, little
one?”

He heard Kitty gasp when Noah looked up at
him, his little face confused, and Alex thought his heart would
burst with pride when Noah said,” Daddy?”

Chapter
Eighteen

Noah actually called him daddy! Alex was dimly
aware of Kitty’s quiet fury and the irritatingly smug grins on his
mother’s and Irene’s faces. There would be hell to pay later, if
the waves of anger rolling off Kitty were anything to go by. But
right now he had to deal with his son.

Alex crouched down, all his attention focused
on the confused little boy, who looked on the verge of
tears.

“
Yes, Noah, I’m your daddy. Is that
okay?”

Noah frowned and looked towards
Kitty.

“
Lummy, Lex daddy?

“
Of course he’s your daddy, and I’m
your grandmother, Noah. It’s about time you knew that. Now come
here, and give your nonna a big hug.”

Gratitude for his years of training swamped
Alex when Kitty launched herself toward his mother. Thanks to his
quick reflexes, he managed to grab her round the waist and pull her
back. He kept a tight grip on the wildcat in his arms, whilst
swinging her away from Noah’s startled gaze.

“
Kitty, calm down. Not in front of
Noah. Look at him.”

All the fight went out of her, like he knew it
would. She picked the little boy up and left with a terse, “I’m
taking him home.” Noah was just about visible above her shoulder,
and he was crying.
Damn it all!

“
You can’t just let her take him
away. Go after her, and bring him back.”

Alex felt like swinging for his mother himself
at that point. “Mamma, for the love of God,
Shut
up!
”

“
You really shouldn’t talk like
that to your mother, Alex.” Irene stood, hand on hips, challenging
him, and Alex ground his teeth with the sheer effort to control his
temper. What the fuck was she doing in the middle of all this
anyway?

“
Butt out, Irene. This has nothing
to do with you, and Mamma, if you ruined my chances of seeing my
son, so help me –What on earth possessed you to tell Noah like
that? Kitty will go mental on me, and with good reason.”

“
Ah poppycock, she had long enough
to tell him. I merely hastened the process. I really can’t see why
you have to pussyfoot around her all the time. Time is ticking,
Alex. I’m only thinking of you!”

“
No, Mamma, you are thinking of
yourself. If you had any consideration for my feelings, you’d back
off, and let me do this my way. What did you think would happen,
forcing this? Like it or not, Mamma, Kitty is Noah’s mum and a damn
good one at that. We have to trust her to know what’s right for
Noah. Damn it, she could take him away tomorrow, and there isn’t a
thing either one of us could do about it.”

“
Of course there is. If she tried
that, I would have Robert slap her with a court order faster than
you could say slut. You should have let me do that in the first
place. The way you carry on mooning after her is
ridiculous!”

“
I’m not doing anything of the
sort, Mother, and if I was, quite frankly, that’s my business. I
could do a lot worse than Kitty. She’s a brilliant mother and the
one person in this goddamn family who has listened to what I want
lately.”

“
Well, this isn’t about what you
want, Alex, is it? If your father was still alive, God rest his
soul, he would be appalled at your behavior.”

Stella’s voice cracked at the mention of his
dad, and some of his own anger evaporated at the tears on his
mother’s face. She was right. If dad was here he would have had him
up by his boot straps for talking to his mother like
that.

“
And have you forgotten that thanks
to the sterling Kitty, your father never met his grandson? I will
never forgive her for that as long as I live, Alex, and once you
stop thinking with your dick, you’ll see what you have to
do.”

****

Kitty’s heart bled at the agony she heard in
Alex’s mother’s voice, and some of her own anger fled. What had her
mother always said? Those who listen at doors hear things they
shouldn’t. Well, wasn’t that the truth! Not that she had been
eavesdropping, per se. She’d left her bag with her car keys on the
chair by the bathroom, so she had had little choice but to return
to grab it. The raised voices had made her stop and listen. Thank
goodness she had left Noah in the garden with Francesca. Alex’s
eldest sister had taken one look at Kitty’s face when she had
stormed past her with a crying Noah and had made her sit down. Noah
had been successfully distracted by the ice cream that had just
arrived for the children.

“
Had another run-in with my mother,
Kitty?”

“
Yes, and I don’t want to talk
about it. I need to take Noah home, and damn, where are my
keys?”

Francesca had laughed and sent her back to get
her keys with the promise to keep an eye on Noah. At least she had
an ally in Alex’s sister. Kitty got the distinct impression that
Francesca found her own mother’s meddling as tiresome as Kitty did
at times.

She stepped out from behind the huge plotted
fern she had hidden behind, like the villain in an old B movie,
wondering what the expression on Irene’s face was all about. The
woman looked as though she had been caught with her fingers in the
cookie jar. Irene schooled her expression into a bland smile the
minute she must have realized Kitty’s observance.

The dejected slump of Alex’s shoulders as he
faced his mother spoke volumes, as did his flat voice. “Mamma,
please, don’t do this now.”