March (Calendar Girl #3) (5 page)

I nodded and looked around the room. Everyone seemed so happy. Genuine, smiles adorned every face. The family seemed comfortable and at peace with each other. Not something I’d ever experienced within my own family since my mother up and left us. Dad did his best but lacked the finesse of raising daughters a mother would have had.

“So, all of you work together at the company?”

“Yes, in different ways. No task is too small. For example, we have the kids stuffing envelopes sending out birthday announcements, coupons, etc. The siblings all have a role. Giavanna runs the daycare and afterschool program inside the building. I’m in Finance, Isabella runs Human Resources, and Angelina runs Marketing. Even Ma has an office, but she spends most of her time in the kitchen coming up with the recipes and planning out the menus. Tony, as you know, runs the company. Even Hector works as our lawyer. He’s been around so long it’s like he’s another brother.”

“I’ll bet. He’s a really great guy.” Just as I was about to put out some subtle feelers on the relationship between the two, a hand on my shoulder stopped me. I turned around and was greeted by the grinning face of the most stunning woman I’d ever seen. Her hair was thick, and fell in long dark ebony waves down to her ass. Her eyes were the exact same steely blue of Tony’s. Bow shaped lips tinged with pink, and a dress that flowed around her like a vortex of oranges, reds and yellows.

“I’ve been dying to meet you, Mia!” The woman leaned down and hugged me tight. “I’m Angelina or ‘Angie’ for short. The stud behind me is my husband Rocko.” If there was ever the quintessential Italian man, it was Rocko. He looked exactly like a young Sylvester Stallone. Honestly, it was uncanny the resemblance. And the name, so close to Rocky? Wild. I shook my head and held out my hand.

I opened and closed my eyes a few times to clear my vision. Nope, still the same look-alike. “You look exactly like…”

“Sylvester Stallone?” He waggled his eye brows, took my hand and pulled me into a rib squeezing hug that stole my breath.

Two pairs of hands pulled me back from Rocko’s hold. “Easy with my girl there, brother,” Tony responded protectively. I could practically feel the tension pumping off Hector as he watched the exchange.

“It’s amazing how much you look like him. A doppelganger for sure!” I couldn’t get over it.

He tipped his head back and laughed. “I get it all the time. Plus, I box with your man. It’s how I met Angie. I trained him back in the day. We’re phasing out of the league and spending more time in the gym training the next line of pro boxers. Well,”—he slapped a hand on Tony’s bicep—“I’m in the gym training the newbies more so than Mr. Businessman here. Can’t complain though. He keeps the family fed.”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever, Rocky Balboa. Go back to your seat will ya?” Tony said, his Italian Chicagoan accent more pronounced when he was kidding around.

Angelina gripped my hand. “Let’s get together this week! Tomorrow maybe, for shopping? We have to get a dress for the release of the new Fasano’s Frozen Food line next week. We’re hosting a big party the day before with all the movers and shakers of the food industry. It’s our biggest achievement yet!” she squealed.

“Tony has to be in the office, but I planned on taking Mia shopping for a dress. You can come along tomorrow. She needs a new wardrobe while she’s here. It would be great to have a second opinion,” Hector offered.

“Shopping with Hector is the best.” Angelina’s voice rose with her excitement. She couldn’t have been more than a couple years older than Tony and the tallest of all the women. We both stood at the same height. I also hadn’t noticed any children unaccounted for at the dinner. Looks like the boxer and the beauty hadn’t yet procreated. Man, when they did, those kids were going to be model beautiful.

Then I realized what they were talking about. Shopping. Blech. I cringed thinking about having to shop for a new wardrobe. “That would be uh…cool, I guess. Thank you.”

Angelina sat in the chair that Tony vacated to talk to another family member. “You guess? Look, Mia, let me lay it out for you. Hector is gay. He knows the best places to shop, exactly what will look good on every body type…”

Hector charged in. “That is true. You should listen to her. I’ve been dressing Angie since she was in her early twenties.”

“And Hector has incredible taste in clothes.” She added. “You have nothing to worry about. He’ll suit you up just fine. And with a body like that, you’re going to look amazing in everything.”

“Says the prettiest chick I’ve ever met,” I said sarcastically before applying my filter.

Instead of her catching onto my tone, her eyes lit up and a huge smile spread across her lovely face. “You think I’m the prettiest girl you’ve ever met?” I shrugged and took a swallow of wine. “That is the nicest thing ever. We’re
so
going to be BFFs,” she promised and pulled me into another hug. Man these people liked to touch. There was absolutely no personal space allotment with this crowd. I’m pretty sure every last one of them had hugged, shoved, kissed, me in one way or another that evening. Definitely something I’d need to get used to over the rest of the month.

We plowed through dinner, eating the most amazing Italian food, all served family style in big serving bowls and dishes. The wine flowed like water and, the family spoke so loudly over one another that my ears started to ring. Reminded me of the aftermath of being at a rock concert and the steady ringing in my ears in the quiet. It was like that only louder. These people really liked to talk…a lot…at a decibel level beyond what normal humans were used to hearing.

Overall though, I liked the Fasano’s. They were boisterous, friendly, jovial, and gorgeous. It was like being in a room of Italian actors waiting to audition for a part. Back when I was in LA, my agent would send me on ethnic calls because of my curves and thick, black hair. He seemed to think I looked Italian, though I was pretty sure I was just a Heinz 57—a mix of everything.

The evening ended with batches of tiramisu, homemade by Mona of course, and the darkest coffee I’d ever had. Together they were a taste sensation on the tongue.

When Tony and Hector led me out of the restaurant later, Tony pulled me into a big hug. He looked over his shoulder with a panicked expression, then his lips landed on mine. They were soft, warm, and moist. His fingers tunneled into the back of my hair; he tilted my head, and his tongue dove in. I was not expecting to be kissed like that by Tony. A gay man. A gay man with a partner. Things were not adding up. Still, I couldn’t help but respond. He was a damn good kisser. His tongue flicked against mine, then danced as we got the rhythm. I lifted both arms and wrapped them around his broad shoulders and hanging on to his neck. When I pressed the length of my body against his, he gripped my hips and pressed close. That’s when I felt it. Well not
it
exactly. A lack of it. He was not hard. There was absolutely nothing happening down below. I pulled my head back, his lips leaving mine in an audible plop.

My eyes went to his, only he wasn’t looking at me, he was looking over his shoulder. I turned and saw his mother Mona. She had her hands clasped together and a look of pure joy filling every wrinkle in her face making her look a decade younger. Guilt coiled around my heart as I became witness to the hope this woman had for her son. Her only son. Her gay only son. But she didn’t know that. At that moment, I heard a clearing of someone’s throat. My eyes slid to Hector whose face held the exact opposite of Mona’s. Grief, sorrow, maybe even a twinge of anger filled his features. That snake around my heart squeezed so hard I could barely breathe. Mama Mona turned on a heel and went back into the restaurant.

“Hector…” I whispered. He shook his head and opened the car door.

“Get in Mia. I need a word with Tony.”

“
Papi
, you know that was for show…it didn’t mean anything,” he swore, hands fisted at his sides.

Although I shouldn’t have felt hurt, I did, because I did feel something. There was a definite twinge of the lady parts when he held me and kissed me the way a man kisses a woman he’s lusting after. Only with Tony, I felt the proof that he really didn’t get turned on from kissing me. It wasn’t real. That reminded me that I needed to check any lustful feelings at the door. This man might be sex incarnate and have the most incredible body known to mankind, but he was playing for Team Hector.

I went over to the car. Hector didn’t even look at me. I swallowed down the bitter pill of regret. Before I got in the car I put a hand to his shoulder and leaned close enough to whisper in his ear. “It meant nothing. Mona was watching. He wasn’t even turned on. Only you could do that to him. Believe me, I know when a man wants me. That man wants one person. You.” That was the most reassurance I could offer.

As I sat down, Hector leaned in. “Thank you for telling me that.”

“Anytime. How about you guys take a cab back? Go to a bar and chat about how this is going to play out now that I’m here. I don’t know that you two thought about what me being here was going to do to your relationship, but it’s obvious you need some time alone.” He nodded and looked down where he scuffed a toe along the concrete. “I have a key now. I’ll see you guys in the morning. Yeah?”

“Mia, thanks,” Tony said. He waved his arm toward the street, and a cab stopped in front of him. “Hector, please come with me.” Tony’s tone was soft yet demanding.

I watched as they got into the cab and drove away. The limo took me back to the penthouse, and I just made it into my room when my phone pinged with a text.

From: Wes Channing

To: Mia Saunders

Can you talk?

C
HAPTER 5

I stared at the cell phone display. There were two ways to play this. One, ignore it until I wasn’t feeling so emotionally drained. Two, call him and let Wes’s voice remove the snake coiled around my heart after the shitstorm I’d just dealt with between Tony and Hector. I hoped they could work it out. The last thing I’d ever wanted to do was come between two people in love—which they were. Only it wasn’t fair that they couldn’t be free to be themselves. Or at the very least, Tony perceived it that way. Perhaps if I worked with Tony, made him see that coming out of the closet could be a good thing. That being with Hector, planning and building the family they obviously wanted was the way to happiness. What Tony was doing was eventually going to burn Hector so bad, he’d walk. I know the type. I’m excellent at walking away.

Decision made, I clicked a couple buttons on my phone. Within one ring the line was picked up. “Hey sweetheart, is it too late there? Well, wherever you are?” His voice was deep, throaty and reminded me of whispered promises in the dark, breathy moans, and nights filled with unbridled passion. I’d had an incredible time with Alec but Wes, he just did it for me. Everything about him screamed, deep, penetrating, hot monkey sex. After the night I’d just had, I’d love to lose myself in him.

“It’s not too late, no. I’m in Chicago.”

“Mmm, the Windy City. What’s the guy do?”

I wasn’t sure we were at that point in our
friendship
that we could comfortably discuss other conquests. However, since I didn’t plan on ever bedding Tony, it probably wouldn’t hurt to share. “Restauranteur.”

“Ah, I know how much you love a home cooked meal.” Instantly the image of him shirtless making me breakfast came to mind. His long body, muscled, tan chest so brown from the California sun it looked good enough to eat. And it was. Wes always had that surf and sand smell about him. Delicious.

I realized I hadn’t said anything in awhile. “Um, yeah. Well, you know how much I like to eat.”

“I do. Does he cook for you?”

“Not yet, though I’m hoping he will soon.”

A long sigh came through the phone and long moments passed before anything was said. “Are you with him, like you were with me?” Wes asked and even though it hurt that he felt the need to ask, I didn’t owe him anything.

“Does it matter?” I whispered softly and laid on the bed, the phone tucked close to my ear.

“Does to me.”

“No, and I’m not going to be.”

“Why’s that? If I know you, and I think I do, you have a very healthy libido.” That time I could hear the amusement in his voice.

Wes did have a month to get to know me. Too well really. He snuck by my defenses and dug a hole into my heart. A part that he’ll forever own. Not that I was going to tell him.

“Because I don’t think his partner, Hector, would be too fond of me encroaching on his man.”

A rumbling laugh came through the line. God, I missed that laugh. It was the kind of laugh that had the ability to heal war-torn nations. “So why did a gay guy hire the hottest escort in history?”

“Kiss ass,” I shot back. He chuckled again and the sound reverberated through the line straight into my heart, lightening the evening’s events. “No, it’s pretty messed up. He’s in a long-term relationship; I’m talking marriage-type relationship with this amazing guy. Only he feels obligated to his family and business to keep up the persona of cool businessman, Italian guy, badass boxer.”

“Shit. Sounds like he’s got some heavy burdens. Professionally, I can understand how he’d want to maintain his privacy. If he’s the type of guy who can afford Exquisite Escorts, he’s loaded and likely has the press on his ass.” He blew a breath out that came across muffled when his lips must have gotten too close to the phone. “Seriously Mia, money’s good and all, but it doesn’t take the place of privacy and the ability to live a quiet life.”

I thought about the gated community Wes lived in with ‘round-the-clock security monitoring the neighborhood, the red carpets he hated walking, and the need to hire an escort to attend important events just so he could work the room in peace. Yeah, Wes knew exactly what Tony was going through only without the issue of sexual orientation being a factor.

“He also has some family stuff. He’s the only male heir to the family’s fortune, and if he doesn’t procreate the name will die with him.”