He heart quickened. “Rafe,” she said, torn in different directions.
“Tell me you don’t want me to stay,” he whispered. “Tell me you don’t want me.”
“I do,” she said, but forced herself to step away from him. She didn’t want to confuse Joel if-when Rafe lost interest in her. “But being with you is just going to make things more complicated. We can’t do this.”
Nine
Rafe picked up his brother Michael at the private airport. “Nice surprise,” he said as his brother crammed his backpack into the non-existent backseat of Rafe’s Corvette.
“Thanks for picking me up,” Michael said. “I would normally just take a morning flight, but this guy wanted to meet at 8 a.m. and I didn’t trust the airlines or the private jet service in winter.”
“It’s not winter here,” Rafe said, shifting gears and pulling away from the terminal.
Michael chuckled. “Rub it in. How’s your son? How’s Nicole?”
“Joel is great. Nicole needs some work,” Rafe said, unable to keep a growl from his voice. He decided to wait to tell Michael about Aunt Emilia’s letter when he could show him the photographs. “Tell me about the business deal that would drag you from Atlanta so you could have an o’dark-thirty meeting in Miami.”
Michael discussed the deal and twenty minutes later, Rafe pulled into the garage.
“Nice crib,” Michael said.
“Back side is better,” Rafe said with a smile. “Come inside little brother.”
Michael rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah.”
Leading his brother through the garage, Rafe opened the side door and heard Joel squeal.
“He’s home!”
Rafe couldn’t stop the joy that filled him. “Where’s my man?” he called, and Joel came running.
“Joel, you’re wet,” Nicole called. “Let me dry you-”
Joel skidded toward him as if the wooden floor were a Slip-n-Slide. Rafe rushed toward the boy and picked him up so he wouldn’t get hurt. “Hey, you need to dry off those feet, or you could get in trouble.”
Joel just beamed. “I been swimming. I can go from one side of the pool to the other.”
Rafe grinned at his son. “Good for you. Do you remember your Uncle Michael from Atlanta?”
“We met just before you left.”
Joel looked at Michael with a blank expression on his face.
Michael laughed. “No problem, guy. Next time I’ll bring a gift.”
Nicole appeared breathlessly. “Not necessary. He’s not at all deprived.”
Rafe looked Nicole over from head to toe. She wore a black bikini that made him want to strip it off. “Looks like the two of you have been having fun,” he said.
She nodded and turned to Michael. “Please forgive my appearance. I didn’t know we were having guests.”
“Nothing to forgive,” Michael said. “You should always dress this way for guests. It will leave all of us nearly speechless.”
Rafe tossed his brother a quelling glance. “I’ll get Carol to show you to your room.”
“But I’m enjoying this show much more,” Michael protested.
“Carol,” Rafe called, feeling protective.
His housekeeper immediately appeared. “Yes, sir.”
“Please show my brother to the blue guest room.”
“Yes, sir. Welcome home,” she said.
“Thank you,” he replied.
“Such a grouch,” Michael said, but allowed himself to be led away.
Nicole grabbed towels for Joel and herself.
“I petted a frog,” Joel announced.
“You did?” Rafe said, wrapping the towel around his son and pulling him up into his arms. “How did he feel?”
“He was slippery. Frogs are cool. I like the way they croak,” Joel said. “My teacher said we get turtles next week.”
“You like school?”
Joel nodded. “It’s fun. And I like the pool here.”
Rafe glanced at Nicole in triumph, but glimpsed a shadow of pain and uncertainty in her eyes. It stopped him. “Are you okay?”
“Of course,” she said, but the words sounded forced. “I should get Joel into a bath and then to bed.”
“I can help,” he said.
She looked as if she intended to protest, then closed her mouth. “That would be great,” she said and led Joel upstairs.
Rafe followed after her, unable to keep his gaze from her round derriere. He remembered grasping her h*ps as he thrust inside…Growing hard at the memory, he reined in his need. He would have her again. It was just a matter of time.
He helped Joel with bath time and after Nicole dressed him in snuggly pajamas, Rafe read two books. Joel fell asleep before Rafe finished the second story and he left his son’s room to go downstairs.
He found Nicole and Michael eating dishes of ice cream at the bar. Out of nowhere, he felt a sharp stab of jealousy. Her hair damp from a shower, Nicole wore shorts that revealed her long, lithe legs and a tank top.
“How did I miss the ice cream party?” he asked, keeping his tone light.
“I wandered into the kitchen and found Nicole with ice cream,” Michael said. “Couldn’t resist.”
Yeah, right, Rafe thought. “Is there any left?”
“I can share,” Nicole said, offering him her spoon and he felt just a bit mollified.
She lifted her spoon and he covered her hand with his and swallowed the bite of intensely chocolate ice cream. “Good,” he said.
She smiled. “I put it on the shopping list. A forbidden indulgence.”
“I’ll take another,” he said.
She lifted another spoonful to his mouth and he slid his tongue over the cold creamy confection then sucked it down his throat. He saw her eyes darken with sensual awareness.
Michael coughed. “Nicole told me you received a letter with photos from Aunt Emilia?”
Rafe nodded. “I got a copy made for you,” he said, reaching for his briefcase. He’d viewed the photos several times during the day, and each time was filled with bittersweet emotions. “It was so long ago it almost felt like pretend. A dream. This makes it more real,” he said, still surprised at the comfort the photos brought him.
Michael glanced over his shoulder. “Look. Damien’s hair is sticking straight up in that one.”
Although his chest felt tight, Rafe nodded and managed a laugh. “And Leo’s lifting his chin like he’s gunning for a fight.” He studied the faces of his mother and father. “I remember thinking Dad was so strong, never needing rest, but they both look tired.”
“What do you expect when they had to take care of four hellions like us?” Michael asked.
“The letter was strange. I’ll let you take a look at it. Emilia said that Leonardo isn’t dead. She said something about him being successful in Pennsylvania.”
Rafe looked at Michael and saw his brother’s face turn pale.
“Where is she? Where is this woman? I need to talk to her,” Michael said.
Rafe shook his head. “I ran a search for a phone number from the return address, but they said she had worked as a caretaker for their children. She moved on to take another job and left no forwarding address. I’m going to put an investigator on it.”
“He couldn’t be alive,” Michael said to Rafe. “Could he?”
Rafe knew Michael had felt guilt for Leonardo’s death. After all, Michael had gotten in trouble, so Leonardo had taken his place on that fateful trip on the train to the baseball game so many years ago.
“Don’t get your hopes up,” he cautioned Michael.
“But she had pictures,” Nicole said. “Pictures of all of you. And she knew about Joel,” she said to Rafe.
“Easy to say, now that he’s here,” Rafe said.
“I know it’s strange, but-”
“Damn right it’s strange,” Rafe said. “We’re already tracking Leo. I intend to check her out, too. She could answer a lot of questions about our past. Maybe the time has come for us to get those answers.”
Ten
Rafe’s cell phone rang. He took the business call from one of his clients and left Michael with Nicole on the patio.
“It’s good of you to help Rafe through this adjustment period with Joel,” Michael said to Nicole. “Learning that he had a son knocked him sideways. Of course, he recovered because that’s what he does.”
“I’m not sure how much help he’s needed. I’m getting the impression that all the Medici brothers are quite resilient,” she said, glimpsing some of the same drive in Michael that she saw in Rafe. Michael came across as quieter and more solemn.
Michael nodded. “Necessary for survival.”
“But all of you have done more than survive. You’re all very successful.”
“True. I think it’s partly a control issue,” he said and gave a slight smile. “Never want to be poor, never want to be at the mercy of someone else, never want to care too much that losing something or someone will blow our world apart.” He shrugged. “That one has gone by the wayside for Damien and Rafe. Damien fell in love and got married and now Rafe has a son he would give his life for.”
“Is Damien more like you or Rafe?”
“Damien is me times ten,” Michael said. “He used to be described as the terminator because he never let his emotions affect his decisions. Rafe hides his wounds with a joke. I remember when we were kids, he stepped on a nail and tore up his foot. My parents didn’t take him to the doctor until the next day because he kept saying it wasn’t that bad.”
“So, he was like that even before your family was split up,” Nicole mused, and even though she’d heard the story of what had happened to the Medicis before, the horror of it hit her again. “Rafe’s been so determined for Joel to know that he has a father and that his father will always be there for him. I know the loss was terrible, but Rafe comes across as so strong. He’s so confident, it’s almost-”