They stared at each other while the silence of the chill night built around them.
Then Dante nodded.
“I’ll want my attorney at this meeting.”
“Certainly. I will give you my lawyer’s address and telephone number.”
“Do that.”
He turned on his heel. Walked inside, grabbed his jacket, took the private elevator to the lobby and walked briskly into the night. When he got back, hours and hours later, his bed was empty.
Gabriella was in the guest suite.
Exactly where she should be, he thought grimly, and poured himself the first of the several brandies he figured he’d need before he could tumble into merciful sleep.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
SUNDAY dawned bright and sunny.
A perfect day for a wedding, someone would probably say, but Dante knew better. It was a perfect day for a man to wake from a dream and realize he’d come within a heartbeat of putting his head in a noose.
He loved his brother, but better Rafe than him.
Dante showered, shaved, dressed and got out the door without seeing Gabriella. His mood was grim, but he wasn’t sure why it should be, considering he’d barely escaped making the biggest mistake of his life. There was such a thing as carrying Doing The Right Thing too far.
He certainly hadn’t been on the verge of asking her to marry him because he loved her.
Love?
Dante shuddered as he stepped from a taxi outside the unassuming little church in the Village where Rafe’s wedding was to take place. Yesterday he’d done a good job of half convincing himself what he felt was love, but the truth was, love had nothing to do with it. Responsibility.
That’s what he felt for her. He was a decent man, she’d given birth to his child.
That was all there was to it.
Dante looked around as he straightened his tie. No cops. No Feds. None he could spot, anyway.
Rafe would, at least, be free of the kind of attention Cesare almost always received. This was Rafe’s day, for better or for worse—no pun intended. He’d smile, toast his brother and his bride, then head for his meeting with Gabriella, her attorney and Sam Cohen. He’d phoned Sam at 6:00 a.m., and though Sam had grumbled, he’d said yeah, okay, he’d draw up the necessary documents—child support, child visitation—and hustle over to the two-o’clock meeting.
So, everything was a go. Have a meeting, move on with life. Today’s agenda, in a nutshell.
Dante took a steadying breath, plastered what he hoped was a smile to his face and went up the stone steps into the old church.
At first he saw no one. Maybe, just maybe, Rafe had come to his senses…. Forget that. He could hear voices. His mother’s, high and excited. His sisters, laughing and chattering like magpies.
His brothers’ low rumble. Another deep breath, and Dante headed for the small changing room where his family was gathered.
“Dante, mio figlio,” his mother shrieked, and embraced him in a hug that almost killed him. “You finally got here,” Anna said, but she tugged at his tie and kissed his cheek.
“We’d almost given up hope,” Isabella added, but she smiled and kissed him, too.
His father gave him an inquisitive look.
“Dante.”
“Father.”
“Was your trip successful?”
Dante’s mouth thinned. “This isn’t the time to discuss it,” he said coldly, and turned to Falco and Nicolo, who grinned.
“Hey, man,” Falco said.
“Glad to see you made it,” Nick said. “Where the hell have you been, anyway?”
“Away,” Dante said.
Nick raised an eyebrow, but Rafe saved the day, grabbing him and saying, “Can you believe I’m doing this?”
Even Dante could tell the question was rhetorical. Rafe was smiling, and when he slid his arm around the waist of a beautiful, dark-haired stranger and drew her forward, the look he gave her was so filled with happiness that it put an ache in Dante’s heart.
Had his eyes glowed that way each time he’d looked at Gabriella the past week? Hers had glowed when she’d turned them on him, but it had been a lie. All she’d ever wanted was that damned ranch…
“This is Chiara.”
His new sister-in-law smiled shyly.
“Dante,” she said softly, “I am very pleased to meet you.”
She hesitated. Then she leaned in, stood on her toes and kissed his cheek.
Hell. She was starry-eyed with love, and that feeling came again, as if a hand had reached into his chest and grabbed hold of his heart. But then the organ began playing, Anna and Isabella rushed to Chiara’s side and the next thing Dante knew, he was standing at the altar with his brothers.
The ceremony was brief. The women all cried. Rafe took his wife in his arms when the time came and kissed her with a tenderness that made Dante’s throat tighten.