Page 3 of Dangerous Kiss
“I don’t know, I’m a pretty shitty son.”
“You arenot.” Nicco had been like this since his mother had died. They’d kept a lot of Grace’s illness away from Nicco, and when she had died so unexpectedly, Nicco had been away on a school trip. The last time he’d talked to Grace, he’d been distracted and had gotten irritated with her fussing—what he called fussing—over him and had snapped at her. He’d never forgiven himself for that—and he’d never forgiven Cosimo for keeping the severity of Grace’s illness from him. Cosimo felt the pain of that perceived betrayal every time he talked to or saw Nicco. He was losing his son, and he knew it.
“Whatever, Dad. How’s the filming?”
“Just got started. You know, if you wanted, you could come down here on the weekend, hang out, see what we do?”
There was a long pause. “I have a game this weekend.”
“Then I’ll come to you.” Cosimo had filming scheduled for both days, but he would let Channing direct them.
“Nah, you have work.” Nicco hesitated. “Maybe the weekend after, I could come down on the bus.”
“I’d like that.” Cosimo felt a wave of hope flow through him. “Love you, buddy.”
“Yeah.” Nicco’s voice had gone cold again. “Later, Dad.”
“Later, Nic.”
Cosimo heard the phone being handed back to his mother. Only Olivia DeLuca would still insist on a landline. “Hello, darling.”
“Hey, Mom. Nic says he might come down the weekend after next.”
“I heard. That’s wonderful, Cos.” There was a long pause. “Cosimo…try to be happy, son. I worry that you’re going into one of your hermit phases. I worry you’ll get depressed again.”
Cosimo rubbed his eyes. “I’m fine, Mom, honestly. It’s been two years, that’s all. I want to know how to move past it, but I’m stuck at the moment. It’ll work out.”
“Open your heart again, son,” Olivia said in a soft voice. “Grace would want you to find love again.”
“I know. Thanks, Mom.”
After he hung up, he half-heartedly made some notes before going out in the twilight down to the lake. The mansion was built alongside one of the biggest lakes in the area and the surrounding area was tranquil this late in the evening. Cosimo breathed in the night air, the sharp cold of it revitalizing his senses. It really was a beautiful place to film. The estate itself had been converted into a bed-and-breakfast some years ago and refurbished to an exquisite standard. The movie studio had bought out the rooms for the duration of the shoot, and some of the cast and crew were staying in the bedrooms that weren’t used for filming. Cosimo looked back at the mansion now, lit up and warm. He knew he should be grateful for this job, and he was—he loved directing—but lately, he had been craving more solitude. Maybe his mom was right—he was becoming a grumpy old hermit again.
He shook his head and began to walk down to sit at the lake’s edge. He heard a dog bark and looked around to see a German Shepard, one he recognized as the caretaker’s dog, bounding around a slight figure who was brandishing a tree branch. The other end was in the dog’s mouth, and they were playing tug-o-war with it. He heard the woman laughing and pretending to growl at the dog, and squinting through the gloom, he recognized Stella’s personal assistant—Biba? Was that her name?—teasing the dog, and then rolling and playing with it on the grass.
Cosimo smiled.Sweet.He watched for a few minutes from his lakeside seat. The girl saw him as she was about to turn and go back inside. For a long moment they gazed at each other, reading the other’s expression, and he saw her give him a slightly embarrassed wave. He raised his hand to wave back, but she had already turned to go back inside.
Cosimo turned back to the lake, but his mind remained on the young woman. He knew Stella Reckless was a mean boss, but this girl seemed to have the measure of her, and that intrigued him. He also knew Stella had been batting her eyes at him for the last three days, and he really didn’t want to go there. Stella Reckless was not his type at all—he preferred nerds, like him—girls that would talk to him about something other than Hollywood, parties, or the Kardashians. Grace had been the biggest science geek and had been applying to NASA when she got sick.
He sighed and got up, walking slowly back to the mansion. His mom might be on him to find someone new, but Cosimo knew—she would have to be very special indeed.
He watched the director walk back to the mansion before slipping back into the woods. He’d been delighted when he discovered they’d been filming here. Open woods, the lake—these would all make it easier for him to get closer to Stella. Soon, he would contact her and make it known that he was there for her—in every way a man could be there for a beautiful woman like Stella Reckless. No one would stand in their way of their epic, once-in-a-lifetime love story…and God help anyone that tried…
