Page 34 of With This Kiss
We followed Dad into the dining room, where Gina was already setting the table. She was a heavyset woman with warmbrown eyes that always seemed to sparkle with life, no matter what, and short brown hair cut into a bob.
She smiled warmly at me when she caught my eye. I moved in closer to her, letting her familiar scent comfort me.
“How’s my girl?” she asked in that heavy Italian accent of hers.
“Good,” I answered.
Gina had been our cook since I was a little girl, and she was always kind to me.
I knew many people were nice to me because they worked for my dad, but Gina had always been kind because she loved me. She was more of a mother to me than my own mom, who left just before my eighth birthday.
I wished she had left sooner.
Eight wasn’t so young that I didn’t remember how she had treated me like her perpetual punching bag since the moment I took my first breath.
And she had been so careful about it, making sure not to leave any marks that Dad could see, and ensuring I wouldn’t tell another soul about it for as long as I would live.
Even now, Dad had no idea.
I was sure it would break his heart if he did. And he would surely hunt her down himself and kill her.
I shook my head as a plate piled with food was placed in front of me. I looked over at Dad.
There was a serious expression on his face when he said, “Eat. It looks like you have lost weight since the last time I saw you. I don’t like it.”
It hasn’t been that long since I last saw him. I nodded and ate my food without complaint.
It was best I didn’t tell him. As much as I didn’t like my mom, I didn’t want to have her death on my conscience.
As far as I was concerned, as long as she didn’t show back up in my life again, I would take this secret to the grave with me.
I walkedout of the library just as my shift ended for the day, stretching a little.
I had been feeling sore all day. Being the Director of Development for the city’s public library wasn’t exactly backbreaking work, but it could be a bit tedious at times.
A group of women who worked here walked past me. They were all giggling and laughing together as they discussed where to go for a drink.
A small pang hit my chest at the sight. If Etta managed to leave her family’s restaurant early, or if she ever had the day off, she would have been waiting for me on the steps.
I could almost imagine her standing there, grinning like a fool once she caught my eyes, before rushing over and enveloping me in one of those hugs that I just fucking missed so much.
No one had hugged since she died.
No one except…
“Reign?” I muttered.
I rubbed my tired eyes, so sure I was seeing things, but nope, he was right there. He was leaning against his illegally parked car in front of the library, his hand in his pocket, and his expression ominous.
He didn’t look like he was in a good mood.
So what the hell was he doing here?
Waiting for me?
In front of me, the women’s giggles grew louder as they all turned their attention to him. I rolled my eyes.
Yes, he was good-looking, but he was nothing more than a man.
