She started poking him in the chest. “I am not a princess.” She waved her hand around, “Do you see Disney anyplace? Uh-uh. No movie rights here!”
Damn that hurt. What was it with her and his chest?
She slapped her left hand into her right. And in Italian she began yelling. “Giuseppe Gabrielli Bellini! You stupid Italian man. Every time I try to explain, you tune me out. Talking to you is like talking to a brick wall. A big muscled brick wall. You never hear the important things. And my name isn’t Toots or little girl. It’s Jess!”
She looked in his eyes and, still in Italian, said quietly, “Got that or do I need to repeat it?”
So, to answer in English or Italian was Joey’s dilemma. In English, he quietly responded. “Oh, no need to repeat, I got every word. Every Italian word, Jess. So you’ve got my attention. What else?”
She turned her back to him and shook her head. And then, barely above a whisper, she said, “I never dated Pauli. I never wanted to date Pauli. I will never want to date Pauli.”
She sighed thinking, I just want to date someone who looks like him. And she turned back around. They stood only inches apart.
“About that favor. It wasn’t about you owing me. It was about you not owing Uncle Sal.”
Well, that was bewildering, “I have traded favors back and forth with my Uncles since I was old enough to talk.”
She shook her head. She had understood every word the man had spoken to Uncle Sal last night. She’d heard him ask for more money. Uncle Sal had said he didn’t even know the man. And now that man was dead too.
“It’s better to owe some people than others. But it doesn’t matter anymore because I have to call in my favor now anyway. You can’t ever tell anyone I speak Italian.” She paused. “Oh and one more thing. What about those packages? Who decided to keep them from me?”
“The guy’s dead and the police have them, does it really matter?”
“What matters is that no one gets to decide what’s best for me. If I had known he was here I wouldn’t have gone to the mall. If we hadn’t gone to the mall, you wouldn’t have been stabbed.”
He shook his head. “And Lila would still be alive and you wouldn’t be the hottest thing in Hollywood.”
She shook her head as she let out an exasperated groan. “Priorities Joey. I didn’t want Lila dead, just in jail for the rest of her life. Someone would have taken care of her there. And I don’t need to be the hottest thing in Hollywood. But I do need to know you’re okay.”
“And I need to know you understand, I’m not going anywhere.” He pulled her into his chest and whispered. “I’m not going anywhere.”
She’d been abandoned one too many times already. No, I’m not going anywhere, he thought, but you are. She was going to Europe, and who knows how long she was going to be gone or what would, happen while she was there?
Chapter 30
Sunday brunch
Before dawn Sunday morning, Ben was up and dressed for his run. When he walked through the house, he was surprised to find both Pauli and Joey sitting at the table.
“You’re up early.”
“Yeah. I’m heading back to St. Louis this morning.” Pauli said.
“The Doctor here has given me permission to work out my lower body. I’m heading to the weight room.”
“Safe drive, Pauli.” Ben said as he headed outside.
He had planned a five mile run this morning and was back home in about 40 minutes. Joey was still in the weight room.
“I’m flying Jess back to L.A. this afternoon. Is the condo secure?”
“Yeah. The locks have all been changed. There’s a doorman now and he’ll give you the keys. Just so you know, I have replacement shoes for her there and an extra pair for good measure too. They should be in the condo. I don’t want it to freak her out. You’ll go in with her, right? Get her settled and make sure she’s all right.”
“Yeah. That’s the plan.” Joey said as he continued his work out.
Ben went through his normal workout and went upstairs. Lane was sleeping as he passed through to the bathroom. He closed the door, and despite discussions of water conservation the previous morning, Lane was still sleeping soundly when he dressed and went to the kitchen.
Jamie had gotten up and was heading toward the weight room.
“Bambino. I’ll need to have you go pick up your Nana Evie after you’re dressed. We’ll all go out for brunch.”
“Mom’s skipping her brunch with friends on the Plaza?”
Lane usually met friends in the Country Club Plaza area of Kansas City, Missouri on Sundays. They had brunch, shopped and gossiped. But Ben knew Lane was skipping it this morning so she could spend time with Evie and Jess before they both left.
“Yep. She wants to spend time with Nana Evie and Jess before they head out this afternoon.”
“Okay. I’ll be ready in about 45 minutes.”
Ben made coffee and sat at the kitchen table. He’d made reservations at the Bristol for 11:00. He thought that should be plenty of time for everyone to be up, showered and dressed.
At 9:30, Jamie drove to get his grandmother, and Ben went to the bedroom. He found Lane in the shower. He leaned against the door jamb and watched as she washed her hair. He knew he had to get used to seeing her naked, but he didn’t think he’d ever stop appreciating the sight.
Lane turned, saw Ben and smiled. “You were quiet when you showered this morning.”
He nodded. “You need your sleep.”
He got a towel and wrapped it around her as she stepped out of the shower. He kissed her shoulder as he towel dried her hair. He knelt and dried her legs.
She laughed. “Oh that will really come in handy in a few months when I have trouble bending over.”
He patted her abdomen and tried to imagine her belly big with a baby. She stepped away from him and bent over to run her fingers through her hair.
“You really do that every day?” He asked.
She laughed. “People think I spend a lot of time on my hair. The truth is that I bend over and run my fingers or a pick through it, throw my head back, and let it fall where it may. At least on the weekends. You know I wear it up in the office. A number of years ago, a mentor told me it was too sexy down; and to be taken seriously, I either needed to cut it or wear it up.”
Ben stepped up and took her in his arms, kissing her shoulder he said, “I’m glad you decided to keep it long.”
She leaned her head back and fluffed her fingers through her hair. “Oh, no, I cut it all off after she told me that. But that was a very long time ago.”
Ben kissed her and turned her toward her closet. “Evie is on her way over and we have reservations at the Bristol at 11:00. You need to get dressed.”
Lane pulled underwear, jeans, a sleeveless sweater, a denim jacket and boots out of her closet.
“I’ve been thinking about Evie and about your house and about our baby.”
Lane poked her head out of the closet. “Those are broad, somewhat unrelated topics. What have you been thinking?”
“I was wondering what you think about asking Evie to move down here. Your house is vacant now. What if Evie moved into it? With the baby coming, I was thinking you’d like to have her nearby. Give it some thought.” Or, he thought, this house will be vacant soon. But he wasn’t quite ready to tell her about the new house.
Lane carried her clothes into the bedroom. “I don’t have to give it any thought. I’d love to have Evie close. The boys would love having her here too, but Evie might take some convincing. She has an active life in Omaha.”
Ben sat in the sitting area watching Lane as she dressed. He smiled. It wasn’t something that needed to be decided today. “Well, it won’t hurt anything to talk with her about the possibility.”