Surviving Broken Read online

  Sitting in his car outside her parents’ lavish home, JC’s nerves mounted, causing perspiration to trickle down her back. Bringing a date home added another checkmark to the list.

  “Why don’t you just drop me off and then I’ll meet you back at the Inn this afternoon.”

  Luca’s lips twisted downward into a sexy pout. He slipped his fingers beneath the hem of her dress giving a gentle squeeze to her bare thigh. “You can’t wear a man out and then not feed him breakfast. I’m starving.”

  “Tom is very particular about bringing people to his house.”

  “It’ll be fine.” He leaned over the console placing a tenacious kiss to the slope of her neck. “Unless you would prefer to go back to my room and we can enjoy breakfast in bed?”

  She pondered the repercussions of missing family breakfast.

  “I promise to be on my best behavior.” He flashed a persistent grin smothered in self-confidence.

  The mouthwatering aroma of breakfast hit as they walked through the front door. Everyone gathered around the long glass table in the dining room. JC squirmed at the possessive feel of Luca’s hand resting on the small of her back as he escorted her into the room.

  She inconspicuously stepped to the side, wiggling out of his reach

  “Good morning,” her mom chimed. Tess’s brow arched in speculation catching sight of JC’s companion at her side.

  “Morning,” she stammered.

  “Well, this is a surprise.” Tom’s tone peppered with gentle sarcasm.

  The mockery seemed to go unnoticed by Luca. Putting his honed charisma on full display, he greeted her mom, Tess, with kisses to both cheeks and a warm, “Buongiorno.”

  Her brother’s jaw nearly hit the table. JC’s stomach twisted in a knot. Evading the look of shock plastered on the rest of her family’s faces, JC settled her attention on the gorgeous view of the Aegean Sea beyond the wall of glass doors encompassing the back of the home.

  By the time she nervously choked down her banana pancakes, sheer panic had set in and her palms wrung wet. The phrase, what was I thinking? played though her mind like a bad horror movie, leaving her unable to concentrate on the conversation taking place around her.

  Worse yet, Luca acted almost like a complete gentleman, pulling out the chair for her, refilling her coffee cup. He even helped clear the table. However, he still managed to grab her by the waist and pull her around the corner in the kitchen, whispering in Italian the things he wanted to do to her and places he wanted to take her. He pressed the length of his body against hers, turning his soft kisses into urgent hungry kisses of desire. Dark magnetism and skillful kisses claimed her attention.

  A fake cough pulled them away from each other and Shayla threw JC a wary fleeting look.

  Alarm bells sounded in her head as if it were about to burst.

  Luca Santini was in her parent’s home! She didn’t know how to get rid of him. He looked too good! He smelled way too appetizing! And to top it all off, she’d invited him there and willingly agreed to spend the whole weekend together! She never made mistakes like this. She needed her sister, but Tracy was probably on her way to Bora Bora already. It seemed her sister-in-law would have to suffice.

  JC left Luca in the family room awkwardly discussing wine, art, and acting with Tom. She found Shayla in the bathroom. Richard and Thomas swam chest deep in bubbles, along with two yellow duckies and numerous action figures.

  Anxiety saturated her strained voice as she counted on her fingers the number of rules she had broken in less than twenty-four hours. “I slept with him on the first date. I stayed overnight! I know better than to do that because now I have to deal with breakfast and the dreaded When can I see you again? Only it’s much worse than that! I broke the cardinal of all f—“ JC bit back her curse word catching sight of a pair of small curious eyes, enthralled in her meltdown.

  Shayla shrugged her shoulders in disbelieve. “JC, you do realize that you had a fantastic time at the wedding. Every time I looked at you, you were laughing and smiling. Not to mention you danced all night long with him. And I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but judging by the kiss I witnessed in the kitchen, you probably had great sex too.”

  “Good dancer, great kisser and the sex was so-so, but that’s not the point. Can’t you see I’m in a dilemma here,” JC murmured tersely.

  “Why is it so hard for you to admit you like him?” Shayla pulled the plug, letting the sudsy water drain, wrapped a towel around Thomas and handed him off to JC. “And what’s the big deal about bringing Luca here for breakfast? Besides, Tracy said he’s nice.”

  “I need code-enforcement right now, Shayla, not a slap on the wrist.” She dried Thomas’s hair, swaying back-and-forth with him in her arms, inhaling the scent of lavender baby shampoo. “I do like him. You don’t understand! I have a weakness for Italian men, and I always get screwed.”

  “I’m sure you do.” Shayla snickered with a wry smile, lifting Richard from the tub. “Quit swaying back-and-forth, JC, you’re putting him to sleep.” She pointed to the brown outfit laid out for Thomas on the counter and JC started dressing him.

  “European men seem to cast a spell on me. It’s horrible. I have a hard time getting rid of them. And I don’t like bringing people to Tom’s. You know how he feels about his privacy.”

  “News flash JC. You spent the night with him and you’re worried about trusting him enough to bring to your parents’ home. I’m pretty sure Tom can handle it.”

  “You’d think so, but trust me, it doesn’t always work like that. Do you remember Anthony? I know Tom wasn’t mad at me, but he was pissed when he found out Anthony posted pictures online of him sleeping shirtless on the couch.” JC huffed out a laugh. “I still think he was gay.”

  Shayla raised her eyebrows with speculative wonder.

  “No, I didn’t sleep with him.”

  Shayla sat on the edge of her bed. She kept an eye on the boys as they stood on stools in front of the bathroom counter pretending to shave with popsicle sticks and combing their blonde hair.

  JC sat beside her, flopping straight back onto the bed, staring at the ceiling.

  Shayla blew out a big huff of air and flipped her long blonde hair behind her ear. She gnawed on her lip, glancing down at JC. “I can’t believe I’m going to admit this to you.”

  JC’s jade green eyes widened, drooling with curiosity.

  “You have to promise you’re not going to give me any shit over this, okay? I know how you are about your….rules, but I don’t want to hear one word from you. Not one joke! Not one sarcastic remark! Zipped lips! Promise?”

  JC jolted straight up on the bed. “I promise.”

  Her sister-in-law raised her hands, covering her mouth. “I slept with your brother the first night we met.”

  JC lurched forward, grabbing Shayla’s hands. “Shut up! You did not!”

  Shayla’s cheeks turned crimson as she nodded.

  Searching her memory, JC’s mouth hung open in surprise. The giggles began. “That was the day we all flew to Greece for Mom and Tom’s wedding.”

  Shayla nodded with an innocent chuckle.

  “You little hooch! Here I thought you were so perfect.” JC recalled the day nearly six years ago. “Oh, my God, did you have sex with him on the plane ride from Las Vegas?”

  “No!” Shayla objected. “No. Remember, we all went to dinner that night at the café on the beach. We strolled through the village and stopped for coffee. Greece is so romantic and it was the first trip for both of us. God, he made me so nervous I could barely think straight. Anyway, we came back to the house and drank a bottle of wine.” Shayla’s blue eyes twinkled when she giggled. “Neither of us had really drank wine before. One thing led to another and—”

  “And why am I just now finding out about this?”

  Shayla shrugged. “It was a little weird the next morning. You know, me being Tom’s niece. My uncle was about to become John’s step-dad.” Changing the subject, she asked, �
�Do you like him?”

  “Yes, I like him.” JC confessed. “He’s very charming. Almost too charming. Plus, he’s gorgeous, isn’t he?”

  “If you go for the charming, slightly arrogant, good looking kind. Then yeah, he’s gorgeous.”

  “I’ve never met an Italian man that isn’t arrogant. Oddly enough I think that’s why I’m attracted to them.”

  “I think you should go for it. Go have fun in Tuscany for the weekend.”

  “It’ll feel strange being at the vineyard without Tracy and Vincent.”

  “If he turns into a real creeper, you can always come home.”

  JC nodded in agreement, inspecting the twins’ hairdos. “Thanks,” she said, putting her arm around Shayla’s shoulder. “Can I tell Tracy?”

  “JC! I knew I shouldn’t have told you.”

  “Oh come on. It’s just one little secret between three sisters.”

  “All right. Whatever. But no jokes,” Shayla insisted.

  “Deal,” JC agreed with a giddy smile.

  Shayla opened the bedroom door. The boys took off, galloping down the hallway, calling for their Papa. They followed close behind. Relief washed over JC seeing the newlyweds on the veranda with Tom, Luca and John.

  “Papa! Nana! Aunt JC needs a time out. She’s a bad girl. She broke the rules.” Richard stated shaking his head, counting on his fingers mimicking his aunt.

  “Yeah, she boke the ules. She wikes you,” Thomas said to Luca.

  JC balked and her eyes turned as big as saucers. Heat flushed over her, turning her cheeks pink. “Oh, shit!”

  “Watch out. They repeat that too,” Her mother, Tess, warned with a chuckle.

  Everyone laughed, especially John. “I tried to warn you. They’re like parrots.”

  “They’re sooo getting coal in their stockings after that one,” JC muttered under her breath.

  Luca’s eyes gleamed, his lips tipping upward in satisfaction.

  Tracy snuck JC a sly smirk, glancing at Luca sitting on a chaise. JC casually tilted her head toward the hall, giving her sister a discreet signal. She hastily made her way down the long hallway to the sanctuary of her room.

  Morning rays beamed through the sliding glass door engulfing the white room in sunlight. JC rocked on the balls of her feet, gripping the natural hued flagstone with her toes. She mindlessly played with the soft edges of the sheer white curtains, gazing out over the dream-like view of the Aegean Sea, waiting for reinforcements.

  “I knew you stayed with him, but what’s Luca doing here?”

  Hearing the click of the closing door, JC spun on her toe. “First things first, good morning, Mrs. Giovanni,” she congratulated before blurting, “I don’t know what happened!”

  “We just stopped to say goodbye before catching our flight to Bora Bora, so I only have five minutes. Make it fast.”

  “I wound up staying with him last night. I tried to get him to drop me off, but that wasn’t going to happen…he’s way too smart. He probably senses my acute fuck-and-flee disorder and knows if he lets me out of his sight I won’t go away with him.”

  Tracy cringed. “I hate that term.”

  “Oh, come on. You know I’m only being a smart ass.” JC rolled her eyes. “Let me rephrase it, he probably senses my extreme case of commitment phobia. Happy?”

  “Yes, thank you.” The lines on her forehead crinkled probingly. “He asked you to go away with him?”

  “He invited me to Tuscany for the weekend.”

  “And you said yes?”

  “Please tell me he’s not psycho.” She sat on her bed, clasping onto a big square azure blue pillow. JC feared Luca might mistake her acceptance as step one towards a relationship instead of a fun weekend away for a romp in a vineyard. She had no desires to date exclusively, or hold hands while walking on the beach, or get a dog, or any scenario involving a boyfriend. There was no white picket fence in her future.

  “Holy crap! I knew this was gonna happen. He was totally scoping out your picture at my house. I can’t believe you agreed to go out of town after one date.”

  “I don’t know what happened. It’s all your fault! What did you expect? Other than Vincent’s horn-dog brother Antonio, we were the only single people in a room full of blissfully happy couples.”

  “I told you that you could bring a plus-one.”

  “Plus-one?” JC scoffed. “Why the hell would I bring a date to a wedding? That’s like eating a meal right before going to a buffet.” Reservations wore a deep notch between her brows. “I had a moment of weakness, mixed with lone wolf syndrome!”

  Tracy pointed at her sister, shaking her finger. “Ooooo, you are breaking all kinds of rules.”

  “You sound just like Mom when you say holy crap. Married one day and look what happens. If you start calling me by my middle name, I’ll never forgive you. And don’t start with me about my stupid rules. Shayla just talked me off the roof. I’m in panic mode.”

  “Luca’s a little full of himself, but he’s a nice guy. He’ll definitely show you a good time.” Tracy gripped JC by both shoulders, giving her a little shake. “Go to Tuscany. Have fun. Love you, sista.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  Luca was devilishly charming and as their romantic weekend came and went, he asked her to stay. Lured in by his cocky self-assurance and magnetic personality, JC found it impossible to turn him down. Cautiously, she agreed to visit longer, but only after making the definition of the word stay perfectly clear. She refused to utter the words boyfriend or living together, preferring to use the term visiting.

  He lived in a quant village an hour from the vineyard. His apartment encompassed the entire second floor of the building, overlooking the cobbled lane below. Arriving in Tuscany with only a small suitcase, she shopped at local boutiques for anything she needed, jeans, dresses, shoes. JC was accustomed to living out of a suitcase. For the last few years, she’d traveled around the world modeling, crashing at her parents’ homes in Malibu, Colorado and Greece. She used to regard Las Vegas as her home, but now, home was wherever her head hit the pillow.

  The pages of her rulebook started to fade from black and white to a muted gray, but after several months, she still refused to use the term living together. Living together came along with big meaningful words. Words like; trust, love, commitment, marriage, and babies. Words that could completely fill a new rulebook and JC wasn’t ready to settle down to write a new chapter in her book of life.

  JC savored the novelty of dating, and Luca wasn’t wearing off. He loved to talk, constantly enticing her to share stories from her past. Opening up to a man wasn’t JC’s strong suit, yet Luca had a smooth, skillful way of getting her to recant funny childhood memories. However, some stories involving her father were tucked close to her heart and still too painful to share. Slipping past her defenses, he somehow managed to get her to divulge details of her dating life, asking, How many lovers have you had? Big rule breaker! Luca warmed up his buttery voice and coerced it out of her after she’d drank two glasses of wine. She didn’t know the exact number of lovers, but keeping her wits about her, she decided to round down.

  Working at the winery wasn’t his dream job, but it turned into a great career. At one point in his life, Luca hoped of having a modeling career. His aspirations shifted toward a more stable career in business, but he still held onto those dreams of earlier years and had even created a portfolio before being hired by Vincent’s family at the Giovanni Vineyard.

  JC did plenty of modeling, making quite a name for herself in the industry. A fragrance campaign, cover shoots, commercials for sporting wear, swimwear, and watches. She even did one to kick off the new Las Vegas slogan. She fully admitted to Luca that she’d gotten lucky. The only reason anyone approached her for modeling was her association with The Tom Clemmins.

  Paparazzi hounded Tom relentlessly. After an impromptu wedding to an unknown gorgeous woman, the paparazzi besieged, throwing JC, John and Tracy into the frenzied sidekick spotlight. Tom Clemmi
ns had gone from one of Hollywood’s hottest bachelors, to married with three grown stepchildren overnight. The fact that Tess wasn’t a model or actress only fueled the fires of curiosity. Tracy and John hated the unwanted attention, but JC didn’t mind some of the perks. She shined in the spotlight. However, she learned the hard way to seethe the paparazzi.

  Luca snickered, “Lucky you. Rich, famous stepdaddy.”

  JC clarified firmly, “I’ve never taken advantage of Tom, but he gladly opened a few doors for me.”

  ****

  “It’ll only be a few days, Luca. I haven’t seen any of my friends in months. Hell, I’ve barely seen my sister!”

  “I don’t want you going away without me,” he fumed, chucking a pen across the kitchen.

  Luca was thrilled when JC suggested they go to Greece for the weekend after she received a call from a friend inviting her to a private bash at a club in Greece. He was a music producer making a video debut of a hot new up-and-coming DJ. However, Luca wasn’t quite as pleased when she mentioned leaving a few days earlier than him. She needed a little bit of space, some breathing room, and figured he might appreciate some down time too.

  “I talked to my mom this morning. They’re in Bora Bora, so she said it was fine if we stayed at their house.” Inviting him to stay in her parents’ home was a gigantic step for JC. “I’ve already booked my flight.”

  His temper simmered under the surface of his growing silence. He slammed the palm of his hand on the marble counter making a loud slap. “Si`, you made plans to fucking go without me.”

  JC nearly jumped out of her shoes, startled by his angry reaction. “You have to work. It’s just a couple of days, Luca.”

  She left for Greece on a Tuesday morning, relishing the solitude. Almost a little too much. It felt good to be in her own space, surrounded by her own belongings. To her surprise, Luca knocked on the door Thursday night.