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  “Gwen, this is Regan’s wedding and not mine. I didn’t have a say on who she invited. But to bring her was tacky and disrespectful to me,” she said pointing to Melanie.

  Gwen folded her arms across her chest. “Anthony is a part of the wedding party and Melanie is his wife. She has a right to be here.”

  “Right, she is Anthony’s wife and the mother of his child. I’m sure you couldn’t wait to let Anthony know about that kid either. You plotted and got your wish, Gwen. The happy couple is together. However, you didn’t win by splitting us up; you actually did me a favor and made me see the light. Anthony was not the man for me. Maybe he will succeed in getting the pants away from Melanie this time, to be the man in their relationship.”

  Gwen sighed. “You are wrong about me. I didn’t plot anything and I have nothing against you. Anthony voiced some concern about you two. He said he was unhappy about some things and I suggested he talk to you about it.”

  Lincoln stepped away from the mirror. “When was this, Gwen?”

  “Early last year, maybe. I never once suggested he leave you. It was his decision to be with Melanie and his child.” Gwen touched Lincoln lightly on the shoulder. “Move on with your life and stop blaming me for breaking up something he didn’t want any longer. I don’t think you noticed how unhappy he was or just didn’t want to accept that the relationship was falling apart.”

  Lincoln moved her shoulder as if a flash of fire had been touched to it. “I have moved on and happy to say with a man I can trust. Your brother is a liar and a cheater. I don’t condone either one of those things in a man.”

  “Yes, I heard you were with Nick Barona. You’re saying I’m tacky for being at this wedding, but you don’t feel it is tacky to be with Anthony’s best friend?”

  “That’s right,” Melanie said, standing behind Gwen.

  Lincoln fumed as she saw the smirk on Melanie’s face. She was agreeing with Gwen. “Bitch, don’t get me started on you.” Her voice upped an octave getting the attention of the other women in the lounge. She turned back to Gwen to finish her off. “In what world are you living that you think they are friends? What friend has another friend arrested! And you know what? I wish Nick would have done more than break Anthony’s damn nose when he hit him. He should have downright kicked his worthless ass.”

  Gwen clicked her teeth. “Those familiar words spoken by a scorned woman.”

  “Believe me I am not scorned. I’m pissed how Anthony did his dirt, but happy I found out how deceitful he is before I got trapped in a marriage with him.”

  Carter emerged from the restroom area and came to stand next to Lincoln. “What is going on? Lincoln, who are these people?”

  Lincoln squared her shoulders. “They are nobody to me, Carter. I’m wasting my breath on people not worthy of my energy.”

  “All right, then let's break this up and everyone move on to what they were doing. I’m not having any fights at this wedding.”

  Gwen rolled her eyes. “Fights? I don’t participate in that type of ghetto activity. I was merely asking Lincoln to stop blaming me. I will protect my brother because he is my family, and I will not be bad-mouthed by her any longer. I want her to stop this instant.”

  Carter stated coolly. “Lincoln is my family and I will protect her. Need I remind you, you are in a place filled with her family also? So, it really is not a good idea to start any mess with her here.”

  The door opened and an excited guest called to them. “Ladies, come on, the bride is tossing the bouquet.”

  As the women gathered to catch the bouquet, Lincoln didn’t want to be in the group, but she had to play along. She scanned the women standing on either side of her. Some of them were married but attempting to catch the bouquet made up of red, purple, white, and black roses that Regan had specially designed for the toss.

  Regan stood front and center. “Okay, ladies. I’m not going to fuss about the married women in the group, and I know who you are, I just ask that you don’t run over the single women,” she joked. “Okay, ladies on the count of three or as my husband would say, uno…dos…tres!” She tossed the flowers over her shoulder.

  Lincoln saw out of the corner of her eye, Melanie rush to the side of her as Regan tossed the flowers purposely in her direction. Melanie crossed in front of her to catch them. With malice on her mind, Lincoln shoved her causing her to fall to the hardwood floor. The flowers landed on Melanie’s back as she lay sprawled on her stomach.

  Lincoln plucked the flowers off her body and with a rascally grin, said, “Oops, my bad.” She knew her voice dripped with sarcasm, and she gloated at Melanie’s embarrassment as she scrambled to get off the floor.

  At the table, Carter and Nick cringed when they saw Melanie fall to the floor. Carter leaned over to him. “Get her and go home now. Lincoln has revenge on her mind and that woman was the first victim and she won’t stop until she has Anthony pinned by the neck.”

  Chapter Twenty Nine

  Nick stood in the doorway of the bedroom sipping his coffee and observing Lincoln sleeping on her back with her hand resting across her stomach. The diamonds of her rings sparkled on her slender finger. No sooner than they entered the door of the apartment last night, she got the jewelry box and had him slide the rings back on her finger.

  He used his thumb to manipulate the ring on his finger. The precious metal felt heavy, the symbolism it held made him lightheaded. He didn’t wear a wedding ring during his first marriage.

  Damn. He’d made a vow for better or worse. He promised to dedicate himself to her and only her. The concept of marriage was settling in after three weeks, and it scared him. Would he be a good father and provider for Lincoln? What if he got hurt again? And this injury could be worse than the last one he received? Lincoln would be saddled with a baby and him to care for.

  He should have had those thoughts when he married Dana. At the time he met her, he was looking for love in all the wrong places. He was twenty-years old when they married. She was twenty-three with a child. To him it was the perfect instant family. That mode of thinking proved to be the worst three years of his life.

  His prickling nerves made him feel cold. He drank more of the coffee to warm up and calm down. He was overthinking. He loved Lincoln and wouldn’t trade this for anything. His own upbringing was creeping into his memory. He knew going in to ignore the patterns of his father. He had to fight the demons reminding him of the nights he and his siblings were huddled under beds or in closets. As they listened to Franco beat the living crap out of their mother when he came home drunk after his shifts at the firehouse, they knew they were next. Firefighters were labeled heroes. Franco Barona was no hero in his eyes. The only useful tool he learned from him was how to be a firefighter.

  He scrubbed his hands down his face. It was impossible to keep the news of his marriage away from his parents. However, that didn’t mean they would ever lay eyes on Lincoln or their child. Nope, those people would never get a chance to humiliate his family.

  He walked into the living room and sat on the sofa. The picture they took at the B&B was on the table. He picked it up. Lincoln was happy and so was he. The Hathaway clan welcomed him warmly, but he knew they had their reservations about him. Orlando knew him back in the day when he was a total asshole. He had a standard to keep. He would have to stay focused and not lapse when he was stressed, or felt overwhelmed or when Lincoln was having a bad day. He had to remember what the judge told the both of them…Talk about the issues instead of holding them in and make time for one another.

  His cell phone rang. He swiped it open and immediately frowned. “Mom? What’s up?” Isadora never called out of the blue. He expected her to call on his birthday and not before then.

  “Nicky, I’m at the Greyhound bus station. Can you come get me?”

  He sat forward. “What? Why are you in Cleveland?”

  “I left him, Nicky. I left your father. I had nowhere else to go. You sisters and brothers have families. I couldn’t impose
on them.”

  His blood ran hot. He had a wife she couldn’t impose on. “Just stay there, Mom. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

  He got up to put his coffee cup in the kitchen. Lincoln was coming from the bedroom at the same time. He smiled. “Hey, what are you doing up so early?”

  She stretched. “I didn’t want you to leave for work without a good breakfast. But when I turned over in bed you weren’t there and then I smelled coffee.”

  “Are you hungry? I’ll fix you something to eat. I just made coffee for now.”

  She rubbed her stomach. “No, I’ll eat a few crackers to settle my stomach. This little guy is not happy this morning.”

  “Aww, baby, is there anything I can do?” He rubbed her stomach gently. She hadn’t developed a baby bump yet and couldn’t wait until she would. He was excited to watch his baby grow in her womb.

  “Unfortunately there isn’t. The morning sickness will pass in a couple of hours.”

  “Go lay down on the sofa. I’ll get your crackers and a bottle of water.”

  He returned to the living room putting the crackers and water on the table. “Um, I have to run out for a minute.”

  She plucked a saltine cracker from the wrapper. “Where are you going this early in the morning?”

  He took a deep breath. She would eventually know about his mother being in Cleveland. He sat next to her. “Lincoln, I gotta call from my mother. She’s in town; actually, she’s at the bus station. I’m going to get her.”

  Lincoln raised her brows and sat back on the sofa. “Oh. Nick, you have to work today.”

  “I know. She can hang out at my apartment until I think of something to do with her.”

  “You don’t want to tell her about me and the baby I take it.”

  He shook his head. “It’s the opposite. I do want to tell her. Today I don’t have time for her to find a priest to exorcise my ass. I’ll do it on my next day off.”

  “I have clothes in your closet and other personal items there. She will see them.”

  “She’ll think they belong to whatever woman I’m entertaining at the moment. I’ll put her in the spare bedroom. We don’t have anything in there.”

  “I hate this. I hate we have to keep our marriage a secret. Regan and Orlando are married and my mom and Carter will be leaving in a few days. I want them to know about us before they leave, Nick. I’m telling them today as planned. It will be a shock that we got married, but they won’t hate you like your mother will hate me.”

  He caressed her shoulder. “We can work through this, baby. Don’t give up on me.”

  “I’m not giving up on you.” She got off the sofa. “People can hate me, but the baby I’m carrying will be hated by a grandparent because of the color of my skin is absurd. How do you feel knowing your brothers and sisters kids are loved by your parents, but your baby won’t be?”

  Nick walked over to her and hugged her from behind. “This kid ain’t missing no love from my family. If the need arises, we’ll adopt a nice Italian family to serve as grandparents for him.”

  “You’re kidding and I'm serious. Anyhow, you’d better go. You don’t want to leave your mother sitting alone in a dirty bus station.”

  *****

  Nick hardly recognized his mother sitting in the bus station with an old fashioned suitcase sitting next to her. Her once pitch black hair had grayed all over and her olive skin shriveled. She has more wrinkles then an old Walrus, he thought as he approached her. “Mom, I’m here.”

  The frumpy older woman struggled to get out of the chair. “Nicky, oh look at you. You are such a handsome boy.”

  Nick looked at his mother. Franco had worn her down to nothing. He couldn’t get over how much she had aged since the last time he saw her. She was barely into her sixties and looked more into her seventies. The missing teeth Franco had knocked out during one of his drunken rages changed the way she smiled. She covered her mouth to hide the gaps.

  “Mom, who did you come with?” He took her suitcase and led her outside to his truck.

  “I took the bus by myself.”

  “How did you get away from Pop is what I’m asking?” He opened the door and helped her inside the truck. He put the suitcase on the floor in the back seat.

  “Nicky, your father is in the hospital. He had gallbladder surgery and I left while I had the chance.”

  He slid behind the wheel of the truck. “You know he’s gonna track you down here.”

  “I know he will look for me. I’m not staying here though. In a few days, I hope to fly to Sicily. My family there wants me to come home.”

  He blinked. Sicily as in Italy?”

  She nodded. “Yes. I’m old and tired, Nicky. For thirty-seven years, I have been Franco’s punching bag. At my age, my body can’t take it anymore. I want to live the rest of my life free of pain and suffering. My kids are grown and don’t need me. It’s time for me to be free of that prison.”

  “You should have done it years ago. I understand you’re tired of Pop’s shit, but you said you hoped to fly to Sicily. What are you waiting on?”

  “Nicky, I don’t have money for the airfare. I was wondering if you could buy my plane ticket. I only need a one-way ticket. I’m never coming back to the United States.”

  He sighed deeply. Giving her the money would not have been a problem months ago but now, his savings were designated for things more important. A one-way ticket to Italy would be costly.

  “So you’re going to abandon your kids and grandkids for the rest of your life?”

  Her eyes were glossy and droopy. “No, Nick, I just have no choice. You kids don’t respect me. I heard how you talked about me when you were old enough to understand what Franco was doing.”

  “Yeah, we did talk about you. We didn’t understand how you let him beat on you and us like we were nothing. The horror going on inside that house would make Dr. Phil run for cover. You accepted it forty-years, what is the real reason you want out?”

  “My sister needs me. She is dying, Nicky. I promised her I would come. My helping her will help me finally escape the hell I endure with Franco every day.”

  He shifted the truck into gear and checked the clock on the dash. He had to report to the firehouse soon. He wanted to check on Lincoln before going to work. “Mom, I want to help you, I really do, but it isn’t up to me anymore. I have a wife now. I’ll have to discuss it with her first.”

  “You got married again and didn’t tell the family? When did you get married? Where is she? What is this one like?”

  “I will answer your questions but I have to report to the firehouse today. You’ll stay at my apartment until I figure out a way to get you to Italy,” he said checking the mirror before pulling into traffic.

  “Will your wife be coming there? Can you at least tell me her name?”

  “She won’t be coming there. Her apartment is our home until we decide on a house to buy. My lease isn’t up yet so don’t worry about not having a place to sleep. The fridge is full of food, and the cable is on too, so make yourself at home. However, since you are running away from Pop, don’t open the door for anyone you aren’t expecting and don’t go wandering around outside by yourself. Do you understand me?”

  “Okay, Nicky.”

  Nick got his mother settled and drove back to Lincoln’s apartment to check on her. He would have just enough time to grab his uniform, kiss her goodbye, and make it to work on time.

  He smelled food as he walked up the short patio. She must be feeling better he thought as he unlocked the door.

  He was stunned to see Lincoln’s mother and sister sitting with her at the dining room table. Lincoln had called her mother and sister over. “Um, hello, Ms. Hathaway, Carter. How are you all doing?” He felt tiny beads of sweat cover his forehead.

  The look Lynette Hathaway gave him was a sign that Lincoln had told them everything. The woman’s gaze was piercing but not in a hateful way. He couldn’t get over the difference between Lincoln’s mot
her and his. Lynette looked refreshing in a yellow chiffon sundress with her hair pulled back in a tight chignon. Not a winkle graced her perfectly made-up face. Then Lynette didn’t have a man that beat on her daily or six kids hanging onto her apron. She was blessed with three girls that knew how to behave.

  Lincoln got up from the table backing Nick into the living room. “I didn’t expect you back. Is everything okay?”

  He kissed her gently on the lips. “Yeah, I have to grab my uniform and I wanted to make sure you were okay before I went to work.”

  “I’m fine. I’m able to eat. I’ll get your uniforms. I ironed two for you,” she said going to the bedroom.

  Lynette joined him in the living room. “I know everything, Nick. You can stop sweating bullets. I cannot believe you went and married my daughter without asking me.”

  He tugged at the neck of his t-shirt. “We did it on impulse.”

  “I understand why you did it and you acted very selfless in keeping your marriage private. But you kept my grandchild a secret. That is what I’m mad about.”

  Nick was at a loss for words. “Ma’am, I…”

  Lynette grabbed him in a bear hug. She smelled as good as she looked. “Boy, I’m teasing you. Welcome to the family, Nick.”

  “Thank you. I would like to sit down with you all, but I gotta get moving.” Lincoln came from the bedroom carrying his uniforms on a hanger. He took them from her. “Babe, I’ll check on you. Make sure you take your vitamins and get a nap.”

  “Mom and Carter got it covered. Nick, be careful, please.”

  Nick caressed the side of her face. “My first priority is coming home to you in one piece. Have fun with your family and I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

  Chapter Thirty

  Nick changed his into his uniform and put the extra one in his locker. He reached in his duffel bag for a fresh can of shaving lotion and saw the ring on his finger. He had forgotten to take it off. He started to remove it and stopped. He mumbled lowly, “Fuck it! I’m not taking it off.”

  “Who are you talking to?” Jon walked around from the other side of the lockers.