Page 12 of Dane

CHAPTER 7

AURORA

Dane slept in one of the spare rooms in the beach house that night. It was very early in the morning when I entered the kitchen and found Dane sitting at the table with Michael. They were both eating a bowl of cereal, Honey Nut Cheerios, Michael’s favorite. Anna busied herself around the kitchen, still dressed in her shorts and a t-shirt with her sandy blond hair in a messy bun, making coffee and slicing some fruit.

“Hey, Mommy, I wanna show Dad where I find the she-shells,” Michael said with his mouth full of cheerios.

I yawned, “It’s not polite to talk when you have food in your mouth, little man.” I replied, standing behind his chair and kissing the top of his head. Then I walked over to the kitchen counter for the freshly brewed coffee and felt those urges to smoke a cigarette.

“Let’s finish eating first, then I’ll help you find some more shells to add to your jar,” Dane said, flashing a smile at me. His hair was a little messy, with short strands sticking straight up on top of his head. My heart skipped a beat, and I smiled back, remembering his warm lips from when he kissed me the day before.

I poured myself a cup of coffee and greeted Anna with a kiss on her cheek. She smiled and offered me a small plate of freshly cut fruit and a muffin. I caught her eyes as they darted over to Dane when he chuckled at something Michael said. She didn’t feel comfortable around him, and that was my fault. I had told her he was a dangerous man. I took her hand and smiled. “We’re going to be okay, Anna.”

“I know, Rory. I’ve always trusted you.” She replied with a hesitant smile.

I sat down with the boys and ate my breakfast with them. Michael was so excited about going out on the beach with Dane, he climbed off his chair and ran to the sink putting into it his empty bowl.

“No running, Michael,” I called out to him as he stopped, then walked extra slowly to the back porch and put on his flip-flops.

“Gina and Nolan flew home from Maui last night,” Dane said to me. “I called them this morning. They’re on their way and should be here around noon today.”

I swallowed down the last of the muffin. “Did you tell them about Michael?”

“Yes,” Dane replied, leaving the table and placing his bowl in the sink. That’s when I checked out his ass in a pair of gray gym shorts. Nice. His eyes shifted quickly to Anna as she busied herself pouring a cup of coffee.

Then the image of Gina flashed through my mind. The last time I saw her, she was sitting in my living room in my Maryland mansion, handcuffed and crying, her eyes full of fear and rage.

“Well, this is going to be fun,” I whispered to myself.

Anna rubbed some sunblock on Michael while I went into my living room and rummaged through my purse. I pulled out a cigarette and matches then walked back into the kitchen. I grabbed my coffee cup, then walked out onto the back porch and sat in a chair. The morning air was already warm with a light ocean breeze, and the cloudless sky was bright blue.

I watched Dane as he walked with small steps toward the beach alongside Michael. When Michael reached up and offered his hand, Dane took it instantly, not missing a stride as they kept walking. It looked so natural to both of them. I felt the tears as they welled up and blurred my vision of a handsome father walking hand in hand with his beloved son. They approached the shoreline, both of them looking down at the sand. Dane pointed at something, and Michael knelt, picking up a seashell as he giggled, making me smile.

***

Later that morning, Dane took over my den and turned it into his own private little office. After they came back from the beach and cleaned up, Michael followed behind Dane everywhere around the house. When Dane went into the den and shut the door to make some private phone calls, Michael protested.

I found him standing outside the door, with his little arms across his chest as he pouted. “Why can’t I go in there, wiff Dad?” He asked, his brows scrunched together with anger.

I knelt and looked into his eyes. “Your dad is working now. It’s grown-up stuff, Michael. He needs some privacy.”

“Okay,” Michael replied, then his expression changed as his eyebrows shot up with a new idea. “Can I draw pictures with Anna then?”

“Sure, you can,” I said when I heard a knock at the door.

Michael ran into the kitchen to find Anna while I walked down the hall to the door, my heart pounding in my chest. I was expecting to see Gina and Nolan, but when I opened the door, there stood Carlo Banetti. He was Dane’s capo that I met at the nightclub all those years ago. He was a big man and still looked just as menacing as he did then, dressed casually in jeans and a t-shirt that fitted a bit too tight on his bulky arms and chest. He pulled his shades off and grinned. “Hello, Aurora. I’m here to see Dane. May I come in?”

I stepped back, opening the door. “Yes, Dane is in the den. Just down the hall and to the right.”

I shut the door as he entered, made my way to fetch another cigarette out of my purse, and poured myself a glass of wine in the kitchen. Anna sat at the table with Michael and his box of crayons and coloring books. I walked out onto the back porch to drink my wine and have that cigarette to steady my nerves before Gina and Nolan showed up.

I was only halfway through smoking the cigarette when I felt Dane’s warm hand on my lower back as he stood beside me. “Come into the den with me, Rory. We need to discuss a few things before Gina and Nolan gets here.”

I huffed, smashing the cigarette out in the ashtray on the porch. I followed Dane, leaving the wine glass in the kitchen. When I entered the den, the stench of cigar smoke hit my nose. I looked right at Carlo as he puffed on one, leaning up against my desk. I waved my hand in front of me.

“I don’t appreciate your men coming into my house and stinking it up with cigars, Dane,” I said, clearly annoyed.

Dane cocked his head at Carlo. “Go enjoy the cigar on the back porch.”

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