Passionately Ever After

One

Her luck had just run out.

Steven had found her.

Maria Barone didn’t know how she knew that the strange black SUV parked in front of the Calderones’ place belonged to Steven. She only knew that she did. Easing her car around the bend in the road, she barely noticed the snow-dusted Ponderosa pines or the darkening December sky. All her thoughts, all her energy, were focused on the impending confrontation. Because she had no doubts whatsoever that there would be a confrontation.

Ever since her cousin Karen had phoned a few days ago to warn her that Steven was searching for her, she’d known it would only be a matter of time before he stumbled onto her hiding place in Silver Valley, Montana. Perhaps that was why from the moment she’d awakened that morning, she’d been plagued by a fluttering in her belly that had nothing to do with the baby growing inside her and everything to do with some sixth sense warning her that her days of eluding Steven Conti were about to come to an end.

Pulling her compact to a stop alongside the empty SUV, Maria sat behind the wheel of her car for several moments. For the space of a heartbeat, she considered turning the vehicle around and leaving to avoid what was bound to be a messy, emotional scene. Just as quickly, she dismissed the idea. She wasn’t a coward, she reminded herself firmly. And until recently she’d never run away from a thing in her life. Besides, in another two and a half months Steven and everyone else would know her secret. Determinedly she switched off the car’s engine.

All right. Time to face the music.

Mustering her courage, Maria exited the vehicle. After gathering her packages from the back seat, she made her way up the shoveled walkway. When she reached the front door, she drew in a deep breath, filling her lungs with the cool, crisp air in an effort to steady her nerves. She’d known for months now that this day would come—the day when she would have to tell Steven about the baby and lay out her plan for their child’s future. Yet she was no closer now to figuring out what that plan entailed than she had been when she’d left Boston more than two months ago. All she knew was that she loved Steven, and she loved her family. And no matter what she decided, someone she loved was going to be hurt. Worse, in choosing, she was going to lose either Steven or her family. Or possibly both.

Maria swallowed hard at that thought. And not for the first time, she wondered why the powers that be had played such a cruel trick on her.

Fate, the voice inside her head whispered. Perhaps it was fate, she thought. How else could she explain that the man she’d fallen in love with was a Conti—the one man in the world with whom she couldn’t possibly share a future? Maria sighed at the futility of her situation. No matter how much she might wish for things to be different, the past could not be changed. The Contis and the Barones were sworn enemies, had been enemies long before either she or Steven had been born. And the feud between their families that had begun when Marco Barone had eloped with her grandmother instead of marrying Steven’s Aunt Lucia was just as strong now as it had been nearly seventy years ago. In truth, the bad blood was probably even stronger now, Maria conceded, as she recalled all the misfortunes that had befallen the Barone family as a result of the Conti curse.

The Conti curse.

Maria shuddered at the thought of that horrid curse that had plagued her family for nearly seven decades. Even now, she still could recall sitting at her grandmother’s knee as a young girl and listening to the story of the Conti curse. She could almost hear her grandmother’s voice explaining….

Lucia was so angry, so bitter, when Marco and I told them we were married, Angelica Barone said as she related the tale of their elopement and how they had gone to the Contis and pleaded with them to understand.

Understand? a furious Lucia countered. I understand that you have betrayed me, my brother and our family.

We love each other, Marco Barone had told her. I never meant to hurt you, Lucia.

Well, you have hurt me. You have hurt all of the Contis.

Perhaps someday when you are older, you will understand and be able to forgive us and wish us happiness, Angelica offered.

I shall never forgive you, Lucia spat out. And I shall never wish you any happiness. In fact, I curse you. You got married on Valentine’s Day, so from this day forward, I wish you and all of your descendants a lifetime of miserable Valentine’s Days—just like the miserable one you gave me.

Then exactly one year later on the first anniversary of their wedding, Angelica Barone had miscarried the child she had been carrying. Maria shuddered again at the memory of her grandmother and the sadness that crept into her eyes when she had told her about losing her first child.

Smoothing a protective hand over her stomach, Maria couldn’t help worrying again how that curse might affect the baby growing inside her—a baby due on Valentine’s Day. Despite Steven’s claim that the tragedies her family had suffered were coincidences and that the Conti curse was nothing more than superstition fueled by overactive imaginations, Maria knew he was wrong. She had only to look at this past year for proof that the curse was real and the unhappiness that Lucia Conti had called down upon all Barones was continuing to wreak havoc.

Biting her lower lip, Maria considered the disasters that had plagued her family during the past year—disasters that all commenced shortly after she’d become involved with Steven. She winced at the memory of the sabotage of the new passionfruit gelato on Valentine’s Day and the turmoil of bad press and lost revenue that had resulted. Then there had been the fire at the plant and her cousin Emily’s amnesia. And worst and most frightening of all had been the recent kidnapping of both Steven’s sister, Bianca, and her cousin Derrick.

Perhaps Steven could dismiss the curse, but she couldn’t, Maria admitted. Besides, even if she were able to get past her fears of the curse, how would she ever be able to get past the loss of her family? How would Steven get past losing his family? Because she had no doubts that both families would disown them were she and Steven to declare that they wanted to share their lives together.

She’d grown up in the bosom of her large, boisterous family and wanted the same for her baby. For her and Steven to be together, she would have to forfeit that joy. How could she possibly condemn her baby to a life in which he or she would be stripped of that love? How could she possibly allow her baby to become caught up in the ongoing feud between the Barones and Contis?

The fact was, she couldn’t. She wouldn’t. For her baby’s sake, she would have to be strong, Maria told herself again. Somehow she had to find a way to reason with Steven, to make him see that they could have no future together because too many people would be hurt. And the one who would suffer the most would be their child. She simply had to make him see that.

Squaring her shoulders, Maria shifted her packages under her arm and reached for the doorknob. As usual, she found the house unlocked. Quickly, before she changed her mind, she hurried inside out of the cold. And for the first time since she’d arrived over two months ago, the scents of the baking bread and burning wood did nothing to soothe her spirit. Nor did the sound of Magdalene’s and Louis Calderone’s laughter coming from somewhere inside the house.

Then my Aunt Lucia said…

Maria started at the deep rumble of Steven’s voice and sent one of the wrapped boxes from her shopping bag tumbling to the floor.

Oh, that must be Maria now, Magdalene said.

Chastising herself for reacting like a clumsy schoolgirl at just the sound of Steven’s voice, Maria retrieved the fallen package and began stuffing it into her shopping bag.

Maria? Is that you?

It is either Maria or a clumsy burglar, Louis joked, his Spanish ancestry apparent in his speech.

Maria? Magdalene called out again.

Yes, Magdalene. It’s me, Maria replied, surprised that she managed to sound almost normal when nerves were tap-dancing in her stomach. I’ll be there in a minute, she added as she tried to calm herself.

But Magdalene was already rushing out to the foyer to greet her. You were gone so long. Louis and I were about to send out a search party to look for you.

I’m sorry if I worried you, Maria told her. I decided to do some Christmas shopping while I was in town.

So I see, Magdalene told her as she eyed the bags stuffed with gifts. And your doctor visit? she asked as she removed the shopping bag and packages from her fingers and set them aside. Everything is okay?

Yes. Yes, everything is fine, Maria told her as she stripped off her gloves and jammed them inside her coat pocket. She removed the scarf bundled around her neck and before she could protest, Magdalene was reaching for it and draping it over the coatrack beside the door.

Here, give me your coat, Magdalene instructed.

No, Maria said sharply, then immediately softened her voice. I mean I want to keep it on for a while. I…I’m still feeling a little chilled, she fibbed, deciding to delay the inevitable a bit longer by hiding her body beneath the voluminous coat.

Magdalene reached for Maria’s fingers and frowned. "It is no wonder you are cold. Your hands, they are like ice. Are you sure you feel all right, la pequeña?"

For once Maria didn’t bother pointing out to the tiny, dark-haired woman that since she was a full two inches taller than Magdalene and her stomach was beginning to resemble a basketball, the pet name little one really didn’t suit her. I’m fine. Really. The sun’s beginning to go down, so it’s turned colder outside. That’s all, she offered in explanation. I just need a few minutes to warm up and I’ll be fine.

Apparently satisfied, Magdalene said, All right. If you are sure.

I’m sure, Maria informed her.

Then, come. I have a surprise for you. A visitor, she added, her eyes sparkling. She turned and started toward the den.

But Maria remained frozen to the spot.

Maria? Magdalene said when she realized that she wasn’t following. You are sure you are okay?

Yes, I’m fine.

"Then come, pequeña, Magdalene urged and motioned for her to follow. She ushered her toward the den. In a voice filled with glee she announced, Look who has come all the way from Boston just to see you."

Even though Maria had known before setting one foot into the room that she would find Steven waiting there, that knowledge didn’t lessen the impact of seeing him again. Just as it had that very first time when their eyes had met across the room at Nicholas and Gail’s wedding reception nearly a year ago, the air seemed to back up in Maria’s lungs. She hadn’t known back then that Steven was a Conti. All she had known was that never before in her life had she been so drawn to a man. More than drawn, she admitted. She’d been entranced by him. One look and she’d known that he was the man she had waited for her entire life. She drank in the sight of him again now. The tall, athletic frame of his body. Those linebacker shoulders that filled the black and red sweater he wore so wonderfully. The tad-too-long dark hair that made him look more like a rebel than a dot-com millionaire. Suddenly Maria could remember all too easily the texture of his hair when she’d wound her fingers through it, the feel of that hair brushing against her bare skin while they made love.

Realizing what she was doing, Maria shut off the dangerous memories. She lifted her gaze to meet Steven’s. And her breath hitched as those piercing blue eyes of his went from cool to hot as he looked at her. For a moment, Maria couldn’t breathe. Trapped in the heat of his gaze, her pulse pounded frantically as Steven started across the room toward her. His eyes never wavered and when he captured her nervous fingers in his hands, Maria feared for a moment that she might actually faint.

Hello, Maria, he said, his voice like a caress.

Maria opened her mouth, intent on returning the greeting, but no words came out. As though in a trance, she simply stood there and watched as Steven began to lower his head. When his mouth was mere inches from hers, sanity suddenly came slamming back. She turned her face away and his lips brushed her cheek. The kiss was light, barely a whisper of a touch, but it might as well have been a brand, Maria thought, because she felt the burn of Steven’s kiss all the way down to her toes.

Rattled and fearful she would do something foolish like throw herself into his arms, Maria pulled her hands free and stepped back. Hello, Steven, she finally managed and didn’t miss the flicker of annoyance that crossed his handsome face.

It is a lovely surprise, your Steven coming to visit you, yes? Magdalene asked.

Somehow I don’t think Maria’s all that surprised to see me, Mrs. Calderone, Steven offered in her silence.

It is Magdalene, her friend chided him.

My apologies, Magdalene, Steven offered gallantly and earned another smile from the older woman.

This is true, Maria? You were expecting Steven? Magdalene asked.

No, not exactly, Maria hedged. More like she had hoped that he wouldn’t be able to find her. Aware that both Magdalene and Louis were waiting for her to explain, she said, When I spoke to Karen the other day she mentioned that Steven had said he wanted to speak with me.

Steven arched his brow at her understatement. But much to her relief he didn’t point out that he had sworn to Karen that he intended to track her down no matter how long it took him.

Unfortunately, it hadn’t taken him long at all.