Tess's Tale (The Chanel Series Book 3) by Donna Joy Usher Read Free Book Online Page A

lips. ‘I don’t want a ring, you silly man. I want you.’
    He grinned at me and then hopped down onto one knee. ‘Tess Wilbers, will you marry me? Will you spend the rest of your life with me?’
    Even though we’d just had that whole conversation, now that he was making it official, I found myself blushing. ‘Yes, Harry Milano, I will marry you. I promise to spend the rest of my life making you happy.’
    If I had known how soon I would be breaking that promise I probably wouldn’t have made it.
     
    ***
     
    It was the morning before our wedding and we were lying on my bed. I’d been trying to get him to ‘practice’ for the following evening, but he wasn’t having any of it.
    Instead he said, ‘There’s something I need to tell you.’
    ‘Yeeesss.’ I had managed at least to get his shirt off and now I ran my fingers down his chest.
    He captured my hand and kissed my fingers. ‘Naughty girl, this is serious. This could change tomorrow.’
    That stopped me. Nothing, and I mean nothing was getting in the way of the wedding.
    ‘I have a son.’ He said the words quickly, as if he thought he might not get them out otherwise.
    ‘You what?’ I sat up and stared down at him.
    ‘I told you.’ He sat up next to me and re-took my hand. ‘His name’s Billy. He’s five years old. I never loved his mother.’
    ‘Those are the three questions you thought I’d ask?’
    ‘Aren’t they?’
    I stared at him and said, ‘Why did she get to have sex with you without having to marry you?’
    ‘You don’t want to marry me?’
    ‘Of course I do. But we could have been having sex the whole time.’ I knew I sounded like a whiny brat, but seriously, I was full of hormones and randy as hell.
    He started to laugh. I sat and watched him while he hunched over, clutching his stomach with his arms.
    ‘What’s so funny,’ I finally demanded.
    ‘I was so worried about telling you about Billy, and that’s what you got out of it?’
    I crossed my arms and stared at him while he started laughing again. When he had finished, he pulled me into him and kissed the top of my head. ‘Sorry gorgeous.’
    I swivelled my face up and pressed my lips to his. The kiss quickly deepened in intensity and I crawled back on the bed, bringing him with me until he was lying on top of me. He ran his fingers down the side of my dress before returning to my breast. I sighed and arched into him and he stopped and sat back up.
    I directed a look full of disappointment at him.
    ‘One more night,’ he said. ‘That’s all. One more night. Let me do this the right way Tess. I don’t want to stuff up again.’
    ‘Like you did with Billy?’
    He nodded and I sighed in a totally different way and sat back up.
    ‘Fine. Why don’t you tell me about how he came about?’
    ‘I went to school with his Mom, Cindy.’
    ‘You were childhood sweethearts?’ I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.
    ‘Nothing so romantic. We knew each other, that’s all. She started hanging around some of the older guys in the Mob. One of them, Dick, used her pretty badly. Two-timed her with another girl. When she found out about it, he dumped her. She was devastated.’ He paused and ran a hand through his hair. ‘Anyway she cried on my shoulder and one thing led to another.’
    I tried not to get shitty, I really did. But a wave of hate for this woman, who had so easily had what I wanted, washed over me.
    ‘Tess.’ Harry’s voice had a warning tone in it. He knew my moods pretty well. ‘It meant nothing.’
    ‘Not helping,’ I said in a sing-song voice.
    ‘You,’ he paused to emphasise the word, ‘mean everything to me. I’ve given up my family for you.’
    He had me there and he knew it. I felt guilty about that.
    ‘Fine. It meant nothing.’ I crossed my arms across my chest. ‘But how do you know Billy is your child? Couldn’t he be Dick’s?’
    ‘I asked him. He said he and Cindy never had sex.’
    I paused while I thought about that. ‘Do you