Page 10 of Recipe for Love (The Andrades 0.5)
He wasn’t used to anyone worrying about him. He kissed her lightly on the lips. “I can take care of myself.”
Her eyes rounded with real worry. “My father can be—intimidating.”
He didn’t like the way that sounded. “Are you afraid of him?”
She shook her head adamantly. “No. Of course not. But if he thinks he needs to protect me, he won’t be kind to you. He has old-world views on family. This could get ugly.”
Tucking a loose curl behind Madison’s ear, Richard assured her, “It’ll be fine.”
Drawing in a fortifying breath, Madison nodded and opened the door.
Gino practically fell forward into the hall. Ranting in Italian, he swung her up into a bone-crushing hug. When he put her down, he chastised her as one would a child. “You stole ten years off my life, Maddy, when you did not call me. Never do that again.”
It was not the exchange Richard had expected to see. His surprise increased when Madison’s response to his angry tone was to wrap her arms around the giant’s waist and hug him back. “I’m so sorry, Gino. It was a spontaneous decision and one that I now wish I had handled differently.”
Real love shone in the older man’s eyes as he smoothed her hair. “You’re safe. That’s what matters. But next time you have a crazy idea, let me in on it. I’d rather face your father’s wrath than worry that you’ve been taken.”
“Is he angry with me?” Madison asked.
“Livid,” Gino answered. Nodding at Richard, he continued, “He should stay inside.”
Madison looked over her shoulder at Richard, wordlessly offering him the option one last time. Richard stepped forward and offered his hand to Gino in greeting. “Richard D’Argenson. I am looking forward to meeting Madison’s parents.”
Gino looked back and forth between them, then shook Richard’s hand. “You’re one brave bastard.”
“Not really, but I would never send her out there alone.”
Releasing Richard’s hand, Gino nodded in approval. “That might save you.” He turned and led the way out onto the steps.
A short, brown-haired woman came rushing forward and tearfully threw her arms around Madison. She searched the younger woman’s face and said, “I was so worried. When we received your text and Gino admitted he didn’t know where you were, I imagined all sorts of scenarios.”
“Mom, I told you I was okay.”
“Anyone could have sent that message to stall us from coming to find you. I’ve never been so scared in my life.”
And I’ve never been so sorry. Tears began to run down Maddy’s cheeks. “I didn’t consider how awful it would be for you. I needed time away from everyone to think.” Her mother kept hugging her, tighter and tighter, until Maddy said, “Mom, are you okay?”
With a prolonged, pained laugh, her mother released her. “I want to kill you, but I love you so I can’t. I’m hugging you, but I’d like to strangle you a little. I mean that in the most loving, you’d-better-never-do-anything-like-this-again way.” Then she started crying.
A tall, expensively dressed Italian man in his early sixties stepped toward the emotional pair. His voice boomed. “Thinking is all you’d better have been doing here.” His disgust for Richard rang clear in his tone.
Madison stepped away from her mother and moved to stand next to Richard. She took his hand in hers and faced her father defiantly. “You told me to grow up, Dad, and that’s what I did.”
With a snarl, her father reached for Richard. “I’ll kill him.”
Another man, about his age and stature, stepped forward and said, “I haven’t punched anyone in thirty years, but I have your back if you need me, Alessandro.”
Richard assessed the two older men. In their prime they might have been deadly, but age had softened them a bit. As long as the fight didn’t include the bodyguard, he was pretty confident he’d win. Still, this was Madison’s family. Diffusing the situation would be better for all involved. “I don’t blame you for wanting to hit me, sir. If the situation were reversed, I might want to do the same thing, but . . .”
“But nothing,” Alessandro roared. “How dare you take advantage of my daughter and then have the nerve to think I’d do anything but ruin you?”
Richard’s temper began to rise along with his accuser’s. “I am only being civil for Madison’s sake. On any other occasion I would have already thrown your elderly ass off my property.”
Alessandro growled something in Italian and stepped toward him.
Richard growled back in French, dropped Madison’s hand, and met him halfway.
Victor interjected, “As long as he doesn’t run, I’m in.” When Alessandro paused to look at his brother, Victor shrugged. “I’m only ten months out of my knee replacement surgery. They said no running.”
Madison stepped between Richard and her father and put a hand on both their chests. Her cheeks were red with anger. “If you touch Richard, Dad, I will never forgive you.” To Richard’s surprise, she then turned her displeasure toward him. “And you, watch your temper. He’s in his sixties, for God’s sake. A fight could give him a heart attack.”
The remaining visitor, a tall blonde woman who had been quiet up to that point, started clapping. “You tell ’em, Maddy.” When her husband frowned at her, the woman Madison had referred to as Aunt Katrine smiled sweetly at him. “I’m not saying I condone how she ran off, but look what she ran to.” She winked at Richard. “I wouldn’t let you mess up that face, either. Let the poor girl enjoy her first boyfriend.”
Madison’s mother laid a hand on her husband’s arm and addressed Richard. “Instead of continuing this brawl in your driveway, why don’t you invite us inside . . .” She paused when she came to what she didn’t yet know.
After releasing a long breath, Richard supplied his name. “Richard D’Argenson.” Then he added, “You are all more than welcome to come inside. It’s a cold night.”
No one moved at first. Richard sensed if he softened his stance now Madison’s father would never respect him, and for some reason that was becoming important to him.
“Thank you, Richard. I’m Elise, and the man who is glaring at you is my husband, Alessandro.” She waved a hand at the other older Italian man. “This is Alessandro’s brother, Victor, and his wife, Katrine. I believe you met our cousin, Gino.”
In a somewhat absurdly polite exchange, considering the situation, Richard nodded to each and said, “It’s a pleasure to meet you. Please, come inside for coffee.”
“There is no way in hell I’m going to pretend—” Alessandro started, until his wife whispered something in his ear. Then, although he didn’t look happy about it, he resumed in a civil tone, even if it sounded a bit forced: “By all means, let’s have coffee then.”
Madison’s worried eyes searched Richard’s. She mouthed a sile
nt, “I’m sorry.”
He took her hand and raised it to his lips, even though the action gained him an audible hiss from her protective father. He pulled her close to him and, murmuring softly so no one else could hear, said, “I like them already.”
***
Once inside, Elise and Katrine flanked Richard. Under the guise of wanting to help him make coffee, they pried him away from Maddy and swept him into the kitchen with them.
Alone with her father and uncle, Maddy crossed her arms over her chest and prepared for a lecture. Her father closed the distance and, despite her rigid pose, pulled her into his arms. “I haven’t slept since you disappeared. Why would you put us through this?”
Even as she fought back tears, she kept her arms folded between them. “I didn’t mean to worry any of you.” He held her back from him, and she found she was unable to lie to his face. “Okay, I did mean to. I was angry with you, and I wanted you to see how much what you’d told me hurt me.”
She looked across at her uncle. “You, too, Uncle Vic. How could you lie to Stephan? How could you not tell him the truth now?”
Her uncle addressed her father: “I can’t believe you told her.”
Alessandro looked down into his daughter’s eyes and said, “She asked me, and I’ve never lied to her.”
Maddy shook her head angrily and pulled away. “I used to believe that was true, but I’m not sure anymore.”
Her uncle defended his brother. “Alessandro never agreed with my decision, but he stands by my right to raise my children the way I think is correct.”
Maddy snorted. “Stephan wasn’t a child. He was my age.”
“And he’s successful now because he left his foolish California lifestyle behind him. I know you think he loved Nicole, but he was trying to get with her like she was some common tramp . . .” Victor’s tirade tapered off as if he remembered why they were in Richard’s house. “I’m not judging whatever happened here.”
Angry for both herself and her cousin, Maddy said, “Yes, I slept with Richard, but that doesn’t make me anything but a normal woman in her twenties, and I’m not going to apologize for that. This is not the old world. I love you, Uncle Vic, but your values are not mine. And they weren’t Stephan’s. I don’t want to be there the day he finds out what you’ve done. So, if you’re feeling self-righteous, take a closer look at yourself. I’m not ashamed of my decisions, but I am of yours.”
