Second Chance at Love(22)

Wiping his mouth with the white paper napkin, Dom gave Karen a thoughtful look. She couldn’t tell if he was going to tell her what happened between them or not. Honestly, he didn’t feel like rehashing the past where Gina was concerned. But he knew if he wanted any kind of future with Karen he would have to be open and honest with her about every facet of his life.



Rolling his shoulders, he shared with Karen how he thought at one time Gina was his first love. They started secretly dating Dom’s senior year of high school and Gina’s sophomore year. Gina’s father was a strict, old school Italian father. All of his children had to date and marry Italian. It wasn’t good enough that Dom was half Italian. It didn’t even really matter that his mother was black. If she had been Irish, Jewish or English, that still wouldn’t have made Dom good enough for his daughter.



By the time Dom was a junior in college, things were pretty hot and heavy between them. Dom had confessed his love and Gina had confessed hers. Gina had made the mistake of telling one of her girlfriends that she had fallen madly in love with Dom. The very next day Salvatore Tucci had showed up at the Peretti’s home with his daughter Gina in tow. When Salvatore angrily threatened Dom to stay away from his precious little girl, Dom made the mistake of trying to explain that he and Gina were in love and had planned on getting married after he graduated college the following spring. When Dom looked to Gina to confirm everything he’d just said, Gina denied their relationship. “That’s not true Dom. We’ve never been nothing more than friends,” had been her response. Crushed, Dom finished his undergraduate and graduate degrees in engineering and found a job in his field on the west coast, leaving Philly and swearing never to let another woman hurt him the way Gina Tucci had done.



“Wow. And I thought my love life was terrible.” Karen commented as she speared a tomato, put it in her mouth, and chewed it.



Dom lifted a thick brow. “I thought you had the perfect little marriage.”



Shaking her head, Karen took a sip of water to wash down her food. “At first we did. We were so young and crazy in love. And then I got pregnant with Ashley and two years later Kyle came along.” Letting out a deep breath, she placed her elbow on the table and rested her chin in her palm. “After the kids were born we started drifting apart. I felt it, tried to talk to him about it, but he just denied everything. Long story short, after Gregory’s death I found out he had called out from work and was on his way to meet some chick he met on the internet.”



“Dayum,” Dom mumbled under his breath. “I’m so sorry baby. How did you find out?”



“I was cleaning out his email account and came across several emails. They hadn’t had a physical relationship yet. But I’m sure if they had met it would have eventually gone there. The thing that really pissed me off was that he had confided in this woman that he felt smothered being a husband and father.”



“Dayuuuum.”



Karen laughed and threw her napkin at Dom. “Can you say anything else but ‘dayuuuum?’ I’m pouring my heart out to you here. My sister and mother don’t even know any of this stuff.”



Catching the napkin, Dom chuckled. “I’m just saying, dude was a trip.”



Karen rolled her eyes. “You telling me. I don’t even want to get into how his parents totally disowned my babies after the funeral.”



Now that bit of information had Dom sitting straight up in his seat. “Why the hell did they do that?”



The harsh tone of Dom’s voice touched Karen. He really did care about her babies. Shrugging slender shoulders she said, “They never really wanted us to get married. They told us we were making a mistake. After Gregory died they pretty much told me they didn’t want to be bothered with me or my children. Gregory’s older sister had three children, two girls and a boy. They had no problem telling me those were the only grandchildren they were claiming.”



Dom reached across the table and took Karen’s hand in his. “It’s their loss. Ashley and Kyle are beautiful, smart, lovable, and caring kids.” Leaning across the table, Dom placed a tender kiss on Karen’s lips. “Just like their mother.”



She couldn’t keep the blush from creeping up her neck and fanning out across her face. “Thanks, Dom. That’s so sweet of you to say.”



“It’s the truth.” Standing, he put on his leather jacket. Karen followed suit, putting on her coat. Holding out his hand, she put hers in his as he walked her to her car.