Harmony (18 page)

“
Please… Please…,” she begged.

Romano shook his head, which rubbed his stubble cheeks against her inner thighs and burrowed his face deeper. Harmony breathed deeply to slow down the quickening flutter of her heartbeat. She feared her chest would explode. He bit down lightly on her clitoris. A shudder racked her body. Her breasts heaved, the tips grew impossibly tight. He licked her from bottom to top and her thighs trembled. Deep in her core, tension was winding, tighter and tighter.

“
PLEASE!!!” she nearly screamed.

He was on her in a flash. His penetration so swift he nearly collapsed on top of her. It took a brief second but he began to move. “Breathe, beautiful, breathe….” He instructed and she realized she had forgotten how. He gave her several thrusts with his hips working in circular fashion. She clawed at his back and licked the sweat from his broad shoulder. Not only was she breathing but she was loving him back with everything in her. Surrendering completely. For weeks she watched him, watch her. Some nights she felt the invisible ties through her singing. With him in her arms, she believed in the connection she could never truly conceive. Vinnie Romano had made opening her heart again, possible.

When she woke she knew she was alone. She felt the loss of his presence instantly. Sitting up in the darkness she listened to her surroundings. She didn’t hear anything. She crept from the bed and opened the door. Silence greeted her. Harmony quickly found her dress and zipped it up. She had no concept of time but she sensed it was still pretty early. When she returned to the front of the cottage she found the fire was nicely lit. She rubbed heat into her arms, craving a bath.

“
Vinnie?” she called out, and got no response. She headed to the door and it was flung open. Vinnie walked in with fish tied to a string. He looked a bit surprised to see her standing there.

“
Hi,” she said.

“
I thought you were sleep.” He mumbled closing the door.

“
I was, is that breakfast?” she asked.

“
Can you clean them?” He headed to the kitchen table and dropped the fish on top. She nodded her answer and her stomach churned. Her Grams taught her many things. Often they would visit the country and have to fish and hunt with her cousins to catch dinner. She most definitely knew how to skin a trout, and her mouth watered over the prospect.

“
We got running water here. I’ve got some heating over the fire if you want to warm your bathwater,” he said, his cheeks flushed and eyes cast down. It was very considerate of him but he didn’t look comfortable with his generosity.

“
Vinnie?”

“
Got business to take care of. I’ll be gone for an hour or so. Then… I’ll come back.”

She nodded but he wouldn’t see her agreement with his back turned. So she approached him. “About last night.”

“
You need anything else? I can bring some things in from the main house. Or you could go up and…”

“
No. I’ll take a bath and start breakfast. Then when you get back we can talk.”

His brows furrowed and she had to stifle a smile. The awkwardness between them was new. It was mostly on his part. He didn’t seem to know how to address her in the light of day. She decided to take the pressure off of him. “Talk about Willie. How we can find my brother.”

“
Oh, yes, I might have news soon.” He leaned forward and gave her a quick peck to the cheek. But she caught his hand. She pulled him toward her.

“
Is that the best you can do?”

The tension in his jaw lessened and his eyes softened. Gathering her into his arms he held her snugly to his chest with his hands locked against her spine. His head lowered and so did his lashes. He recaptured her lips with a demandingly sweet morning kiss. The man needed a shave, a bath, but the velvet warmth of his kiss was near perfect. His lips left hers to nibble on her earlobe before he spoke. “I’ll clean up at the main house, do you have something to change into?”

“
I think so, yes.”

“
Good. I’ll see you soon.”

Romano withdrew and stopped at the open door. He glanced back at her once more. His expression was tense, his eyes dark and probing. She almost spoke to him before he winked, turned and left. She stood there for several seconds waiting for the sweet feeling of his kiss to fade. The thought of his return made her heart kick into higher gear. Her feet seemed to be drifting on clouds when she forced herself to walk away. Harmony recognized her affliction. She was falling for the bastard. Any relationship with him was doomed to end in disaster. Right now she’d focus on the positive fact that he was letting his guard down and just maybe she’d be able to find a way out of this with Willie.

Near the sofa she found her cloth bag. She fished out the clothing she was able to pack and breathed a sigh of relief. She grabbed two of her dresses and underwear. She usually kept a few outfits at The Cotton. Harmony thought of Milo. By now he knew she was missing and it was probably making him desperate. “I might need to get to that main house. If they have running water they may have a phone.” Harmony figured she could have an operator ring The Cotton and get a message to him. It was definitely worth a shot.

She found the bathroom and ran her bathwater. Then she added some hot water from the cast iron pot over the fire. It warmed the water a bit but not much. Her bath was quick and thorough. She felt like sex and sweat was embedded in her skin. She even located a brush and managed to style her hair in a manageable fashion, using the few bobby-pins she had left to pin the back locks up from her neck. The ordeal with cleaning the stinky fish didn’t go as easy. Skinning and gutting them was quite a chore with the dull knife. She switched to the one she had brought from The Cotton and managed it. She tossed a few logs into the stove and got the blaze hot enough to drop some olive oil in a cast iron skillet and fry up fish coated in Swan’s Down Flour.

Romano had kept his promise. He returned just over two hours later, shaven and changed. She had just finished setting the table. She didn’t have much to offer with the fish and he didn’t seem to mind. Instead he ate, constantly lifting his gaze up to peek at her.

“
Good?”

“
My Songbird can sing and cook?” He smiled.

She wrinkled her nose and then smirked. “I see you’ll have to learn that I have many talents.”

“
And I will learn them all.” He forked a hefty bite and gave her a sexy smile.

“
Everything go okay?” she asked. “You hear anything about my brother?”

“
He’s not my only priority Harmony.”

The abrupt reply stung. She forced a smile. “Of course. It’s just, I thought he’d have turned up by now.”

“
We haven’t found him. Antonio isn’t back yet, so I’m waiting to hear more from him. He went into Harlem last night. He’s looking for your brother. I won’t give up. He’s out there and Harlem isn’t big enough to hide him from me.”

“
What if he’s left Harlem?” The thought and words just popped out of her mouth.

Romano stopped chewing. “Do you think he did?”

“
I’m not sure, does the other house have a phone? Can I place a call?”

“
Call who?” Romano stopped mid-chew. His focus narrowed on her and his lips pressed into a tight line.

“
Milo Stevens. He’s in Fletch Henderson’s band at The Cotton. He and I are friends. He keeps tabs on things. Milo might be able to help. My friend Paulette too, she knows stuff and people.”

“
What kind of friends?” Romano’s mouth took on an unpleasant twist. His expression stilled and grew serious. She took a deep breath and adjusted her smile.

“
Huh?”

“
What kind of friends are you and Milo?” He frowned with cold fury.

“
Why does that matter?”

“
The answer’s no. Like I said I’ll take care of it.”

“
You can’t take care of it. You don’t know what you’re doing.”

He slammed his fist down on the table hard. She jumped. He pointed a fork at her to state his warning but didn’t. The utensil was tossed back to his plate and he rose from the table as if to leave. “Don’t do this! I’m sorry. Milo’s just a friend. He means nothing to me. Vinnie, you said you wanted me to trust you then you have to do the same. He could be of some help.”

Romano stormed over and turned her chair to face him. She saw the seriousness set a hard frown to his face and held her tongue. “Let’s get something straight. You don’t tell me how this works. In fact you don’t dictate anything to me. If I say something….”

“
No!” She shouted up into his face. A momentary look of disbelief flashed in his eyes. “No! No! NO! You won’t treat me like you treat them.” She pointed to the door. Her voice now shaky still held a hint of firm determination. “Not after last night. Too late Vinnie, we both know we’re beyond it.”

He smacked his forehead with the flat side of his hand. “What you think, a few sweet words between us and now you decide on how this works?”

“
You said you wouldn’t hurt me. You said to trust you…”

“
Then do it dammit!”

“
It don’t work like that Vinnie. It’s got to go both ways. I won’t hurt you either. I’m not trying to tell you how to do things. I’m trying to help. Isn’t that why you brought me here? To figure out where my brother is and get whatever the hell it is he stole from you back?” She stood and dropped her hands to her hips. “Do you want to know what your problem is?”

“
A mouthy woman?” he scoffed.

She clenched her fists, but tried to keep her temper in check. “I think you’re jealous.”

“
Bullshit!” he laughed.

“
That’s it isn’t it? Your pride! I tell you I got a friend named Milo who can help us find Willie and you act all tough guy on me.”

“
Trust me Songbird this is no act.”

“
Whatever it is I ain’t buyin’ what you sellin’! This has to end
our
way, and your brother isn’t the person to help Willie. I don’t trust him.” Her stomach sank when his glare narrowed and grew intense. She was pushing his buttons and it could backfire. “I don’t trust anybody but you Vinnie. Can’t you see that now? If you ain’t out there lookin’ for him personally he’s dead. I feel it in my gut.” Harmony placed her hand flat to her tummy and approached him but he paced away. “What is it? What has you so… un-agreeable? Let’s not fight. Why don’t you hear me out? Or do I have it wrong Vinnie? You ashamed of what you said to me in bed, now that the sun come up? You ashamed of what you feel for me. Is that it?”

“
No.”

“
Prove it.” She challenged. “You all talk Vinnie Romano. I ain’t seen no action. I’ve proved it. I give you what you want, when you want, and how you want it. What does it mean to you? Anything?”

“
Get your coat.” He answered.

“
Why? We ain’t done talking.”

“
Come with me. Now. I’ll show you how much I trust you. And I’ll show them too.”

Without delay she did as she was told. Harmony eased her arms into her coat and buttoned the front. Locating her charcoal-grey bell shaped cloche hat she situated it on her head hoping she looked respectable. He waited at the open door patiently. When she joined him he immediately captured her hand in his. “My friend died.” he said. “We’re going to his funeral.”

The idea of him presenting her to others while holding her hand was a terrifying yet exhilarating thought. Hell they could be arrested, though she doubted any lawman within miles would dare try. The rumors and innuendos would reach Sugar Hill and she’d lose the respect of her friends. Paulette would probably be the only one who would dare to be seen with her.

“
You got a problem with us Songbird? Going the distance… with me?”

She glanced down at their joined hands. “It’s you that should have the problem Vinnie. Us in public, it’s illegal ain’t it?”

Romano frowned. “Who told you that?”

“
Everyone knows it. What we done is against the law. Probably against God. Coloreds and whites ain’t supposed to mix it up like this.”

“
Not true. In New York it’s legal for us to mix, hell even marry, Vermont, Connecticut, Wisconsin too.”

She was floored. Stunned beyond speech, but she summoned her voice. “How do you know this?”