Always in My Heart Read online

  He did stop however, but only when her body had convulsed, his going tight and still as they climaxed together. It took a while for them to catch their breath and to finally get up off that kitchen floor, but they did. They showered and then lay in his bed after Rico had fixed them ham and cheese sandwiches.

  “I resigned from TEASE,” she said when they lay in the darkness of the room.

  Rico was quiet for a moment, a few very long moments, and then he asked, “Are you sure that’s what you wanted to do?”

  “Yes,” she replied instantly. “It is.”

  He did not speak.

  “Makai never wanted me to work there. He wanted me to paint full-time, to make something out of my art. He said that’s what my parents would have wanted me to do,” she told him.

  “Is that true?” he asked.

  Eva took a breath. “My mother loved to watch me dance. She said I had a natural talent. When I started painting, her and my dad said the same thing, that I was a natural. They never doubted that I would do one or the other, or even both when I grew up. In a sense, I did. I danced at TEASE and I painted at home. I didn’t let them down,” she said, her voice shaking.

  “No,” Rico said turning over so that he could look down on her. “You didn’t. You should believe that with all that you have become. You did not let your parents or Makai down. They loved you very much.”

  She nodded. “And I loved them. I lost them,” she said sadly. Then she reached up to cup Rico’s face in her hands. “I love you and I’m going to hold on to you for as long as I can.”

  He leaned in then, kissing her softly. “I love you, too, Eva. And I’m going to hold on to you even longer.”

  #

  Rico wasn’t in as good a mood as he’d expected after having spent the night with Eva. They’d awakened together early the next morning and she’d fixed them omelets overflowing with all the vegetables she could find in his refrigerator and the Swiss cheese they’d had left over from their sandwiches the night before.

  “You need to go grocery shopping,” she told him when she’d opened the freezer and saw all the microwave meals he had in there.

  “They’re just for back-up,” he said defensively. “I normally cook.”

  “Good,” she’d quipped. “Because I like home-cooked meals. I can do my share, but taking turns would be nice too.”

  He’d warmed instantly at her words and their implication. “Does that mean you’re moving in?”

  She’d paused then, finishing her glass of orange juice. “It means that I’m not as sad as I thought I would be returning to Connecticut and now that I’m committing to my painting, I can actually work from anywhere. So, I guess I’m saying that I think I may start looking for a house to buy. A place where I can have a formal studio to work in and maybe a room big enough to dance sometimes. I don’t know, I’ve just really started thinking about this new direction I’m going in.”

  He’d kissed her on the forehead, not wanting to push, but more than eager to start looking for a house with her. With the dawn, had come more realizations for Rico. He was ready to spend his life with her. Was he crazy for that? He didn’t think so. Had this all happened pretty fast? Hell yeah, but then not fast enough. He’d wasted enough time second-guessing and denying in this relationship. He wasn’t about to waste any more.

  “That sounds like a good plan,” he told her. “And since today’s Saturday, we can drive around and see what might be on the market.”

  She’d frowned then. “Not today. I have to get back to New York.”

  “What?”

  “I hadn’t planned all this when I left, Rico. I have to go back and get things situated there. I have to find a real estate agent, pack and make-up with Kenya,” she said.

  “She’s still angry with you, huh?”

  “She’s still grieving,” Eva said. “I know how that feels.”

  “Sam said the district attorney won’t have an answer until the end of the month. How will you feel if they don’t press charges against Officer Peterson?”

  “I don’t know,” she’d replied honestly. “I can only take this one day at a time and those days will be much easier if I’m not holding grudges and praying for some sort of revenge. I want the truth of what happened to be revealed, whatever that truth may be.”

  Rico nodded. “I agree with you.”

  She hadn’t been very optimistic about Kenya feeling the same way, but she was certain that their friendship would survive. Rico, on the other hand, wasn’t sure he wanted to go another day or two without seeing her. And he certainly did not want to meet his parents at the country club to talk about possibly having Adriana and Parker’s wedding there. He’d agreed to that weeks ago, when he was still in denial about what he really felt for Eva, and try as he might all day long, he couldn’t come up with a good enough reason to cancel.

  Gabriella couldn’t make it because she had some type of conference to attend this weekend. Alex and Monica were out of town. Renny and Bree were busy with the triplets and Adriana was in L.A. auditioning for a part in a movie.

  “You’re the only one left that Adriana will even partially listen to,” his mother had said over the phone. “Just meet us there at seven and we’ll do a quick walk through to see if it fits her vision.”

  “How am I supposed to know what her vision is?” Rico had asked.

  “You know what she doesn’t like,” his mother said. “All you have to do is tell her if you think she’ll like it or not. She’ll never just take me and your father’s advice.”

  Rico had to admit his mother was right about that. Adriana would want a younger view of the wedding venue, so he’d agreed. Now, he was driving to the old stately country club. He’d dressed in slacks, a button front shirt and a navy blue blazer because the club had a policy of men wearing jackets any time they visited during the evening hours. He parked his truck and walked around to the front entrance where his mother said she would meet him. When she wasn’t there, a staff member greeted him instead. The woman, dressed in a dark skirt suit with a gold pin bearing the club’s crest on her right lapel, escorted him further back into the building and down a long hall. Finally she opened a door and Rico stepped inside.

  “Surprise!”

  A room full of people yelled and Rico thought he’d lost a couple years off his life they’d startled him so badly.

  “Happy Birthday!” Gabriella said coming up and hugging him tightly. “You’re officially an old man now!”

  Rico hugged his sister, accepting her sloppy kiss on his cheek as he declared, “Forty is not old.”

  His birthday was on Monday, but that didn’t stop what looked like over a hundred people from coming out to celebrate tonight. He couldn’t believe it as he was ushered further into the room.

  “Welcome to the forty and over club,” Alex had said when he hugged him.

  Monica had hugged and kissed him, wishing him a happy birthday just as Karena, Bree and Marie Desdune. Lucien and Cole had hugged him, giving their wishes and Renny clapped him on the back making some silly remark, also about Rico being over the hill. Finally, his parents approached him.

  “Happy Birthday, son,” his father had said after a tight hug. “You’re gonna love this stage of your life.”

  Rico wasn’t so sure. Already he’d almost lost the woman he loved and stood by her as her brother, someone Rico had met and admired, had been killed.

  “Happy Birthday, Ricardo,” his mother said when she hugged him.

  “I’m not speaking to you,” Rico joked with her.

  She looked beautiful as always in a beige pantsuit, her hair pulled back from her face so the diamonds at her ears could sparkle.

  “Oh nonsense,” she said, making a playful swat to his arm. “I only did what Gabriella told me to do.”

  “What? This was her idea?” Rico shook his head as he looked across the room to see his baby sister smiling and chatting with people. He couldn’t help but love her, even though later he’d vowed
to wring her neck.

  Almost two hours had passed where Rico enjoyed a delicious meal and more well wishes from people at the office, guys from the gym and of course, more of his family. His father’s brother Charles and his wife Joanna, had come from Baltimore for the party, along with his mother’s aunt Olivia and a man that looked young enough to be her son Leonardo’s age. He hadn’t seen these family members often so it was good to catch up and humbling that they’d all thought enough of him to come out tonight.

  There was just one person missing from this enjoyable celebration.

  “We’re going to sing happy birthday and have cake in a few minutes,” Gabriella had come by his table to tell him, before disappearing again.

  As hostesses go, Gabriella was one of the best. She hadn’t sat down for one moment, but was busily moving about the room making sure everything went smoothly. Rico had to give it to her, the black and white decorations and the southern cuisine were his favorites. She’d known him well enough to plan a party that fit his personality. Yet, she’d had no idea that all he’d really wanted to do to celebrate his birthday this year, was to spend it with Eva.

  He’d texted her twice since arriving at the party, but she hadn’t responded. He’d been trying not to worry, but he wanted desperately to hear from her. Now, he was going to have to smile through the happy birthday singing and the cutting of the cake before he could step outside and call her.

  A DJ had been playing music that people were sporadically dancing to, so when that music stopped, Rico and a few of the other guests looked up to the front of the room. A spotlight had appeared in the center of the dance floor and all the other lights went dim. When a huge cake was rolled into the middle of the floor Rico smiled because he knew the retro Mickey and Minnie Mouse cake design was all Gabriella’s idea. She loved going to Disney World and had even made Rico take her there last year for her birthday because she’d been depressed about her lack of career choice and he’d made the mistake of offering to cheer her up. It was sort of a private joke between them and he’d looked around the room for her to acknowledge her thoughtfulness. He’d have to get her something pretty special for her next birthday.

  Rico had been so busy looking for Gabriella that he hadn’t immediately noticed the woman that came to stand in the spotlight. The one that was dressed in all white, a big white rose adorning her short curly hairstyle. He noticed her the moment the music started again. The slow, blues-like notes of an instrumental song. When she began to dance his smile spread wide, his heart so full he thought he would burst.

  Eva danced to the music as if it were composed just for her. She moved across the entire dance floor keeping everyone in the room mesmerized by her fluid movements. She reminded him of the painting in her living room, the one of the dancer that had reached out and touched his heart. His gaze followed Eva’s bare feet as they touched the shiny wood floor, her strong legs as they lifted and carried her back and forth, her arms as she held them high, and let them sway to the rhythm. The voluminous white skirt moved around her like the wind and when she did a run and jump into the air, stretching her legs and arms out fully, in perfectly symmetrical lines, he stood up and clapped loud and long.

  She turned to him then, as if she’d waited for that moment. The dance continued, but she moved from the dance floor, skirting around each table until she came to his. For a minute he felt like that first night when he’d met her as he’d sat in that chair and she’d danced between his legs. She was just a little further away from him this time, but she danced, just for him. He knew that with every move, every turn and when the song finally came to an end and she did a move that landed her on her knees directly in front of him, the room erupted in applause.

  Rico grabbed her up in his arms then, standing and spinning her around, smiling up at her feeling as happier than he had in his entire life.

  “I love you, Eva Romaine Miller,” he said before kissing her. “I love you.”

  She’d wrapped her arms around his neck. “I love you, Rico. You and this moment, I love so very much.” She kissed him then and moved to whisper in his ear, “Always, Rico. You will always be in my heart.”

  The Donovan Series

  The Seniors are listed in order by birth and their children are listed below them (also in order by birth)

  Senior – Albert Donovan

  Brock & Noelle {Book#4 Full House Seduction}

  Brandon {Book#13 In The Arms of a Donovan – coming soon}

  Bailey {Book#14 Falling for a Donovan – coming soon}

  Senior - Henry & Beverly Donovan

  Lincoln & Jade (Children: Twin daughters, Torian & Tamala)

  {Book#1 Love Me Like No Other}

  Trenton & Tia (Child: Son, Trevor) {Book#3 Defying Desire}

  Adam & Camille (Children: Sons, Josiah and Jordan) {Book#2 A Cinderella Affair}

  Senior – Bernard & Jocelyn Donovan

  Keysa & Ian {Book#6 Holiday Hearts}

  Brynne {Book#15 Destiny of A Donovan – coming soon}

  Senior – Everette & Alma Donovan

  Maxwell & Deena (Child: Daughter, Sophia) {Book#5 Touch of Fate}

  Benjamin & Victoria (Child: Daughter, Aria) {Book#9 Pleasured By A Donovan}

  Senior – Reginald & Carolyn Donovan

  Parker & Adriana {Book#11 Embraced By A Donovan}

  Savian & Jenise {Book#12 Wrapped In A Donovan}

  Regan & Gavin {Book#10 Heart Of A Donovan}

  Senior - Bruce & Janean Donovan

  Dion & Lyra {Book#7 Desire A Donovan}

  Sean & Tate (Child: Daughter, Briana) {Book#8 Surrender To A Donovan}

  The Donovan Friends

  The Desdunes

  Lucien & Marie Desdune

  Lynette & Brice (Child: Son, Jeremy) {A Christmas Wish - Under the Mistletoe Anthology}

  Cole & Loren {Always My Valentine}

  Samuel & Karena (Child: Son, Elijah) {Summer Heat}

  Sabrina & Lorenzo (Children: Daughters, Delia & Desirae, Son, Daniel) {Guarding His Body}

  The Bennetts

  Marvin & Beatriz Bennett

  Alexander & Monica {Winter Kisses}

  Ricardo & Eva {Always In My Heart}

  Lorenzo & Sabrina (Children: Daughters, Delia & Desirae, Son, Daniel) {Guarding His Body}

  Adriana & Parker {Embraced By A Donovan}

  Gabriella

  The Lakefields

  Paul & Noreen Lakefield

  Monica & Alexander {Winter Kisses}

  Karena & Samuel (Child: Son, Elijah) {Summer Heat}

  Deena & Maxwell (Child: Daughter, Sophia) {Book#5 Touch of Fate}

  Books in reading order:

  Love Me Like No Other

  A Cinderella Affair

  Guarding His Body

  Defying Desire

  Full House Seduction

  Touch of Fate

  Summer Heat

  Winter Kisses

  Holiday Hearts

  Desire A Donovan

  Surrender To A Donovan

  Pleasured By A Donovan

  Heart Of A Donovan

  A Christmas Wish

  Always My Valentine

  Embraced By A Donovan

  Wrapped In A Donovan

  Always In My Heart

  An Artistry Publishing Book

  always in my heart, Copyright © 2016 by A.C. Arthur

  First Edition: 2016

  www.acarthur.net

  All rights reserved. This book is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise—without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  This book is a work of fiction. Characters, names, locations, events and incidents (in either a contemporary and/or historical setting) are products of the author’s imagination and are being used in an imaginative manner as a part of this work of fiction. An
y resemblance to actual events, locations, settings or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Cover Design by Croco Designs

  Interior format by The Killion Group

  http://thekilliongroupinc.com