Free Second Chance at Love (Love Conquers All) by Victoria Wells

bigger. She didn’t know what to do with herself. Gina was really a pretty woman, but from the ugly scowl she wore no one would have ever known it. And the words she was about to spew were just as ugly. Turning to Dom, she lashed out. “You were never good enough for me anyway. You think just because you’re Dominic Peretti’s son you’re one of us. You’ll never be one of us. You’re better off in the ghetto with your black bitch.”
     
    Karen was in shock as she watched Gina storm out of the restaurant. Did she just really call her a black bitch? Well…yeah she did, taunted the voice in her head. Turning to Dom, she was fired up, getting ready to throw a hissy fit. Just what kind of bimbos was he used to being involved with anyway? Before she could get a word out she stopped dead in her tracks. Dom’s strong, handsome jaw was clenched in anger. His dark eyes had gone from twinkling to dangerously ominous. Karen’s heart went out to him. Gina’s words had been beyond ugly and acrid. Gently touching his arm, she apologized. “Dom, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything to her.” A shiver passed through Karen as she remembered Gina’s nasty word. “We don’t have to stay if you don’t want to.”
     
    Karen was torn between running after Gina and beating her down and staying by Dom’s side.
     
    “No, we’re not going anywhere. We met for lunch. We’re having lunch.”
     
    Karen gave him a weak smile. “Ok.”
     
    Settled at the table, Karen held Dom’s hand as they blessed their food. The two sat in silence as they ate their Cosi’s sandwich and salad combos. Putting her fork down, Karen broke the silence when she asked, “Dom, what was that all about?”
     
    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