Page 17 of Mafia’s Dirty Secret

He nodded as if he understood, and she swam closer to him. She didn’t feel so pitied now. His expression now was more curious, maybe even amused.

“You can look to be rich, and still be poor though. The cost of upkeep on this house would also eat into that million dollars. It wouldn’t last long. But a little bit of help, that would do me a whole lot of good. If I didn’t have to care for my mom seven days a week, I could maybe go back to school, start the degree I never got to start. I could change both of our lives with a degree, and maybe afford to fix up the house that we live in, too. That makes more sense to me than a giant house and a bunch of money that will disappear before I know it.”

“You’re right.” He leaned forward, his elbows on his knees as he watched her swim. He studied her, her eyes, her lips, what he could see of her torso. “You’re an amazing woman, Marie.”

“No, just sensible, I’m afraid.” She brushed off his compliment, but still smiled at him with pleasure. “I’ve lived with her my whole life, and it’s not always a good thing, but she at least taught me to be sensible.”

“What do you mean, it hasn’t always been nice? Isn’t she kind to you?” His brows knit together as he asked the question.

“My mother was on the verge of being a film star when she got pregnant with me.” She’d avoided talk of her mother when she could help it but now felt like the right time to explain a little more about her life. “She was dating a man she didn’t know was married, and there was a car accident. Some men shot at them and my father wrecked the car he was driving. He died, but Mom lived. She was in a coma for months. Too long to…”

“To what, Marie?” he asked, obviously confused.

“To get rid of me.” She faced him, her chin up, her shoulders back, a portrait of pride, but the bitterly twisted line of her mouth revealed her emotions. “She was stuck with me, and that ruined her life. It ruined her film career. Life hasn’t been easy for her.”

It was the mantra she’d repeated her entire life, that her mother had repeated so many times it was ingrained in her psyche. She hadn’t been able to get rid of Marie and because of it, Ruby’s life had never been the same.

“That’s not your fault.” His confusion deepened, and she knew he couldn’t understand. She barely did but it had been a truth she always knew. Marie ruined Ruby’s life, even though it was Ruby’s actions that resulted in Marie being born.

Marie continued to tread water, but she couldn’t look at him. “What about you? What was your childhood like?”

“Oh, my parents were the usual children of generations of Italians born in America. We did the whole Catholic church thing, and went to private schools...” His words tapered off as he looked away. “They were the usual kind of parents, I guess.”

That didn’t reveal a whole lot. “Usual” could be anything in the world today. Bad, good, brilliant, lackluster. He hid a lot of things about himself, she’d noticed over the last few weeks. He never frowned or went silent, he just… gave vague answers that could mean anything.

“Are they still alive?” she asked, curious to know so much more. She’d moved closer to him, almost close enough to touch him.

Instead of answering her, he pulled her close and kissed her. She knew it was another distraction technique, but she didn’t care. His lips were on hers, and his body, so silky, hard, and warm, was against hers. She shivered as sheer pleasure coursed through her body and her skin went tight. She could feel her nipples, trapped in the swimsuit, pressed against his chest, and somehow it made the kiss even more exciting.

Matteo groaned out his pleasure and pulled her over him so that she was straddling his body. She looked into his eyes, hungry to see the want that was always there.

“I’ve wanted this for so long now, Marie,” his ragged voice tugged at some secret place inside of her that thrilled at that sound.

Her hips moved, pushed her bottom down against the hard length of him, and she gasped. Her eyes went wide with surprised pleasure as she realized he really did want her. Like that!

He kissed her again until every thought in her head had disappeared and all she could think of was how he felt, how he tasted, and the sound of his ragged breathing. But then, he pulled away. He pushed her off his body, gently, and stood up to leave the pool.

“I want you, Marie, but not yet. You have to go. Your mother needs you. We’d better get dressed.” He walked away, and she wondered if it was because he knew that if he stayed with her a moment longer, she wouldn’t be going home any time soon. Because that’s exactly how she felt. Like she’d throw everything away, just for him.

11

Marie stared at the spines of books on row after row of shelves. Nothing caught her eyes. Not the gruesome red font on a black spine, nor the splash of aqua blue against a purple background. The name of one of her favorite authors was ignored, as she traced her fingers down the shelf. Her mind was far, far away.

Well, not that far. Only a few miles away. On Matteo and that pool of his. She’d gone home the night before, certain that the next time she was with him, at his house, that her virginity would disappear. There was some reckless, clanging urge inside of her that said she needed to go back to him, and she’d fought with that urge all night. She’d had to get up twice to change the pads under her mother and clean her up, she couldn’t leave her mother alone in that state.

And she wouldn’t. Above all, Marie was a good daughter, even if her mother told her she wasn’t. She knew she was. She might be sheltered from the rest of the world, but she’d been out in it. At least, into the town. The bad children were the ones that abandoned their parents, that left them to struggle alone. Those were bad children. Marie took care of her mother. She’d given up everything, in fact, to make sure her mother was cared for.

She and Matteo hadn’t talked about their parents or their childhoods much. They’d talked about the town, about the people that passed by, about how nice it would be to go out together. She’d told him about her mother, that she was ill, but she hadn’t filled in the details. Not until last night anyway, she thought as her fingers stopped on a shelf.

She’d spotted a book she’d been waiting on for months now. It had finally been returned to the shelves, so she picked it up, though she wasn’t really interested in it at the moment. She might be later, though, so she pulled it off the dark panel of wood and moved along. The shelves went well over her head, so she was hidden as she neared the end of the row she was in.

“Karen, how good to see you!” a voice said quietly from the row to Marie’s right, loud enough for her to hear.

“Lydia, how are you?”

Lydia Metrejean, the town gossip. Marie didn’t want to be anywhere near the woman, so she stopped and hoped they would move along soon.

“Oh, I’m fine Karen. I hear there’s a new man in town.” Lydia’s voice almost shook with the excitement of a new piece of gossip.