Page 30 of Bad Husband

“You do?”

“Yeah, it’s nothing like back ... before. I never really felt safe there. You have to be constantly on guard. You can’t trust anyone because if you did, they would just spill your secrets for the right price. I always complained to Dad that there was no way to build up friendships.”

“What did Angelo say to that?” he asked.

“That it was foolish to think friends were important. Friends were a means to an end, they were not important, and I needed to get over my ideology of what I thought my life would be like. I know he meant well. I think, not long after that, was when I stopped watching all those television shows I used to love. My life was never going to be like that.” She sighed. “I was absolutely terrified when I got here. I thought I wasn’t going to make it through the week, let alone the six months I’ve been here ... nearly eight now. Wow, where has the time gone?”

He hated that he’d been the one to push her away. “I like it here,” he said. Marco felt her turn to look at him.

“What?”

“I happen to like it here. I like watching the kids play. They look so happy. Back home, they’re not allowed to play. They have to start at a young age knowing their place, and there’s no chance for wriggle room. It is always so serious. There is no room to budge, and it is exhausting.” Marco had no choice but to stop himself, because he was trying to win her back, so they could go on with their life—a life where their kids would be next in line to take his place. His son, or sons, would have to train to become Capo. Their daughter would be married off, used to make peace deals, or to further the family line. Everything was one business deal after another. It was cold, calculating, and it never stopped. This was not a good life.

Chiara had found her happiness.

“Did you enjoy being married to me?” Marco asked.

Chiara tilted her head back and he needed to know the answer. “Yes, I did, I thought we had something special.”

“We did. I’m the one that fucked that up, Chiara, no one else.”

Silence fell between them, and he heard the faintest growl in the distance.

Chiara laughed as she pulled away. “I think that is Poodles and the gang, wanting out for their last business break.”

He smiled and kind of wished the dogs hadn’t interrupted him. Climbing off the car, he grabbed Chiara’s hand, expecting her to immediately pull away, only she didn’t. He locked their fingers together and made their way to his trailer, where he let out all the dogs, and they ran out. Some of them had the zoomies and Chiara laughed as the dogs took off.

It was late and dark, but they were safe as they ran all the way around the trailer park. Some of them went off to do their business, and he had no choice but to grab the dog poop bags. Chiara grabbed a couple from him, along with a torch, and they collected the mess, wrapped it up, and dumped it into the trash. After all of that, it was time to call it a night, so he stood outside of Chiara’s trailer. She slid the key into the lock, twisted it, and then turned toward him.

“I had a lot of fun tonight,” she said.

“Me too.”

For several seconds, they just stared at each other, and Marco didn’t know who made the first move, him or her. Either way, one moment they were staring at one another, and in the next, her lips were on his, and he banded an arm around her waist, pulling her in close. She let out the sweetest of gasps, and he couldn’t help but growl against her lips. He didn’t want to stop kissing her. He felt hungry for her.

Running his hand down her ass, he gripped the flesh and pulled her in close. Marco was getting carried away, he knew that. Now was not the time, so he pressed one final kiss to her lips, then pulled away.

“Good night, beautiful,” he said.

****

The following week, Chiara clapped her hands and let out a hoot, spinning her arm in the air to cheer Marco on.

This was their third date. They kind of had a dinner date on Tuesday, where Marco attempted to cook for her, and it ended in disaster because he didn’t think to thaw out his frozen meat. For some reason he thought you could make meatballs from frozen meat. Instead of laughing, she joined him in his trailer kitchen, and she showed him how he could use the mince to make a simple spaghetti sauce. It wasn’t perfect, but she knew it was better than nothing.

They had a lot of fun, walking the dogs and talking.

She had come to learn that Marco didn’t have any dreams. He wasn’t allowed to want to do anything else but take over as Capo when his father died. He always had to be the best at everything. There was no room for error. It was sad.

She truly believed that during the time he was spending in No Point to win her over, he was finally getting the chance to live. Which was why, for their third date, she wanted to take him out of his comfort zone. It was karaoke night at the bar they went to the previous Friday. Several people had gotten up and completely murdered every song they were singing.

Marco didn’t know the words to his current one. In between reading the words, there were moments he’d stick with one word, and try to carry the tune that just seemed to wave off into the middle of nowhere.

She had not stopped laughing since he got up there. Even though he was red in the face, he didn’t give up, and she clapped her hands. Several people did the same. They were all supporting one another, because they were mostly horrible.

Marco was not going to let her get away with watching him sing. He introduced her, and Chiara stepped down. Her heart was racing, and her hands felt clammy, but she changed places with him, and looked at the screen. She was not a big music lover. She tended to enjoy books, but as the tune went on, it was one she did recognize. It was a semi-upbeat song, and she danced along with it, stumbling over the words and laughing. She got the whole crowd involved and they sang along with her, and she had a lot of fun. She was tempted to call Marco back up, but she didn’t want the rest of the crowd to hate them for hogging the karaoke machine.

Marco ordered her another beer, because even though she didn’t like the taste, it was still a lot of fun to just experience holding it in her hand. She giggled.