Chapter Five
Vassago stood looking down at Marie’s sleeping form far longer than he should have. She was curled up on her right side, hands tucked under her chin and knees up to her chest. She had no covers on, and wore a robe. Her hair looked damp. She must have showered and then fallen asleep. Was she naked under that robe?
He’d never seen anyone so uncomfortable as she’d been during dinner. The cover story he’d made up on the spot just came tumbling out of his mouth, but what should he have said? Told everyone the truth, right there, without any warning to her? That wouldn’t have solved anything.
At forty-two years old, he’d resigned himself to the fact that his life was what it was. Working at this club, taking care of the books for the MC, and fucking the sweetbutts and dancers who could still stand him. He’d given up on finding love. The perfect woman didn’t exist, at least not for the likes of him.
Never in a million years would he have guessed he’d already met her, years ago, or that she came with more baggage than any one woman should.
She’d lied to Digger. But once he’d blurted out the bullshit reason why she was here at the start of dinner, she’d played along. He didn’t feel guilty over that. She’d made her bed the second she decided to help Sofia Genova run from Roberto di Stefano’s hired hitman.
Yeah, he knew which Sofia she meant. It hadn’t been hard to narrow down. Like he’d told her, they knew the same people. But even he and Digger hadn’t yet been able to figure out where Marie had sent the woman. Maybe she was in the wrong business? She certainly knew how to hide someone when she wanted to.
His gaze cut to her perfectly-manicured nails. That’s what she did, back in Brooklyn. She did nails in a salon, right down the street from where Donny and Digger each had grown up. Her entire world was back there, as much as his was here now. What the hell had possessed her to make a decision like that?
Did she secretly hate Vince? Had she agreed to marry him only to spite her family, and not because she loved the man? Her parents were no walk in the park. Marie was the oldest of six daughters, and the only one not yet married. Digger had told him they disapproved of her job and her friends. They had constantly harped on her when she’d been younger. It didn’t sound as if they’d let up once she reached adulthood.
But was that enough to drive her to make the absolute worst decision of her life? She knew the consequences. Any of them did. How had she imagined she’d never be caught?
It was torture to stand there and watch her sleep, yet know he couldn’t touch her. He should get the fuck out of there before his hormones got the better of him. As he turned to leave, he forgot about her bags on the floor, still next to the bed, and nearly tripped over them. He swore out loud, and she sat up.
Vassago waited in the dark, hoping she’d go back to sleep, but then she turned on the light next to her bed.
“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. You scared the shit out of me.”
He perched on the edge of the bed. “We need to talk.”
“I didn’t mean to fall asleep. I meant to leave.” She started to scoot off the bed, but he placed a hand on her arm, stopping her.
“You’re not going anywhere.”
She shook off his hand. “Yeah, I am. I’ve brought enough trouble to your club.”
“Marie, I’m not fucking around. You’re stuck here until this over.”
“Why? Me being here is like drawing a target on the building, and on each of you. Vince already suspects me. Once he finds out I’m gone, I’m as guilty as if he watched me get Sofia out of town. He’ll find me eventually.”
“He won’t find you.”
“Don’t be naïve.”
“I’m telling you, he will soon no longer be a threat to you or to anyone.”
She blinked a few times until finally, understanding dawned on her face. He’d expected a grieved reaction, but her expression turned neutral. Had he been right about her feelings for the man? “What happened to him?”
“Nothing yet, but Digger is taking care of it.”
“Why the hell would he do that?”
“Because he and I have an important job to do, and we couldn’t let this mess you brought with you fuck that up.”
“He doesn’t have to have Vince killed to take care of this. I can leave. No one will ever have to know I was here.”
“Now who’s being naïve? You know as well as I do that eventually someone will figure out that you left with Digger, and where you both came.”
“Maybe, maybe not. But the longer I stay here, the less time I have to get away, and the less time you all have to cover the tracks.”
“I told you we don’t need do that, but until it’s over, you’re safer here.”
“I lied to him. To Digger. I lied to everyone in this building when I went along with the story you told at dinner.”
“Well, now that you’re staying, you have a chance to make that right, don’t you?”
“Yes. I want to do that. I had intended to do that, but I couldn’t very well call you out as a liar during dinner.”
“You’re right. And when you tell everyone the truth, I’ll make sure they know that I’m the one who made up the cover story, not you.”
Surprise filled her face. “Thank you. But are you serious about me staying here?”
“For now, yes.”
“Since when does an MC take in strays?”
“We don’t. But we also don’t feed our own to the wolves. You fucked up, Marie. Admit that to everyone, stay out of mine and Digger’s way so we can take care of business, and then you’re free to do whatever you want.”
Was that a flicker of regret? “Whatever I want?”
“Yeah. Whatever you want. You can go back to Brooklyn, even.”
“No, I can’t. I can’t ever do that, and you know it.”
“Well then, hang out here for a while. Creek Ridge is a nice town.” He cut his gaze to her nails. “And they have a few salons. You can paint nails in one of them.”
The corners of her mouth lifted. “You should be really pissed off at me. Why aren’t you?”
“What makes you think I’m not?”
“You’re making jokes.”
“It’s not a joke. Digger said you’re very talented at doing nails. I didn’t ask him why he would know that.”
This time, she did smile. “He knows it because every time I see him, I have on a different color, and I talk about my job a lot. He notices details like that. It’s probably what makes him so good at what he does.”
“Yeah, I suppose so. And you just drove home my point. You’re far safer here with me and Digger than you would be on your own. We both notice details. We know what to watch for, remember? And Donny is here, too. He’s protected all of us for a long time. He won’t let anything happen to you.”
Her expression changed at the mention of Donny’s name. “I still think you two are insane to go behind his back like this.”
“We’re taking care of one of our own.”
“Regardless, I can’t stay here.”
“Why not?”
“This conversation is going in circles.”
“And I already told you that Vince will soon be no threat to you.”
“But di Stefano still is.”
“Not for long.”
“But what if I don’t want to stay, even after I come clean to everyone?”
To hear her suggest that sent actual pain through his chest. He had it bad for this woman.
“Where you gonna go, Marie? You don’t have any transportation, for one thing. You have no blood relatives outside of Brooklyn. You came here because you knew we would shelter you if you were with Digger. It might have been a fucked-up, stupid idea to help Sofia get away, but this was the one place you knew you could come and feel safe for a while.”
“You’ve solved all my problems, haven’t you?”
“No. You’re going to solve them, and you can start now. The club is open. Everyone is down there. Put on some clothes and come with me.”
If she was going to stay here, and if he had a snowball’s chance in hell of possessing her, first she needed to make things right with everyone in this club. She said she wanted to, and he believed her, but it couldn’t wait.
“Do you think it’s safe to spread the story around now?”
“Yes. I wouldn’t ask you to do it now if I didn’t think it was safe. The longer you wait, the worse it will be for you here.”
She pulled her silky robe tighter around her body, even though he couldn’t see anything through it, and averted her gaze. “I want to tell you something before I talk to everyone else. I also came because I wanted to see you again. It was too good of a chance to pass up. All the pieces fell into place.”
It was impossible not to let hope build, but there were still unanswered questions. Thunderbolt or not, he hadn’t survived this long without being cautious where women were concerned. Even dark-eyed, raven-haired women with pretty red fingernails.
“Did you love Vince?”
She lifted her gaze to his face with an alarmed expression. “What?”
“You heard me. Did you love him? There’s no one here from the neighborhood. It’s just you and me. I’m sure not gonna tell him whatever you say right now, so be straight with me.”
The alarm turned to resignation. He’d been right. There was something else going on here.
“Yes and no. I feared him, or at least I did by the end.”
“Did he hit you?” If he had, Digger would make sure whoever took him out made him suffer first.
“No. It wasn’t like that. It was verbal and emotional abuse. As the wedding got closer, we argued over everything. How much I was spending, the dress I’d chosen, the colors I wanted, and who was invited.”
That didn’t sound so unusual to Vassago, not that he had any firsthand experience.
“But it wasn’t only the arguments. It was the little digs he got in during them. How low class I am and how inferior my family is compared to his. My job was shitty, my friends were trashy, and I’d never be anything but a girl from Brooklyn who couldn’t even get into college.”
“So why did he want to marry you in the first place?”
She rose and walked over to the windows, but kept her back to him. A nasty shiver ran down Vassago’s spine. Maybe he shouldn’t have pushed the issue?
“He told me he fell in love.” Her voice was flat, emotionless.
“Really? Sounds to me like he hated everything about you.”
“He didn’t hate the sex.”
Hot anger sliced through him at the image of Vince Falcone fucking this woman. The woman he wanted for himself. “Okay, but that’s still not a reason to marry someone. He could have kept fucking you without putting a ring on your finger.”
“Ouch.”
“I’m not trying to hurt you, Marie, but it’s the truth.”
Vassago rose and walked toward her, placing his hands on her shoulders. Such a simple gesture, but his dick grew hard and his body trembled. “Tell me the real reason he asked you. ‘Cause a man like Vince doesn’t get married unless there’s something in it for him.”
“Power.” She turned to face him. “That’s what was in it for him, Jimmy. The power to control me and my family. And if he could control us, he could get in good graces with Donny.”
A suspicion popped into his mind. One he prayed was unfounded. “Does Vince know what di Stefano is trying to do here?”
“I highly doubt it. He doesn’t take sides. He only gives a shit about getting paid. A man like Donny could not only give him plenty of work, but connections that reach beyond Brooklyn. I was the link he needed for that. Marry a local girl whose father just happens to be working for the Mob boss you want to schmooze, and you’re in.”
Okay. That made sense. But he would still suggest to Digger that Vince may have known about the attempted hit on Donny, and why it had gone that far. “So why was he arguing with you about everything if marrying you was that important to him?”
“Because he’s an asshole. An angry, unhappy asshole who saw this marriage as a means to an end. You think I’m stupid, Jimmy?” Tears spilled over her lashes. “You think I can’t tell when a guy is using me?”
Then why did you say “yes”? “But you didn’t think he was using you at first, right?”
“No. I don’t know. Maybe I just convinced myself he was sincere.”
Vassago wiped away her tears, and it was all he could do to keep from kissing her. This was fucking torture. He wanted to fly to Brooklyn and take out Vince himself for putting her through so much pain.
“So there was a time when you did love him.”
“I was flattered as hell by his attention, and the sex was good. Christ. Saying that out loud sounds like I agreed to marry him for every wrong reason out there.”
Yeah, it did, but he wasn’t going to rub salt in the wounds. Plus, Vince hadn’t asked her to marry him for love, either. That much was now clear. “When did you realize Vince was only using you to get in good with Donny?”
“He told me he was. During one of our recent arguments. I don’t think he meant to. It just slipped out. He said this shit wasn’t worth getting on Donny’s good side, and I asked him what the hell that meant. He said what had I expected? That he was doing this without there being something in it for him besides good sex?”
Hot, white anger rose up inside Vassago. “He actually said that to you?”
“Yes.”
“Was that before or after you helped Sofia get away?”
“Before. Weeks before.”
“Is that the real reason you helped Sofia, then? To get back at him for using you?”
She sighed. “Yeah. It was. But what I told you was also the truth. She was a good friend once. It was an impulsive decision.” She sniffed back more tears. “A stupid, impulsive decision based on revenge. Of course, once I got my head out of my ass, I realized how fucked I was. I knew I had to get away.”
Now it all finally made sense. “We need to tell Digger the whole truth.”
“Yeah. Fine. Okay. Then my humiliation will be complete.”
“Marie, I’m not suggesting we do it to further humiliate you, but Digger needs to know what he’s dealing with. This hit has to be done in such a way that no one, and I mean no one, can ever trace it back to you.”
“Okay. I get that.”
“Is that everything now? All the secrets are out?”
She glared at him. “You gonna give me shit, too?”
“Seriously? You’re asking me that after everything we’ve just talked about?”
“I’m sorry. You’re right. Yes. That’s everything. The entire sordid truth.”
He grinned. “I’ve heard worse, you know.”
“I’m sure you have, but can we go downstairs now? I want to make things right with everyone.”
“Dressed like that?”
She almost smiled. “Of course not. Get out of here so I can put some clothes on.”
Oh, the images floating through his mind! She’d walked right into that one. “Nah. I think I’ll stay right here and watch instead.”