Chapter Two
“Really sorry, Lily,” a couple of people repeated as they passed me by at the cemetery.
I saw Kevin and Tom a while back but they quickly made their way out after the coffin was covered. Melanie left as well but she at least waved at me. There were a lot of old friends that came by but I did find it strange that the only relative Matt had attending the funeral was his mother, Lorie, and she was a goddamn shrewd.
I honestly hated the woman. She was rude, impatient and she never wanted to talk to either me or Matt about anything. She just seemed so unhappy with life and I didn’t want to get infected with her negativity.
However, I did have to show some respect and offer my condolences to her. Ah, what the hell, right? I walked over to her. The old bitch was standing by a tree, all alone, staring at her son’s gravestone from a distance. She didn’t pay any attention to some of the guests that did pass her by to give their regards. Most of Matt’s friends knew not to talk to his mom but there were some who still did. Boy did they get a cold reception.
“Hey,” I greeted her as I approached. “The pastor was hoping to talk to you. He told me a while back after he gave that prayer.”
Lorie didn’t even bother looking at me, “Screw him. Whatever he has to say it won’t change the fact my son’s in the ground. I’d blame you for it but you’re too dumb to even recognize it.”
What the fuck was wrong with this woman?
“I’ll ignore that statement,” I responded. When I looked down I realized I had clenched my hands into a fist. God, I wanted to smack that woman down. I had to fight the urge to punch her and the urge to break down again and cry all at once. “The public attorney is going to come by your place tomorrow and talk about Matt’s stuff.”
“You can keep it,” she told me in a flat, uncaring tone. “I don’t want any of it.”
Her eyes then lingered to a car that just drove up to the funeral site. It was a long, black limousine. That was a little too fancy for anyone I knew to be in. Was it one of Lorie’s guests?
“Get out of my sight,” Lorie suddenly shooed me off. “You’re already a pain to look at, now I have to deal with this son of a bitch.”
I pointed to the limousine. “Friend of yours?”
Lorie grimaced. “Ex-husband.”
That got my interest peaked. I never got to meet Matt’s father. As a matter of fact, Matt never even talked about him except the one time he mentioned his parents divorced and that his dad was always busy with some kind of business.
“If you’re not going to talk to him, I will,” I told Lorie and left her by that tree to rot. I spun around and walked towards the car just as the driver hopped out, walked over to the passenger seat and opened the door. The driver also handed Matt’s father a bouquet of flowers.
Out came this tall, muscular man who stood no shorter than six-feet-four. He was a freaking hulk with big shoulders, a buff build and a barrel of a chest. He had slick black hair that was pulled back and a neatly shaved face. He wore a black pair of slacks, leather shoes, a black shirt and a long, black trench coat. Given he was Matt’s father I could presume he was around forty-five to fifty years old but damn he looked like a cover model for a magazine.
“Uh, hi,” I greeted. I reached out to him with a hand, hoping he’d get the gesture and shake it. “I’m Lily Hunter, Matt’s girlfriend.”
Fortunately for me, he shook my hand and gave a weak smile. I looked into his eyes and saw they were slightly sunken, maybe even a little red. Even such a tough-looking guy like this must have cried when he heard his son died. It crushed my heart.
“Hello,” he answered. He had this really thick, deep voice that was sexy and intoxicating. His grip on my hand was so strong I almost winced in pain but he did let go before I could complain. “I am Giovanni, yes. I am his father. I have to thank you for handling all the legalities involved here in such troubled times. Lorie… she can be a pain.”
That was the understatement of the year.
“Let’s talk more about this later, shall we?” he asked me. He then pointed to the site. “Could you be so kind and escort me to my son? I would like to offer a prayer and bid him good-bye.”
That was honestly so sweet to hear. I nodded and helped Giovanni up the hill and to Matt’s grave site. I stood there silently, just beside Giovanni’s tall driver, and watched as Giovanni said his prayers. He then knelt and laid down a parchment of paper and the flowers he had with him.
When he was done he then turned over to me and placed his hands on my shoulders. Wow, they were really heavy.
“I really must thank you,” he told me. “You were there for Matthew when I wasn’t. He never did like how I dealt with business.”
“I didn’t even know,” I admitted to him. “He rarely ever talked about you or his mom.”
Giovanni shrugged. “I understand. For him, my business has a dark turn to it, something he could never grasp. He was a little weak, in that sense, or maybe just too sweet and innocent.”
Dark? What kind of business did this guy really do, anyway? I knew he was rich and maybe that was a reason why Matt wanted to run his own thing, do things his own way without relying on his parents, but it really got me curious as to what Giovanni actually did.
“I’d call him super sweet,” was all I could muster. A tear flowed down my cheek as I started to remember him even more. The image of Matt begging for a hug and kiss kept pervading into my mind. “I miss him so much!”
Giovanni wiped away the tear and he gave me a hug. Tight, warm and reassuring, I suddenly felt so safe and secure in his arms. I felt like a little girl being wrapped and protected by a lion of a man.
“Do not cry, little girl,” he told me. It was kind of amusing how he called me a girl when in fact I was already twenty-five. “Here, take my calling card. Call me when you want to talk. I want to know you more, you know, get to know the fine lady my son spent all his time with. Maybe then I will get to know the man he was.”
That sounded sincere and sweet. I nodded and took his card. I placed it in my pocket and in my head I was thinking how amusing it was that someone still handed these things out. I then reached out to him.
“I don’t have a card but if you have your phone with you, you could save my number too. I don’t know, just in case or whatever.”
Giovanni nodded and took out a phone from his pocket. It was a new model, probably worth six months of my salary at work. Just looking at it made me even more curious about this man’s business. He could afford something so new and expensive on a whim.
I took his phone, punched in my number and watched as he took the time to type and save it to his phonebook. When he got it in, he gave me a soft peck on the cheek and then headed back to his car with the driver.
I stood and waved good-bye. Maybe I didn’t have to be alone in my grief. Here was a man who barely knew his own son and perhaps I could just let out all my pain by talking to him. Giovanni was Matt’s father so in a way I’d still be connected to them. Well, it would be a hundred times better than trying to converse with Lorie, that was for sure.
I whispered one last prayer and good-bye to Matt and then left the cemetery. I decided it would be best to pass by the book store and get something to read and get busy with instead of fawning over our photos and posts on social media. I needed to avoid my phone for a while and get my head into something else.