Page 2 of Worth of Waste

Because she didn’t know.

She didn’t know anything about the legal problems, what Dino faced, when or if he might be out, or even how she could find out more without stepping foot into his business and making her presence known.

If nothing else, Karen had figured that one thing out all by herself and without any help.

Dino did not want Karen involved.

Not with his people.

Not with his life.

Not with the … mafia.

It all felt a little surreal.

She met a man one day, a sad, frowning man who seemed so cold from afar, so entirely unapproachable on that foggy, damp morning. She’d watched him from nearby as he talked to a gravestone, his large hands being so very careful as they wiped off the stone with a pristine white napkin from his jacket pocket.

Karen had thought about how lonely he looked, crouched down in front of the grave. How alone he seemed, in his distant gaze that looked right passed her at one moment in time, not even noticing she was standing there by a tree watching him.

She should have known better, honestly.

She had no business interfering when she hadn’t even known the man.

And yet, she did.

When Dino DeLuca smiled, Karen had felt like she won a battle that day.

She had done something good.

He made her feel amazing with nothing more than a grin.

In a way, Karen had put herself in her current position by not pressing harder for answers from Dino over the course of their year-and-a-half-long relationship. Times when he flaked on her without explanation, other moments when he seemed quieter than normal—though he barely talked as it was—and passing comments from others about his side business and other life that she allowed to fly right over head.

Maybe she pretended like he was exactly what he seemed because she didn’t want to know about the rest.

Or maybe she didn’t ask things she should have because she wouldn’t have liked the answers.

Karen prided herself on the fact that she wasn’t stupid. For the most part, she made rational, educated choices about her life and the people in it. She didn’t like negativity, but rather, filled her days with goodness and happiness to keep all the darkness at bay.

Then there was Dino …

A man who seemed almost swathed in an aura of darkness he couldn’t—or didn’t want to—escape from.

She hadn’t minded that. He drew her in like a moth to the brightly-burning flame, and while his actions promised never to burn her, his soul never said a damn thing.

Who was really at fault here?

Certainly not him.

The news program ended, switching over to an early morning panel sitting around a glass table with hosts ready to gossip about the latest in politics, fashion, and the celebrity life. Karen wasn’t really seeing what was on the show, but rather, the image of Dino standing in the courtroom.

It had burned into her brain.

She couldn’t get the image out.

Who are you?

That was all she wanted to ask him.