Page 22 of Marcus

Marcus laughed. “Well, to help you, I guess.”

“And what does that mean?”

In the background of the call, someone shouted before a horn honked.

“You busy?” he asked.

“No, just heading to my car. How are you helping me by getting me into town?”

“My mother is having a dinner party. Pretty normal for her. She throws one or two a month. This one, though, is for a shelter she just helped to open in the city. It’ll be at the mansion, which will let you see the house where she lives, and you’ll get lots of time with her. I’m expected to bring someone with me, and I thought it could be you. It’ll look like a date to her.”

“Like a date?”

“Mmhmm, what’s the problem?”

“Sounds exactly like a date, Marcus.”

“Well—”

“Are we just saying it’s a date?”

“Does that word make you nervous? It’s for the penthouse, Cella. That’s all.”

“Right, but yes … a little. I haven’t been on a proper date in years.”

Ah.

“No pressure,” he murmured.

Her light laughter had him smiling wider than ever. And of course, his brother just happened to see that smile when he turned around, too.

Dammit.

He gave Chris a look.

His brother averted his stare.

“Anyway, are you up for it?” he asked.

Cella barely hesitated before replying, “Yeah, I am definitely up for that.”

Perfect.

“I’ll let you know the details.”

That was that. Except he wondered if it was going to end up being a hell of a lot more.

“And whycan’t I come this time?”

Cella had all she could do not to laugh at how indignant and offended her daughter managed to sound as they climbed the steps to her parents’ house. “I told you why—I’m not doing things that five-year-olds can also do.”

Which wasn’t entirely a lie, considering she didn’t know very much about the dinner party at the Guzzi mansion. Nothing except for the details of what she should wear, as there apparently was a dress code, and that alone told her maybe Tiffany wouldn’t have very much fun being stuffed into a pretty dress and made to sit still and behave for hours on end. Truth be told, she hadn’t really thought to ask if that was the case.

“So, I think you’ll have more fun with Aunt Lucia and Uncle Ren this weekend. Plus, I hear Uncle John has a movie he wants to take you to with the rest of the kids.”

Tiffany at least had the decency to look as though she were actually considering her mother’s words. Like which one might be more interesting to her because she didn’t truly know. In a way, Cella loved that all her daughter wanted to do was be with her mom. All the time, no exceptions. Tiff really was her little mini-me, all things considered. But how could she not be when for most of her life, her mother was all she really had?

At the same time, Cella often wondered if that was healthy for her girl. It was why, even when she knew Marcus wouldn’t have a problem with her daughter tagging along this weekend for his plan regarding his mother, that she decided it would be better to drop Tiffany off with her parents for the day before she spent the rest of the weekend with her aunt and uncle.