Page 46 of Marcus

“Me—you’re interested in me.”

“Wasn’t that obvious enough, or did I not make that clear for you? I can fix that if you’d like. Yes, I am absolutely interested in you. How could I not be?”

“Right,” she said, laughing dryly, “how could I think otherwise? No man just looks for only sex from a widow with a kid, I suppose.”

“Cella—”

“I don’t know, maybe a part of me wondered if that’s what it was. Just that for you, I mean. Or if I was reading too much—”

“Donna, you didn’t read nearly enough into it. If all I wanted was to fuck you, I wouldn’t still be on the phone with you right now. I am too busy of a man to make that much of an effort just to get a good lay.”

She made a soft noise.

He laughed.

“Listen,” he said, sighing, “I know you haven’t dated since … well, in a while, and we didn’t exactly go over the fine details here, but just know no matter what, it’s all on you. Slow down, speed up … tell me to fuck off; that’s all on you, I promise.”

“William told me something similar when we first started dating, although that was mostly because I was young, having fun, and didn’t know if I wanted to be serious with someone. Entirely different reasons, I guess, but basically the same sentiment.”

“Smart man, then.”

“That’s how you reply to me bringing him up?”

“Why not? How did you two meet, anyway?”

Cella dragged in a quick breath, and then laughed lightly. “He uh, was helping to work on my brother’s case after John got arrested and was looking at ten or more years in prison. I still felt some kind of way about my brother at that time—long story, let’s not bother, I’m over it—and I said something to the effect of should leave him there. William had come to my parents’ house for a dinner, so he was being the polite, respectful man he needed to be. But that must have just rubbed him the wrong way because he looked at me, cocked a brow, and replied except that’s not my job.”

Marcus hummed under his breath, leaning back in the office chair as he asked, “And what happened after that?”

“I thought I would hate him.”

“But you didn’t.”

“He was a hard man to hate.”

Silence stretched on between the two, but Marcus didn’t mind. He took in all she had told him, and felt like … well, what a privilege it was for him to be told something that personal about her life and a man she had fallen in love with.

“Thank you,” he finally said.

“For what?”

“Telling me a little about him. He’s someone you love. Not loved, you see … I understand that, and so of course, he’s going to be on your mind. I wouldn’t expect anything different, and I want to know about all the things you love, Cella. The important things, and the stuff you think is nothing at all.”

“Are you sure?”

“Why not?”

“Does it make you feel like you barely know me?”

“No,” he answered honestly, “it makes me feel like there’s so much more to learn. And that … well, I look forward to that, tesoro.”

Considering the fact that Marcus’s earlier conversation with Cella ended on a good note, and he had managed to stay on top of all his tasks despite how they seemed to snowball on him at the worst of times, he felt pretty fucking good about his day.

Maybe that was why he went into yet another meeting with the biker gang feeling on top of the world when he should have been laser-focused on getting those assholes to back the hell off any and all Guzzi business. Although this time he was lucky enough to get a sit down with the actual president of the club and not just the man’s right hand.

It was very possible, because of his good mood and all, that Marcus was willing to offer yet another peaceful solution to the bikers instead of just finishing the job. Besides, he knew for certain it wouldn’t look good on him to go into taking over the family as the official boss when it was the time to do so while being in an active war with another organization, but especially one that was as close to them as the Quebec Riders.

As the acting boss … he needed to show he could handle issues like these without first defaulting to the worst possible scenario before trying everything and anything else. He didn’t need more judgment and opinions chasing his status in his famiglia than what he already had.