Page 30 of Mafia’s Dirty Secret

Marie could feel the drip of blood as it ran down her face, but she didn’t even swipe at it. She continued her task, ignored the enraged shrieks of her mother, and then cleared away the garbage and the washtub. She cleaned the tub out, put it up, washed her hands, and then took a moment to look at herself in the bathroom mirror.

It wasn’t much, a scratch more than anything, but it would probably leave a small scar for a while. She cleaned it off, swiped some antibiotic ointment on it, then went to check on Ruby. She’d calmed down, but she glared at Marie with pure hatred.

“You’re going to end up just like me. I knew you were rotten. I should have aborted you before I even told your father about you.” There was nothing but venom on Ruby’s twisted, wrinkled face. A face that was ruined by self-loathing and decades of self-abuse. Marie sighed and turned away.

The insult didn’t sting anymore, not like it used to anyway. Marie looked away from the rear-view mirror and waited for Matteo to text back. He’d wanted to take her out to eat, but she couldn’t, not with a bruise under her eye and a cut under the other. People would think he did it.

“Sure, we can stay at the house, if you want. Swim, watch movies, whatever you want to do.” His text came back quick enough, and she took a deep breath with relief. She hadn’t told him how the rest of the day had gone yet.

She’d told him about her mother’s illness, and how it made her delusional, but she hadn’t quite told him the full extent of it. He’d seen the bruise today, but he hadn’t questioned her. His jaw had tightened when he got a good look at it, but he didn’t ask her how it happened. He was bound to ask now.

She didn’t like to admit to anyone that her mother was abusive, much less violent. There was no way to hide this, though. She could tell him it was accidental, that her mother had a nightmare that she was a monster or something and struck out at her. But she didn’t want to lie to Matteo, not even to protect her mother. Not even to spare herself the shame of it all.

Because the truth was, Marie had walked around with black eyes long before her mother’s illness had developed. Ruby had physically abused Marie since she could remember. It was an everyday thing for her. Usually, the bruises were hidden, but sometimes, Ruby would mess up if she was drunk, or high, and Marie would have yet another black eye.

Normally, she kept the thought at bay, the thoughts about what she’d endured, but it was getting harder to stay with her mother. Marie knew she was ill, Marie knew she needed her daughter’s help, but this was getting out of control. And what would Matteo think?

Fuck, this was starting to get too difficult, she thought as she turned down the road that took her to his house. She dreaded seeing his face, the anger that would likely make his jaw go tight again, as his eyes narrowed. But maybe he wouldn’t notice. Maybe he’d think she’d fallen or something.

That’s what she’d told the teachers at school. And the social workers. And the police. She’d told them all different stories over the years. A rock had spun up and hit her in the face when she mowed the grass. She’d fallen and hit her face on the edge of the steps to the backdoor. She’d tripped and hit the edge of the footboard of her bed. She’d, she’d, she’d. She’d always taken the blame, even though it was Ruby’s fault.

Maybe it was time to stop that and tell someone the truth?

With a resigned frown, Marie turned her car off and headed up the steps to Matteo’s house. It was time to face him and get it over with. That was something else her mother taught her: face your problems, deal with them, then prepare for the next set of problems, because more was always on the way. Not the happiest outlook on life, but it had kept her prepared, anyway.

Matteo answered the door, a smile in place, and his eyes glittered in the dark. He took in the cut under her eye, the bruise under the other, and instead of questioning her, or being angry, or anything that might make the tears in her eyes spill from her lids, he took her in his arms and held her gently. He inhaled her scent, just like she inhaled his, and the tears fell, even though she tried to stop them. He let her cry, he didn’t scream at her about what the neighbors might think or try to drag her into the house, he just let her cry on him for a long few minutes.

“You’re tired baby, and obviously upset. Do you want to sit down? I can have someone bring you a drink or something to eat if you want?” He hadn’t pulled away or tried to push her down to the step, he’d just talked softly, soothingly, as his hands ran up and down her back to comfort her.

She pulled away, embarrassed at what she’d just done. “Wow, I’m so sorry about that. I don’t know what came over me.”

“You’re doing a very hard job, Marie, you’re going to have moments like this. It’s bound to happen. I’m just glad I can be here for you.” He pulled back a little, dried the tears in her eyes, and handed her a handkerchief out of his pocket. What man carried those now, she thought stupidly as she dried her nose on the clean cloth.

“I’m really sorry about that, Matteo. I just lost it, I guess. I’m so sorry.” She turned around, to stare out at the luxury of his spacious front yard. She didn’t really see it, she was just trying to get ahold of herself.

He pulled her back to face him and looked at her with uncertainty. Then, he seemed to make his mind up. “Come into the house, let’s watch a movie, and you can have whatever you want. You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to, or we can spend the entire night talking, whatever you want, Marie.”

“A movie sounds good.” She followed him into the house and tried to hide the sounds of her sniffles. She swiped at her nose again and wondered if he’d want the handkerchief back once she washed it?

And just like that, she was alright. He didn’t make a big deal out of it, even though she could see he wanted to, he just did what he had to do to give her the space she needed. She adored him for that far more than she would have if he’d gone off angry and made some kind of demands about her mother. There was nothing that could be done anyway.

They found a movie to watch and sprawled out on the couch together. Only a few hours before they’d been desperate to get each other naked, but that had all changed when she walked up to the house. She needed comfort, a friend more than a lover, and Matteo offered her that. That was worth more than anything to Marie at that moment.

She leaned into his chest, comfortable and content. She’d never actually had this kind of human contact before Matteo came along. Her mother had barely held her as a baby, and when she grew into a toddler, refused to pick her up at all. Her first memories were of her mother slapping her. She’d fallen, scraped her knee, and wanted comfort. She’d soon learned not to do that again.

To lie next to him like this, again, was more than a treat, it was… heaven. His arm was around her, and she held his other hand with hers, over his chest. His arm was probably numb by now, but he didn’t seem to mind. He just held her and let her rest there with him.

When the movie finished, he asked what she wanted to do next. She thought about it, and then asked him something that made him grin.

“Do you have any floats for that pool of yours?” She sat up and looked down at him. He was in a relaxed mood, with a pair of dark blue pajama bottoms and a t-shirt on. To her, it was one of the sexiest outfits he could wear.

“I do, actually. Want to swim?” He sat up too, turned the TV off, and stood up. “I can get a bottle of wine and put on some music.”

“Actually, do you have any beer? I’ve never had it. I’d like to see what all the fuss is about.”

“I do indeed,” he said with an amused chuckle.

“And a radio? There’s this channel I like. I thought it might be nice to float in the pool, spend some time staring up at the stars, and just listen to some music.”