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“Mary Catherine, you’re looking stunning this evening,” Gianna says as they approach the Russo family gathered near the middle of the restaurant. The place has been closed for the night to host the party. Mary shivers in disgust as both Russo men take in her appearance from head to toe. She can see lust in both men’s gazes.
“Thank you, Gianna,” Mary replies. “You’re looking gorgeous tonight.” Gianna is dressed in form fitting black evening gown. The sequins glitter as she moves. It also has a deep V showing off her ample cleavage. Gianna moves to give her a quick hug and kiss on the cheek. Movement catches Mary’s gaze. Julianna moves out from behind Russo, Jr. Mary notices her hand trails over his ass as she passes. He makes no indication that he’s felt her touch. Mary can see these two have gotten very good at hiding their relationship, but Mary is certain it’s more than step-mother and step-son. Bile rises in her throat. She can’t marry this man. No way.
Russo, Jr. comes to greet her as well. He pulls Mary to him in a hug with a kiss to her cheek. She tries her best to smile, but she only feels disgust. She has to admit he would be a handsome man if he weren’t so evil. She can feel it radiating off him and even worse from his father.
“Mary Catherine,” Junior whispers into her ear. “You look gorgeous. I can’t wait until we are married and I can get you out of that dress.” Mary swallows hard doing her best not to throw up at the image his words have put in her head. Tears prick her eyes, she can’t fathom giving her most precious gift, her virginity, to this man. In this moment, she begins to ponder a way to get out of this marriage. She’s come to understand in the last few days she’ll get no help from her father or her brother, but she might have help from the detective who called her down to the station yesterday to question her about the night her mother died.
Junior pulls back from whispering in her ear to take in her appearance. He frowns as if she isn’t looking like he expected. Perhaps he thought he would see desire in her eyes. Mary isn’t sure what he expected, but she hasn’t given it to him. His grip on her biceps tightens. Her eyes fly to his. His gaze his hard. His jaw ticking in irritation. He pulls her roughly through the crowd of gathered guest and into a back office where they will have some privacy. He slams the door shut behind them. He flicks a lock into place before he turns back to her.
“What’s wrong with you?” he demands the moment they are alone. Mary’s eyes are wide with fear. She can tell he’s angry. She doesn’t know him or what he’ll do if she says the wrong thing.
“I…I don’t comprehend what you mean,” Mary stammers in her fear. He glares at her for a moment, still holding her upper arms too tightly. Suddenly his lips are crushing hers in a brutal kiss. He forces his tongue into her mouth, taking what he wants. Mary is shocked, and she can’t bring herself to kiss him back. After several sickening moments, he breaks the kiss with a growl, shoving her away from him. She stumbles as her heel catches on a throw rug. She falls backward landing on a couch that’s sitting against the wall.
She doesn’t have time to register what’s happening before he is on her again. Kissing her, groping her breasts through her gown. Mary is terrified. Is he going to rape her? He grinds his pelvis against her. She lays perfectly still. She doesn’t fight him. He’s too strong. She can’t fight him off and fighting will only make it worse. He suddenly stops. His breathing is harsh. His weight crushing her body into the soft leather of the couch.
“Damn you’re a cold fish,” he says after he has his breathing under control. Mary stares at him. How can he expect her to respond to being attacked? His next words are chilling. “Going to make our wedding night difficult, but we will be consummating this marriage, Mary Catherine, so you need to get used to the idea. What’s the problem? Don’t you like men?” He looks down at her. He no longer seems angry, just curious.
Mary swallows not sure if she’ll be able to speak after everything that’s happened. Taking a deep breath, she tests her voice. “You startled me,” she says softly. “I…I don’t have any experience with this.” She motions between them. His brows furrow.
“What are you saying, Mary Catherine?” Junior questions. He stares at her a few seconds, then understanding dawns on his face. “You’re a virgin?” he questions incredulously. Mary nods and looks away. She isn’t sure why she feels ashamed to admit this to him but feels unsure of herself in the moment. He huffs out a breath, which fans the hair around her face. “Fuck!” he exclaims. He pulls back, taking her hand he pulls her into a seated position. “I never thought you’d be a virgin. I just assumed…You’re what twenty?”
“Yes,” Mary replies softly. “My mother was very protective. I haven’t dated much. I’ve spent most of time at singing lessons and rehearsing for concerts. There just hasn’t been time to build relationships.” He glances over at her then. Something is working in his mind. His hand comes up to caress the side of her face. His touch is gentle, but it does nothing to make Mary feel anything other than fear from him.
“I understand, Mary Catherine.” His voice has thickened with desire. “I’m pleased you’ve never been with a man. You’ll truly be mine and mine alone.” Fear shoots through her at his words. He leans in and kisses her again. This time it’s a gentle kiss. He coaxes her lips apart. Mary tries to relax and kiss him back, but she doesn’t feel any desire at all. He ends the kiss to look into her eyes. “Soon, you’ll be mine. I’ll have you begging for my touch, for my cock to be buried deep inside you. You’ll beg me to fuck you.” Mary gulps at his crass words. She can hardly breath from her fear. She’s afraid to move or speak. She doesn’t want to set him off again, but he’s looking as if he’s expecting an answer, so she nods her agreement. He smiles then and it actually reaches his eyes. It transforms his face and she thinks he is handsome, but she will never let him take her virginity. She manages to give him a tight smile.
Junior stands and pulls her to her feet. He places a quick kiss to her lips. Then he leads her out of the office and back to the engagement party. The rest of the night, Mary plans how she can get away from prying eyes long enough to call the detective who had slipped his card into her purse when she’d been interviewed at the police station. Since her mother’s death, she hasn’t been allowed to go anywhere without an escort. If not her father or brother with her, then one of their goons as she’s come to think of them. They watch her every move. Even during her police interview, she’d been accompanied by her father’s lawyer who censored her answers. She’d been surprised when she’d gotten home from the interview to find the detective’s card in her purse.
Mary didn’t appreciate it at the time, but Gianna would be the key to getting away from the nightmare that had become her life.
* * *
“Hey!”Tucker’s voice and the touch of his hand startles her out of her memories. “Where’d you go?” Ruby shakes her head clearing the remainder of her memories. How can she tell him about her former life? What will he think about it? About her? Would he realize she isn’t worth the trouble being with her will cause him? She’s afraid that’s the conclusion he will come to, and she isn’t ready just yet to lose this connection she has with him.
20
RUBY
Tank studies Ruby’s profile as she stares out the window at the passing night. They have a long drive ahead of them. It’s over five hours to Savannah, but he felt the change of scenery might help her to open up to him. Additionally, at least for the next few days, she has a warm safe place to sleep, and he intends to make sure she has three good meals a day and plenty of snacks.
She’s gone quiet after he’d mentioned her belongings. He hasn’t given much thought to it until this second. She can’t have many clothes or belongings of any sort. She only has what she can carry in her backpack. He grits his teeth. It’s just not right. This beautiful woman should have a home, food, clothing, and safety. As he glances over at her once more before focusing on the road, he determines he is going to make sure she has all of those things and more. She deserves closets full of clothes, not just a couple of changes in a damn backpack.
Tank has planned a loose itinerary for their trip, but he adds shopping for some clothes, toiletries, and trinkets to his list of things they must do. He will work on getting her to think about staying with him at his house once they are back from their trip. There’s a guest room, which is nicely furnished. He’ll just have to make sure this weekend goes well and then convince her to let him help her. Tank glances over at Ruby again. Her face is drawn into a scowl. He wonders what’s she’s fretting over. He doesn’t like seeing that look on her face. He reaches out to take her hand.
“Hey!” he says. “Where’d you go?” She startles at his question. She shakes her head and looks at him intently for a moment. She swallows and licks her lips. He can’t keep from staring at her freshly moistened full lips. God how he would love to kiss them. Desire hits him. He wishes they weren’t driving down the road at seventy miles an hour. Even more he wishes they were at a place in their relationship where he could expect to kiss those lips and more once they are stopped.
“Nowhere.” Is her is soft reply. “I’m just looking forward to the trip.” She gives him a smile, but it doesn’t reach her eyes like it normally does. She’s not giving him the full truth. He can sense it. She might not be outright lying, but she’s not telling him what she’s really thinking either. Disappointment hits him. His lips tighten into a hard line. He wishes she trusted him more, but that’s the point of this trip. He isn’t going to give up or let his disappointment deter him in getting Ruby to trust him. He needs to be patient, show her he’s a man of his word, and give her time to trust him.
“Have you ever been to Savannah?” Tank asks, wanting to change the subject.
“Yes, I’ve been there a few times,” Ruby answers still giving off nervous vibes. He needs to get her to relax. He decides honesty is the best policy, and he needs her to understand he won’t judge her for her past. “It’s a nice town,” Ruby continues her thought, “It’s full of history and architecture. Not only that, but it’s usually a little warmer there this time of year.” She gives him a real smile this time. He smiles back at her.
“You don’t like winter?” he asks, not thinking about how the weather affects her lifestyle.
“I used to love winter,” Ruby replies, her eyes going to somewhere far away. “I loved wearing sweaters and a heavy coat. Walking through the snow in my boots.” A bright happy smile lights her face. “I remember one winter we got several feet of snow. Tony and I were so bored being stuck in the house for days. We had been fighting, picking at each other. Poor Mom finally had enough. When Dad finished his work in his office, mom made all of us, the whole family go outside for an hour.”
Ruby looks over at him smiling so big. “It’s one of my happiest memories of my family. We had such a fun time before it got too dark to see. We made a snowman. It was huge. Dad and Tony rolled and rolled the snow to make the biggest snowman I’d ever seen. Dad could hardly lift the head into place.” She laughs at her memories. “Mom told him to be careful or he’d get a hernia.” She laughs some more. “That prompted Dad to make a snowball and throw it at Mom. She looked so shocked at first, then it was on! The boys against the girls.” Ruby’s giggling makes Tank so happy. She’s sharing with him. She’s so lost in her memories she doesn’t realize she sharing a part of her past. “We won of course.” She grins at him.
“Of course,” Tank agrees, smiling back at her. He loves seeing her like this. Smiling, no worry on her face.
