Disastrous (Disastrous Series) (36 page)

She giggled. “No, for the wedding, silly.” My eyes squinted, and I stared at her, wondering what she was talking about. Her smile broadened, “Uncle Marc said I could be the flower girl. So when grandma was looking over colors last weekend, she thought teal and yellow would be pretty colors for a spring wedding … since Uncle Marc said you didn’t want a fall wedding.”

My heart dropped. He hadn’t told his family about our breakup … I couldn’t say anything. I just nodded and slowly turned my head blankly, staring at my own toes. I hadn’t spoken to Theresa in over a month. Wouldn’t that be strange to her? “Elle, what has Marcus said about me not being around lately?” I asked curiously.

“That you’ve been really busy with getting yourself ready for school, and now that you’ve started you won’t be around as much … Is that why you haven’t been to any of the Sunday dinners? Uncle Marc hasn’t been to them either.”

I nodded again speechless. I’d been walking around miserable for the past month for all to see, and he’d been lying to his family this entire time as if everything were okay. Did he think I would run back into his arms, and we would start where we left off? This man, he’s … Ugh! He’s beyond frustrating.

When we left the mall, it was pouring. We had to stand in the entrance before working up enough courage to run to my car. Elle and I were drenched when we entered the vehicle. We laughed, not bothered by our soaked clothing. The entire drive I couldn’t stop thinking about Marcus and his continuing lies. He made it look so easy.

Elle’s voice cut through my thoughts when I pulled into her front driveway. “Mia, this was the best girls’ day ever! We should do it again.” Her damp body pressed into mine before hopping out of the dry car and into the pouring rain. I watched as her little legs hurried into the front door, and she waved at me before entering. I smiled and waved back.

I sat in the car for a few seconds, staring at the closed door and listening to the sound of loud thumping noises from raindrops against the rooftop. Sighing, I put the car in drive and slowly removed my foot from the pedal. As I looked up, I slammed on my brakes when I saw a figure standing in front of my vehicle. It was Marcus; he was drenched and motionless staring at me. I shifted the gear to reverse. When I looked in my rearview mirror, I saw that his car was behind mine. I was trapped.

Irritation filled me. “Move!” I yelled, pointing my hand over the window. He didn’t budge. I yelled it a few more times from the top of my lungs, but still he didn’t move.

Taking the necessary steps, I exited my car. Angrily I stormed around the front of my vehicle to face him. Standing a few feet away, I allowed the rain to drench my body. I stared at him as I breathed unevenly.

The rain pulled and tugged at his shirt as he stood tall, shoulders broad and slightly hunched over. His arms were slightly bent at his side, and legs were partly separated. His shiny black hair was made unruly by the rain, and his chest heaved in and out rapidly as he stared at me. “What are you doing, Marcus?” I yelled over the loud, thundering rain.

He shrugged. “I don’t know! I don’t know what to do anymore … I have to do something to get your attention!”

Angrily, I brushed some hair away from my face. “You didn’t tell your family about us!” My arms fell to my side.

“Because I wasn’t ready, Mia! I was still hoping that …” Moving a few inches closer, he brought his hand in the air. “I still had the slightest hope that you would take me back.”

Shaking my head, I gawked at him. “Why? Give me one good reason why I should?” After pulling away another lock of hair from my face, I crossed my arms.

I stood in place as he moved in closer and said, “Because we love each other, because we deserve to be happy, and because we’re miserable without one another.”

I stared at him lost in thought. “You call this love, Marcus! We constantly fight, we hurt each other, we lie, and we keep secrets. How could you call that
love
?”

Looking down, he shook his head. The rain, now dying, dripped down his olive skin and clothing. His shirt clung to his chest, defining the muscular tone. Placing his hands to his hips, he stared at the ground for a while. I watched him as we both were at a loss for words.

Finally glancing into my eyes, he walked over, and his body hovered over mine. My heart hitched at the proximity. “I’m not perfect, Mia. And our relationship may not be perfect to
you
, but it is to
me.
You will never find one couple in this world without problems.” He tossed his hands in the air. “
Hell
, I bet there’s another man right now on the other side of this planet, standing in the pouring rain, fighting desperately for the woman he loves.”

Our breathing grew as we studied each other, searching for something. Cupping my face, his expression grew compassionate as he continued to speak. “Yes, we fight, who doesn’t? But I wouldn’t change any of it … nothing, not even your attitude.” I sucked my teeth and rolled my eyes.

Smiling, he continued. “See, like right there … I love you so much.
Please,
give me a chance to prove to you that this time around we could be happy. Let me prove to you that we are
meant
for each other. I’m so sorry for hurting you. Give us another chance, and I promise I’ll never hurt you again. I promise that I will make you happy …
please?
”

“Marcus,” I whispered. Staring into his pleading eyes, I brought my hands to his face. Why does he make it so hard for me to walk away? I do love him with all of my heart, and I would give my last breath for him. Though we walked a path that many would run away from … can I continue to walk it with him? “I’m
scared
.” I confessed. I was afraid … afraid if I caved in I would set myself up for failure.

Letting out a deep breath, he pressed his forehead down to mine. With his eyes closed, he whispered, “That’s what love is … It’s scary not knowing what’s expected … but I know it’ll be the
best
frightening love we’ve ever had.”

Seconds or minutes went by as I stood watching him. I loved him so much, and I was miserable without him, but could we do this? If this wasn’t love, then I wasn’t sure I wanted to experience love at all because what I have with him is something no one could ever replace. Without further thinking, I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him to me, locking our lips together.

His lips spread into a smile, and he slowly lifted me and tightened our embrace. We stood in the rain tangled with one another.

I wasn’t sure where our paths would take us, and although this felt both wrong yet so right, this time around I knew one thing for sure: as we gave ourselves a second chance, I had no choice but to be
cautious
.

Taking a long-needed puff of my fine Cuban cigar, I leaned back on my chair as I watched the cloud of smoke dissipate into the air. I needed to get to the bottom of this fucking mess
ASAP.
If Marky keeps giving me the fucking run around, then I’ll have no choice but to take it upon myself.

Speak of the fucking devil, he stormed through my office doors with his clothes drenched. Eyeing him suspiciously, I thought he seemed fucking anxious.

“What’s so fucking important that I had to run down now?” He snapped.

He’s been getting a little rowdy these past few fucking days. I clenched my teeth and dabbed the tip of the cigar against the ashtray. Cracking my neck, I straightened in my chair to look at him. If he wasn’t family, I would’ve fucking cracked his head with the back of my hand.

I breathed deeply to keep myself from exploding. My temper’s something that gets the best of me, so I’ll start off in a nice way … see how it goes. “Why the fuck are you soaked?”

His arms spread as he looked down at his clothes and back at me like I’m the fucking dumb-cock fuck. “It’s pouring out, what else could it be?” His arms slammed back to his side.

“You don’t own a fucking umbrella or something?” He’s pissing me the fuck off.

“What do you want, Lou?” he snapped. Marky has grown a lot of fucking balls!

It’s time to show him who the fucking boss is! “I want to know,” I was now out of my chair hovering over my desk, and I yelled from the top of my lungs, “
WHO THE FUCKING RAT IS!
”
He didn’t fucking flinch. He’s standing there staring at me like I had lost my fucking mind. This kid is going to give me a fucking heart attack!

Lowering my voice, I pressed a finger on top of my desk and glared at him. “You’ve been giving me the fucking runaround for the past few months! There have been FBI scumbags sniffing around my fucking warehouses! Either you find out who the rat is or I’ll do it myself, Marky.” I cocked my head, burning my eyes into his. “Unless you know something you’re keeping from me?”

Letting out a deep breath, he looked me square in the eye. “I don’t know shit. I’ve been dealing with personal things, but I’m back on track now … I’ll find that rat for yah. Can I go home to my girl now?”

Ever since he’s been with that fucking girl, he’s been one loose fucking canon. I stared at him for a long time. Laughing once, I adjusted my suit jacket and sat back in my chair. “That’s fine. Go back to Mia; tell her I said “hi” by the way.”
Oh
, he didn’t like that
mmmh
… His jaw clenched when I said her name.

I smirked at him. “You have another week; if I don’t have my rat, you’re off the job.”

Marky nodded, turned, and walked out the door. Vinnie walked in right after, closing the door behind him; he slowly walked over. Once he approached my desk, he reached into his inner leather jacket pocket, removing a large yellow envelope. He tossed it to me, and I grabbed it from the wood surface it just fell on. Smiling, I looked up at him. “Is this everything?”

“Yeah boss, everything you need to know about her.”

“Good, good … do me a favor. Keep a close eye on Marky … I want to know his every whereabouts.”

“Sure thing boss … anything else?”

“Nope, you did a great job, Vinnie. Make sure Stacy pays you before you leave.”

Vinnie nodded and headed out the door.

Grabbing the envelope, I pulled out all the documents. The first document I saw was a picture of Mia Sullivan. She sure is fucking beautiful. The next document listed everything about her: past employment, residence, relatives. Squinting my eyes, I took a better look at her siblings. Well I be damned … Michael Sullivan.

Motherfucker!

Snatching the phone, I made a quick phone call. “Hello, yeah it’s Lou, I need you to do me a huge favor. Meet me here at six. Thanks.” After ending the call, I re-lit my cigar and took another long puff as I continued to rummage through the documents.

If Marky thinks he has one up on me, he’s clearly fucking mistaken!

As a bonus scene, I thought I’d show you what
Disastrous
would have been like from Marcus’ point of view.

I fucking hate my life. Every day I wake up and think, “What the fuck! Couldn’t I’ve been spared today?” Yep, it’s pathetic, but it’s true. What’s even more pathetic is that my brother found me less than a month ago sprawled out on the bathroom floor with a bottle of brandy in one hand and an empty bottle of pills in the other. I wimped out and tried to leave this corrupt world in the easiest way I could think of. He rushed me to the hospital and managed to keep that shit out of the media and from our family. I still don’t know how he did it.

After that he wanted me to see a therapist.
Me? A therapist!
He was fucking losing his mind. I refuse to sit on a couch and spill my
feelings
to a cock-sucking stranger and have him help me deal with my “
issues.
”
FUCK
that!

My life consists of dealing with other’s
bullshit
instead of my own. I’m an attorney, number one in Boston according to the Boston Lawyers’ Magazine, four years in a row. I’m also a fucking sidekick for one of the largest Italian mafia families in the city, the Sorrentos. Yeah I know a lawyer by day and fucking mobster by night, who would have thought?

Anyways, that’s where I was heading, to one of my meetings with some of the guys. We meet at my club before a job to go over details and shit. I had a huge headache and could barely keep my eyes open from lack of sleep, but I’ll take care of that with a nice glass of brandy.

Jimmie, my brother, still gives me shit for drinking, but he butts out of my business and leaves me be, especially because he was the one that put me in this fucking mess to begin with. He’s lucky he’s family because he was due for a pistol whipping a long time ago.

I pulled into the back private lot of Club21 and turned off the ignition. Taking a second for me before going in, I slumped my head against the headrest. I let out a deep breath as I rubbed my temples with my fingertips. This was going to be another long night. Well I might as well get this shit done and over with. I exited my car and headed for the back entrance. Luckily tonight we were just going over details on a job scheduled for this weekend, so I should only be an hour or so tops.

After I knocked on the door twice, it opened. Vinnie was behind it and nodded at me as I walked in. “Hey boss,” he mumbled.

“Hey Vinnie, is Jimmie in yet?” Knowing my fucking brother, who was always late, he wasn’t here. I couldn’t blame him though. He always had to wait for the sitter to watch Elle: his daughter, my beautiful niece.

“Nah, not yet, he said he’s gonna be a least an hour late.”

Cock-sucker! I knew this was going to be a long night. I nodded at Vinnie and headed into the club. I was greeted by numerous people when I entered, and I gave the best charmed expression I could.

I need a drink!

Heading towards the bar, I spotted Lora … She has a nice body: big tits and a fine ass. I hit that numerous times, and I knew she’d let me in again. All I’d have to do is nudge my head toward my
VIP
room, and she’d squeal like a fucking teenage girl. She spotted me. Smiling seductively, she made her way over.