Page 32 of Mafia’s Dirty Secret

“I went to Italy to study for a couple of years, right after I turned 18. I thought I had time, you know? I didn’t go home once in all that time, because I was enjoying myself too much. Mom was only 38, she’d had a cough for a very long time, but she said it was only allergies. We didn’t worry about it. Mom just… coughed a lot.” His voice trailed off on a note of strangled pain. He took a deep breath, tightened his arms around her, and continued. “She found out she had cancer a month before she died. She’d started chemo, all the things she was supposed to do, and she told me to stay in Italy. I had two more months before I was supposed to come back home, so she told me to stay, that she’d be fine.”

“But she wasn’t?” Marie prodded when he went silent again. She didn’t want to cause him more pain, but she wanted him to continue. He so rarely talked about himself, about his personal life, that she didn’t want him to stop.

“The cancer had spread over the years, all around her lungs, down into her abdomen. It spread into her lower aorta and caused massive internal bleeding. She bled out before the doctors at the hospital could stop it. I never got to see her again.” His voice was thick by that time, full of raw pain that he held at bay.

Marie’s fingers tightened on him, an involuntary movement to bring him closer, to ease his pain. She turned her face, kissed his jaw, and held him as the quiet moment went on. “I’m so sorry you never got to see her again.”

“I am too, which is why I’m pushing you out of this bed and on your way home.” He got out of the bed suddenly and clapped his hands. “Out you go, Marie. Let’s get the day started.”

His smile was a little wobbly, but his eyes were clear, and his body relaxed. He’d brushed off his own pain and focused on her. It made Marie wonder if she’d ever stop melting over him. She put on a brave smile and slid out of the bed.

“Fine,” she said as she pulled her hair into a bun and secured it with the hair tie she’d left on the bedside table. “I guess I should get home.”

“Yep. I’ll see you later this evening, and you can tell me how your day was. I’ll text you later.” He kissed her and disappeared down the hall.

She found the other bathroom he’d shown her and cleaned up a little. She had her own toothpaste and toothbrush in here; her own shower products, and towels. It was kind of nice to know she had her own things at his house.

He’d left by the time she walked out the door and got in her car. Light slanted along the top of the trees and straight at her face as she got behind the wheel. She flicked down the sun visor, but it didn’t really help. This was the only thing she hated about mornings, driving in that bright sunlight that blinded her, yet left other places so very dark.

She made it home in time to let Regina give her the rundown of the previous night and say goodbye. Her mother had slept, again, thankfully. She was still asleep, so Marie went into her bedroom, changed clothes, and put a load of dirty clothes in the washer. She spent the morning in the laundry room and folded loads as they came out of the dryer. By the time Jane showed up, the table was full of clothes, bed linens, and towels.

“You’ve had a busy morning.” The cheerful face of the nurse came into view around the edge of the doorframe and Marie smiled in greeting.

“I have, but it’s all clean now, I think.” It was a task she didn’t mind doing; it helped her to relax, even though the folding was physical work.

“Good, where are you off to today?”

“I have to go to the library, the grocery store, and stop by the pharmacy. No coffee and beignets today, I’m afraid.”

“Well, don’t rush too much. I’ll be here, so she’s in good hands.”

Marie nodded her thanks and left the laundry room. She went by the library first, found a new stack of books, and then went to the pharmacy. The insurance company had given the pharmacist a fit over one of her mother’s medicines, so Marie used her new phone to call them. She’d sometimes have to use the one at the pharmacy to make these calls, but she had her own now and got the matter sorted quickly.

She then made her way to the store. She noticed a few open stares from staff members, and a few other customers, but ignored them. She was used to being blanked and knew there must be rumors going around about her relationship with Matteo. She could almost imagine them all tittering to each other about it.

“What does he see in her?” one would say, without knowing Marie at all. They only knew the rumors. Some might remember her from school, but even back then, nobody had spoken to her.

“She’s a slut, just like her mother was,” another might say, probably the slighted wife of one of Ruby’s former conquests.

“She’s only after his money. Her mother was money-hungry too until karma bit her in the ass and made her sick,” another bitter rival might say.

They were all things she’d heard, in one fashion or another, before. People were mean, snide, and downright snotty. Marie had stopped wondering why a long time ago. They didn’t know her, and never would because her mother made sure they were both outcasts. Marie didn’t care, she decided as she slung a box of cereal into the cart and went down to the dairy section. The people that stared, and their opinions, really didn’t matter to her at all.

The only person that really mattered was Matteo, and she was sure he’d been warned about her by someone already. Some busybody would have warned him, with a knowing stare, to stay away from Marie Hebert. They might have even added in that she was no good.

He didn’t seem to care, though, so she didn’t either. Fuck them and their opinions.

She went home, spent a few minutes with Jane, and then went into her mother’s bedroom. Her mother’s eyes narrowed when she saw the marks on Marie’s face, and a look of guilt swept over her features. It wasn’t there for long, but Marie saw it.

That look confused her. Her mother never said she was sorry, never apologized for anything. She didn’t promise to never hit or scream at Marie again. She just did as she pleased, with no regrets. But Marie could have sworn she saw it there on her mother’s face, even if it hadn’t lasted very long.

“Out slutting around again were you?”

“Oh, yes, Momma. I slutted it up with the pharmacist, with the butcher at the grocery store, and then, for good measure, I did more slutting over at the library with the pretty new librarian.” Marie wasn’t sure what exactly had come over her, but she didn’t question it too much. Matteo had given her strength, shown her she had worth, and now, she would use that strength to help her get through this time with her mother.

“That’s not funny, Marie. It’s not funny at all. Where’s my lunch?” Ruby glared at her daughter. Her brows knit together when Marie didn’t flinch or hang her head.

Marie saw the confusion and smiled even more. “I thought it was funny, Momma. Your lunch will be ready in five minutes. I’ll see if I can find someone else to slut with while I prepare it.”