Page 35 of Bad Husband

He knew differently. He knew that each day he spent with her, the more he got to know her, the easier it was to fall for her. She was so beautiful. Inside and out. The world nor the Bove Mafia hadn’t gotten to her, hadn’t destroyed her. That was one of the many things he loved about her. She hadn’t been so deeply affected. Angelo had kept her away and tried to keep her pure and untainted by their world. And yet, married to him, he’d brought that world to her. He’d nearly destroyed her. He saw her, in his mind, begging to be heard. Terrified.

“I don’t deserve you,” he said.

“What?”

“I’m a fucking monster for what I did.”

“Marco—”

“I’m a selfish bastard. I can’t bear to be without you, and I ... I took you away from all you knew, and I messed this up. I didn’t want to live without you, Chiara. I have loved you for a long time, and I didn’t want to lose you. I’m so very fucking sorry, and I know that doesn’t even begin to make it better. I am so fucking sorry.”

And then, Marco surprised himself as he pressed his face against her neck. In all his adult life, Marco had never cried. The last time he did cry, his father punished him and told him men didn’t cry. Only wimps cried. Strong men did not break.

Knowing what he had done, how he nearly hurt her, he sobbed against Chiara’s neck, because he knew he didn’t deserve her.

****

The storm passed, and Marco was able to get his trailer turned back right and fixed. He also got it secured to the ground. Chiara knew he was different.

He allowed the dogs to come between their trailers, but he withdrew from her. Chiara, never imagined Marco would cry. He had said he was sorry, and he’d made so many excuses for what happened, but this was different. She felt his apology deep in her core.

There was no getting away from this one. This was not just a bunch of words or excuses. Marco genuinely felt sorry, and she believed every word he said. It was ... shocking. And they hadn’t spoke about it since.

It was cold outside, and the diner had a lot of people, and Chiara was taking a few orders when she heard the rumble of bikes making their way near the front of the shop. Chiara looked toward the bikers. There were at least ten men, and Heather looked afraid.

She’d been warned about this biker group. There was no name, no logo, no insignia. They wore leather cuts, drove bikes, and Rosemary always described them as being a bunch of scary motherfuckers.

This is exactly what she saw as they climbed off the bikes. Ten men. All of them with attitude. She tensed up as one of them kicked over the diner sign and laughed about it. They entered the diner and laughed as they did so. The blind that was on the door came down, and another tossed it outside.

The atmosphere changed instantly. The whole town hated this biker club. They all tried to ignore them and let them breeze through town. This was her first encounter with them, and looking back to the kitchen, she saw Rosemary’s pursed lips. Her boss wasn’t happy.

Looking across the room, she saw Marco staring at them. He didn’t look happy either.

Chiara wasn’t afraid. Even though there were ten strong-looking men, she had a horrible feeling if they faced off with Marco, they were not going to win. Marco was known for being a monster, a beast. She’d heard tales of how bad he got, that he was feared amongst the Bove Mafia. He killed people without mercy. When a job needed to be done, it wasn’t mercenaries or a special group of people the Bove boss man sent, it was Marco. Men respected and feared him. As did women. Some women had looked at her with real fear for her life.

Chiara held her notebook in her hand and didn’t know if she should approach the men. Heather attempted to keep a wide berth, and Marco approached.

She noticed a couple of families were trying to sink down into the seats. The kids looked afraid, so she sprang into action and quickly made her way over to check on them. The parents looked happy, but she knew none of them were going to try to leave, for fear of drawing attention to themselves. This was what happened. The men attacked all those that appeared to be weak.

“You’re a sight for sore eyes,” one of the men said.

Chiara looked back in time to see one of the men literally slap Marco on the ass, treating him like a piece of meat. She shared a look with Heather, but Marco did not react. This was not good. If Marco reacted, that would mean they would all make it out alive. He didn’t react, which meant he was building up his anger. Was this because he had sobbed into her shoulder? Was he angry at being weak?

She saw the anger in Marco’s face, and it was strange, because she realized all those months ago, when she thought he was angry with her, he wasn’t. This was real rage. It was lethal, and only those that knew what Marco was like, could see it.

All those months ago, she realized now that Marco had looked at her, and he’d been afraid for her. Even when he thought she had betrayed him, she truly believed he was also trying to protect her. And it surprised her.

Marco took the men’s orders and walked to Rosemary with calmness. Nothing was given away in how he moved. She knew he was nothing more than a ticking time bomb waiting to explode. He was going to fire and blast them all away. She felt nervous and a little sick to her stomach.

The men got louder, and they started to throw stuff.

She leaned down and smiled at the kids. “Would you guys like a chocolate milkshake with extra chocolate sauce?”

They nodded and even the parents did.

“I will get that for you.” She wanted to make them feel comforted, even though she, herself, was feeling a little out of sorts. She wanted to protect them all. She didn’t know how she was going to do that.

Chiara tried to keep a large distance between herself and the men, but it was no use, as she cried out when someone wrapped their arms around her waist and pulled her toward him. She tried to fight to get away. The last thing she wanted was to be in this man’s arms. Rosemary warned her to keep away from them, which is what she tried to do, so far to no avail. Hands grabbed her roughly, and she cried out as he touched her breasts and squeezed tightly.