Page 31 of A Treasure To Keep
“You never need to ask me that.” We climb into bed, and I pull her toward me. The citrus and floral scent of her shampoo mixed with Marco’s T-shirt envelops me as she falls asleep in my arms. I wait until her breathing settles before I let sleep take me.
Chapter 34
Marco
It’s been about ten weeks since we started regularly sleeping together and six weeks since I face fucked Andrea in the dressing room. The conversation with James made me think more clearly about our relationship. Or whatever this is.
The next day, I reached out to El, hoping to set things straight. Surprisingly, she said to call her after she got home from work to smooth everything over. We’ve gotten more casual with the rules and continue to fuck together, with our moments when it’s two of us instead of three. I haven’t told anyone about what’s going on, including Alessandro, and I tell him everything. He wouldn’t care who I’m fucking or that I’m fucking a dude, but we made a rule not to tell anyone, and I want to respect that.
I swipe up my truck keys after sneaking El out this morning to meet her at the store to shop for Luci’s baby shower. She fell asleep before Andrea had to leave, since he had an early work meeting. The one thing I’ve learned about El is that she’s a bitch to everyone, including Andrea, if she’s woken up in the middle ofa sleep cycle. Ironically, Andrea is the same way. We decided it would be best for her to stay here.
As I go to leave, I run into Alessandro in the kitchen while he drinks his morning coffee.
“Marco, wait a second.” Shit.
“What’s up? I’m running late. I’m the chosen one to help El shop for Luci’s baby shower. In her words, ‘I need muscle, and since Enzo and Domenico are busy, you’re my last option.’ Can you fucking believe that?”
“I can. Could I ask that you be more subtle when you’re sneaking out your pieces of ass in the morning? I don’t want my daughter growing up seeing different women in and out of this house.” I thought he saw me sneak out El specifically. I get his point, though.
“No problem, man. I need to head out. El will threaten to castrate me if I keep her waiting.”
When I pull into the parking lot, I park close to El’s car. I lock my truck on my way into the store, finding El standing at the entrance, tapping the toe of her shoe, and her arms crossed. She rolls her eyes when she sees me, uncrossing her arms, and approaches me.
“What took you so long?” Surprisingly, she has a hint of concern in her voice instead of the annoyance her body language had shown seconds ago.
“Alessandro stopped me. He saw me sneaking a woman out this morning.” She stops in her path, eyes wide, and I know she’s thinking what I was. “Don’t worry, he didn’t see it was you. He wanted to make sure his and Luci’s daughter doesn’tgrow up seeing women I hook up with in and out of the house constantly.”
“Oh, thank god. I wouldn’t know how to explain what’s going on if they found out. That’s an issue we can worry about some other time. Let’s get everything we need for Luci’s baby shower. I have to be over there in a couple of hours to finish Luci’s hair and makeup. I won’t have time to set up after. Unless you want to set it up by yourself, we need to make this quick. Don’t worry, I have everything picked out for the most part.” She walks off as I process what she said. Hold on. Did she saywe?
I catch up to El, currently in the party section, searching in the back of a shelf for what she wants. “Hold the fuck up! Did you say ‘we’?”
“Yeah, I did. I can’t set this up by myself. Alessandro insisted on having massive doors. I’m not searching for a ladder and praying to God that I don’t fall. Also, some of the stuff takes muscle, and you have muscle out the ass. Please?” She faces me, a flirtatious smile crossing her face. Is this how she gets Andrea to do her bidding?
“Only because you said please.” I pull El toward me, Little Marco suddenly understanding what I crave from her. Suddenly, we hear a voice greeting us from the end of the aisle.
“Look who it is! Eleanora Gallo. It’s been a while.” El suddenly shoves me away the second he finishes his sentence. He eyes me up and down, a cocky smile on his face.
“Who’s this? What happened to that French guy?”
El’s face falls flat; anger and insecurity edged across her face when he walks up toward us. “I’m her and Andrea’s friend, Marco. I’m the muscle helping El shop for a friend’s party. And you are?”
“Excuse me, how rude. Giovanni D’Angelo. My family is old friends with the Gallos, and Eleanora and I dated in college.”
He holds out his hand, and I shake it, not missing the slight hiss he gives when I squeeze his hand too tightly. Pussy.
I turn to El, baffled that she would ever date a guy who sucks away her personality. “You dated this guy? I can instantly tell that you’re too good for him. Do you see his outfit? He’s every copycat asshole that’s ever existed.”
“And I’m supposed to take advice from you? Everything I’m wearing is designer. Speaking of designer. Eleanora, you never gave me back the ring.”
“I sold that fucking ring the day I caught you balls deep in Mirabella. How is she, anyway?”
“Mirabella got comfortable and let herself go. Similar to you, but more. I couldn’t have her as my wife. I saw your parents the other night at the benefit my parents host every year. They’re extremely concerned about you. They mentioned that you had moved in with your boyfriend. They asked me to reach out, so it’s convenient that I saw you here. If you would simply apologize, I’d get you the best trainer, and we could try us again. You know, we could have been a fantastic couple.”
This fucking asshole. I grab him by the throat, slamming him into the shelves as several things get knocked over. “If you say any more dumb shit, I will snap your pussy ass neck. Andrea and El deserve each other, unlike you. Crawl back into whatever hole you came out of. If I find out you ever speak to her again, I will hunt you down and feed you your tiny dick for dinner. Got it?” I squeeze his neck tighter before letting him go. He scrambles off, leaving the cart with his items behind. Good.
“Did you have to cause a scene? I’m not arguing with it. He deserves it, but still.” I do this for her, and that’s the reaction I get?
“He gaslit you, body-shamed you, and blamed you for cheating. How could I not? Did you seriously date him all through college? Also, you went to college?”