Page 35 of Vows of a Mobster

Thankfully, he walked away and I let out a breath. “I just wish he would stop,” I muttered.

Marissa opened her mouth to say something when her mother called out to her. “I’ll be right back,” she promised.

I glanced at Emma and was happy to see her playing cheerfully with others, feeling at home already. It was so much easier being a kid. I walked towards the outskirts of the yard, where I could still see Emma but I wasn’t in the middle of the crowd. It was what I had always done during my stepfather’s parties too. If I wasn’t by his side, I’d find a corner where I could be unnoticed.

Daphne followed me along.

“Marissa is really happy you came,” she told me.

It was such a simple thing to make her happy. “Yeah, me too. For the most part.”

“Liar,” she teased and I stuck my tongue at her. “Knowing who your parents were, you must have had lots of large parties.

“Yes, they did.”

“How did you survive all those gatherings?”

“Trust me, it was painful,” I told her. “It isn’t so much the crowd that bothers me, but more not reading people well enough to know whether they are safe or not.”

“What do you mean?”

My eyes traveled again to Emma. “I was about ten when I had to attend my first state dinner. I was bored out of my mind. Bored and tired. My ballet classes were intense and my days were long. Anyhow, it was ten at night and I was still at the party my mom hosted for Dad’s political run. This woman started talking to me. She was nice, I had no clue who she was. We chatted a little bit about this and that. She asked how I liked the party. I told her that I hated it and couldn’t wait to go to bed since I had practice at five a.m. She asked me why I was at the party and not in bed. I told her because my mother made me. Anyhow, I said a few other things. It turned out the woman was a journalist and we were blasted all over the paper.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, it was a painful lesson.” It was ironic because my stepdad saved me from Mother’s rage.

“How did that work out with all your ballet performances?”

“I hated the mingling part afterwards. Other than that, it wasn’t bad. When you are on the stage, it is not that crowded.”

Daphne watched me pensive but remained silent. “What?” I asked her.

“I just want to see you happy.” Her words shocked me.

“Do I not seem happy?” It was a dumb question.

“No, you don’t,” Daphne answered, taking me into a tight hug. “Honestly, I don’t think I’ve seen you truly happy since the last time I saw you dance. I think it is the only time you are happy, when you perform on the stage. It is so obvious each time you step up to cover for one of the ballerinas.” She eyed me perceptively. “Some days you seem content but then others, not so much.”

Of course she would have noticed that. Ballet was such an important part of me. Some days I could kick myself for letting it go. But how was I to know it would all end up here?

Marissa ran and wrapped her arms around me from behind me while Daphne swarmed me from the front, while I pondered Daphne’s words. I always thought dance was my mother’s dream not mine. She pushed me so hard, I resented it. It took me a long time to realize it was something I enjoyed too and would have stayed at it if my mother wasn’t so hard on me.

“Are you glad you said yes and came?” Marissa beamed.

“Thrilled,” I retorted dryly. “I wished you told me Marcus would be here.”

“I’m sorry,” she pouted. “I knew you wouldn’t come then. So I left that little detail out.”

My eyes searched for my daughter. Her blonde hair bobbled as she squealed playing with all of them and my heart swelled. There was nothing that mattered more to me than her. I’d do anything for her. She was still playing with Marissa’s little cousins. God, this family had lots of little cousins.

“Just ignore him, Brie,” Daphne chimed in. “He just wants what he knows he can’t have. You are too good for him.”

It wasn’t the matter of being too good or too bad for anyone. I just didn’t want that mess in my life. I made my life plenty messy. Marcus wouldn’t be a good way to get back to dating. His brother, on the other hand. God, he was dreamy, handsome, and set off all kinds of flames to my body. He seemed a lot more serious than Marcus. Although, I was sure he had an abundance of women after him, more experienced and sophisticated than me.

“Ah, here is the birthday girl,” a deep, familiar man’s voice reached out. I couldn’t quite place it or my brain was too slow to catch up. I tried to turn my head in the direction of it, but all I got was a shitload of Daphne’s honey colored hair in my face.

“Mateo!” A nervous squeal left Marissa’s lips. Ah, Marcus’ brother! And my heart promptly skipped a beat and butterflies fluttered in my stomach. “You made it.”