Page 41 of Vows of a Mobster

“How do you manage to reject me so nicely?” he asked through a chuckle.

“It’s a skill she gained with lots and lots of practice,” Marissa responded cackling. “Trust me. There is nobody better than Brie at rejecting men.”

She grinned at Brianna and the latter just rolled her eyes.

“Boy, it would seem you are out,” Antonio chimed in, looking at Marcus. “Besides, you tried to drown her kid so you would have to sleep with an eye open.”

Brianna’s eyes traveled to her daughter again. “That’s settled then,” she commented.

“Where is your ex-husband anyhow?” he asked her. Marissa, Daphne, and Brianna stiffened and shared the briefest of glances. It was barely visible but I caught it. Antonio saw it too.

“Marcus,” I warned my younger brother.

“I never got married,” Brianna murmured softly, taking another swag of her drink.

“And where are your parents?” Marcus continued questioning her, completely oblivious of what was going on.

Brianna’s eyes darted to the playground. “My mother kicked me out when I got pregnant,” she returned her gaze to the table, her eyes on my brother. “You know, being Catholic, pregnant, not married, and all.” She smiled, but that smile was hiding something.

“You are Catholic?” Marcus asked in shock.

Brianna rolled her eyes. “Yep, I guess so. Although I can’t remember the last time I was in church.” She took another drink of her beer. “Ah, yes. I remember now. It almost burned down as soon as I walked in.”

Marissa and Daphne burst into laughter. “Tried to hit on a priest?” Marissa winked.

“Actually worse,” Brianna replied. “I really liked Britney Spears’ songs back then. We were in the Vatican, Dad and Mom getting their special tour. My phone goes off and guess what the ringtone was?”

““Oops!... I Did it Again”?” Daphne guessed.

Brianna had a little mischievous smile around her lips. “Nope. Although not a bad guess. It was that single “I’m a Slave 4 U”.” I had no clue what that song was and both of her friends frowned too. “Oh, come on. You have to know it.”

“Are you sure that was Britney?” Marissa asked. “Or maybe you are thinking “Baby Hit Me One More Time”?”

“That was a good song but no, that is not it. Trust me, as many times as my ringtone went off that day, I would never forget.” She put her beer down and pulled the phone out of her pocket. With a quick scroll down, she finally exclaimed. “Here it is.”

She pressed the play button and music came on. Some seductive song about being young and dancing for a guy. It certainly made me feel old. Her eyes searched out Marissa and Daphne, her eyebrow raised. “You know it, right?”

“Oh, yeah. I remember that one. That video was quite something. Totally sexy,” Daphne announced, glancing Antonio’s way, then quickly averted her eyes. “Bet your mom liked that one.”

Brianna pressed the end button. “She loved it,” she cackled. “In fact, she loved it so much we flew back home that night and the next day we were in the paper. Highlight of my trip and I missed it.”

“You were a naughty girl, weren’t you?” Marcus butted in, feeling left out. Sometimes he should just observe.

She met his gaze straight on. “Why? Because I listened to a suggestive song?”

Marcus shifted uncomfortably but the fucking idiot continued. “Maybe. Umm… so why didn’t you marry the baby’s father?” He pulled a chair over from the other table, actually wanting to hear the story.

God, sometimes my brother really didn’t understand women. How he managed to get into their pants was a mystery. No wonder Marissa was so positive Brianna would keep him at bay. He didn’t stand a chance with that woman.

Brianna took another drink of her beer and shrugged her one shoulder. “Turns out he wasn’t my type.”

“Does he still come around?”

All three girls stiffened again. Something was up here. And it had to do with Brianna’s ex. I could see Antonio picking up on it too. He was smart, and thankfully on my side.

“No.”

“Did he help financially support you after you were kicked out?” Brianna gave him an exasperated look.