Page 49 of Vows of a Mobster

“Mateo,” Marissa answered in a low voice.

“What?” she screeched.

“Hey, baby,” I stopped the whole conversation. Emma was looking at all of us wide-eyed. “Want to go play for a bit?”

I tried to keep my voice low, although my insides shook. She bit the bullet and went off, leaving us to our conversation.

“What the hell is going on?” Daphne asked in a low tone.

Marissa and I shared a look, then she started. “Mateo wants Brianna. On Monday he is pulling her from Marcus but hewantsher. I tried to offer you to him, Daphne, but he said no.”

“Thank God,” she murmured.

“That bad?” I asked, cringing, although my insides burned hot at the thought of Mateo’s hands on my body.

“No, no,” Daphne answered quickly. “I hear women fall all over themselves for him. Women younger than us too but he never keeps a woman around long. I hear he is a good lover.”

“Shit, shit, shit,” I muttered, pushing my hands through my hair then holding my head. “I guess there is good news here.”

“There is?” they both asked in unison.

“You said he never keeps a woman around long.” I couldn’t even believe we were discussing this. “This is such bad timing all around,” I muttered.

“Is there ever good timing?” Marissa asked wryly. She had a point.

“Emma’s treatments start on Wednesday,” I told them both.

“Shit!” All three of us said at the same time.

I looked at both women. “What if he-” I couldn’t even say it. “Marissa, are you sure he doesn’t know? I can’t handle something happening to you two.”

“No, he doesn’t know,” she responded firmly. “But if you refuse him, he’ll dig. I told you, he is relentless when he wants something. And he wants you.”

“We need to get our story straight,” I told them both. “I don’t want a repeat of Giovanni. If it comes out, it was all me. Got it?”

“No, fuck no,” Daphne spat.

“I agree with Daphne,” Marissa added.

“Are you two mental?” I hissed at two of them. “If all three of us are killed, who will take care of Emma? If he starts digging, it is just me that did it all. Then I asked Giovanni for help with erasing the internet trail. Okay?”

They both shook their heads in refusal.

I loved them but they were starting to piss me off. “I won’t agree to be his- his, I don’t know what to call it.” I thought for a second, then continued. “His secretary that sleeps with him. That sounds so bad!” I paced back and forth in the small kitchen. “Why would you ever let me meet the mobster?” I asked exasperatedly. “And then not even warn me to keep out of his way?”

Although if I was being truthful, I met him before today.

“I’m sorry, Brie,” Marissa uttered. I couldn’t blame her. She said it herself; I wasn’t even his type.

“No, I’m sorry Mar.” I hugged her, then stepped back. “We can get through this.”

Daphne didn’t look like she believed that.

We didn’t have much choice. Either we do it the easy way or we’d do it the hard way, and I wasn’t willing to let Marissa and Daphne endure what Giovanni did. It was hard to get over that, although he seemed to forget it the next day.

“What do you think he wants with me?” I questioned. “And what is the longest we should expect this to last? We might as well go into it prepared.”

“I think his longest relationship was about a month,” Daphne answered.