Page 86 of Vows of a Mobster

I never outright asked Marissa if she ever thought about it or had any guilt eating up at her. There was no need to ask Daphne. I knew she pushed it out of her mind and pretended it never happened. Truthfully, she didn’t hurt anyone. She only helped Marissa and I.

Good God! I went from living a high life and the promise of being the next big thing in ballet to a murderer. Well, technically it was self-defense and me protecting my daughter. But nobody would ever believe that now. We got rid of the body. There was no evidence of what he was going to do. Just our word.

Marissa cleared her throat and I realized my mind took me away from the current situation.

All three of them were watching me, waiting. I missed a question or a comment, I just knew it.

“I’m sorry, can you repeat please?” I asked. How many times have I had to ask that question growing up? Because I never listened. It was all coming back like a volcano.

“Mateo wants you to meet him in the city for dinner,” Antonio said. “There will be boxes coming and you can choose what you want to wear.”

“I don’t-”

“That’s great,” Marissa cut me off. “She’d love to. We’ll help her get ready.”

I gave her a begging look. I couldn’t continue this charade.

“Don’t worry, Brie,” she answered in a cheerful tone, but it was forced. We’ve known each other well enough to be able to pick up on each other’s emotions. “You’ll look great.”

I swallowed hard. I won’t look so great in orange or stripes. I could feel panic rise within me and she could see it too.

“That’s all, Antonio,” Marissa dismissed him. I bit into my lip ready to lose my shit.

Thankfully, he turned around and walked away from us.

As soon as he was out of earshot, Daphne hissed, “Take a breath, Brie. You are pale as a ghost. You look like you are ready to pass out.”

Maybe I was. The whole world was crumbling around me.

“Look at Emma,” Marissa spoke firmly but sotto voce. “Tell me, if we were back in that room, the same scene, and Kyle was ready to do the same. Would you do something differently? Would you let him follow through with his plans?”

“No.” There was no need to think about it. My eyes traveled to my daughter and there was no doubt in my mind, I would have done it all again. But this time, I’d force myself to listen to Marissa and help her pull those damn teeth out.

“That’s right,” she continued. “None of us would. We did nothing wrong. It was self-defense and protecting an innocent life. Nothing will happen to us. We keep our shit together.”

“Marissa, sometimes you scare the shit out of me,” I muttered.

“Ditto,” Daphne added.

“It’s because my dad used to be head of the family,” she justified herself. “I saw some shit. Mateo is an even better head of the family than my father was. He will protect us.”

“No,” I objected in a quiet voice, glancing around. “He will protect you and Daphne. As soon as he’s done with my body, he’ll get rid of me.”

“I don’t think so,” she responded. “And I have a plan.”

“Another one?” I whispered, almost exasperated. I was starting to feel emotionally exhausted. Going from lonely, to scared, to a martyr and all the way back to a mother that was willing to kill to protect her child. All in the span of a few hours.

“Mar, don’t you think we are in enough shit as it is,” Daphne spoke low. “Wasn’t it your idea to get rid of the bodies?”

I thought back and answered, “Actually I think it might have been mine. She wanted us to pull his teeth out before we burned the body. Or maybe it was her. I can’t remember anymore.”

“Shit, we should have burned the body,” Daphne murmured under her breath.

“This conversation is so wrong,” I added. “I’m scared to ask but figured at this point, we might as well have some kind of plan. What is your plan, Mar?”

“Glad you are finally coming around,“ she announced. “Mateo is taken with you,” she started.

“For now,” I muttered.