It was me who stopped it from bouncing into the road. I blocked it with my foot and picked it up.
The kid ran to me with a bright smile on his face.
“Thanks Mister.” He bubbled. I stared at him and narrowed my eyes.
He looked like her, but he also looked like someone else I knew too.
“Hey kid. You got a good leg on you,” I complimented him and crouched down to look at him properly. “Do you play for a team?” I knew how to talk to kids.
This little guy looked like he’d been given the best compliment in the world.
“No, Mama taught me to play.” He replied proudly.
“Did she now?” I asked as Mama came rushing up to us.
“Flynn,” Maria said, face filled with an etch of worry. I seriously hoped she didn’t think I would hurt him, because I wasn’t that kind of man and she should know better.
“Mama, I could play for a team. I’m that good,” Flynn told Maria.
“Yes, you are sweetie,” Maria looked from me to Flynn completely uneasy.
“Not going to introduce your oldest friend?” I had to ask.
She gave me a tight-lipped smile. “You aren’t my oldest friend.”
If she was talking about age, then I guessed I probably wasn’t; that was Luc.
“No, maybe I’m not.” I gave Flynn a curious look that she saw and must have known straight away what was on my mind.
Dark hair, bright blue eyes, olive skin.
Flynn looked like he was about five. Maria had been gone for Five years. As far as I knew five years ago before Luc got with Amelia, he had been with Maria.
Could it be?
“Flynn, this is Dante. Dante this is my son, Flynn.” Maria said.
I was too fixated on the bright smile Flynn gave me to indulge on the curiosity.
“Dante, like in Ninja Warriors.” The look on his little face brightened even more.
I chuckled.
“Yes baby,” Maria lowered and kissed the top of Flynn’s head. “Why don’t you go play in the sand pit and I’ll be over to join you in a minute?”
“Okay Mama. Goodbye Mr. Dante.” He waved his little hand.
“Just Dante buddy, call me Dante,” I offered. It would be weird if he called me Mr. Dante.
He smiled and ran off to the pit which was just a few feet away from us.
I watched him for a few seconds and turned back to Maria. I saw she was already looking at me, and not in a good way.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“You really want to know?” I inclined my head to the side and allowed my hair to drift over my eye.
“Yes, that’s why I asked? Why are you here, Dante?”
That way she spoke to me, always like when we were younger, with no respect. It was like we were still back there and I was the kid with nothing. Never mind all the years that had passed by, and shit … sometimes I had to remember that we had both found Christina together. Something like that should instill some kind of compassion. Not with her though.
It was time to change things up. I stepped closer, right into her personal space stunning her a little.
“I woke up this morning and realized something,” I said.
“What? Was it that you’re a self-righteous ass?”
“Nah, wasn’t that.” I chuckled and leaned closer so I was inches away from her face. “But I am a self-righteous ass. A self-righteous ass who realized I still don’t know what you taste like.”
If her cheeks didn’t flush I would have thought that might have been too forward. Forward for us, because I hadn’t outrightly shown any kind of interest in her for years prior to her leaving.
“So, you came here just to get a taste of me?” She tried that thing where she squared her shoulders and clenched her jaw so she would appear like she didn’t feel anything.
I knew different.
“Yes,” I smiled. “Just imagine it, you and me. Tasting each other. Tasting each other all night.”
Triumph surged through me when the blue of her eyes darkened as desire filled them. I couldn’t resist, I had to touch her. I reached out and ran my finger along the smooth edge of her jaw. One moment, a few seconds max and the connection enticed me for more. I was a man who always got what he wanted. I didn’t entertain emotions and shit, she was the only woman though who’d been successful enough to plague my mind. She could make me take things as it came with her. A little here and a little there, because she was the woman I never had.
She severed the spark by looking away and stepping back.
“That’s a really bad idea.” Her gaze cut to Flynn as did mine, reminding me of the deep curiosity that gripped me only moments ago.
“Depends on the reason why.” I cast another glance at Flynn playing in the sand pit.
Her bravado increased. She folded her arms under her breasts, as if she were daring me to say what was on my mind. She didn’t need to dare me since my curiosity was eating me alive.
“Is that boy Luc’s? Looks a lot like him. A lot.” I turned my smile up a notch.
“Yeah, he kind of does … doesn’t he? Maybe I should cause a stir and rock the nest. Imagine it.” Her pretty lips turned into a sexy smile.
Something got to me at the possible confirmation that Flynn was Luc’s. It meant part of her was still Luc’s girl. No matter what the present situation was. Truth be told I used to hate Luc’s guts, because he had the woman I wanted. Still it was hard to hate a guy who stuck his neck out for you and watched your back.
“Are you saying that he is Luc’s boy?”
“What’s it to you Dante? Why do you care?”
“Good question, maybe it’s because when I see myself tasting you, I don’t particularly want to think of Luc.” I joked.
“I have a child, not exactly a big turn on for most guys.”
It infuriated me that she was avoiding the real question. Then she pissed me off further by turning to walk away.
I stopped her by grabbing her arm and pulling her back to me, towering over her five feet and four inches with my six feet height.
“Do I look bothered to you?” I asked making sure I had her attention by holding her gaze. “Answer the question doll. Is that Luc’s boy?”
“No, he’s not.”
“Where’s his father?”
A dark looked filled her eyes and she just looked at me, showing she wasn’t going to answer. Maybe she didn’t know who the father was, that wouldn’t surprise me. Or, maybe she didn’t want to talk about it.
“Not here.”
I looked at her hand and didn’t see a ring. “You still with him?” I already knew the answer. She was back in Chicago at what seemed like her aunt’s place and she had that look of trouble.
“No, I’m not.”
“Is that why you came back to Chicago?”
“Maybe?” She was being secretive. When I released her she gave me a little smile.
I glanced over at Vira’s place and pressed down hard on my back teeth. Vira’s house and the brothel were only separated by an alleyway. Even now as I looked up, I saw men going into the fucking brothel. When I was younger it fascinated me. Years older now and it made me feel some element of protection for someone I cared about.
“You can’t stay here with your boy.” My gaze snapped back to her.
“I can take care of myself Dante, and my boy.”
“Really? Was the other night part of the plan to do that?” Now that I’d seen where she was staying, I knew she must have needed money. I had a job going. It could have been that she wanted to talk to the owner about it. She had left once she found out it was me.
Part of me knew why. It was for the same reason it felt like she couldn’t be around me for too long. Her guilt over Christina.
Her lips parted and she seemed to be contemplating an answer.
“Was it the job, if you need money tell me. Fuck … forget the job, pack a bag now and come stay with me.” I meant it too. I absolutel
y did. The thought of her in Vira’s house made me sick.
Maria laughed. “I appreciate the offer, but I’m fine. Like I said I can take care of myself, and my boy.”
“Alright, well I’m sure you won’t mind if I check in on you and Flynn from time to time.”
“You don’t need to do that.”
I leaned in and smiled. “I wasn’t asking.”
Something clearly wasn’t right here. Something she wasn’t saying. Much as I would have loved to indulge on her as a distraction, I couldn’t just do that. She was Maria and she was so much more than a distraction.
She backed away from me and looked to Flynn. “Flynn, come on let’s get some lunch.”
Flynn stopped playing and ran to her. She glanced at me quickly before walking away and I just watched her go.
She was Maria, and I should have gotten over her by now.
Seeing her again just reminded me that I had never stopped wanting her.
Chapter 7
Maria
The worst thing I could do right now is have a man on my mind.
It was the absolute worst and no way was I going to give in to any kind of temptation, no matter how intense that particular temptation was, or irresistible the man might be.
Come to taste me …
I couldn’t remember Dante being so forward. He wasn’t the sort to be timid, no way, that wasn’t him, but he’d changed. He’d changed big time and became that man of power I would have swooned over when I was younger. The thing was, unknown to him, I swooned over him anyway.
I was just stupid.
Too stupid to go for the guy I should have been with, and it was too late now to take back the stupidity—way too late.
Deciding I couldn’t take anymore of Vira and her shit talk about making sure I had money to give her next month, I took Flynn out to lunch. Then I got call for an apartment I was interested in, so we went to see that.
While the place stank of shit, smelled like death and had mice I told the landlady we’d take it. It was in an even worse part of town to where Vira was, but at least we’d have our own place.
It wouldn’t be suitable for too long, but then I didn’t plan on being in Chicago longer than we needed to be. Maybe three to six months depending on what happened. I had Rosie, my old next door neighbor in Florida on the lookout. She ‘d contact me if she saw Franco or anyone that looked like they worked for him sniffing around the house. I knew I couldn’t completely rely on her, because there was every chance that he could go to the house and she might not be there, but it was something. It was a heads up if it worked out that way.
This new apartment of mine would be ready for us by Monday. I asked if they could do something about the mice. I was a tough cookie, things like mice didn’t scare me, but having a child in a mouse infested apartment was not a good thing. I couldn’t risk Flynn getting sick. Plus, I felt for the well above average rent for the apartment we deserved to live mouse free.
The apartment was supposedly a two-bedroom place. What I saw was more like a one bedroom, a closet, and a passageway the landlady said could fit a TV and in a section she called a kitchen which was more of a table with a two gas burners for cooking.
The toilet was also in a closet spaced area with a shower inside.
Truthfully the place was awful and really was shit, but when you were desperate you didn’t have a choice. As Vira kept reminding me.
Or maybe I did.
Damn Dante, offering to take not just me in, but Flynn too.
Pack a bag … God when he’d said that I almost cried. I wished I could do that just pack a bag and go with him.
It was a bad idea for so many reasons. How I would have loved to be with a man who made me feel wanted. A man who made me feel safe, me and my son.
If it wasn’t my secrets hanging over me, repelling me, it was the fact that I didn’t want to need anyone. I was sick to death of being disappointed and I wouldn’t allow my son to experience being disappointed either. Thank God, Flynn and I had two years without Franco. He left for prison when Flynn was talking and calling him. Thankfully the years away dimmed that relationship.
The day would come when he’d have questions, but I’d cross that bridge when it came. As for now, he had me and I had him.
Today was productive with the apartment, now to find a job. I needed a job badly. We’d walked down main street and I asked in a few places; restaurants, bars, salons. Nowhere was hiring.
Flynn was getting tired of the walking too and it was getting late.
There was one last restaurant down the road that I’d wanted to check and maybe treat him to some ice cream. It was called Delizioso, real classy place. I’d never been inside, but I knew a number of people who had.
“Mama, I’m so tired.” Flynn complained.
“Don’t worry baby, we’re gonna get some ice cream and head back to Auntie Vira’s house.”
Flynn scrunched up his little face and placed both hands on mine. “Can we just go home. I don’t like her and the house smells funny.”
God, this was hard. How could I tell him that I didn’t like Auntie Vira much either and I really hated that smell? I didn’t know what it was, but it was a cross between mold and old cabbage.
Sophia hadn’t been around much either to take the tension off. I remembered hating it when she wasn’t there in the past and I hated it even more now.
I stopped and crouched down to him planting a kiss on his little rosy cheeks. His bright blue eyes gazed at me with so much sadness.
“Sweetie, I promise you things will be okay soon. Just be strong with Mama a little longer. Can you be my big boy and help me? You give me strength.”
He nodded and gave me a hug. “Yes Mama. I’ll give you strength.”
Jesus, I really wished he could. “Thanks baby. Let’s go get some ice cream at this fancy place.” Hearing that brightened him up and he nodded.
We set off continuing down the road. The place looked heaps better than when I last saw it. These days it had more of a modern feel with a cool edge.
I opened the door and Flynn practically skipped inside. Once inside we were welcomed by the aroma of heavenly food. I didn’t realize I was starving until the smell hit me. Then I remembered I hadn’t actually eaten at all today. I took Flynn for lunch earlier, but didn’t eat. Not only had I lost my appetite, but I had to watch our cash.
Better to go without where I could. A scoop of ice cream would definitely be all that I could afford here.
The place wasn’t busy. I didn’t expect it to be at this hour. It was just after two so it looked like they’d had their lunch rush and this was the last of the people from that.
There were a few waitresses milling about. A beautiful blonde woman approached me with hair the same color as mine.
She smiled at me and looked down at Flynn. I noticed she had a little baby bump that looked like she was just starting to show.
“Hi,” she bubbled. “Welcome to Delizioso, I’m Ava. I own the place.”
“Wow, it smells amazing.” I returned her smile. It must have been nice to own a restaurant like this.
I would have loved to own something, but I was never that good at anything to even contemplate owning my own business.
“Thank you so much. That’s my Penne chicken with French tarragon, a new recipe in the works, people seem to like it so far. It’s on the house today if you’d like to try.”
God, the smell was making me so hungry I would have tried cardboard if she said it was free.
“Really?”
“Yes, it’s a thing I do on the regular. How about I fix you and your little guy up with two dishes. I have a nephew who loved the trial run.”
Flynn had just ate, but I wouldn’t say no to a meal, particularly when dinner was probably going to be a sandwich.
“Thanks so much. That’s really kind of you.” I definitely appreciated it. It saved me money for tomorrow.
“No problem, if you guys don’t like it just
let me know and I’ll grab you something else from the menu.”
“Mama are we going to get ice cream?” Flynn asked.
Ava bent down and smiled at him. “Little guy we have ice cream galore here. I love strawberry ice cream, what’s your favorite?”
“Chocolate.” Flynn nodded.
“Yummm, I’ll prepare my special chocolate just for you.” She giggled.
It may have seemed inappropriate to ask about the job now, but I felt it would be weird to do it later especially after a free meal. Then I’d really look desperate.
Besides, we’d built up a good rapport with her, so no time like the present to do something important.
Ava stood up and smiled at me. “What a gorgeous boy.”
“Thank you. Um … I’m sort of in town for a while and I wondered if you had any vacancies.” There I said it. Yes, it did sound a little awkward and stiff, but I said it. She looked okay about me asking too.
“Yes, actually I wouldn’t mind another waitress. How about we talk after you eat?”
Hope filled my heart. “Thank you that would be great. I –”
A loud crash of something falling to the floor cut me off. Ava widened her eyes and frowned as her gaze snapped to the corner of the room.
“Oh my God, that husband of mine is going to destroy my restaurant. Come sit and get comfortable. I have to see what he’s wrecked now.” Ava shook her head and rolled her eyes.
When she moved away I was about to take Flynn over to the booth by the window, but I stopped short in my tracks when someone I was hoping not to see came from the same corner Ava was heading to.
Luc.
It was Luc.
Lucian Morientz, and just like in the past I knew Claudius wasn’t too far behind him.
Claudius, the new boss, walked from around the corner and tucked his hair behind his ear. Something had fallen on him that looked like flour.
Ava stopped when she saw him, placed her hands on her hips and glared at him, her foot tapping.
“Claudius, if you keep breaking my things, I’ll have nothing left. What the hell was that now?” Ava huffed.
Jesus Lord, that was her husband. Claudius was her husband?
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