by Alycia Amore
"You heard me!" Bryan growled.
"I'm bringing all of us down? Since when are you any better than me?" Logan stood in front of Bryan, so close his rounded stomach bumped his brother. "You do the same shit I do. You sell drugs, you hang out at the clubs, you got some skank pregnant."
Bryan shoved his brother so hard; Linda had to jump aside so he wouldn't stumble into her. "Mina is not a skank! You're just jealous since you couldn't talk her into fucking your fat ass and I don't do any of that other shit anymore!"
Logan balled his fists, but didn't move. "What are you thinking, Bryan? Do you think you're going to win Mina back by working at dad's store and paying all her bills?" He laughed reaching into his back pocket. "She doesn't give a shit about you anymore...and you know why? Because you fucked some skank. So don't stand here talking shit about me when you're no better!"
Bryan caught the folded up newspaper that Logan threw at him and looked at it. In a vibrant color picture, Mina was sitting at a table next to the same guy she'd gone to La Bella Noche with. There were others around her but Bryan couldn't focus on any of them. His eyes went to the caption under the picture.
"William Malone, son of Senator Robert Malone and philanthropist Mrs. Wanda Malone, dines with an unidentified companion at a recent Sickle-Cell Awareness Luncheon in Manhattan."
Logan laughed when Bryan looked up from the newspaper. "What's the matter little brother? Don't think you can compete with the son of a senator?"
Bryan threw the newspaper at Logan and tackled him when he reached to catch it.
"Bryan, no!" Linda said reaching down to pull him back to his feet. Don grabbed her waist and pulled her back, putting himself between her and her sons. He waited until Bryan landed a strong right across Logan's eye before pulling them apart. Logan lay on the floor holding his injured eye and swearing as Don wrestled Bryan out of the living room.
"That's enough!" Don yelled and Bryan finally stopped struggling. "You got him one good. He deserved that. That is enough, so go cool down."
Bryan nodded and bounded up the stairs to his room. He had to talk to Mina anyway.
"I saw the picture in the newspaper."
Mina's blood ran cold and her hands actually began to shake, she pressed the phone against her ear so she wouldn't drop it. She'd never been afraid of Bryan but there was something so scary about the way he said those words. There was no emotion in his voice...she would have expected disappointment or anger...something. "I'm so sorry," she said quietly. "I didn't know they were taking pictures for the paper."
"Fuck the newspaper!" Bryan almost yelled. "Are you dating him?"
"No," Mina said quickly.
The other end of the phone was silent for a moment. "So, you're telling me that you are not dating the Senator's son?"
He spat the last two words. Mina frowned. "No, I'm not!" she yelled. "I didn't even know who his parents were until we got to the luncheon. I was just doing him a favor. It was technically not a date!" And that was technically not a lie.
"Look," Bryan said with a defeated sigh. "I'm working my ass off here and it doesn't really seem to matter."
"Bryan..."
"I've got to call you back."
The line went dead in her ear and Mina swallowed the frustrated scream rising in her throat. She didn't want to wake Ava from her afternoon nap and she had to get back to the computer. She was halfway through with a term paper for Art History class when someone knocked. "Bryan," she whispered saving the document as quickly as she could.
William gave her a huge grin and a single red rose when she pulled the door open.
Damn it! Mina stepped aside to let him enter the apartment.
"Where's your kid?" he asked glancing around. She noticed he was holding a cream-colored bear behind his back.
"She's sleeping," Mina said motioning to the couch so they could both sit. He hander her the bear and tossed his arm across the back of the couch as he sat, as if he expected her to nestle into the spot beside him. She sat on the opposite end, leaving the middle cushion beside him empty. "William, you really should have given me a heads up about that lunch thing."
"What do you mean?" The faint grin on his lips showed that he knew exactly what she meant.
Mina sighed. "I mean, you didn't mention that it was such a big deal...or who your parents are...or that we'd be on Page Six and in every newspaper from here to Buffalo."
"I did say the fundraiser was important and I just assumed you knew who my father is...everyone else does."
Mina couldn't help bristling at his self-righteous tone. "Well, I didn't. Now I'm screwed. Bryan saw it and he's so pissed right now..."
"Bryan?" William asked leaning against the arm of the chair. "You mean Ava's dad?"
She frowned.
"Oh, God, Mina," Williams said sitting up and leaning towards her. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to sound like a jerk but I honestly didn't think you'd mind being in the society papers. I mean, it's really where you belong considering who your mother is."
Mina blinked at him slowly digesting what he'd just told her. "How do you know my mother?"
"Oh, I don't. My father does."
Oh. My. God. "Your father knows my mother?" Mina realized she sounded brain damaged but something just wasn't clicking somewhere.
"Of course. Your mother is a very famous litigator worth millions of dollars and one of his constituents."
Mina felt like she was suffocating. She leapt off the couch as she gasped for breath. Everything was starting to make perfect sense. "Oh my God, William!" she barked. "Did my mother set us up? Did she tell you to ask me out? Did she tell you to take me to that luncheon?"
William watched her coolly. "My father was the one who made me aware of your attending this school. I don't know if your mother had anything to do with that."
"Of course she did!" Mina said fisting her hair in both hands like a mad woman. "She must have had something to do with this! Damn it! Damn it!"
"Mina," William said reaching for her, "Are you okay?"
She hadn't even noticed him get up from the couch or approach her but as soon as he tried to touch her she leapt backwards. "No," she said waggling a finger at him. "You have got to go."
William frowned. "Are you serious?"
"Hell yeah, I'm serious!" Mina snapped taking a few steps away from him.
"Are you telling me that you'll have a kid with some loser drug dealer but you don't want shit to do with me?"
Mina was surprised; she'd never heard him use foul language before.
"You're still in love with him, aren't you?"
Mina remained silent.
"That doesn't even make any sense!" William snapped. "You and I make sense. You are perfect for me. Two families rooted in the law and politics. Do you realize that I plan on being president some day?"
Mina shook her head. "I can't be Jacqueline to your JFK. I have no interest in politics and I don't plan on being anyone's trophy wife. Who I date is not contingent on my mother's money. So, I'm asking you nicely one last time to leave."
William stared at her, with a look on his face that she could read easily. He was shocked and probably embarrassed that she wasn't willing to go out with him. He'd been working so hard to connect with her and he was not one accustomed to failure. He shook his head ever so slightly when she didn't look away from his gaze and turned for the door.
Mina locked the door behind him and shut herself in her room to call her mother.
Diana answered on the second ring.
"Mother," Mina said through clenched teeth, "did you tell Senator Malone to get his son to ask me out?"
"I don't know what you're talking about, Mina." The statement was simple enough; but there was no indignation or insult in her tone. Her tone was too matter-of-fact.
"Don't be a lawyer right now!" Mina snapped. "I need you to be my mother and admit what you did!"
"Okay, so I may have mentioned to the Senator that our children attended the same college...and th
at you were single. What is so bad about that?" There was the indignation that indicated her mother was telling the truth.
"I told you that I wasn't ready to date yet."
"Are you going to pine for Bryan the rest of your life? You made a mistake but you don't have to pay for it the rest of your life!"
Mina wanted to scream, but instead she kept her tone even when she said, "I can't disconnect from Bryan the way you did with dad. I don't want Ava to grow up not knowing her father."
The only sound on the line was a quick hitch in her mother's breath. "We didn't need him," she said quietly, as if she talking to herself.
"No, mother, you didn't need him. I did. I know that you think my getting pregnant was a mistake I made all on my own, but your decision was a contributing factor in that. I needed a dad to tell me that I was smart and pretty every once in a while."
"I told you those things," Diana said with a sniff.
"You told me I was capable of making better grades and that I'd look better if I wore my hair down. It's not exactly the same thing." Mina sighed.
"But..."
"I have to go," Mina interrupted. "I'm going to call Bryan and I'd appreciate it if you stay out of my love life. Ava and I will see you for dinner on Saturday." She pressed END without hearing her mother's reply.
Mina yanked the cluster of pink, purple, and white balloons, around twenty, minus a few casualties while wrestling them in and out of the car. The bobbing mass barely missed a low-hanging branch on the tree she was passing in order to get to the cluster of four picnic tables a few feet away.
Linda snapped a picture of her with the digital camera as soon as she was in range and Mina shook her head. "I wasn't even looking!" she said attempting to frown. She barely got her lips to purse together before her smile returned. She couldn't even pretend to be upset on Ava's first birthday...and certainly not at her birthday party. Linda shrugged. "You look beautiful anyway."
Diana rushed to her daughter with Mina perched on her hip. "Good, you're here. Now we can start the party."
Mina glanced around at the gathering of every single member of Bryan's family including their kids playing on the playground twenty feet to the left of the picnic area. "Where's Bryan?" she asked loudly she said as she handed Linda the balloons.
"I haven't seen him," Diana answered sweetly. Mina had just learned that tone as the one her mother had taken on in order to stop herself from saying something hurtful or negative. She had to admit Diana was making an effort to be less bitchy since she'd called her on her shit a few weeks before.
"He'll be here," Linda said to her rival grandmother. "He picked up some things I'd forgotten at home."
Diana glanced at the picnic table that held the food and forced a smile. "I can't imagine you forgot anything at home. You've laid out quite a spread already." Mina could practically hear the saccharine coating on each word.
Mina kissed Ava's forehead to hide her smile. It was hilarious to see her mother so put out by Linda. She was not enjoying her "B-grandma" status. Just that day, Linda had shown up with piles of food...fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, baked ziti, antipasti, an enormous bowl of Greek salad, every soda imaginable, beer, and she'd made a three layer birthday cake. In fact, Linda had made so much food; she and Don had driven separate cars to the park. His was loaded with a trunk full of brightly wrapped gifts.
Diana's mouth had literally fell open when she arrived with her store-bought potato salad and one large gift bag. Mina had thanked her mother profusely, but Diana was still reeling from what some could have perceived as a shortcoming. Mina knew her mother didn't cook...well, she did, but she never cooked for a large crowd like Linda did every Sunday. Mina was also aware that her mother hadn't gone shopping for a small child since her own birthdays years ago.
"Hey!" said Bryan from behind her. "Sorry I'm late." He said it as he handed two large Tupperware containers to his mother, but his eyes were trained on Mina's.
She smiled and shrugged. "You didn't miss anything yet."
"It took you long enough!" Andrew said clapping his brother on the back. "You know mom can't show up to a party without olive tapenade and bruchetta!"
Bryan nodded and tore his gaze away from Mina to watch Ava. She was settled in Diana's arms watching one of her cousins blow bubbles. When an orb got close enough she'd extend a chubby hand to grab it and giggle when it popped on her fingers. When he looked back to Mina, she was engaged in hushed conversation with Brenda as they prepared the table for the impending onslaught of hungry family members.
"Can I talk to you?"
Mina jumped at Bryan's voice so close. She hadn't heard him approach but he was barely a step away when she turned to face him. Brenda gave her an interested look when she excused herself to follow Bryan. They found a secluded spot behind a tree about fifty yards from everyone else.
"What's up?" she asked pressing herself against the trunk of the tree.
"I just wanted to tell you Happy Birthday," he said putting a hand on the tree beside her head and leaning into her. "Here." He presented a small black box from the pocket of his dark denim jeans.
"Thanks." She pulled the top off the box and found a bright gold key. "What's this?"
"Dad helped me put some money down on a house."
Mina narrowed her eyes in confusion. "I don't..."
"I've been working my ass off, Mina. I really want us to be a family again and I got the feeling you did too." He watched for a nod or some signal of agreement, but she kept her head ducked, staring at the key. "I know you don't like it when I do things without involving you...and this is a HUGE decision...and I did it without you. I'm sorry, but this is just a starter house. It was affordable and it wasn't going to be available for very long so I just got it."
"You bought a house?" Her mind was still reeling and she wanted to laugh at the absurdity of the situation.
"I understand if you don't want to move in with me just yet."
"Move in? I don't even know if I've forgiven you."
Bryan nodded. "I know. Just promise me you'll think about it."
Mina looked up into his intense green gaze and smiled. "I know you're trying. I will definitely think about it."
Before he could stop himself he'd leaned further down and pressed his mouth against her full lips. The kiss began innocent enough, but when Mina wrapped her arm around his neck, Bryan almost lost his careful control. He'd been waiting so long; his body's reaction was instantaneous. His dick sprung to life and he pulled her hips from the tree trunk to rest against his body. Mina moaned when she felt his erection pressing against her stomach. She opened her mouth and his tongue slipped inside. She closed her eyes and felt him, his fingers splayed across her back, his chest hard and his heart pounding...she could feel it where their bodies pressed together. He held her as if afraid she'd disappear if he let go.
Suddenly there was a bright flash visible even through her eyelids. Mina's eyes flew open and a boy with messy dark brown hair, missing front teeth, and a digital camera smiled up at her. She felt her face flush and used the hand on Bryan's chest to push him away.
"Hey, Aunt Linda!" the boy called turning to run when he saw Bryan's glare. He barely avoided Bryan's attempt to swipe the camera and yelled again. "I got a picture of Bryan kissing his girlfriend!"
Mina clasped her hands over her mouth to suppress her laughter. Bryan's face was bright red as he took off around the tree to chase down his cousin. She slumped against the tree and shoved the key in the pocket of her jeans. She heard Bryan's cousin yelling, "Leave me alone!" and "You can't break it, it's my dad's camera!" Then she heard Linda yell at Bryan to "leave the kid alone" and help his brother set up the bounce house. It was definitely a Dillinger family party now.
***
"Bryan!" Mina gasped as he entered the bedroom and grasped her firmly around the waist. "We are supposed to be packing!"
"I'm too tired to pack anymore," he muttered against her neck.
"Come on," sa
id Mina as she wiggled in his arms, "all we have left to do is break down the bed. Then, we'll have a couple hours to rest before the movers get here."
"Let's give the bed one more go before we break it down," Bryan whispered, lowering his hands to her hips. She wore the same pink shorts she'd had on when he showed up on her doorstep around two years before. They fit different, though. Her hips had spread after giving birth so the shorts hugged her voluptuous ass even tighter. The bottom curve of her ass was visible when she bent over. He'd been watching her bend over to fill boxes all day and he couldn't take anymore.
Mina stopped resisting as he began to nibble and lick her neck. His hands kneaded her ass and she moaned, pressing her breasts against him.