“Gio, I wanted to tell you. I picked up the phone so many times. I drove out of Albert’s home so many times to look for you, and get my life back, get the life I wanted for myself and my son, but then I would think of my parents, my sisters. They were going to be destroyed. My dad owed so much money to the casinos. He had to borrow money from loan sharks to pay them back. The house had been remortgaged countless times. They would have been all thrown onto the streets. My dad owed money to half the casinos in Jersey, Aqueducts, and he was barred from those places. He was trying to win it back, and would even go to Connecticut, and gamble at the new casinos down there. He owed Foxwoods, Mohicans, even Mystic Nights cut him off. He was in debt to the tune of a million dollars. The loan sharks wanted more. Albert’s dad paid the tab, the markers and notes on the house. Everything was in their name. He wanted me married to Albert for a year. That’s what I was told in the beginning. Just a year. When the year was up, I was going to try to make it right with you, tell you about Johnny. But they wouldn’t give my family back the title to the house, the cars even, when that year was over because of Johnny. But Albert knew Johnny wasn’t his. He always did.”
“Albert knew he was my kid, and . . .”
“Yes, and he hated me for it. After Johnny was born, he wouldn’t let me go, wouldn’t keep the promises he made. It was his way of punishing me.”
“Fuck this shit!” Gio’s hand swept his hair out of his eyes and he looked away from Lisa down the dark hallway. He turned back to her. “You could have walked away.” He took a step into the room.
Lisa untangled her legs from beneath her, and swung them over the side of the bed. Gio’s eyes of their own accord swept downwards. “What the hell is wrong with your legs?”
Lisa had forgotten. The scars. She looked down at the mottled burns, the lacerations made by whips on her thighs and hips. “They are,” she stopped short when Gio grasped her arms and pulled her to him. A bolt of electricity so intense shot through her, it took her breath away and she forgot what she was going to say.
Gio’s head dipped down to get a closer look and without thinking he pulled up the edge of the t-shirt to see how high the scars went up. “Holy fuck! What are those?” Gio felt the bile beginning to rise. He knew what caused those kinds of scars, and was mad as hell. The arms and the legs too! Marked. Even though he was furious with her, it brought him to the edge to think that someone had marked her so, disfigured her in such a sick way. It turned his stomach.
“Albert was, no, he is sick. We have to get Johnny away from him. I told you that.” Lisa was crying. “He threatened our son. It’s why I couldn’t leave. He threatened to sue for custody.”
Her gut wrenching sobs tore at him. He had never seen her cry like this before. “You didn’t tell me he did this.” Gio then pulled her into his arms. “Why? Why didn’t you leave him?” He crushed her to him, stroking her back.
The tears came. “I wanted to. But I was afraid. I didn’t know what else he was capable of. I was scared for Johnny too. I have had him in boarding school for that reason. To protect him. Keep him out of Albert’s . . .”
Gio pushed back to look at Lisa, his anger returning. “He never . . .”
“No, no. I swear. If he ever hurt our son, I would have killed him. He promised just me, and then after a few years, and one too many trips to the ER, Albert started leaving me alone. I went to the police once, and that scared the shit out of him. I had pictures too. I hired a detective, had him followed to one of his clubs he likes to frequent. I told him six years ago, that if he ever laid a hand on me again, I would go public. Last month, I told him I was going to file for a divorce.”
“Still,” Gio interrupted breaking the embrace. “You shouldn’t have stayed as long as you did.”
“There were still my parents to think about. My dad has no pension. They live on his social security. My mom . . . she’s still a nervous wreck.”
“What changed then? Why did Albert do this now?” Gio was pacing now. Lisa’s actions still made no sense to him.
“His mom passed away three years ago, and his dad is dying. The title of the house goes to my parents then. I told him when that happened I was leaving. I didn’t want anything else from him. Just me and Johnny. He was pissed. I don’t know. He threatened he would fight for Johnny. Oh, then I showed him the pictures I had. He wasn’t going to hold me to him any longer.”
“You told him you had pictures.”
“I showed him copies. He went into a rage.”
“Lisa, why?” Gio was beyond outraged.
“He tried something, and then he threatened to take Johnny. He is my son! I mean our son, and it sent me over the edge. It was a mistake. But, that is why I think he tried to frame me for this explosion, and attempted murder. With his father dying, he knows his hold over me is about to end.”
“Of course that’s the reason why he did it. But, why did you reveal your hand though?”
“I was mad. I wasn’t thinking. I just blurted it out.”
Gio nodded. He knew Lisa’s temper well. Better than anyone. “And Johnny? What does he know?”
“He knows.”
“Knows what?” Gio asked, eyes narrowing.
“I told him four years ago about you. He’s known since he was four that Albert wasn’t his father. Albert had been yelling at me, and blurted it out. When Johnny started asking questions about you, I told him. I wanted him to know about you. It was the least I could do.”
“Johnny knows I’m his dad?”
“Yes, and he is glad. He said that. We talk about you all the time. He knows all about you, and his uncles. I promised him that he would meet you when he turned twelve. He begged me. I was only too happy to promise him that. I have been planning this so long. He needs a man like you in his life and no matter what happens to me, Johnny is yours, and he will be with you.”
“But Albert could fight it?”
“No. He can’t. He’s yours. Paternity tests will prove it. He has never spent any time with him. Then there is the birth certificate.”
“The birth certificate?” Gio was confused.
“Yes, your name is on it. You have been his father from the minute he was born. Albert was away on a business trip when I went into labor. I didn’t even call him. I drove myself to the hospital, and had Johnny six hours later. When the nurse came in, and asked me the name of the father, I told the truth. I had her mail the birth certificate to my sister’s dorm.”
“Did Albert ever ask to see it? What about his social security card?” He stood across the room from her now and crossed his arms in front of him.
“He never asked. He barely acknowledged his existence. Once I got the birth certificate, I applied for the social security card, and had that mailed to Mary too. She is the only other person that knows, I think. We haven’t even told my parents, or Bridget. She was just too young to keep that kind of a secret.”
“Fuck, Lisa. I wish you had told me. I missed all this time. You should have left him. Your parents, even your sisters. I loved them too. They could have managed somehow. My family would have helped.”
“I know, Gio. I do know that now. But I was stupid, and it all happened so fast. I was younger, rash, impulsive. I just hope you can forgive me some day, if not forgive, at least understand.”
“I don’t know. I just don’t know.” His blue eyes gazed at hers from across the room. Her green eyes shone with her own emotions. They were both raw. He needed to process it all. “Tomorrow,” he stated softly.
Lisa shook her head in confusion. “Tomorrow?”
“We’ll talk more tomorrow.” And with that he turned on his heel and left the room.
Chapter 7
Worries
Gio went into his parents’ ensuite bathroom, and shut the door behind him. Could this night get worse, he thought, as he splashed cold water over his face rubbing away the sudden exhaustion he felt. He had a son! He couldn’t get over that yet. A son, he didn’t know, had never laid eyes
on. Johnny. And Lisa! She’d stayed with that man, sacrificing her own happiness to help keep her parents off the streets, her sisters in school. She’d been abused for years from the looks of the scars he’d seen. She had been brutalized. He hoped there weren’t more. His Lisa. It baffled him that she’d allowed herself to be debased and abused in that way. She’d always stuck up for herself when she was younger. What had changed her? Had it been having a child?
The power and strength it must have taken to stay. But eventually, she’d found a way to break Albert’s hold on her and stop the abuse. She had planned on waiting Albert out, and when she was almost free, her parents’ security ensured, Albert had drawn her back in by framing her for trying to kill him so he could keep her son. That would never happen! Especially now that he knew the truth. Johnny was his son too.
Turning away from the mirror, he readied the shower and then disrobed. He needed to think this through. Albert couldn’t get their son, and although he never could forgive Lisa from keeping the knowledge of Johnny from him for all these years, he wasn’t about to let his son’s mother rot in jail for a crime she hadn’t committed. He knew she was no murderer. For Johnny, he’d prove her innocence.
And for Johnny, he wanted to start right away on getting his claim to him legitimized. He was going to build that relationship, and would spend a lot of time with him, get to know him, and the sooner the better. There was a restraining order against Lisa, but not him. He knew Mary was still able to see him, and was hoping Lisa could make the arrangements for him to see his son as soon as he could. He wanted to talk to an attorney, and wanted the birth certificate, or at least a copy. He didn’t know what his rights were, but he would fight tooth and nail if he had to.
Tomorrow, he would make some calls. Talk to Lisa again, get a car, and then start digging into this car explosion. There was a lot to do. He might need help on this.
He couldn’t use Blaze. He was bringing Bella back to Florida after they went back to check on her cabin in Cherokee. Bella hadn’t wanted to leave without making sure her place was closed up, and she had wanted to check in with her friends so they would not worry about her. Her friend, Graham, would have been frantic not finding her, and his niece whom she had also befriended had been expecting a child. But Bella’s hearing was coming up soon too, and then the grand jury indictment for the Romans. Gio probably needed to make an appearance for that as well in a few weeks. But Nikko might be able to come in on this. Andreas needed to be in Tampa. Although Andreas would come if Gio asked. But he wouldn’t do that. Nikko would do. He’d call tomorrow. His fiancée, Ronnie, would understand.
The hot spray of the shower did little to ease the tension he was feeling, but he couldn’t stop his mind from running overtime.
Thoughts of meeting his son, thoughts of clearing Lisa, and his reaction to her scars frightened and confused the hell out of him. He’d seen red at the thought of someone inflicting that kind of pain on her, marring her body. His gut reaction had been not my woman, though now he tried to convince himself he would have reacted that way at the thought of any man doing this to any woman. Violence against a woman of any kind made him sick.
But deep down he knew, despite all she’d done, he’d never gotten over her. He’d just masked the loss first with alcohol, then with other women. When he’d pulled her into his arms, even though the moment had been so wrong, his body reacted to her closeness. His instincts took over, to comfort her, but it had also been his way of easing his own conscience. She was okay. She’d survived this monster, so far anyway. And despite the scars, she was whole. He’d seen bad injuries on women in his line of work, these scars were some of the worst he’d ever seen, and they were years old. But he’d also come on some scenes, and the female victim, well, she hadn’t survived. Or like what Lisa was accused of, they had taken matters into their own hands and wound up behind bars.
Johnny didn’t deserve to have the one parent he knew taken from him. He had to find a way out of this for her. He was terrified of taking this child and raising him on his own. Yes, his brothers would dote on the kid, help him; but still, even though it was his own flesh and blood, he was terrified. He had no clue where to start.
Getting out of the shower, Gio quickly toweled off, and slipping on just boxers, he climbed into his parents’ bed hoping sleep would take him and tomorrow he would be able to think more clearly.
* * *
Lisa lay awake listening to Gio’s movements in the other room. Her mind a whirl of thought and confusion. She’d thrown a lot at Gio tonight, and he’d taken it a lot better than she’d supposed. Better than she hoped for. When the light from under his door winked shut, she tried to sleep. She turned over onto her side facing the window and the alley they’d played in as kids.
This house brought back all those memories to her. They’d been mostly good times. Yes, she and Gio had their tough times, like any other childhood sweethearts, but overall their love had withstood most of it.
It was when she’d gone off and married Albert that everything had been destroyed. These past ten years had been the loneliest of her life, the only bright spot in it, her son. Her’s and Gio’s. As she crushed the pillow under her head and shoulder into a more comfortable position, she thought of Johnny. He must be so scared. Her stomach was uneasy. It had been nearly two weeks since she had seen him. Nearly that long since her arrest. Her sister had visited her in prison right away and had promised to look in on Johnny as often as she could. A young wife and mother of two kids, both still at home, would make it difficult. But Mary had come to see her last week, and reported that she’d been by to see Johnny twice. And planned on going again on Wednesday evening, and then again on the weekends. So far, Albert hadn’t even checked in on him other than to send the school the restraining order against her in case she made bail. He didn’t care about her son at all. It was only to punish her that he’d even asked for the restraining order.
Mary had explained the situation to Johnny as Lisa had instructed her to do. That mommy had been arrested for something she hadn’t done and she would be getting out soon. She had a great attorney who was already working hard to prove her innocence. She’d also told Mary to tell him that she had sent for his real father. She knew that would help ease his worry. He’d been wanting to meet his father for some time now. Lisa hadn’t known if Gio would come then, but had hoped he would. But one way or another she would have made sure that it had happened. Even if he hadn’t wanted to help her, she had made the decision to reveal Johnny’s existence to him, so that Johnny would be taken care of if she couldn’t beat these charges.
Johnny, for nearly ten years old, was very mature. She’d protected him as best she could, but Albert had been a dismissive, cold parent, and so rather than allow Johnny to fret over the lack of love there, she’d filled him with confidence and hope and stories about his real dad.
Albert still worried her though. He was devious, cunning, and careful. Well, most of the time. She hoped Gio would help her. With his background and connections, surely he’d be able to find the clues and they would be able to lay the blame of this explosion at Albert’s feet where it rightfully belonged.
There was so much that needed to be done, and other than her attorney, she had little else to hope for. But at least Gio knew the truth now, and no matter what happened Johnny would be okay. Even if it was without her, and she would fight like hell so that wouldn’t be the case, Johnny would have his father, and the Marinos to take care of him. There was nothing better than that to finally put her mind at ease.
It was well past midnight, and, with the sound of Gio’s even breathing and exhaustion, she finally faded off to sleep and found some solace for herself.
Chapter 8
Fighting the Pull
Gio was up and gone by the time Lisa came downstairs. A note on the kitchen table told her he’d gone to get a car.
She knew there was an Enterprise a few blocks away, but not knowing what time he left she didn’t know wha
t to do with herself. She glanced at the clock and it was half past eight. She was an early riser normally, but last night she had been exceptionally restless.
She put on a pot of coffee, after cleaning the dusty appliance. She was glad she had purchased coffee yesterday. She lived on the stuff all day long. The prison coffee had been horrible, weak and tasteless. She grabbed a cup when it was half way done brewing because she couldn’t wait. The aroma lured her from the living room where she had dusted and uncovered the furniture. She’d also been watching the local news and was glad she wasn’t on it. She opened the refrigerator to find the bottle of creamer. She poured a small amount into her cup before the coffee, and gave it a little stir. It was manna from heaven, she thought, as she blew on the creamy blend before taking her first sip.
Just as she sat down to send her sister another quick text, she’d sent her one last night to ask her to bring by some clothes, and to let her know she made bail, she heard a car pull up out front. Glancing across the room she saw the silver charger, and Gio getting out of it. He had a few bags. He’d gone shopping again too, it seemed.
* * *
The door flew open before she even had a chance to get out of her seat, but she met him half way and offered to take some of the bags.
“No, I’ve got it,” he brushed past her but not before the slight touch of his hand pushing her away sent a shock through them both.
“Can, I get you some coffee, then?” she offered, trailing behind him back to the kitchen. Her heart rate jumped at such a simple touch. And his reaction was to pull away quickly as well. Yes, the attraction was still there for both of them. That was the one thing that hadn’t changed.
“Yeah, sure,” Gio murmured as he began pulling more groceries out of the bags setting them on the table. She noticed he’d purchased some things she enjoyed and smiled wistfully as she poured him a cup.
The Bounty Hunters: The Marino Bros.: Box Set Page 53