Bent not Broken (276 page)

“Elle! You wanna join us in the pool?” Marcus asked, still holding me.

“Only if it’s PG-13.” Jimmie said, looking at the both of us with a slight grin. I pulled away from Marcus embarrassed.

“Hi, Mia,” he said.

“Uh hi, Jimmie.” Swimming over, I met them at the edge of the pool. I looked up at the little girl. She bent her knees and offered her hand to me. Surprised by her gesture, I grabbed her tiny hand, and she smiled.

“Hi, I’m Brielle Marie DeLuca. You can call me Elle.” Her cute girly voice made me giggle.

“Hi, I’m Mia Sullivan. You can call me Mia; it’s nice to meet you.” Elle stood back up, both hands on her hips. I could see why Marcus said she was eight going on twenty. She was a grown woman trapped in a child’s body. “Have you ever cannonballed?” I asked her.

“Psssh, cannonballs are for amateurs. I just learned how to do a backflip. Want to see?” She asked with her eyes widened.

“No, Elle, that’s dangerous, and, Marcus, you need to stop teaching my daughter all of those tricks. If she hurts herself, I’m going to hurt you!” Jimmie warned. Marcus’ laugh sounded from behind me.

“Yeah okay, I would love to see that, Jimmie. Elle, let’s leave the flips for when your dad’s not around.” Now beside me, he winked at her.

Pouting she crossed her arms. “Daddy! Come on!
Please
?”

“No and that’s final.” She sighed, throwing her arms to her side. Kicking her sandals off, she walked back a few steps, ran, and cannonballed into midair. Marcus swam over to her. Once her little body was back up from under the water, Marcus picked her up and sat her on his shoulders. Her giggles were contagious, and I joined in.

“Well, I’m going to go throw some burgers on the grill.” Jimmie walked away. I watched him head toward the grill by the patio farther away from the pool.

“Mia, do you think you can convince my Uncle Marc to take me to the carnival that’s coming up next month?” Marcus shook his head, so I would say no.

“I think I can do that for you, Elle.” I smiled at Marcus.

“Oh you think you could, huh?” He asked with a crooked smile, more gorgeous than ever.

“Mmmmhuh.” I mumbled. He smacked his hand against the water, splashing it in my direction. I yelled and splashed back, and thus began a splash war.

“Okay, okay! I’ll take you next month, but Mia has to come too.” He took Elle off his shoulders and placed her next to him. Her head bobbed in the water as she jumped up and down with delight. “Yes!” she squealed. Swimming in my direction, she threw her arms around me. I gently lifted her to my side. She gave me a quick peck on the cheek. “You’re my new best friend!” I laughed. I was starting to love this little girl,
who wouldn’t?

“So, Mia you’re beginning your second year of law school?” Jimmie awkwardly began to make small talk. Elle and Marcus were still in the pool. After a half an hour of jumping in, I grew tired and hungry. I was sitting at the patio when Jimmie joined me, laying a plate full of well-cooked burgers before me. I grabbed one and took a bite.

“Yeah, I just finished my first year. You went to Harvard as well?” I asked with my mouth full.

“Yep. What inspired you to be an attorney?” He took a swig of his soda.

“Uh, I was always interested in the legal field. Both my brother and father were in law enforcement, so I guess I got it from them.”

He nodded. “I see.”

“What made you get out the field?” I was curious to find out what he truly does.

“Uh, just wasn’t into it anymore. Marcus is really good at it. I, on the other hand, sucked,” he said laughing. “I would never admit that to him though.” He raised his eyebrow warning me to keep quiet; I smiled.

“So what do you do now?”

“It’s complicated to explain. I’m a freelancer. I work from home for companies. When their systems are down, I can access any info via my network and assist any time of the day.”

“Oh, that’s interesting. And it must be nice to work from home.” Chewing the last bite of my burger, I took a sip of water.

“It’s okay I guess.” He said looking at Elle and Marcus who were now running in our direction. “Hey, I wanted to apologize about the first day we met. I’m not that type of person, just so you’ll know.”

Smiling at him, I felt a bit relieved. “Thank you.” He nodded. Elle ran into his arms, and he hugged her. They were too cute together. He seemed to be a really great dad. It made me think of what type of father Marcus would be. I wondered if Marcus wanted kids in the future. It was too soon to think like that, but it was good to know. Marcus struck me as a family man: the way he was with Elle and the way he talked about the family dinner all week. I knew he would make a wonderful father one day.

“You okay, babe?” Marcus swung his arm over my shoulder as he took a seat right next to me.

“Yeah, I’m great.” Reaching for a burger, he shoved it into his mouth. He must have been starving; the last thing he ate was the breakfast he made this morning.

“Excuse me. I have to go to the bathroom.” I stood up.

“You want me to go with you?” he asked. I looked at him with a strange look.

“I think I can handle going to the bathroom on my own.” I giggled at him, after he slumped back into his seat. Then I thought maybe he wanted to do something else. Leaning down, I whispered in his ear, “Unless, you had something in mind.”

Licking his lips, he flashed a wide smile and nodded. “I like your way of thinking.”

We both stood and headed toward the sliding door as Jimmie shook his head at Marcus’ boyish grin.

****

The rest of the day went by smoothly. We spent a lot of time with Jimmie and Elle. We had dinner and played some games: Scrabble and Monopoly. Then Elle forced me to play a dance game on one of her consoles. I couldn’t say no to her, so I proudly humiliated myself in front of both men. They just laughed and watched us play. Elle knew all the dance moves to each song, so she beat me. After we were finished for the night, Marcus’ phone rang. He stepped into his office to take it.

“Mia, you have good moves.” Elle said as she jumped to sit beside me on the couch.

“Me? You’re the one with the moves.” I lightly tickled her, and she giggled.

“Well, it’s way past my bedtime. See you tomorrow.” Throwing her arms around me, she kissed my cheek then ran to her father. Jimmie lifted her until her lips met his, and she gave him a quick peck on the lips. “Good night, daddy!” She yelled.

“Good night, princess. Sweet dreams.” She ran up the stairs. Jimmie laughed to himself then turned to face me. “She really likes you. It’s hard for her to get attached to someone, especially females.”

“She’s a great kid, Jimmie.” I smiled.

“Thanks. Well I better go to …” He looked up at Marcus before finishing his sentence. Marcus looked concerned.

“He wants us to go in tonight.” Marcus’ expression was unreadable.

Jimmie sighed, placing his hands on his hips and lowering his head. “You’ll have to go on your own tonight, Marc. Melissa is off tonight again.” Marcus looked at me then back at Jimmie. I didn’t belong here. It felt awkward, not knowing what they were talking about.

“It’ll be done a lot faster if you are with me.” Marcus grew impatient.

“I’m sorry, Bro, but I can’t leave Elle without a babysitter.”

“I-I’m here. It’s not a problem. I can make sure she’s okay.” They both looked at me, speculating. Jimmie glanced at Marcus. They looked at each other for a long time. Finally their eyes were back on me. “Seriously, she’s in bed anyway. I’ll let her know that you guys had to run off, and if she needs anything she can come to Marc’s room.”

Jimmie pulled his brows in. “Are you sure? If it’s too much trouble …”

“No it’s fine. Go do whatever you guys have to do. If it’s faster for Marcus to get back home, I don’t mind.” I glanced at Marcus; he had a soft smile.

“Thank you, Mia. Marcus, I’ll be in the car.” Jimmie walked away. Marcus kneeled before me. He grabbed my hands with his. Looking up, his eyes were filled with distress.

“Where do you have to go?” I whispered, searching his face for an answer.

Slightly shaking his head, he pulled his brows in. He was thinking … I wish I knew what was going on in his mind. Reaching out, I placed both my hands on his cheeks and rubbed my thumbs against his cheekbones. Shutting his eyes, he sighed.

“I’ll be back soon. Thank you for watching Elle.” Leaning up, he kissed my forehead, then lowered and kissed my lips. Before I could question him any longer, he was gone.

After poking my head into the fourth bedroom, I finally found Elle’s room. She was lying in bed, knees up, and head leaning against a pillow. Her thumbs were tapping against a handheld. She looked up when I entered her room.

“Sorry to bother you. I just wanted to let you know that your father and uncle had to run out. So if you need anything, I’ll be in Marcus’ room. Are you okay?”

Placing the handheld on the nightstand, she sat up Indian style facing me. “Why do they always go out so late?” she asked.

“Does it happen a lot?” Making my way to her bed, I sat on the corner, lifting only one leg to face her.

“At least once a week. Last night Uncle Marc begged my daddy to go with him, so he could finish faster, but my babysitter, Melissa, is off this weekend. She gets one whole weekend off a month.”

“Do you know what they go do?” She shrugged.
Of
course she didn’t; I don’t even know why I asked her.

“Well, Elle, I’m heading to bed. If you need anything let me know. Okay?” Smiling at me, she nodded. Elle flopped back in her previous position and grabbed her handheld again.

Chapter Fifteen

It had been four hours since the guys left. Ever since then, I’d been pacing back and forth in the bedroom, wondering what the hell was taking them so long. Glancing at my cell phone for the twentieth time, I threw myself on the bed and stared at the ceiling. I’d been holding back from calling or texting him. It was so hard to do when I was worried sick. What were they doing?

Whatever it was, I knew it was bad, and something told me it had a thing or two to do with Lou. The mere sound of that man’s voice gave me the creeps, let alone his name. I could feel Marcus’ uneasiness in his voice and posture when he talked to Lou. Jimmie and Marcus were in something way deeper than I could imagine, but I didn’t know what it was and why it was so hard to just walk away from.

“Mia?” Elle’s frightened little voice froze my thoughts. I leaned up on my elbows as she hurriedly ran over to me. Her eyes were almost in tears, and the tight grip she held on her blanket allowed me take her into my arms.

“Did you have a bad dream?” I asked as she curled up in a ball on my lap. She shook her head and looked up at me.

“No, I heard noises downstairs from the living room. I don’t think Daddy or Uncle Marc is here. Someone’s in the house.” I froze. What do I do? Taking a deep breath, I tried to hide my fear for her sake.

“It’s okay. I’m pretty sure it’s nothing. I’m going to check to see what the noise is. Lock the door behind me, and if I’m not back up in ten minutes, call the police. My cell phone is right here,” I said, pointing at the nightstand. “Do you think you could do that?” She nodded her head. “Good, it’s going to be okay. Don’t worry. I’ll be back soon,” I said, giving her a reassuring smile.

She followed me to the door, locking it behind me. I turned the knob to make sure it was secured. I couldn’t hear anything, but Elle’s room is farther down the hall near the staircase. Making my way down the hallway, I tiptoed, so that if anyone
were
here, he couldn’t hear me. When I reached the top of the staircase, I hesitated, waiting to hear something before making my way down.

I waited three long minutes. There was no noise, so I decided to go back to the room. I slowly turned on my toes. When I heard a loud thump, I quickly turn backed toward the stairwell. I bent to see if there was anyone at the bottom of the steps. My heart picked up its pace. I could do this; it was probably nothing. Slowly tiptoeing down the stairs, I heard a few more thumps and a voice mumbling.

At the end of the stairs, I followed the voice. When I reached the front door of Marcus’ office, I sucked in my bottom lip and bit. Taking a deep breath, not knowing what to expect, I opened the door. His office was dark, and the only light was from the lamp in the far right corner. I jumped when I saw Marcus lifting his head from behind his desk. He was slouched and lying on one arm, while the other hand held a half empty bottle of brandy.

“Marcus, you scared me.” Relaxing my shoulders, I made my way toward him. When I got closer, I noticed that his eyes were blood shot. He could barely keep them open. “Did you drink all of that?” I asked, reaching for the bottle in his hand. He pulled back in his seat and chugged another swig of the drink, then slammed the bottle back on the desk making a thumping noise. Now I know where the noise was coming from.

“You are so beautiful.” He whispered in a raspy tone.

“What’s wrong, baby?” I asked worried. He seemed lost. I’d never been around him this intoxicated, so I maintained my distance. You never know what to expect from a drunken person.

Taking another sip from the bottle, he smiled. “Nothing’s wrong with me. I’m great!” He threw his hands in the air laughing.

“
Marcus
, let’s go to bed, okay?” I whispered, hoping my low voice would lower his.

“You know what
fucking
pisses me off?” he said, dismissing my plea.

“What, baby?”

“When people say, ‘don’t worry about it; it will get better,’ or I love this one um, ‘things happen for a reason.’” He burst into laughter. I just stared at him lost.

“Yeah, that pisses me off too, Marcus,” I said, trying to side with him.

He looked up at me with his brows pulled in. “See that’s why I love you so much.” He shook his head. “You don’t deserve me, Mia. You deserve someone so much better than me.” Carelessly he stood up, dipping side-to-side as he made his way toward me. He tripped over an area rug and fell into me. I stumbled back but managed to keep us from falling. The liquor from his breath and clothing was so strong I couldn’t bear it. He chuckled at himself and straightened his posture, pulling me into him.