Cautious (Sequel to Disastrous) (3 page)

“It’s not something I love to talk about. I looked up to him in
every way.” He laughed once to himself as if that statement were a ridiculous
one to make and then continued. “I even wanted to be just like him at one point
in my life. It’s funny how things turn out. How you end up getting what you
want, though after you lived it, you’d give anything to have it taken away.” Marcus
turned his head toward me. I saw nothing but sadness deep within his dark chocolate
eyes.

“Jimmie found him. He walked into my father’s office one
afternoon and found him slumped over his desk.” He shook his head once and
slowly wet his lips. “There was a gun in his hand.” My heart swelled with pain
for him, for them. I could only imagine what it must’ve felt like walking into
something like that.

As I reached out and grabbed his face in a way to comfort him
somehow, I bit down on my trembling lip. I didn’t stop him. This was something
he obviously
had
never
spoken with anyone before, so I allowed him to go as far as he could. “It was
hard for me to believe that a man so powerful, who had
everything
—a
family that loved him, an entire empire with many admirers who bowed at his
feet, and all the money that any man could only dream of—would want to give
that all up.

“It wasn’t until I grew the fuck up that I realized that even the
most powerful man could only take so much. Maybe having everything was just too
much to handle?” He looked at me for validation when he asked the question. “All
the power, the money—all that comes with responsibility—and responsibility
usually ends with a price.”

He tilted his head and focused back on the ceiling. “When he
died, I was only fifteen and confused by it all. I was fuckin’ pissed off at
him. On the day of his funeral, when everyone left, I was standing there alone
. . .” Marcus took another unsteady breath. Whatever he was trying to say was
difficult for him.

“Hey, we don’t have to talk about this right now.”

Lightly shaking his head, he muttered, “No, I want to.” He
glanced over at me again, and I saw the hurt in his eyes before he shut them
again, remembering it all. “I stared at the pile of dirt where my father was
buried six-feet under, and my thoughts were running wild with all the memories,
especially the advice he had given me.

“One saying in particular was: ‘You know, son, in life you’re
going to have some good days and some crappy ones. Maybe more crappy ones than good
ones, but whatever you do, don’t you ever give up. Make sure to push yourself
the farthest you can go. If you want something bad enough, you have to fight
for it. If you’re not happy with your life,
you
and only
you
have
to do something to change it.” Marcus repeated his father’s words mockingly and
then his face grew serious. “The more I thought of that saying, the angrier I
grew with him. I thought he didn’t care for us enough, because he wouldn’t have
given up and killed himself after having a few crappy fuckin’ days.”

“Oh, Marcus, your father loved you. You have so many wonderful
memories of him. Don’t allow—”

Snapping his head toward me, his brows bunched together. “Mia, I
know that, but what’s fucked up is that I spent almost thirteen years hating my
father because I thought he just gave up. I called him a coward at his grave
site, for God’s sake. For years, I thought he had killed himself. Later, I
found out that the man whom I considered to be like a second father, the man
that I looked up to at one point in my life, and the man that took me under his
wing and taught me all I needed to know, was the same exact man who murdered my
father.”

Breathlessly, I blurted, “Why did he do it?”

“I don’t know. Maybe he wanted it all. Now he has it, I guess.”

We lay in silence for what seemed like a very long time. I
watched him as he stared up at the ceiling. Marcus was not a man who expressed
his feelings very well, so I was grateful that he let me in. Even if he hadn’t
told me everything in one shot, I was fine with getting bits and pieces at a
time. I knew how it felt to have so many emotions bottled up, trying to stay
strong for yourself, but it eventually took over your sanity.

“Marcus, thank you for opening up to me; it really means a lot.”

Slightly twisting his head, he stared into my eyes. “Of course,
Mia.”

I wanted to lighten the mood and remove the negative vibe surrounding
the room. So I jumped onto my knees, and with a huge smile, I poked his ribs. “I
wanted to get to know you better, and learning some more about you just gave me
an idea. Let’s play a game.”

With a raised brow, his lips twitched into a slight smile. “What
kind of game?”

“Hmm.” Shifting my gaze aside, I tapped my chin with a finger. “A
get-to-know-you game.”

“Huh?”

“You know. We ask each other questions to get to know each other
better.” A low raspy laugh escaped his lips. “What? Why are you laughing?” I
demanded.

“Nothing, babe. Come here.” He reached for my arm and pulled me
in. It forced me to fall on top of him.

I stared into his dark brown eyes, and I took note that the
sadness he’d held a few moments ago was now masked with lust and humor. “I’m
serious, Marcus.”

“Babe, I thought you meant another game.” His brows wiggled.

“Do you have to turn everything into sex?”

“When you’re involved? Yes.” Rolling my eyes, I studied his
clearly amused expression. “Keep rolling your eyes, and see what happens.” His
tone was stern, but his eyes were dancing with laughter.

“Ha, is that a threat?”

“Try me.”

I did try him and dramatically rolled my eyes. A squeal escaped
me as I was lifted and tossed back onto the fluffy mattress. Before I could
recover, his hands attacked me, tickling every weak spot of mine. Bursting into
laughter, my eyes swelled with tears, and my rib cage ached from laughing and
screaming.

I was not sure how I managed it, but I pushed with my feet and
tossed him back. Straddling him, I tightened my legs against the side his
abdomen. With my hands fisted against my hips, I glared down at him.

“You know that all I have to do is flex my hips and you’ll tip
over right?” Marcus expressed with a raised brow.

“Hear me out. We need to focus on getting to know each other
better.”

Marcus traced his hands along my thighs, up the side of my torso,
until he finally reached my breasts. His thumbs brushed across my nipples,
causing goose bumps to form along my skin. Looking up at me, he sucked in air as
he seductively whispered, “Mmmh, I think we can work on that.”

Raising a brow at him, I studied him thoroughly. “You see what I
mean, Marcus?” His grin grew wider. I bit back a smile. I wouldn’t allow him to
win me over with his charm. I needed to show him I wasn’t joking. “I’m
serious!” I tossed my arms in the air before jumping off the bed. I snatched
the white, Egyptian bed sheet and hurriedly wrapped the soft fabric around my
chest. There, hopefully I had his full attention.

“What are you doing? Get back in here.” Swiftly, he reached out
to grab me, although, I was faster than he was and able to take a few steps
back. Tossing his head back onto the pillow, he let out a deep, raspy laugh.
“Okay, okay.” Caving in, he sat straight up, raised an eyebrow, and flashed
that crooked grin.
Oh
, he knew what he was doing. That smile got me every
time. Not then. “Talk.” He instructed.

Clearing my throat, I straightened my shoulders and tightened the
bed sheet around my breast. “Okay, as I was saying, you have a habit of transferring
everything into sex, and . . .” His lips parted to say something, but I cut him
off. “No, let me finish.” He nodded in consent. “I feel that sex has become the
basis of our relationship and that we need to focus on actually getting to know
each other.”

“Mia, you know me better than anyone, as I do you.”

Narrowing my glare, I quizzed him on this. “Okay, what’s my
favorite color?”

The playful mask he held was instantly overshadowed with an
unreadable one. “Well, why does that matter?”

“You can’t answer it, can you?” After a few seconds of our eye-glaring
contest, I felt as though I had the upper hand. Then my thoughts trailed to
something that might be fun. “How about we make a bet?”

His perfect brows bunched together. “You want to make a bet?” Laughing
once, he continued to play along. “What are the terms and conditions of
this
bet?”
I hated it when he spoke in that sarcastic tone, but I wouldn’t allow it to
faze me.

On the outside, I held a poker face, but on the inside I was
giggly like a teenage girl, super excited to begin this game. “I ask you three
simple questions about me. You have to answer two out of three correctly. If
you do, you can have me however you like.”

Marcus’s lips lifted into a slight smile. “And if I don’t answer
correctly?”

Now this was where it got good. “No sex for two weeks, ah, I’m
not finished.” I raised a finger at his dropped jaw. “And you have to take me
out on proper dates within those two weeks, so we can work on really getting to
know each other.”

“Oh, this is ridiculous, Mia.” He studied my expression, which
had slightly broken from his dismissive statement, and then his face softened.
“Does it mean that much to you?”

“Yes, it really does, Marcus.”

Huffing like a child who was just told, “No,” about watching his
favorite cartoon, he breathed, “Go ahead then.”

“Okay, I’ll just ask all three questions in one shot, and you’ll
answer them in order.” I waited for his nod and continued. “What’s my favorite
color, favorite genre of literature, and my favorite kind of flowers?”

He threw his head back in defeat. He didn’t have a clue. I
mentally flashed an evil grin. Looking back at me, he blurted, “Pink, romance,
and, ugh, I don’t know, roses?”

“Green, romance, and lilies.” My lips curved into the biggest
grin.

“So, I lost, what now?” he asked as he watched me take the sheet
off and toss it back onto the bed. I walked over to where my clothes were
thrown on the floor and put them on. After I was dressed, I walked over to him
and kissed the tip of his nose.

“Now, you can start planning our dates, and they better be good
ones too.”

“You’re leaving? We can still hang out, you know.”

I stopped by the doorway and turned with a smile. “I know your
sneaky little ways, Marcus. Don’t try and cheat either. It won’t work.” I blew
him a kiss and went on my merry way.
This should be very interesting.

Skipping down the steps heading toward the first floor, I
couldn’t stop a huge grin from spreading across my face. I had been miserable
the previous morning, and less than twenty-four hours later, I was the happiest
I’d been in a while.

Marcus DeLuca could have that effect on a girl.

The second I reached the front door, a familiar voice stopped me
in my tracks. “Mia, is that you?” Turning on the heels of my feet, I saw Theresa
DeLuca leaving the kitchen and heading toward me.

I hadn’t seen or spoken to Marcus’s mother in almost a month. The
problem was I had thought that everyone in his family knew about our breakup,
but Marcus had been secretive as usual. Theresa reached out to me with a relieved
expression on her face as she pulled me into a tight embrace. “Oh my God, I’ve
missed you so much. How are you, honey?”

“I’m good, thank you. I’ve missed you too. How are you?”

Stepping back to inspect me at arm’s length, her eyes glistened.
My heart ached. From the moment I’d met Theresa, she was filled with so much
joy, and her presence radiated nothing but positive vibes. Even if you were in
the gloomiest mood, the clouds hanging overhead disappeared when she walked in
the room. Though, from the look of Theresa standing in front of me now, I could
tell there was definitely something wrong. I could feel it.

“Are you okay?”

She sniffed back tears and forced a smile, showing just the
slightest dimple. “Yes, I’m just so happy to see you. I’ve missed our weekly
catch-up lunches.”

How could I have been so selfish? I leaned back in for a hug and
held her tightly as tears sprung from my eyes. Theresa loved me as much as I
loved her and the entire DeLuca family. I had allowed my issues with Marcus to
affect my relationship with all of them. “I’m so sorry, Theresa. I just
couldn’t . . .”

“No, no need to explain. I know.”

I brought my stare back at her. “You knew? About . . .”

Nodding, she responded, “I know my boys. I figured it out. I
never mentioned it to Marcus, but he wasn’t the same the past few weeks, well,
not the same as he was when he was with you. He went back to the way he used to
be, before you.” Waving her hand dismissively, she added, “I’m just happy
you’re here.”

Ashamed, I looked down. I didn’t know how to respond. I felt I
had to make up for lost time, so I blurted, “Lunch on Wednesday? I would love
to catch up, Theresa.”

Nodding, she sniffed and reached to tuck a strand of hair behind
my ear. “I would love that honey. Our usual spot?”

I nodded, gave her one last tight hug, and left.

***

After parking my car, I strolled along the wet cobblestone
pavement toward my apartment building. The afternoon breeze was slightly chilly,
but, nonetheless, it was a beautiful day. Breathing in the cool air, I admired
how quiet and beautiful my neighborhood in Cambridge was. Trees lined the sidewalk
along the park. Vehicles parked on the side of the street, in front of the
brick townhomes. I was lucky and grateful to have had the opportunity to invest
in a building in this neighborhood.

Spotting both Megan’s and Jeremy’s vehicles, I felt a slight burst
of excitement rush through me. I couldn’t wait to tell them that Marcus and I were
giving it another try. I walked through the front door and saw Ms. Connor
standing in the hallway with her evil pug, Gypsy. “Good evening.” I nodded as I
passed her and headed up the stairs.