Thrust: Bad Boy Racing Romance (Fastlane Series Book 2) (30 page)

“Thank you,” I began, pulling a strand of hair away from my face. I tucked the windblown wisp behind my ear. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t here, Mom. Everything’s been so busy, work just consumes me.”

I didn’t expect her to understand or forgive my excuse. High achievers were few and far between in my family. She and my dad certainly didn’t fit the mold.

“I understand,” she said, letting go of my hand and looking away from me, toward the reflecting pond. “Believe it or not, I do.”

She turned in my direction, staring at me again.

“What’s going on with you, Dani? In your life? Are you happy? Do you have anyone significant?”

I shifted in my seat, swallowing and averting my gaze. Being completely honest in the situation, I would’ve had to reveal everything about what happened with Marco. But since so much of it still seemed hard to believe, I wasn’t sure where to begin or even if I should.

“Um,” I said, lowering my voice. “Things are going okay. I guess.”

My mother nodded.

“You’ve never settled for just okay in your life, Dani. Why would you start now?”

“No, I just mean that -- well, there’s a lot going on in my work
and
my personal life. It’s a complicated situation, unfortunately.”

My mother looked straight ahead once more. Afternoon sunlight reflected across the top of the pond surface, streaking it with brilliant hues of dark turquoise and fiery amber. I glanced in her direction and noticed a peacefulness in her expression.

“I don’t blame you if you don’t want to talk about it, Dani,” she began, slowly looking at me. “I know there’s been distance between us for a long time.”

Her honesty caught me by surprise. I didn’t know if it was my father’s death that caused it or not, but it was the first time she’d
ever
admitted being part of the problem. For as long as I could remember, everything wrong with our relationship started and ended with me. I wanted so badly to trust her, to be able to talk to her like a daughter should be able to talk to her mother. It had been so long since the last time I could remember doing that with her.

I reached for my mom. Draping my arm across her shoulder, I leaned in for a hug and we embraced for several seconds until I pulled away.

“There’s a man,” I said at last, exhaling a deep breath. “He's a client, and I-I’m in love with him.”

I really had no idea how my mother would react. The confession about him was anonymous enough so that I could still protect myself in case her old personality reared its ugly head. But rather than lash out at me with a snarky reply, her mood remained compassionate.

“Well, I’m assuming something has gone wrong with the situation. When a person is in love and happy, they don’t act like you are right now.”

I nodded.

“Like I said, it’s complicated.”

She looked at me again, and a warm smile came to her face.

“We’ve got time,” she said, patting me on the knee. “Why don't you tell me about it? You can tell me as much or as little as you like.”

After a slow start, I wound up telling her about how I’d come to meet him and everything that happened right up until he signed the agreement. When I told the story, it sounded almost surreal, like pure fiction. At last, I got to the part about Serena’s surprise appearance at the investment firm’s office, the video, all of it.

I went with a deep hope I could trust her, just this once.

“Do you mean to tell me,” she began, turning in my direction. “He was cheating on his wife with you the entire time?”

I shook my head.

“No,” I replied. “At first, that’s what I thought too, but then he told me about finding the camera and the fact that he was in the process of annulling the marriage and…”

She cut me off.

“Dani, I don’t care what his intentions were. The fact is that he wasn’t honest with you about his relationship with that woman. Doesn't that concern you for any future you might have with him?”

I shrugged. “There is no future, Mom.”

My mother frowned at me.

“So what are you saying, exactly?” she asked, the tone of her voice growing more frustrated. “You’re not going to fight? You’re just going to let everything you worked for be ripped away from you? By her? By him? By them?”

“No…” I replied, my tone sharpening as well. “I never said anything about giving up or giving in, and anyway, it's a long way from being resolved. Where he is concerned, I really don’t have any doubts though. Whatever it was is over.”

My mother paused for a moment.

“Well, I’ll just say this much, that bastard is lucky he’s not here right now. What’s his name anyway?”

I hesitated for an instant. “Marco.”

Her temper continued to build.

“No man, Marco or otherwise, under any circumstances, or for any reason, should ever put a woman in a situation like you’re in, even if it’s on accident. You're better off without him, Dani, or any man right now. You need to live the life you want, and you certainly don’t need to be a plaything in someone’s twisted game.”

My mother finished speaking, the genuineness in her tone still lingering in the air.

I thought back to all of the comments I’d made to her over the years about being overly dependent on Dad, relying on him for everything. Now that he was gone, I’d been proved right. Even so, it didn't matter. She made her choice to be with a man, and I made mine to be without one.

It was then I realized that money was only a small part of the equation for happiness. Unfortunately, the truth was I missed Marco, very much. And yes, my mother’s anger wasn’t misplaced but, just like I couldn't understand the choices she made, I couldn’t expect her to do the same. For several seconds, we sat in silence, until at last, she looked at me.

“So, Dani, what are you going to do?”

Exhaling, I stood from the bench and extended my hand in her direction.

“Right now,” I began, gesturing for her to get up. “I just want to take a walk with my mom.”

Looking up, my mother smiled at me and a second later, wrapped her hand around mine.

“I like the sound of that,” she said, pushing herself up. “There’ll be plenty of time to deal with that son of a bitch, Marco, later.”

I smiled and started to reply when another voice, coming from behind, caught my attention.

“Son of a bitch Marco?”

MARCO

It was a risk coming to see her like this. I had no idea how angry she still was, and considering the fact she’d just buried her father, the chances of her being willing to listen probably weren’t good.

Dani spun in place, meeting me with a frosty glare. I didn’t know the other woman was, but guessed it might’ve been her mother.

“What are you doing here, Marco?” she said, wrapping one arm around the woman’s shoulder.

Without a word, I stepped in her direction. When I did, the older woman’s expression turned angry.

“You!” she snapped, straightening her arm and pointing her finger at me. “How dare you come here after everything you’ve done to my daughter! Who the hell do you think you are?”

Well, at least I knew her identity. I lifted my hands, opening my palms towards them.

“Dani,” I began, shaking my head. “You need to give me a chance to explain. There’s a lot we have to discuss.”

But before she could get a single word out, her mother continued to berate me. Breaking free of Dani’s hold on her, she marched in my direction, wagging her finger the entire way.

“You’re not very smart, are you?” she snarled, closing to within a couple of feet. “Didn’t you hear what I said? You need to leave, right now. If you don’t get out of here, I will have you thrown out.”

Ignoring her for a second, I broke eye contact and looked past her, towards Dani.

“Dani, I just need five minutes and…”

A small finger poked me in the center of my chest.

“Hey! Asshole!” Dani’s mother exclaimed. “Do you think I'm kidding with you?”

I looked at her again.

“Madam, this doesn’t concern you. What’s going on is between me and your daughter.”

Her face, already disfigured with rage, turned bright red. Before I could even react, she slapped me.

Stunned, I leaned away from her.

“That is
nothing
,” she hissed. “You have exactly five seconds to turn around and leave, or I get my sons over here to finish the job. Do I make myself clear?”

I shook my head, still flabbergasted at her behavior. But before I could say a word, Dani spoke up.

“Mom!” she began, hustling over to get between us. “It’s okay. Everything is fine.”

The old woman’s glare never left me. I noticed her breath, shallow and agitated. My cheek burned at the site of the strike.

“Mom,” Dani whispered, wrapping her hands around the woman’s shoulders. “Really, I can handle him. He’s right. We do need to talk.”

Turning to face Dani, the woman looked up at her daughter and nodded.

“Well, I don’t think it’s a good idea. But if that’s what you want, I won’t stand in your way.”

The two women hugged for a couple of seconds. Afterwards, Dani’s mom glared at me one last time before turning away and walking in the direction of a bench nearby. Dani watched her until she sat down before turning to face me again.

“How did you know where I was, Marco?”

Before I could get my response out, she interrupted me, answering her own question.

“Chloe,” she began, nodding her head. “It was Chloe wasn’t it?”

I reached up, rubbing my cheek with my palm.

“Yes,” I replied. “But, for what it’s worth, I don't think you should be upset with her. She’s concerned about you.”

Dani glanced up at me. I’ve never seen her look the way she did in that moment. A combination of despair and exhaustion masked the beauty I’d come to know. I wanted to take it all away for her, especially since I was the cause of so much of it. Without thinking, I reached for her face, wanting to touch it and feel the tenderness of her skin but she turned, closing herself off from me.

“No Marco, don’t,” Dani began, walking a few steps away. “I can’t handle that right now.”

Nodding, I dropped my hand to my side.

“I understand, Dani.” I responded, taking a step forward. “Would you take a short walk with me, so we can talk?”

She looked in my direction again and nodded.

“All right. Let me go tell my mom, and I’ll be right back.”

“Okay.”

Dani flipped her hair away from her eyes. For the first time in a long time, she smiled at me. It wasn’t much, only a hint, but at least it was something. A few seconds later, she stood in front of the bench where her mother sat and started talking to her. I looked away, turning my focus towards the reflecting pond and the cemetery beyond it.

At that moment, I thought back to my father’s funeral. No family attended – only his business associates. And now, knowing what I did about my own history, I realized I wasn’t his family either. At least Dani’s father was surrounded by those closest to him. I slid my hands into the pockets of my pants and around that same time, I noticed Dani approach. I glanced in her direction.

“Everything okay?” I asked.

Drawing close to me, she nodded.

“My mom said that if I’m not back in ten minutes, she’s sending my brothers to make sure I am.”

I chuckled. “I suppose I had that coming, didn’t I?”

Dani passed by me. I began walking with her.

“Yes. You did.”

We continued to walk in silence for a minute or so, following a trail that meandered around the reflecting pond.

“So I have about nine minutes, right?”

“And the clock is running…” she said.

The path straightened ahead of us. In the distance, I saw another burial taking place. I cleared my throat, looking in her direction.

“How are you holding up?”

Dani shuffled along, taking small, mindless steps.

“I don’t know,” she replied, shrugging. “About as well as can be expected, I guess.”

With a flick of my chin, I gestured in the direction of the bench where her mother sat.

“And your mom?”

Dani exhaled. “It’s been a struggle. Everything happened so fast. She just wasn’t ready.”

“Well, it looks like the two of you seem to be getting along.”

She nodded and looked at me.

“For now. I guess we’ll have to see what happens after all this is behind us.”

“Yes,” I said, offering a smile to her.

Ten seconds or so went by before she spoke again.

“Is that why you came here, Marco? To offer your condolences?”

I shook my head.

“No. On the other hand, I’d have to be a pretty shitty person not to be concerned, wouldn’t I?”

Dani stopped walking. She turned her back on me and looked in the direction of the reflecting pond.

“That’s not what I meant, Marco. I appreciate your sympathy. It’s not that I don’t, but I’m not sure what it is you want from me.”

I walked around Dani and stood to one side of her.

“I don’t
want anything
, Dani. I’m here because I've hurt you and because you’re
hurting
. I don’t have any agenda for being here.”

She turned her head a fraction but didn’t look at me.

“Dani, death is a terrible thing, but at the same time, it’s part of life. I know it doesn’t seem like it right now, but you, and everyone else in your family, will be made stronger as a result of what’s happened.”

“I guess,” she began, sniffling and clearing away emotion from her throat. “I suppose I’m just surprised to hear that coming from you, especially considering the relationship you had with your father.”

After she finished speaking, I inhaled deeply.

“Actually, there is something I need to tell you about him, um, about me. But, before I do, I need you to turn and look at me.”

Dani hesitated for a couple of seconds, at last doing as I asked. Looking into her eyes, I couldn’t help the feeling I had in the moment. For all I knew, this might be the last time I ever saw her. On instinct, I lifted my hand, wanting to touch her cheek. At the last second, I stopped myself.

“Jesus, Dani,” I said, swallowing hard. “You’re such a beauty. I'm so sorry for what’s happened. I know I’ve already said that to you before but now that I’m here, face-to-face with you, I had to tell you again.”

Dani crossed her arms in front of her body and opened her mouth to respond, but I stopped her.

“Wait. Before you say anything, I just want to know if you
believe me
. You don’t have to accept my apology. Shit, you can tell me that you never want to see me again, and I would completely understand. But Dani, I
am sorry
. Please tell me that you trust I’m being honest about it.”

She didn’t reply right away. Instead, she took a deep inhale.

“Marco, I want to believe you, more than anything,” she said, pausing almost right away.

“But…?”

“Well, I mean, what difference does it make?”

I frowned at her.

“What do you mean? It makes all the difference in the world.”

“No,” she began, shaking her head. “What I mean is even if I said I believe you, nothing is going to change. You’re still married, and I’m still out of a career.”

Not caring how she might respond, I wrapped my hand around her arm.

“And we’re going to talk about all of that, Dani. That’s also why I’m here. But I can’t go any further, not with another word, until I know that you believe that I’m sorry for what’s happened and that I never meant for you to get hurt.”

Dani didn’t struggle.

She glanced down at my hand for second before looking into my eyes again.

“I believe you, Marco. I do.”

MARCO

I smiled at her. Just hearing those words from Dani’s mouth made everything I wanted to say so much easier.

Clearing my throat, I began, “Dani, you mentioned my father and my relationship with him. I know it’s something that I told you I don’t want to discuss and…”

Dani shook her head, interrupting me.

“Marco, really, you don’t have to do anything for me. It’s not necessary.”

“Dani, just be quiet. This is very difficult for me to talk about, and I don’t want to waste time repeating what I have to say since I’ve only got a few minutes to tell you everything that’s on my mind.”

She fell silent, nodding at me in understanding.

“Do you remember the strong box?”

“Yes. Of course.”

I reached up and ran my fingers through my hair, the sudden confession I was about to make rattling my self-confidence.

“Well there was something in it, something I could never have expected. It’s changed everything about me, my life.”

Dani’s expression turned sympathetic. She edged closer to me, touching me on the forearm.

“What’s wrong?”

Shaking my head, I replied, “What’s wrong? Hmm, well, since the last time I saw you, I’ve discovered that I'm not the person I thought I was.”

Dani stroked my arm with tender swipes of her fingertips.

“You’re not making any sense, Marco. What do you mean that you’re not the person you thought you were?”

I cleared my throat again, hoping that the explanation would come easy.

“I mean that I’m not Marco Rhys. More specifically, Antonio Rhys is not my father.”

Dani frowned at me, dropping her hand away from my arm.

“Huh?”

I didn’t waste another second.

“I’m adopted, Dani. My mother had an affair with another man. She ran off with him. Antonio paid them off and bought their secrecy. That’s what I mean when I say I am not Marco Rhys.”

Dani raised her hand to her mouth, covering it.

“Oh my God, Marco. I’m so sorry.”

I shook my head and shrugged.

“There’s nothing to be sorry about, Dani. It is what it is.”

Her fingers lingered on her lower lip.

“I don’t understand,” she began, frowning while she spoke. “Why are you telling me this?”

I stepped closer to her, wrapping my hands around her waist.

“It’s because I trust you, Dani. Don’t you understand that? I hate what’s happened between us. I wanted to tell you this because I don’t want you to think I’m hiding things from you. I didn’t hide Serena from you. There was nothing to conceal, nothing to keep from you. There still isn’t. That’s exactly why I’m telling you this now.”

Dani averted her gaze.

“I would never try to tell someone else how to live their life, Dani.”

I paused, making a small gesture in the direction of her mother.

“I know that your relationship with your family is difficult at times. It probably feels impossible. Still, you have to find a way to be grateful for it even if it’s not the situation you want. I always hated my father, resented him for never taking an interest in my life. But those feelings, they aren’t worth holding onto, especially when life can be taken at any instant.”

I finished speaking and Dani looked into my eyes, biting her lower lip.

“Marco, I…”

“You don’t have to say anything, Dani,” I replied, interrupting her. “The most important thing right now is that you and I reestablish the tie that’s been broken. Without that, your mom is right, I should just leave and never come back.”

Dani swallowed hard, shaking her head.

“That’s not what I want.”

I let go of her, creating space between us again.

“I don’t want that either, Dani. But the truth is that we’ve got to get back to where we were. It won’t be easy. But, it will be worth it, if you’re willing to fight with me.”

Dani didn’t reply. I didn’t have anything else to say.

“Do you,” she began, looking into my eyes. “Do you know who your biological parents are?”

I looked down at the ground, kicking a loose stone across the path.

“Yes.”

“Well, don’t you…” she said

Her voice trailed off.

I looked at her. “Don’t I what?”

Dani shook her head, breaking eye contact with me.

“Nothing. It’s none of my business.”

A slow breath escaped from my nostrils.

“You’re wondering why I’m not curious about them, whether or not they are alive or know anything about me and what I’ve become. Right?”

I studied Dani’s face for a moment. She furrowed her brow.

“You don’t have to explain, Marco. It was stupid of me to ask.”

“No, it wasn’t stupid at all. I’ve wondered the very same things. It’s only natural. But the truth is, it’s all still so new I’m not sure how I feel, let alone what I’m going to do about it. Do you know what I mean?”

Dani nodded and cleared her throat at the same time.

“Yes, of course. I can’t imagine how difficult all of this has been for you. I’m sorry that you had to go through it by yourself.”

I swallowed hard, blown away by the compassion she showed. If the situation had been reversed, I’m not sure how I would’ve reacted, but it would’ve been far different than the way she did in that moment.