“What? Do you have a crush on him, too?”
She giggled. “Nope.” Then all the humor left her eyes. “I don’t have a crush on Bellomo either…or anyone else for that matter. I was only trying to make you laugh yesterday.”
Shoot. “Did you talk to him today?”
“No. Why do you ask?”
“No reason! You know what? Let’s go see that movie. Mike Gennaro is the best.”
“Awesome.” She got off her chair, her gaze alight again. “It’s one of his wife’s directions, not the cheesy shit he used to star in.”
“Ugh, really?” My shoulders slumped.
“Oh, I remember you hate Maggie Dawson. You blubbered ugly when they got back together.”
“She’s such a bitch.”
She laughed, taking my arm. “Why, ‘cause she makes the Sexiest Man Alive an ugly villain in all her movies?”
“Well, there’s that. I don’t mind the villain part, but why the hideous makeup?”
Another giggle fled her throat. I rolled my eyes. “Beside that, I still think she doesn’t deserve him.”
“What are you talking about? Your precious man candy lied to her about something horrible. If I were in her shoes, I wouldn’t have forgiven him like she did. He doesn’t deserve her.”
“What?! He’s done everything to give her all she’s ever wanted. When he lied to her, he was protecting her.”
“That makes it okay because?”
“Because he loves her more than anything. He’s crazy for her.”
“Still, she had the right to choose, and he robbed her of it. If he loved her that much, he should’ve told her and let her choose.”
We grabbed our bags on our way out, Michele in tow. Strangely, it didn’t weird me out, the feeling of having someone watching my every move. After five years of being stalked, I was so fucked up that I’d gotten used to it. It was the norm. At least, with the bodyguard, I could see that he was following.
He walked us to a black Escalade and said he’d drive us to the movies. On the way, Mike and Maggie’s story occupied my mind. I wondered if Mike was just scared of telling her the truth because then she wouldn’t have wanted to be with him. He was afraid of her choice, so he made it for her.
To have her. Simply because she belonged to him, and he couldn’t live without her. He was obsessed with her.
Look at me, making excuses for the bad guys again, justifying twisted, dark love that might not be love at all.
Obsession, possession, need but not love.
Definitely not love.
Michele got our tickets and ushered us in himself. We sat in the back, the whole row to ourselves, with him sitting one row behind us. Now, that was weird. I wasn’t complaining, though. Security, even if it was an illusion, was a good feeling; I was certain if he wanted to find me, he would, despite the fort for a mansion and the seven-foot personal bodyguard.
I pitied the Bellomos. They had everything but couldn’t enjoy the simple freedoms of life, like enjoying a night out or going to the movies without an elaborate military strategy. I bet they booked the whole place to themselves and had it under siege when they went anywhere.
But I never saw any bodyguards with Leo, and he roamed free everywhere. He was the only son of a Mafia boss. Didn’t that put him in danger all the time? Especially if that thing with his mother was true.
As the commercials started, my mind wondered about the Bellomo family and all the hidden secrets that lay with them. The family tragedy Leo talked about must have been his mother’s death. He went to San Francisco with Tino to live with the fiancé’s family, I assumed. For Tino to unite forces against whoever attacked the mother? To avoid danger or provide extra protection for his son? To grieve?
Leo must have been thirteen or fourteen back then. He must have been so sad. I lost Mom when I was five, and my whole world shattered. To lose a parent, good or bad, changed you. It took away from you. It changed a child to an old soul even if they didn’t realize it at the time. Leo must have changed, too, after his mother died.
At the one time I saw them together, I could easily tell Leo didn’t like his dad. Did he blame Tino for his mother’s death? Was that why he rebelled against the lifestyle? Went to college to study something that had nothing to do with the Mafia, had no bodyguards and wanted to date an outsider?
Was that what I was to him? An act of rebellion to piss off his dad?
But why me? Anybody else would have served the same purpose. Why all the stalking? Why the protective act?
He couldn’t have been that obsessed with me or he wouldn’t have stopped that easily. Being the object of a psycho murderer’s obsession taught you that much.
I might have exaggerated what Leo had done. He might have been a little intense and gone a little overboard, so what? It wasn’t always a bad thing, and he did nothing to hurt me.
My reaction was a displacement for all the twisted fuckery he put me through.
A huge shadow fell over Nicky next to me followed by a chorus of Italian curses from Michele. I looked at him over my shoulder, and he was racing out. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing. Sit tight.” He hurried down the steps.
Nicky, suddenly, jumped to her feet. “What do you mean sit tight? Is that piece of shit here?”
My eyes widened, and my heart thrashed. Was he?
No way. He would never just show up like this. Even if he did, how would they know it was him?
“Back off, Michele. You can’t stop me from watching a movie.” A male voice boomed in the entrance, and Michele said something in Italian. Damn, I should start learning the language.
People started to turn their heads toward the heated argument, mumbling their protests. Nicky stepped forward, hissing, but I grabbed her wrist. “Don’t go anywhere. It’s not him.” He wouldn’t call the bodyguard by his first name.
If he was really here, he’d be among the people already in. My heart leapt at the thought. What if he was in here, watching as always?
My eyes searched the faces that were now looking my way, my chest heaving. Where are you? Tears burned my eyes, and I hated the emotional turmoil he triggered in me just by the mention of him. “Show yourself.”
“Fuck. It’s Leo,” Nicky said.
I jerked my gaze toward the figure Michele accompanied up to our row. The dancing lights from the commercials exposed Leo’s face to me.
Nicky took a protective step in front of me. “Stay away from my sister.”
I shook my head as I got off my seat. “It’s okay, Nicky.” I took back what I said about exaggerating what Leo did—he was still stalking me after I’d made it clear he needed to stay away—but he wasn’t the real danger here. Leo himself was in danger by being here.
“I just want to talk,” he said.
“There’s nothing to talk about.” Nicky fumed.
“Nicky, please, just sit.” I held her arm. She looked like she was about to lunge at him. “And Leo, please go. Everybody is looking our way. I just want to watch a movie in peace.”
“You heard la signorina. Now, let’s go. Your dad is gonna fucking kill me for this,” Michele mumbled, pulling Leo away.
Leo yanked his arm out of Michele’s grip. “Lina, you have to hear me out. Sooner or later, we have to talk.”