Chapter 4 Maria #2
“Go on.”
“I’m kind of part of the say no to billionaires movement.”
“Even if it is old money?”
“It’s just…in a world with so much sickness and poverty and homelessness, does it really seem fair for less than one percent to hold most of the world’s wealth for themselves?” I said.
He stopped shy of saying something. I could see that he wanted to; his mouth was hanging open, and he was trying to figure out the right words, but whatever he would say, we were two different people from two different worlds. Of course we were going to disagree.
“That is exactly what I say.”
Come again? I was shocked to hear him say that.
“I beg your pardon?”
“My father wants to see me as this reckless guy who’s throwing away his money, someone who doesn’t like to take stock of his life, but there’s more to it.
I’ve got a bachelor's in finance from Princeton. I did a thesis on economic systems and their fallibility. You should have seen Father’s face.
He wanted to disown me right then and there for having these liberal notions.
He was against me going to Princeton in the first place, as a matter of fact.
He wants me to be like the sons of the consiglieres.
You should meet Robert, Uncle Lucas’s son.
My father dotes on him because he’s like this walking, talking caricature of a mafioso character straight out of one of those Mafia videogames.
All that talk about the old country, about roots, and how we should maintain our image, yada-yada-yada. ”
“He sounds like a piece of work,” I said.
“They just made him capo.”
“What about you? Where do you fall in the hierarchy of your family?”
“The prodigal son,” Elio said, throwing his head back and laughing.
I laughed, not at him but with him. Despite who he was and where he came from, there was no denying that he had a sense of humor.
“You’re good people, Maria Thurman. I’m glad I met you tonight,” he said, smiling at me.
“Thanks,” I said, looking away.
“I want to kiss you,” he said, gazing at me, his eyes serious, his face intense.
“Excuse me?”
“You didn’t say no.”
He was right. I didn’t. And I didn’t want to. This had been a strange day, and the day was not over just yet.
“May I?”
I blushed and looked down, but not before giving him a brief nod.
He put his finger under my chin and lifted my face, and then took my hair and tucked it behind my ear. He leaned first, and then I leaned closer, and we kissed each other.
It was sweet, it was soft, and it made me feel giddy. I hadn’t been kissed like that in a while.
I put my hand on his cheek and pulled him closer so I could kiss him deeper. There was something so liberating about him, the way he talked, the way he said what he wanted, asked for what he needed. Not to mention he’d saved my life earlier tonight.
It helped that he was a great kisser.
I put my arm around him and let him feel me up. His hands on my body, tracing their way up my midriff to my breasts and then to my neck, staying there for a brief second before coming up to my face, holding it gently, and then finally letting go.
“Thank you for this,” he said like a complete gentleman. “I shall remember this night.”
I did not know this man. And yet, as he got up to leave, I did not want him to leave.
His phone rang. He fished it out of his pocket and answered the call.
All the romance, all that cool and calm disappeared from his face the minute he got on the call.
He put the phone back in his pocket and turned around to look at me.
“I’m sorry that I have to do this, but you might wanna come with me. I may be cashing in that favor now.”
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s my father. He’s… demanding answers. He thinks I orchestrated the whole thing. You can clear it up with him, and then we can go our own ways. How’s that sound?”
It petrified me to think that I’d have to go visit the don at his mansion on Long Island.
I was already shaken up enough as it was from that whole mess with Jimmy and his men, not to mention I had to be at the office really early—like two a.m. in the morning—so that the scoop I had could make it in the morning paper.
It was eleven a.m. right now.
“Please?” Elio said, looking desperate. “I did save your bacon tonight.”
“And I let you kiss me,” I said.
“Pretty sure that was for our mutual benefit and not a favor to me,” he said.
“Dammit, Romano,” I said, holding out my hand so he’d help me get up. He did so with perfect chivalry, and then, as a cherry on top, he took off his coat and put it on my shoulders just as it started to rain again.
“How’d you get here?” I asked as we exited the park.
“Oh, my Father wouldn’t let me out of his sight. Had to sit with him in his Rolls.”
“And now you get to sit with me in my Honda Civic. I apologized in advance for all the mess,” I said, not really meaning it.
The car was an extension of me, and I’d driven it all over the state for my job.
I kept it neat, and I made sure that it was well maintained, even though it was nearly old enough to order its own drink at a bar.
He got in the car with an amused look on his face.
“Nice. Really lived in. Is that Chinese takeout I smell?”
“You’ve never eaten in a car before?” I asked, turning the key. The engine came to life with a loud roar. I’d been meaning to get that fixed.
“Not Chinese takeout, no,” he said. “McDonald's, sure.”
“If we’re still alive at the end of all this, I might take you out for some takeout. I know this crazy good place in Brooklyn.”
“Deal,” he said, strapping in his seat belt.
I did not notice the black truck that was tailing my car until I’d already crossed the bridge to Long Island.
And by that time, it was obvious who had sent the truck. It wasn’t the don’s escort.
It was Jimmy’s goons.