where she was studying, the sun going down. The sky hadn’t gone completely dark yet, though, and Matteo would be home soon. They were going out for dinner, so the oven and stove weren’t on.
She’d taken her laptop to the kitchen, where she usually studied, and had been sat in the hard chair for hours now. In between studying for school and writing papers, she was catching up on what it meant to actually be a mob wife. Yeah, she’d had talks with Trina, but she wanted to go deeper.
Some might say that she was seeking out the truth about her father, and in a way, maybe she was, she decided. She only knew her mother’s side about what kind of man her father was. She didn’t know about his life from those spiteful venomous words, just that her mother hated him. Marie wanted to know about him but the one woman that could tell her the most about him hated her. Marie had only met her the one time, but she knew when she was hated.
She’d felt that same cold hate from Celeste that she’d felt from her mother. It left her unsettled even now when she thought about it. Celeste was not an avenue for information then. The only way she could get to know him, and by extension, Matteo, was to study other Mafia families.
The truth was obvious about the reality shows she found online to watch; these were people being paid to make drama. She moved on to documentaries and then began to read about the subject. She saw things that horrified her, that took some of the glamorousness out of her fantasies about what this life was about. The truth splashed her with cold water, and Marie sat in the kitchen of the penthouse apartment as the minutes passed in a stunned state.
Matteo could be a very dangerous man and if she wasn’t careful, life could be very short. Not from him, she doubted he would ever truly physically hurt her. He could destroy her emotionally, that was definite, but not physically. Frustrated now, she got out of the chair and picked up her phone.
The only people she had to call were Trina and Matteo. She needed other friends. Or a group of some kind to join. She’d seen a lot of groups at the school’s online website, maybe she should find a group that actually met and got together.
Then she thought about something that had been niggling at her. Matteo never went out without a gun on him lately. He seemed stressed too, distracted when he was at home. Something was bothering him, but she wasn’t sure what it was, because he didn’t talk to her about those things.
He talked to her, that wasn’t the problem. It was just that he didn’t talk about his day, his feelings, what was bothering him. She wanted to change that but had no idea how. And now, after the research she’d done, she doubted she’d ever get her future Mafia king to ever talk to her about the business.
Despite the warnings she’d read that afternoon, she wanted in the family business. She brought the subject up an hour later as they sat at dinner in a very expensive Mexican restaurant. Matteo had just revealed the family owned the place and that beneath their feet a casino was ramping up for a night of gambling.
“Look, I know that me becoming involved in the business is something that takes trust. Nobody knows me, nobody trusts me, except you maybe, but can’t I do something down there?”
“I don’t know.” Matteo blinked at her, unsure of what to tell her.
“I’m not well educated, I know that, but I’m a good observer. I’m a problem-solver and I’m eager to learn. Surely there is something I can do?”
“I’ll find something, Marie, I promise. I’m not sure what we can have you do, but if you really want it this much, then, I’ll find something.” He shifted in his chair and pushed away from the plate that had been filled with steak fajitas not long ago but was now empty. The motion revealed the gun snug up against his left side with a holster, and Marie’s eyes shot up to his.
“And maybe take me for more shooting lessons?” she said the last part quietly, afraid to say it too loudly in the restaurant that was only now starting to fill up. They’d got there at the right time then.