Old Flame: Dante’s Story by Sam Mariano
16
Dante
By the timeI get back home, Colette is awake. I find her on the back patio, sitting in her old chair with a cup of tea in hand, staring out at the calm lake. Her long, dark hair is a mess, pulled back and twisted up, secured with a clip I didn’t buy her. Colette is still in her bathrobe, but I guess I didn’t really buy her any relaxing clothes to wear around the house. I figured once she got comfortable we would go out and she could do some shopping, but I probably should have had more waiting for her when she got here.
I’m not trying to be stealthy, so I walk heavily enough that she hears me approach from the slap of my loafers against the ground. She looks up at me as I come to a stop beside her chair and offers a tremulous smile. “What are you doing home already?”
Home. She already refers to it as home again. I like that. Taking the seat beside her, I tell her, “Not much going on today.” That’s a lie, but a harmless one. “I’ll stay here and keep you company.”
“You don’t have to do that,” she tells me, like she knows why. “I’m really fine. I told you, sometimes I have panic attacks.”
“Well, Vince is bringing your pills this afternoon,” I tell her. “If that happens again, we’ll be ready.”
“That’s nice of him,” she murmurs, looking back out at the lake. “You should give him a cupcake as a thank you. I don’t know if they’re any good, but I frosted them before I came outside.”
I nod in acknowledgement of what she said, but I don’t give a shit about cupcakes. “How are you feeling today?”
“Tired.”
That’s not exactly what I meant, but I guess it’s all she wants to give me. That’s all right. Rather than press her for more, I lean back in the chair and join her in looking out at the lake.
“Do you still have the boat?” she inquires, after a moment.
“Sure do. We can take it out this evening, if you want. Pack up some cheese and fruit, bring some wine, watch the sun set.”
It’s the kind of night she used to love, but asking her now seems to make her sad. I’m afraid making her sad could trigger another attack like last night, so when she doesn’t answer, I don’t say anything more about it.
I guess my presence must have ruined her enjoyment of the lake view because after just a few minutes, she gets up and heads back toward the house.
Sitting forward in the chair and looking back at her, I ask, “What are you doing?”
“I’m going to lie down,” she answers, before disappearing inside the house.
---
When the doorbell rings,I’m instantly irritated. Vince could have just texted me to let me know he’s here, he didn’t have to ring the damn doorbell and risk waking up Colette.
When I pull open the door with a scowl on my face, prepared to ream my younger cousin, I have to do a double take. It’s not Vince standing on my doorstep, but a blonde girl in a white top and denim shorts seemingly designed to draw my eyes to a pair of long, shapely legs that damn sure do not belong to my cousin.
Do-Gooder Barbie herself, Mia Mitchell.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I demand.
Mia’s eyebrows rise, then she holds up a plastic grocery bag expectantly. “You asked Vince to get some stuff for Colette.”
“Yes, I asked Vince.”
“Well, Vince had work to do, so he asked me to bring it over,” she explains, glancing past me into the house. “Is Colette here?”
“No, she’s at the zoo.”
Mia gives me a dead-eyed look. “Hilarious.”
“I’ll give you the schedule for my stand-up tour so you can follow it.” I hold out my hand to take the bag, but rather than hand it over, she pulls it back toward her as if reluctant.
“Actually, I was hoping I could give it to her,” she tells me, her tone and her big blue eyes indicating she’s asking my permission. I do like that, but I don’t like her ringing my damn doorbell or getting in my brother’s head, so I open my mouth to tell her no. She must sense it coming, because she quickly starts talking again. “I got her some other things, girly things, things she might need. I remember when Mateo kept me…” She flounders for a nice way to say captive, but fails to find one. “… in his room, there were things I would have liked to have. I couldn’t even shave my legs.” Shrugging, she concludes, “Anyway, I bought some things for Colette you may not have thought of because you’re a guy.”
“A captive care package. How thoughtful,” I remark, dryly. It is thoughtful, though. The damned girl doesn’t even have enough money to buy groceries, and here she is wasting her money buying shit for Colette.
Since I haven’t bitten her head off yet, she appears to gather courage. Looking up at me, she adds, “Also… if she is pregnant, she probably shouldn’t be given Valium. Some medications can harm the baby. I’m not positive that’s one of them, but you might want to check with a doctor first. If you’re having a hard time keeping her… calm, maybe I could talk to her. I understand what she’s going through, I’ve been there myself, so—”
“Been where?” I ask, just to make her uncomfortable.
She hesitates, but at least holds my gaze this time. Again, I see her searching for a non-confrontational way to refer to the heinous shit Morelli men are so often responsible for. “Just… there,” she says with a shrug, refusing to put a name to her passive accusation.
Leaning against the doorframe, I cross my arms and cock my head, as if confused. “Where?”
Mia sighs at me, leveling me another look of minor annoyance. “Why do you need me to say it?”
“Say what?” I ask innocently.
Her blue eyes narrow, but she doesn’t answer me. Seeming to understand I’ll keep giving her a hard time if she keeps letting me, she straightens and says, “I’d just like to see Colette, that’s all. I want to make sure she’s okay and give her the things I picked up for her.”
“You don’t even know Colette. Why should you care how she is?”
“I met her last night,” she says.
“She was mean last night,” I point out.
Mia shrugs. “Well, yes, but she’s undoubtedly not having the time of her life right now, so… people handle that in different ways. In any case, it doesn’t matter if she’s mean or nice, I would still like to check in on her while I’m here.”
“Why do you think she needs to be checked on?”
Looking me dead in the eye, she says, “Because last night she seemed like she would rather blow you up than look at you, and today I’m delivering a pregnancy test.”
My lips curve up faintly at the little peek of irritation. “Am I getting on your nerves, Mia?”
“I don’t care about you,” she states. “I just want to make sure Colette’s okay. I know she doesn’t want to be here, I know what she may be going through, and as someone who has come out on the other side, I just think I have the experience and perspective Colette might need right now. I can be sympathetic without interfering in a way you wouldn’t like. I’m a Morelli-safe visitor, it’s not like you have to worry I’ll try to rescue her. I’m not here to judge you for whatever you may or may not have done to her, I just think it’d be a real dick move to make her suffer alone when she doesn’t have to.”
Losing the faint trace of humor I had, I straighten to my full height and take a menacing step toward her. She must not be a complete moron, because she takes two wary steps back. “Watch how you talk to me, Barbie. I’m not my brother, I don’t find you charming.”
“You don’t have to find me charming,” she says, carefully. “I don’t know you, I don’t know your deal, but I think if you care about Colette at all, you should consider what I’m saying. It’s not easy dealing with all this Morelli bullshit alone, it’s not easy being locked away with no one to talk to. She can talk to me. I get it. I can help you both if I can give her a way to vent. Wouldn’t you rather her say mean things about you to me than you?”
Yes, actually, I probably would. Rather than say that, I decide to get rid of the girl once and for all. The quickest and most effective way? Scare her.
Grabbing a fistful of her white shirt, I rotate our positions and shove her up against the outside of my house. She gasps, grabbing at my hand on her chest to try to break my grip, but all she ends up doing is touching my hand, so she quickly lets go and looks up at me, her blue eyes wide with alarm. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she demands, despite her naturally submissive physical response.
“You’re right to think I’m dangerous. You’re wrong to think anything you say will get you into my house—and given your assumption about my predilections, you should probably be thankful for that.” I let the silent threat hang in the air just long enough for her to lose a shade of color, then I go on. “You’re also wrong if you think there’s a shot in hell I’ll let you befriend Colette, regardless of your level of Morelli expertise.”
“I only wanted to help—”
I cut her off. “I know what you’re trying to do. Here’s the thing, sweetheart; when Vince kills you in a jealous rage someday, I’m gonna have enough shit to deal with, I don’t need to add a grieving Colette to my already full plate. So, you keep to your side of town and I’ll keep to mine. Got it?”
She swallows, clearly still wanting to argue. She knows better though, so she nods tersely. “Let go of me.”
Instead of releasing the balled up fabric clenched tightly in my fist, I make a show of looking her over real slow. I hear Mia swallow and imagine dread pooling in her taut little stomach, but enough of it needs to pool there to keep her the fuck off my property, so I take a little longer. Given I’m clutching the fabric right on top of her breasts, my fingers are pressed close enough against her that I can feel her heart pounding beneath my fingers. Good. Be afraid, little pest. Be very afraid.
Slowly, I bring my gaze back to her eyes. I look at her like she’s property to be sold, but just far enough out of my reach that I’d have to lean to catch her, and that’s too much work. Finally, I release her shirt, but I don’t take a step back, so she’s still caged between me and the exterior of my house. “Enjoy your oblivious illusion of safety while you still have it,” I advise her.
“Vince isn’t going to kill me,” she states, but now she won’t meet my gaze as she straightens her shirt and inches away from me.
“Yes, because he’s certainly never hurt you before.”
Despite her wariness of me, Mia glares. “That was—Mateo—He wouldn’t kill me.”
My tone bored, I reply, “Tell yourself what you need to.” Holding my hand out for the bag, I raise an expectant eyebrow.
Mia thrusts the bag at me, clearly mad at me now. “I feel sorry for Colette.”
“I feel sorry for whoever will have to dig your shallow grave and dispose of your lifeless body,” I offer back.
Making a noise of disgust, she storms down the stairs and hastily makes her way back toward her little piece of shit car.
I almost let her leave, but on second thought, I take a couple steps forward and call out, “Hey, Mia.”
She spins on her heel and shoots me a dirty look, but waits to see what I have to say.
“Don’t mention this little encounter to my brother.”
I don’t like making the request, but I don’t know this girl well enough to know if she’s a whiner. I know she was volleyed between my brother and cousin and somehow she manages to be on good terms with both of them now so she must be some sort of peacekeeper, but I don’t want to risk it. I have an uncomfortable hunch that if she tattled to Mateo about my treatment of her on my front porch today, he wouldn’t be very happy about it.
“Wasn’t planning on it,” Mia calls back. “I’m pretty accomplished at keeping all your family’s dirty secrets.”
I crack a smile. “If only you weren’t also so accomplished at taking all our cocks, maybe I could have let you be Colette’s friend.”
Her jaw drops and she gasps in outrage. “Screw you, Dante.”
My smile widens and I hold up the plastic bag. “Thanks for all your help, Elle.”
“That’s not my name,” she mutters, shaking her head as she opens her car door. Then she drops as heavily as she can into the driver’s side seat and slams her door shut.
It’s really too bad she can’t be friends with Colette. She’s right about her experience with my brother potentially helping them bond, and I couldn’t give a shit less if Mia judges me, as long as she stays out of my way, regardless.
I don’t know if I’d want Mia regularly hanging around my house given my brother’s interest in her, but even if I wanted to avoid him potentially sticking his nose in my business, once Colette adjusts, they could be shopping buddies and Mia could play chaperone when Colette wants to go out. The girl could have been damned useful, if only my brother hadn’t noticed her—or if he’d noticed her first, I guess. In any case, my powerful brother and hot-headed cousin both having some kind of vested interest in her makes it far too risky.
Before Beth and Mateo fucked everything up, we had a nice system with them. Colette got to have a friend, I never had to worry about outsiders influencing our relationships with their clueless bullshit.
I don’t hate ragging on Mia either, I just can’t risk letting Colette get close to another potential Beth.
