Disenchanted Read online

  Lily’s laughter broke the awful tension in the room, even though it came with some tears as she wiped at her face.

  Tears trickled out of her eyes as she laughed and cried at the same time. “You’re such an asshole.”

  “Will it make you feel better if I offer you empty fanciful words meant to make you feel better but don’t really work?”

  She lifted one shoulder. “Sure. Go for it. Give it your best shot.”

  “Okay. Um. Unicorns and rainbows and shit. The sun will come out and hush hush, there there. Everything will work out fine as long as you believe.”

  My sister giggled even as she wiped away more tears. “Believe in what?”

  I smiled sadly. “I haven’t figured that one out yet.”

  She eyed me carefully. “Are you sure you don’t want to spill your guts?”

  I sat back in my chair. “I’ll keep my guts right where they are for now. Thank you, very much.”

  The topic swiftly changed onto less emotionally rigorous subjects, and Lily stopped crying. I stayed with her for a little while longer before I went to check on Mom and the kids. Soon enough, I was again occupied with my family. Unfortunately, a sense of melancholy clung to me, especially when I saw Kyle interact with my kids, and how easily they drank in his attention—the attention of a male. They’d done the same with Marco our first day here, too.

  I hadn’t seen him since the other night after he’d shut me the fuck up. Kyle had mentioned that Marco was away, but he hadn’t said for how long. Instead of feeling relief for his absence, I was antsy as I half expected him to pop up at any time, which was terrifying. I had never liked the Jack-in-the-Box toy. Who the hell had thought it was a good idea to create a toy expressly meant for a child to scare the shit out of themselves? That’s how I felt, though. As the second day wound down, I expected Marco to appear and make my breath catch and my blood pressure spike.

  Late in the afternoon, I stopped in Lily’s room for a quick chat. It wasn’t about anything important, but it felt good to have that freedom with her, to be able to pick up a casual conversation after years of silence between us. Cora was with us, seated in the bed with Lily, her little eyes glued to the Nick Jr. show on the television as she fidgeted with her doll’s hair.

  When we heard a small commotion from the living room and the sound of a man’s voice, we assumed Kyle had returned.

  He’d gone out on an ice cream and French fry run for Lily. There was plenty of both in the freezer, but she’d made a comment about being stuck in bed and not being able to go get it fresh from one of the food chains. Kyle had raced out to get it for her before she could hardly finish speaking. As the heavy footsteps neared, I got to my feet, prepared to take Cora with me and give Lily and Kyle some time alone, but it wasn’t Kyle who appeared in the doorway.

  Marco strode into the room. My Jack-in-the-Box.

  Okay, so my breath may have caught a little bit when I saw him, and in place of the usual animosity, a nervous energy hummed through my bones. Instead of the casual clothes he’d had on before, he was dressed in a white button-down with the sleeves pulled up his forearms, black slacks, and black dress shoes. A pair of sunglasses were lodged in his slightly tousled dark hair and a gold Rolex with a blue face gleamed around his tanned wrist. For fuck’s sake, he was still beautiful.

  Cora was instantly on her feet, jumping on the bed as she cried out, “Marco! Marco! Pick me up, Marco! Pick me up!”

  Alarmed and frightened that she might accidentally fall on Lily, I got to my feet, arms outstretched to grab her, but Marco beat me to it. He plucked Cora off the bed, tossed her in the air, and caught her, making her squeal with delight.

  Standing beside Lily, I frowned as he tickled my daughter and tossed her up in the air a few more times. My sister watched him with adoration and clasped her hands together.

  “He’s so good with kids.”

  I was not overcome with stupid, girlish adoration. “It’s a little creepy if you ask me. How well do you really know this guy? Maybe he’s too good with kids. Catch my drift?”

  My sister’s eyes narrowed as her mouth tightened into a frown. “Yeah, I catch your drift. You’re an idiot, Lydia.”

  “He doesn’t even like poor people.”

  Lily sighed. “You’re not poor, and that was a misunderstanding, or an example of poorly chosen words.”

  “I am poor. I’m dependent on your husband’s kindness and pity. And, you said Mangina was a womanizer.”

  “I said women flock to him, not that he screws them all, and his name is Mangini. With an i. What’s your deal? Mom told me how you’ve been with him. Why are you acting like a lunatic?”

  I didn’t get a chance to answer her, not that I had a reasonable response anyway. Marco carefully put Cora on her feet and turned his attention to Lily, his gaze soft. My eyes narrowed on him for no good reason at all except for my general irritation at his existence.

  “Had I known my kiss would have sent you into the arms of a maniac, I would not have done it.”

  Lily pretended to think about it for a moment. “Yeah, but it was worth it. Come over here and give me a hug.”

  I scuttled out of the way as he rounded the bed. Our arms brushed as we passed each other, but he didn’t acknowledge me. He hadn’t looked at me once since his arrival. I took Cora’s hand as Lily and Marco embraced, murmuring words in Italian to each other. A small pocket of jealousy opened in my chest for not being able to follow their exchange of words. I wanted to know what he said to her, and what she said back, but okay, I especially wanted to know what he said. The words rolled naturally off his tongue, sounding rhythmic and beautiful like a song.

  My moment of…awe, I guess you can call it, was ruined when the two separated and Marco began to speak in English again. “I was hellbent on seducing you, Lily.” Finally, his blue gaze swung to me, making me freeze where I was. “I’ll settle for your sister.”

  I snorted with derision. If it wasn’t for Cora’s presence, I would’ve chucked something at his smug face. Instead, I lifted my chin a little higher and walked out.

  We ran into Kyle in the hallway. The smell of fast food French fries wafted from the paper bag he carried in one hand. In his other, he held a pint of vanilla ice cream and a spoon. Cora skipped down the hall toward the sounds of her siblings in the living room as she hummed to herself.

  Kyle glanced toward the bedroom door. “Is she okay?”

  “That depends on whether or not you trust the Italian playboy sitting at her bedside.”

  He scowled, but then sighed. Kyle didn’t seem happy, but he also didn’t appear ready to go punch Marco’s lights out. How disappointing.

  “Yeah. I trust him.”

  I stared at him as my head fell to one side. “Really? Even after he stuck his tongue down her throat when you weren’t paying attention?”

  I didn’t know Kyle Sterling well enough to go at him like that. I’d met him earlier in the year for the first time after my Mom’s heart attack, and we’d spent only a few hours together over the course of a few days. From what Lily had told me, I knew he had asshole tendencies, that he could be overbearing, pushy, and surly, but before we’d ever met, before I’d ever known he’d existed, Kyle Sterling had been helping my family. My mortgage had been mysteriously paid in full, my household bills paid with additional credit, and I’d received a plethora of gift cards to cover groceries, clothes, and other essentials needed for raising a family. With some investigative work of my own, I’d discovered Kyle had been responsible for it all.

  His silent generosity had been life-altering. The fact that he wanted no acknowledgement for his deeds was a testament to what kind of heart beat under all that aggressive personality. He was good and kind to my mother and my children, had even called Gavi a couple times a month since we’d first met, because the two had connected over Legos. Also, in the days that we’d been residing in his home, he hadn’t seemed to give a damn about the messes the kids made or the few items that
had ended up broken. Maybe I didn’t know him well, but I had a feeling I could be straight with him.

  As it turned out, I was right. He sighed again and dragged a hand over his face.

  “Yeah. I trust him.”

  “Not just with Lily, but…I mean…in general?”

  He studied me curiously for a moment before he answered. “Yes. I do. Why? Did something happen?”

  The things that had happened that I could’ve listed seemed juvenile. So, I shook my head. “No, but I want to know what kind of people are around my kids.”

  His eyes narrowed. “I wouldn’t have put your children in danger, Lydia. I know just about everything there is to know about Marco Mangini.”

  I smirked. “Except when he’s kissing your girl.”

  The scowl on his face could’ve been threatening to anyone else, but I was unaffected. Kyle Sterling had a heart of mush. He didn’t scare me, but when the bedroom door opened, my heartbeat kicked up a few notches, because Marco did scare me, in ways I wasn’t ready to admit.

  I quickly kissed Kyle’s cheek and shuffled past him. I didn’t turn around when I heard Marco enter the hallway and exchange a few words with Kyle, but I felt his gaze, heavy and hot on the back of my neck. His footsteps were soundless, but I knew he followed a few paces behind me. It took a shocking amount of will power not to look over my shoulder.

  Chapter Five

  I was on the verge of sleep when I heard my sister’s muffled screams. Without the speed and grace I once had, I scrambled out of bed and stumbled out into the hallway. Holding on to the doorframe for some stability, I stared across the hall through the open door where Lily cried hysterically as Kyle tried to calm her and bring her back to reality and out of whatever nightmare plagued her.

  The sight of her undone like that was reminiscent of another time, another place, when there had been too much of her blood on the floor…

  “Lily.” I lurched forward, only to be stopped when I ran into an unexpected strong arm in front of me.

  Startled, my eyes moved up the arm to the body it was attached to. Marco’s face was somber. His head shook once before he peeked into the room. As he continued to hold me back, he reached for my door and pulled it until it remained open only a few inches.

  When his mouth touched my ear, an unwanted warmth ran down my spine. “Let him take care of her.”

  My eyes swung back to the room, where Lily’s hands were on her belly, her tear-filled eyes wide with terror as Kyle murmured softly to her. Without warning, Marco reached for that door, too, closing me off from the sad scene. I didn’t fight when he led me into Kyle’s office.

  As soon as I sat down in one of the chairs in front of the desk, Marco extended a glass to me. Without hesitation, I took it with trembling hands. The bourbon burned just as much as it had the other night, but that didn’t stop me from holding the glass out for more. He obligingly refilled it without comment and sat on the edge of the desk. His legs were open, his feet on either side of mine. We weren’t touching, but our positions felt intimate, and for once, I didn’t feel like pushing him away.

  “Why are you still here?” My question wasn’t asked with animosity, just honest curiosity. I needed to take my mind off what was happening with my sister, and off the memory of my own nightmare from a couple nights ago.

  “Working.”

  He reached behind him for a few sheets of paper and presented them to me. It took me a few seconds to understand what I was looking at. Some were floorplans for houses or apartments, while others were plans for something else altogether.

  “What’s this?” I glanced up at him as I sifted through the papers.

  “Last year, Kyle approached me with a proposal. He wanted to create housing for low-income tenants.”

  I nodded my understanding. “That’s the first time you met Lily.”

  He grinned. “Yes, and if it wasn’t for her, I am not sure I would have proceeded. She made me see things differently. Anyway, before we could even begin to give the project legs, Sterling Corp decided to go in a different direction. Recently, I decided to take on the project myself. Due to corporate legalities, Kyle technically couldn’t work on it, but by using a loophole, I can use him as a pro bono consultant. If he chooses not to go back to Sterling, I think he will fully be on board.”

  I passed the floorplans back to Marco. “It looks like you’re doing more than building housing.”

  He nodded. “I am. I want to build an entire community. People need more than a place to live. The children need recreation. Working parents need childcare. An urgent care center can help keep families healthy and save on ridiculous medical bills. So, I have incorporated a recreation center into the plans, as well as a daycare, and I have been speaking to one of the major hospitals in the area about opening one of their express medical centers close by. I have also taken into consideration that vehicles stop working and aren’t exactly affordable. The location I have chosen is very close to several bus routes.”

  I was honestly awed by his ambition, though I couldn’t help but be a little prickly.

  “You’re not worried that it will become a cesspool for drugs, crime, and teenage pregnancies?”

  I expected his usual amusement, along with one of his slick comments, but Marco didn’t deliver. His mouth turned down into a frown, and his eyes momentarily dropped to his feet before moving back to my slightly accusing gaze.

  “Like I said, your sister made me see things differently. Maybe not right away, not at first, but the more I got to know her, the more I began to think. Here was this beautiful, independent, strong, intelligent woman who grew up in one of these places I’d spoken so poorly of. She was nothing like the kind of people I had described. Not to say that there are not people like that out there, people who breed ignorance and destruction and know of no other way, nor do they seek of any other way. Those kinds of people, and those places, exist. It is a fact of life.” He paused to refill our glasses. “But,” he continued, “there are people out there who want a better life for themselves and their families and are willing to work for it. I want to help them get it.”

  “Ignorance and an appetite for destruction are bred on all socioeconomical levels. Have you not seen some of our politicians and the people who vote for them? Also, ignorance doesn’t always coincide with destruction. I think what you are attempting is noble, and maybe it makes you feel better about yourself now that you have a better understanding, but I don’t think you quite got it right yet.”

  Marco’s eyebrows shot up, widening his blue eyes. “And your extensive background in real estate development has helped you come to this conclusion?”

  “No. My extensive background in being a normal, run-of-the-mill person has helped me come to that conclusion. You’re thinking like a rich, privileged businessman who has good intentions, but because of being a rich, privileged businessman, you can’t properly execute your good intentions. You have to come down to my level to understand.”

  His brows pinched together as he frowned. “You’re not below me.”

  I gave him a disingenuous grin. “That’s sweet, but on the socioeconomical ladder, I am below you. Listen, by building a community of only low-income people, you’re not helping improve their way of life. If anything, you’d be trapping them in that position. Also, it’s almost insulting. It’s like saying you’re glad that they want a better life, but they should do so here, in this box you’ve made for them. You’d be reinforcing the division between the rich and poor—unless that’s what you want. Maybe you don’t want to have a neighbor less educated and underemployed.”

  Marco stared at me as if I were a puzzle he was trying to piece together. It took him a good thirty seconds or so before he responded. “So, what is your recommendation, Lydia?”

  I shrugged. “Inclusivity. Instead of building a neighborhood just for low income, or just for the upper-middle class, or just for the rich, build a neighborhood that’s for everyone.”

  “I can’t build
Sesame Street,” he said laconically.

  That made me laugh, which made him stare at me harder—not like a puzzle, though, but like I was dessert.

  My laughter cut off. I swear I could hear my heart loud and clear like a thunderclap in the room with each beat. Suddenly feeling awkward and stupid, I pushed my hair behind my ears and averted my gaze, but not before I again saw Marco’s eyes follow the movement.

  “I hope whatever you choose to do is successful.”

  I felt his eyes still on me while the silence stretched on for several seconds. Then he spoke again, his soft voice skimming over my skin in a caress. “Grazie, mia signora.”

  When more silence followed, I dared to lift my eyes to him again and found he was still watching me. It made me nervous, made my fingers dash back to my hair to push it behind my ear again, and even more nervous when he continued to watch that action.

  It took me a moment to find my raspy voice. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

  His head tilted slightly to one side, and there was another moment of watchful silence before he responded. “Sei bellissima. Da infarto, anche quando sei un mostro.”

  My own brows pulled together as I stared up at him. “What?”

  His enigmatic reaction made me frown. The bastard knew I didn’t understand any Italian, but before I could press him any further for a translation, the door swung open. Kyle came in, looking rather rumpled. His hair was a mess as if his hands had been pushing through it, and his shirt was wrinkled and sported a large wet spot on the shoulder where Lily must’ve cried. Instantly, I forgot about Marco’s words as my mind turned back to my sister.

  “How is she?” I twisted in my seat toward Kyle. My knees bumped up against Marco’s leg, but neither of us backed away, even after I gave him an uneasy glance.

  “She’ll be okay. She fell back to sleep. Marco, we’ll have to continue later. Maybe in a few days, or maybe longer.”

  Marco put his glass down and moved away from me and the desk. He put a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Not a problem, my friend. If either of you need anything, please let me know.”