Vote Then Read: Volume I

by Carly Phillips

  “We’re here for breakfast,” Mauro announces. “Burritos, Mama?”

  She smiles, her hand landing on his cheek as she studies his eyes. With a pat on the cheek, she smiles. “Anything for you.”

  “Non vedo l’ora,” Mauro says.

  His mom smiles and heads to the back.

  “Very nice to meet you, Madison,” Anthony says and follows his wife to the back of the deli.

  Mauro comes over to me, sliding a chair out. “Sorry about the Italian. She’s usually really good about not speaking in Italian when others are around who don’t speak the language, but just hearing Hunter’s name sends her in a tizzy.” Mauro sits in his own chair across from me, legs sprawled out in front of him.

  “That’s okay.”

  I want to ask why that is? Was the partnership bad before he died? Is the fact that he died what angers his mom? There are a million reasons it could be, but it’s none of my business. We need to keep this relationship professional.

  “Your parents are nice.”

  A proud grin forms, revealing a mouth full of sparkling white teeth. “They’re the best.” He taps his fingers on the table. “What about your parents? Do they still live around here?”

  My heart stumbles over a beat when I remember that he didn’t know one key piece of information before we agreed on the partnership. If I were him, I would want to know. I cringe.

  “There’s something I have to tell you.”

  11

  Mauro

  I notice the panicked look on her face and hear the anxious tone in her voice and my brows draw together.

  “The house we bought is my childhood home.” She presses her lips together, watching me absorb the information.

  My phone vibrates in my pocket before I can ask why she bought her childhood home. Or how it ended up looking like it was previously on an episode of Hoarders. All these questions float in my head while she sheepishly stares at me with her top teeth pressed into her luscious bottom lip.

  God help me, ever since the true Madison Kelly has shown her face, I’ve been trying to talk my dick down from the salute it wants to give her. The teeth on the lip is the last straw.

  Seeing Cailin’s name on the screen causes some internal conflict inside me for the first time since Hunter‘s death. Usually, I’d stop whatever I’m doing to answer her call, but even I’ve noticed that they’re becoming more frequent.

  “Hold on one second.” I pull the phone out of my pocket and head over to the doors. “Hey,” I answer.

  “Are you sleeping? I’m sorry.” Cailin sounds as depressed as she usually does.

  “No. I’m actually...” My eyes wander to Madison who is piling her hair up in a ponytail on top of her head. My mouth waters as the movement exposes her long neck and my lips beg for me to hang up this phone and venture over there for one taste. “I’m at The Sandwich Shop.”

  “Oh, tell your parents I say hello. Devin has been begging to see your mom.”

  “I’m sure she’d like to see him, too.” The small argument we had in front of Madison surfaces in my mind. My mom and what might come out of her mouth would be too unpredictable if I let Cailin and Devin be around her right now.

  “Since you’re out and about anyway, how about a trip to the park with us?” Her tone is more chipper than when I first answered.

  My eyes stay glued on Madison who’s now pulled out a pad of paper and is scrolling through her phone. Her pen zooming along the page at warp speed like her mind is going too fast and her hand can’t keep up.

  “I’m sorry. I’ve got…” I pause because I’m not sure I want Cailin to know what I’m doing. Which is ridiculous because she wouldn’t be upset. She’d probably think it was good or she’d be sad because Hunter was supposed to be a part of this venture with me. “An appointment.”

  Madison’s pen stops and the tension in her shoulders fall.

  “Oh…okay. What about dinner?” Cailin asks.

  I was hoping to sleep through dinner. The only reason I’m still standing is from the pure adrenaline of starting in on this project. For the first time since Hunter’s death, excitement fills my veins. I could kiss Patel for giving me the extra push I needed.

  “Sure. I’ll pick something up on the way over,” I say.

  “No. You’re always spending too much money on us. I’ll make dinner. How about six?”

  “Sure.”

  “Great. Devin will be so excited.”

  My mom comes out from the back, her eyes taking in the situation. The fact I’m on the phone and Madison’s by herself causes Ma to frown, and she shakes her head at me.

  “See you then. Bye.” I click the phone off.

  So what if I’m still a tad scared of my mom. Italian mamas are unpredictable and scary. Don’t judge unless you’ve been raised by one yourself.

  Stuffing my phone into my pocket, I walk to the counter to pick up the burritos, but my mom turns her back on me and walks past me over to the table.

  “I hope you like prosciutto?” she asks Madison. “I wrapped them in foil to stay warm.” Instead of handing them to me, she hands them to Madison.

  “Thank you so much.” Madison drops her pen and reaches to touch my mom’s shoulder in a kind gesture of appreciation.

  My mom’s entire face lights up. “Come back for lunch sometime. What’s your favorite sandwich?”

  Madison looks up to the ceiling thinking. “Honestly, I’m not much of a sandwich person.” She shrugs. “If I had to give you one, I guess turkey?” The way Madison phrases it like a question brings a warm sensation to my heart. She’s honest to a fault. Who knows if she’ll ever see my mom again. She could have said any deli meat, but she didn’t.

  “Anthony will make you a sandwich lover. Come back for lunch someday.” My mom pats her hand and stands.

  “Thank you, Mrs. Bianco.” Madison shoves all her stuff back in her bag and rises from the chair.

  I grab the brown paper bag. “Bye, Mama,” I say.

  “Conosco I miei pollo.” She touches my face again, her thumb gently rubbing my cheek the way she did when I came to her on one of the worst days of my life.

  “I know, Mama.” I glance to Madison who’s granted us privacy and stepped closer to the door. “Business.” I remind her like I did minutes ago after Luca’s one-night stand from this past week called the deli. The guy can’t get his shit together to save his life.

  Her hand falls off my face to my heart. Her fingers drum over the organ.

  Sometimes I wonder if she’d marry us off to any woman as long as it got her closer to grandkids.

  My hand covers hers and I nod. Non-verbally telling her I’ll think about it.

  Although I have no intention to. My body might want Madison Kelly, but she agreed to a business partnership just hours ago. She’ll show me the ropes and I’m not going to jeopardize my future by letting my dick get a say. So, I’ll appease my mama because it will help her sleep at night, but I have no intention of ever letting Madison into my heart. Actually, I may shut that organ down until I’m six feet under at this rate.

  I lean down and kiss my mom’s cheek. “I’ll be by Sunday.”

  She kisses my cheek back.

  “Bye,” Madison says, waving at my mom.

  “Ciao,” she says, the permanent smile plastered to her face.

  “Where are you parked?” I ask Madison.

  “On Dearborn in a parking garage.”

  “I’ll walk you to your car and then get my truck.”

  “I’m fully capable of walking to my car. I’ve done it daily. For years now.”

  I laugh because she’s so much more than the girl I saw on that date. I wish I wouldn’t have done to her what I did at the café, but I can’t help to think that if I didn’t, she would’ve remained quiet and hidden. Whether or not it was me calling her out for letting me win or that she’s just grown more comfortable with me, I can’t deny that her humor and self-confidence is sexy.

  “Yeah, well that�
�s before you met me. Much to the contrary of what you witnessed on our date, I’m actually a gentleman.”

  She glances at me briefly and rolls her eyes. “Fine. I’ll drive you to your truck after.”

  “Look at that, we’re already compromising. What all great partners do.” I smile, wrapping my arm around her shoulders.

  Her neck strains as her eyes meet mine. “You have no idea how much compromising you’re going to have to do to cater to my ways.”

  “Keep talking dirty, I like it.”

  She jabs me in the ribs and though I may not ever sleep with Madison, I think she’d make a killer friend.

  The word friend shouldn’t leave a bitter taste on my tongue though. I don’t need to have been valedictorian of my class to realize that.

  12

  Madison

  We arrive at my old childhood home but stay by Mauro’s truck to eat our breakfast burritos since it’s gross inside and I’m already fearful I’ll lose the burrito minutes after walking in and dealing with the stench.

  “So, you were saying…this is where you grew up?” he asks, glancing up and down the street instead of at the monstrosity in front of us.

  “Yeah, when we were in high school…not that you knew me, so it’s not really we, but you know what I mean.”

  “I knew you,” he says probably out of obligation.

  “You don’t have to pretend you did. I’m fully aware of our differences.”

  He bites into his burrito, a low satisfactory moan leaking out of him. It makes me wish I pulled those sounds from him.

  “I’m not sure I understand what you’re talking about.” He sips on the iced coffee he stopped to pick up on the way over.

  “Mauro, you were captain of the football team and I was captain of the geek squad.”

  “There’s a captain?” He winks.

  “Hardy har har. If we’re going into this, I need you to know a few things.”

  “You’re the woman American Psycho and you’re going to seek your revenge and kill me?” He devours half of his burrito when I’m only a quarter into mine.

  “No. The night we saw each other at the auction, I might’ve been a little awestruck.”

  God, this is embarrassing, but I need him to know I am not some dork that he can push around.

  “I thought maybe you saw me as Ogre and couldn’t stand to look at my face.”

  He’s smirking when I glance up from my burrito. If I’m going to tell him this I have to look him in the eyes, so he respects me.

  “No, that’s not why. A person like you is probably used to always having the advantage. Having people cower down and listen to you because…well…you’re really attractive and attractive people usually get what they want fairly easily.”

  “You must be speaking from experience.” He raises both eyebrows.

  I roll my eyes at him, trying to act like we both aren’t aware of where we stand.

  “I just need you to know, I know what I’m doing here. This is my fifth house and I’ve learned from my mistakes, so I’d like it if you didn’t try to intimidate me into getting your way. That you believe the decisions I suggest and make are what is best for us and come from a place of experience and knowledge.”

  “Did you think if I wanted a different molding stain I was going to strip off my shirt? Or if we didn’t agree on what price to sell it at, I’d do a strip tease?” He hops off the back end of the truck, crumpling up his foil wrapper and tossing it in the bed. “If we’re being so honest, than I’d like you to know that I’m more than just brawn, I have some brains, too. So please respect any suggestions I make.”

  I’ve offended him.

  I follow him to the passenger side of the truck. “I didn’t mean—”

  His head turns and his blue eyes are lit with anger. It’s a side of him I’ve never seen before.

  “You meant that you thought I’d use my looks and my charm to get my way with you. That I wouldn’t respect you as an equal partner.” He steps closer. I swallow down the small amount of saliva pooling in my mouth. “Let me tell you, Madison, you might think you know me, but you know nothing about the real me. I seem to remember you telling me something similar last week.” His arm lands on top of the truck, effectively caging me in. “I’ll tell you this, you might be hung up on what you looked like in high school, but I’m not. I’m sorry if I was an idiot and didn’t notice you back then, but I could accuse you of using your looks to get what you want in our arrangement, too. ”

  I stare into his eyes, watching anger transform to heat.

  “I would never disrespect you, Madison. We’ll both get what we want out of this partnership.” He winks and pushes himself off the truck, leaving me weak in the knees. “Now let’s go get dirty.”

  God, I so want to get dirty with him right now, but not at all in the way that he means.

  Two hours later, we’re back to sitting on the lowered tailgate of Mauro’s truck. I’m finishing up sketching what I’m imagining for the main living space after we knock down the wall between the kitchen and the dining room.

  Mauro is lying next to me, his forearm over his eyes, halfway to dreamland. Part of me wants to tell him to go home and sleep, but if we’re going to start demolition tomorrow, then we have no choice but to figure this part out today.

  “What do you think about the staircase?” I ask.

  “It’s dark and scary,” he mumbles from underneath his arm.

  I laugh. “When I was younger, it left a great space to eavesdrop on my parents.”

  A flashback of their composed conversation when they decided on a divorce overtakes the one about the Barbie dream house they put together on Christmas Eve during happier times.

  “How long did you live here?” He sits up, his back slouched.

  I laugh. “You can lay back down.”

  “Nah, I’ll fall asleep on you.”

  “Do you want me to sketch this and send it over to you tonight?”

  He slides closer to me, shifting his weight to the arm behind me. “No.”

  He leans in a bit more and he points to the top, where the stairway bends to go upstairs. “We could open this up. The light from the window will come through, but there’s still room for a little girl to eavesdrop on her parents’ conversation.”

  My gaze meets his and he smirks.

  “I like it.” I smile at him.

  “You do?” The disbelief in his tone is surprising.

  “I do. So…” I scribble away to show that we’ll be taking out part of that wall. “That’s gone.”

  I hop down, mostly to get away from his nearness before I drown in his scent which may only be soap and shampoo but is still intoxicating when it’s on him.

  “That’s enough for now. It’ll be a couple days of demo,” I say.

  He follows suit, his boots hitting the ground. “I have tomorrow off and then I’m back on shift for twenty-four hours.” His fingers thread through his hair, stress lining his jaw.

  “No worries. I’ll hold down the fort when you’re at the station. We do need to hire a crew.”

  “I already have guys coming tomorrow,” he says, hands on his hips.

  “Pretty sure you were going to get the house then?”

  “Well, I didn’t think there would be a lot of people vying for this much of a fixer-upper.”

  “Only me.” I shrug.

  He smiles, the one that melts my insides. “I’m glad that we’re doing it together. I think it will be fun.”

  “Hmm…you are a newbie,” I tease. “Remind me how much fun we’re having in a month.”

  He chuckles, his hand pulling on his neck.

  “Are you going to be okay to drive home?”

  He nods before I finish the sentence. “I’m good. I’ll probably be asleep until dinner. You’ve got my cell.”

  “Yep. We’re all good. I need you rested for tomorrow. If you can tell your crew to come in at nine or so. I’ll probably be here at seven, but don’t feel like you ha
ve to join me. Nine is fine for you.”

  He quirks an eyebrow. “I’ll be here at seven. Fifty-fifty, remember?”

  I giggle and nod. “See you at seven.”

  He nods and I grab all my stuff off the bed of his truck, turning to head to my car.

  “Enjoy the rest of your day, partner,” he says, securing the tailgate and heading to the driver’s side.

  “Sweet dreams.” I open my car door.

  Why don’t I want to leave him?

  Because you’re still infatuated with him.

  “Probably won’t even remember them if I have them. Bye, Madison.”

  “Bye, Mauro.”

  We both get into our vehicles and Mauro pulls away from the curb. Rather than follow suit, I open my purse and pull a few M&Ms from the bag I always have in there, then grab my phone and pull up Vanessa’s contact. Lauren should be at work and besides, Vanessa will be more on board with the crazy decision I made to be business partners with Mauro on this project.

  “What’s up girlie?” Vanessa’s huffing with labored breaths into the phone.

  “What are you doing?” I check my blind spot and pull out onto the street.

  “I’m running.”

  Vanessa and working out is about as common as seeing a leprechaun riding a unicorn skipping down Michigan Avenue.

  “Um…why?”

  “Oh, fuck it. Where are you? Can you pick me up on the way home?”

  I laugh. “Where are you?”

  “On the corner of Irving and Western.”

  “Van, that’s like two blocks from home.” I chuckle.

  “Yeah, there’s a Dunkin’ Donuts, I’ll be in there.” There’s a pause. “Large ice coffee… definitely cream and sugar.”

  “I’ll be there in ten.”

  “Thanks. You’re a lifesaver.” Her tone sounds about as frazzled as I feel emotionally right now. “Wait, what’s up? Why did you call?”

  “I’ll tell you when I get there.” I brake at a stop light.

  “No, distract me from the lack of oxygen going into my lungs.”

  My fingers tap the steering wheel while I wait for the light to turn green. “I got that house.” I start with the really good news.