Maria (Made Men Book 7)

by Sarah Brianne

  Lucca wrapped his arm around his sister, dragging them back toward the gym. “What have I told you about hitting harder?”…

  …The flash of the cameras had her blinking for dear life. “What the—”

  “The theme is Hollywood, remember?” Leo kept her from dropping the F-bomb in front of the fifty or so parents who were pretending to be paparazzi from behind the ropes.

  “Oh, right.” Truthfully, Maria hadn’t known or even frankly gave a fuck to remember, because her ass was only here for one reason, and it started with hot and ended with teacher.

  Watching Leo smile cutely and pose beside her for the camera, she effortlessly modeled beside him, with Jerry only a step behind, as they started to walk down the faux red carpet. It legitimately looked like a true celebrity photo with the photobombing bodyguard and all. The only thing missing was a sexist reporter asking Maria dumb-as-fuck questions that would later be plastered all over TMZ.

  With another click of the camera, she watched Leo pose differently. “Isn’t this uncool for you to be doing with your sister?”

  “No. Why would it be?” he asked, genuinely not understanding.

  You know when something was so fucking cute you just wanted to squeeze it to death? Well, that was exactly how she felt about Leo. So, she settled for grabbing his cute, little face and giving him a kiss on the cheek instead. Rubbing off the lipstick stain from his face, she made a mental note to be sure to get a hold of that picture, wanting it framed.

  “Okay, now it’s getting a bit uncool.” He stopped her “motherly” rubbing, getting rid of the stain himself.

  “Sorry.” She laughed.

  When they finally got to the school’s front doors where the red carpet ended, Leo went up to the ticket booth and handed in his homecoming of 2015 ticket.

  “Are you volunteering, sir?”

  “No, I am,” Maria answered, even though the mom with the clipboard of names had clearly asked Jerry.

  “The parents don’t come in to drop their kids off. They usually drop them off at the front of the school for this kind of thing.”

  Without listening, Jerry took a seat on one of the benches, pulling out his newspaper from under his arm.

  It was just like old times. During school dances, they locked all the doors but this one so no one could enter or exit except through the front entrance. If she needed him, she could call his cell, and if something were to happen, he could be there in a minute flat.

  “You can wait outside, if you’d like.”

  Jerry opened his paper larger. “I think I’ll wait here.”

  The volunteering mother didn’t know how to respond, seeming to be a bit intimidated by the older, large man in the suit.

  “He’s just a bit overprotective.” Maria shrugged it off with a fake laugh. Trying to divert the woman’s attention, she continued, “I’m volunteering. Maria Caruso.”

  “Kayne is coming this way,” Leo whispered over to her under his breath. “I’ll meet you back here when the dance is over. Good luck.”

  Nodding as he walked away, she knew why he had done so. Unlike how Maria had made Leo look walking in, despite that he said she didn’t, Leo didn’t want his sister looking uncool by having her little brother hanging close by while she flirted with his sexy English teacher. She was really going to have to think of something to buy Leo after tonight.

  “Ah, yes.” The volunteer finally found her name on the list. “I see you right here, Ma—”

  “Maria, thank you for coming. I wasn’t sure if you’d actually come or not.” Kayne seemed happily surprised to see her.

  Her cold heart thudded once in her chest from seeing him. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”

  “Well ….” Clearing his throat, he stopped himself to look down at the woman with the clipboard staring adoringly up at him. “Thanks, Kathy. I’ll show Maria to her post.”

  Feeling his hand at the small of her back, she happily let Kayne lead her to the coat check.

  Even though there was no longer an eavesdropper, he was sure to keep his voice low. “Leo mentioned some family issues when he returned back to school this week after missing some days.”

  “Right.” Not wanting to bring up the specifics, she decided to be honest since the wedding from hell had reached the paper. “A family wedding we attended last weekend got a bit out of hand.”

  “I heard.”

  Well, shit. She probably shouldn’t have sugarcoated it, then. The only reason everyone knew about it was because every hotel resident had fucking heard it and the screams that had followed. The only good thing was that no one truly knew who One-Shot was, and more than half of Kansas City’s police force was in her father’s pocket.

  The long-time standing Caruso-KC police department had been passed down for generations with each boss and commissioner through the years. On the surface the police force might look like they were the ones in control, but the truth was that this city was run and owned with the money and fear of the Caruso family. So, basically, the chief of police or any political member in this city were members of the group of people they swore to their citizens they would protect them from.

  Truthfully, the citizens of Kansas City were in better hands with the Carusos than they were with the police department. When something happened to someone in this city, Dante or Lucca knew about it, and they did everything in their power to make things right. So, if your kid went missing or, worse, ended up dead, by the next morning, Lucca could have you in a room facing your son’s killer with a 9mm pistol in your hand. It wasn’t exactly your land-of-the-free type of justice-for-all, but it did more for the family than waiting a year for your child’s murderer to finally be put behind bars, only to be let out fifteen years later on good behavior, preaching they had found God.

  That was why the boogieman had become a household name. If you did something heinous, your only judge, jury, and executioner was Lucca. His justice wasn’t only swift and true; it was fucking e-x-a-c-t. The only way the boogieman took pleasure in his work was if you were given exactly what you deserved. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth was something he took literally, as long as Lucca was in a good mood.

  “Well, I’m glad to see you’re all right.” Kayne pressed his hand into her back a tad deeper.

  Another thud of her heart.

  “Thank you.”

  “Here, let me help you with that.” Helping her out of her fur coat, he slid it slowly down her shoulders, revealing her to-die-for red dress.

  Maria could see the fire shining through his eyes when he took off her coat. Him quickly turning and giving it to the volunteer coat check didn’t keep her from seeing his X-rated thoughts. She might have had a couple of her own non-PG-13 thoughts herself.

  “Shall we?” Kayne asked gentlemanly, holding his arm out for her like how the good guys did in the movies.

  Maria took his arm in response, wrapping each of her fingers around his lower bicep and carefully feeling each muscle and the strength he kept hidden that was under his buttoned-up shirt. She could only imagine what he looked like underneath.

  Letting Kayne lead once more, they walked through the school to get to where the dance was held in the gymnasium. With each step, they passed a different student’s name adorned on the floor in a gold star to mimic the walk of fame. Then, right as they entered, as if you didn’t know what the theme was already, life-sized letters helped light the gym in front of a backdrop of hills spelling out H-O-L-L-Y-W-O-O-D. In just four short years, not only did the teachers get hotter, but the dances had become good enough for an after party at the Oscars.

  Getting to the very back of the gym where they had a perfect view of the dance floor, he stopped. “Now, we wait.”

  “For what?”

  He laughed. “For it to end.”

  “That’s it?” Maria was just now realizing that she had volunteered to chaperone, not to attend it like she used to.

  “Pretty much. Other than that, we make sure the kids haven’t s
nuck in any alcohol or drugs and that they don’t get too rough.”

  “Oh, I know.” She smiled, remembering that high school was the last time she could get away from the watchful eyes of her bodyguard. On the very rare occasions when she had somehow managed to sneak away from her suit, the only times she had been able to live a little was at a school dance. Right here, in this gym, during her first homecoming, was when she had first tried alcohol.

  In college, it hadn’t been the same. For safety reasons, she had been forced to live at home while her suits took her to and from school where they were free to sit in class with her. The “true” college experience was one Maria could never have.

  At first, she had been almost jealous of the girls who had it, but then she remembered that she was Maria-fucking-Caruso and that was better than any crazy, molly-popping college party story.

  “You do?” Kayne smiled, obviously not surprised. “What was Maria Caruso like in high school?”

  “You know those girls who had the hot pink Motorola RZRs and carried those tiny multi-colored Louis Vuitton purses?”

  “Oh, I remember those girls.” Laughing, he looked over at her from the dance floor, his eyes giving her a quick once-over. “So, nothing’s changed?”

  “Yep. Not much.” She laughed herself, remembering that circa Paris Hilton era. What a time it was to be young, alive, blonde, pretty, and rich.

  Watching the spotlights dance on stage around the DJ, it was beginning to look a bit overkill.

  “Jeez, these things are becoming more like prom every year.”

  “Yes, they are. Definitely didn’t have anything like this at my school,” he agreed with her in the same tone.

  “Where’d you go to school?”

  “Blue Park High.”

  Maria looked over at him, giving him a once-over herself. She almost couldn’t believe it.

  “Surprised?” he asked, raising a brow, knowing exactly what she thought.

  “A little,” she admitted, still staring at him.

  Attending Blue Park High meant you belonged to the roughest side of Kansas City. It was so bad over there that, not only did the Carusos not claim that territory, but grass didn’t even want to grow there. Blue Park belonged to the little bit of the city that the Lucianos controlled. Hell, it was their home. Going to the Luciano house had been the first and last time she would see Blue Park.

  Her interest piqued, she was starting to understand why she might have been attracted to him in the first place.

  “So, what was Kayne Evans like in high school then?”

  Kayne didn’t answer at first, seeming to think about how to answer or how much he wanted to reveal. “I carried a chip on my shoulder when I was younger and got into a lot of fights. More than I can count, which I’m not proud of. Then I found a teacher who set me on the right path and profession, and now I’m here.”

  She could see it. The more he talked, the more she could picture that boy inside of him who clearly drew her to him. That boy growing up on the wrong side of the tracks was still under the surface; he was just dormant under that buttoned-up shirt, slacks, and diploma.

  “Well, I’m glad you are.”

  The gold of his eyes turned molten when they landed on her jeweled ones. “Me, too.”

  “Ralph, come here a second,” Leo yelled over the music, waving over the school nerd who was only going to the dance behind a camera.

  Stopping from looking out of the lens, he dropped the camera to hang around his neck. Shocked that Leo Caruso was talking to him, it took him a second before he finally went over to him.

  “Yeah?”

  Unlike his brothers, his sister always treated him differently. They might not have ever said it, but he knew Lucca and Nero thought he was soft, too sweet to ever be made. His sister, however, treated him like he was better, like Lucca and Nero could never be half the man he would be someday. Even though Leo knew that would never be true, he still appreciated her for it and the bond they shared after their mother’s death. Now that he was older, he could finally repay the favor and then some.

  “I need you to do me a favor.” He pointed through the crowd. “Do you see Mr. Evans and the blonde talking to him?”

  Lifting the camera back up, he used the lens to get a better view. “The hot one?”

  “That’s”—grabbing the camera, Leo made it fall to his neck again—“my sister.”

  Ralph’s face went red. “Oh shit, I’m sorry, man. I didn’t kno—”

  “It’s all right. I just need a favor ….”

  Maria was lucky that he loved her, because she was going to owe him big.

  “Mr. Evans, can I get a picture of you two for the school yearbook?”

  “You’re supposed to be taking pictures of the students, not the teachers, Ralph.” Kayne tried to get the meddling teenager to move along.

  Ralph put the camera up to his eye. “Just one quick pic?”

  “All right.”

  She almost hadn’t believed it, wondering if she had heard him agree to it in her head. It wasn’t until he started moving closer to her did she know she hadn’t dreamt it. She met him halfway, getting closer to him for not only the picture’s sake but for hers.

  When the firm hand at her back returned, the thud of her heart this time was much louder. So much so it was hard for her to do her normal “smize” to the camera. Instead, when the flash went off, she caught herself staring at him. Finally, at last, she was closer than she had ever gotten before. But that fucking millisecond of time it took to snap a silly, little picture wasn’t going to be long enough, so she used it for all it was worth.

  “Come on, Mr. Evans, ask her to dance already,” Ralph quickly parted his teenage wisdom before running off scared while they were still touching.

  The slow song the DJ suddenly switched to had the explosive gym beginning to calm.

  “I was wondering the same thing.” Maria bit her lip, hoping that the first shot she had ever taken in her entire life would pay off.

  His silence had her fearing it wouldn’t, but the fact that he hadn’t made a move from her side and his hand was still at her back told her something else. She could see it—the turmoil resting behind his eyes. And his chest rising and falling showed her that he wanted it just as much as she did.

  “I’m afraid that, if I do, I won’t be able to stop dancing with you.” He just had the fucking willpower to fight it.

  Lifting her arms slowly, she placed her hands lightly on his broad chest, practically able to feel his pounding heartbeat. “Would that be so bad?”

  “It’s not that it’s bad, Maria ….” Giving in, he started to sway to the music. “It’s a question of right and wrong.”

  Suddenly, she knew they weren’t talking about dancing anymore. “Why? We’re both adults.”

  “Because …” He paused for just a moment. “I’m Leo’s teacher.”

  For the first time, she didn’t know what to say. Her usual selfishness didn’t speak up around him. She liked Kayne. Really, really liked him. And, even though she was willing to risk it all to see where this could go, considering the crown on her head, she couldn’t ask that of him, not after hearing where he had come from.

  His job was something she could feel in her bones that he took pride in, and she knew them being seen together would raise ethical questions from the school board.

  As much as it hurt her to say it, she had to. “I understand.”

  Knowing that when the song ended, their dance would, too, she would use it for everything it was worth, like the picture.

  Her second dance wasn’t the same as when she had danced with Dominic. Dominic had danced with her gentlemanly, making her feel like she was a woman. With Kayne, they danced like two kids in love, just like the rest of the kids in the gymnasium were dancing.

  Feeling the end near, she slid her hands up to wrap around the back of his neck, wanting to be even closer.

  That inch or two it gave her was worth it. She was able to s
mell his scent—not strong, barely noticeable. He smelled of fresh clean air. The exact opposite of Dominic, which subconsciously had her deciding which scent she liked more.

  Kayne slightly lowered his head, his mouth daringly close to her cheek before he moved it to her ear. “You know I want to, right?”

  Another thud of her heart.

  The song ending had the gym roaring at the upbeat song that began next.

  It wasn’t Kayne that pulled away, breaking their magnetic connection. It was her, smiling up at him as she did so. Then she gave a different ultimatum to a totally different man, praying for a different outcome.

  “Prove it.”

  Walking away, she expected him to stop her immediately. When he didn’t, it was hard for her not to look back, knowing it would make her look weak if she did.

  With each step Maria took, the closer she got to leaving, the more she realized the outcome was going to be the same for both ultimatums.

  When her heels clicked in the desolate hallway, anything she felt toward Kayne left, just how it had with Dominic locking her in the freezer.

  Men ain’t shit.

  Thinking clearly now, she could see that, if she was willing to risk it all, then so would he. Kayne wasn’t the only one with something to fucking lose. She had been willing to risk her family, knowing that, if they had decided to see each other, it could lead to so many different outcomes.

  If her family couldn’t accept it, then would she have to emancipate herself from her father for good? And would that cost her, her siblings? Also, could Kayne accept her crown and the truth of her family if and when she would ever trust him enough to tell him?

  All those things … no longer mattered.

  About to turn the corner down a hallway to get to the front of the school, Maria felt a strong hand finally grab hers, sending her dead heart racing as she was quietly pulled into a dark room.

  If she hadn’t been there before, she wouldn’t have known it was Mr. Evans’ classroom, and if she hadn’t known whose hand had a grip on hers, she wouldn’t have known it was Kayne.