Perfect Fit

by Juliana Conners

  “It doesn’t matter,” I tell him, quickly heading off his train of thought because it’s clearly only going to places that are no good. “The fact is that she came here in the first place to rat on us, and she never informed us of that. We can’t continue on with someone that disloyal.”

  “But she was clearly coming here to inform us of why she had originally come, and to tell us that she hadn’t gone through with it.”

  “Marino, just stop giving her the benefit of the doubt.”

  He slams his hands on the same desk on which we’d just had Jessica tied up. I can’t help but feel a little bad about that. Sure, she’d seemed into it. And I was glad we could have one last time together no matter how mad I’d been at her.

  But now that I found out what she had really come here to tell us, I figure that such a harsh punishment wasn’t exactly necessary. I could have at least let her come.

  “Do you ever forgive anyone?” Marino asks me, causing me to look up at him in confusion.

  “What are you talking about?” I ask.

  “Well, I just forgave you of some pretty heinous things,” I tell him. “With Samantha? When you called multiple times and begged me to forgive you?”

  “That’s not the same,” I quickly say. “You’re not in love with Samantha anymore. It had happened in the past. Jessica ripped my fucking heart out.”

  He looks at me differently now, as if calling me on a bet.

  “I knew it,” he says. “You really do love her.”

  “I did love her,” I correct him. “But yes.”

  “You’ve never loved anyone before,” he says. “Except for me, of course. And you can’t find it in your heart to forgive her? Even after she quit her job for you?”

  “That’s the least she should have done.”

  Now I’m punching the desk in anger. Why is he being so irrational? He’s supposed to be the brains of the operation and he’s trying to convince me to stay hung up on someone who is clearly disloyal.

  Or is this just my fucking brain’s way of trying to disentangle my heart from hers? From theirs?

  “She never should have come here to try to fuck with us,” I tell him. “That can’t be undone. Never.”

  “You’d do anything to avoid risk when it comes to love, wouldn’t you?” Marino says.

  He gets his coat.

  “Where are you going?” I ask him.

  “You might not want to forgive her, but I’m obviously better at that than you are,” he says.

  “What the fuck is that supposed to mean? Why are you being such an ass?”

  “I’m just not letting her get away,” he says. “You can do what you want. For once I’m making my own decision.”

  Part of me is mad at him but part of me is proud of him. My “little brother,” the closest thing to family that I’ve ever had, has finally grown up. And he’s forcing me to do something that I know is good for me but that I just didn’t want to admit.

  “Fine,” I tell him. “But I still have a club to run.”

  “You do that,” he says, on his way out the door. “I have a relationship to save. Or at least two-thirds of it.”

  Chapter 27 – Marino

  Fucking Dante. He’s always been so stubborn. He always has to be right.

  But I’m not going to let him be right this time. Because that wouldn’t be good for him. I have to remember what’s important, and the good things we’ve found with Jessica. For my sake as well as Dante’s.

  There are certain things in life that one never forgets. I will never forget when child protective services came to take Dante and me from the house we shared with our roommate mothers. I was so fucking scared, and Dante was all I had.

  He held onto my hand and told me, “Don’t worry, I’m here with you.” And he kept his word, from then until now.

  I will never forget the first time my mom went to jail, because she wrote me letters every day, apologizing for not being there for me in the past and promising to make it up to me in the future.

  I believed her, but when she got out all she cared about was scoring and getting high. So I forget all the other times she went to jail and started the cycle all over again.

  But I can’t forget the day my foster parents told me my mom had died of a drug overdose. I was thirteen and Dante had just gotten out of juvie. He was supposed to run some stolen goods to a connection he had made while he was in there, but he told me he wasn’t going to do it so that he could make sure to be able to come to my mom’s funeral with me.

  And he kept his word. Because he was more of a parent than any I’d ever had. I don’t remember what color dress my mom was buried in. Or what kind of bullshit the minister spewed. I’m sure it had something to do with her being a loving but struggling young single mother, and about her finding peace and forgiveness in the afterlife.

  All of that is a blur. But I do remember Dante’s presence by my side, just like always.

  “Don’t worry, I’m here with you.”

  He had his arm around me the whole time. He came up to her casket with me and then to her gravesite.

  I hated her at the time. But since then I made my own peace with it. I forgave her. I went back to the gravesite without him and told her so.

  Dante didn’t approve. But he had given me the strength to do it and he still doesn’t know to this day how good of a decision it was, how much it freed me.

  I don’t think he’s ever forgiven his own mother or made peace with her, and as far as I know she’s still alive. But that is his decision to make, whereas I had to make what little decision I could when it came to what to do about my mom, who wasn’t even alive anymore. So I forgave her.

  That was the first thing I’d done in my life that he didn’t approve of, but I’m glad I did it. And this is going to be the second.

  Another thing I won’t forget is the first time I saw Jessica. How I was blown away by her unique mix of innocence and sexiness. Even now, knowing what she had come for, I still feel amazed when I look back at that night.

  I guess part of me had known it was too good to be true. And yet I had wanted it to be true so badly that I ignored any warning signs. The funny thing is, it really has come true. And I don’t want it to end.

  I can’t forget the look on Jessica’s face as she comes for me. For us. Her beautiful brown eyes and her sexy curves. Her happy laugh and her lovely seductive dance.

  There’s no way I can let her out of my life. That would just be letting Samantha win. I thought I loved Samantha but now I fucking know what true love is, and it’s Jessica.

  Jessica didn’t have to write that letter. She didn’t have to come tell us what was going on and what she had decided to do to make it right. She could have escaped back into her regular life and probably taken us down as well.

  She would have really advanced her political career. But she’d sacrificed it for me. And for Dante. For the three of us all together. It couldn’t have been an easy choice to make, knowing how different Jessica’s background is from ours. And yet she still chose us.

  I know what I’m going to do to make things right. To be back with Jessica. I just hope that Dante will get on board with it.

  It’s about time he started listening to what his “little brother” decides to do. Just like he told me he would when I was mad at him and he wanted me to forgive him. And I did, because true love forgives.

  True love starts fresh and builds new, even after mistakes have left near destruction in its path. True love can fucking conquer any obstacle. And I have some fucking conquering to do.

  Chapter 28 – Jessica

  I’m still in bed when I hear a continuous knocking at the door.

  “What the hell?”

  I sit up and take the sleep mask off my face. I haven’t been able to sleep well lately, and this weekend I’ve been trying to sleep in once I finally fall asleep late at night. I’m going to be so embarrassed for someone to see me in this state.

  It’s probably just a
delivery guy, with some package my mom sent me as a peace offering for the little tiff I’d gotten into with Dad. But still. How mortifying.

  “Just leave it on the door,” I say, once I’m close enough to shout. “Thank you.”

  “Jessica.”

  Oh my god. It’s a familiar voice. Or am I imagining things?

  “Jessica. Open up.”

  Two familiar voices. Can this really be?

  I swing open the door, suddenly forgetting that I have bedhead and rings under my eyes. Dante and Marino are standing there and I have to pinch myself to make sure I’m not in the middle of a dream brought on by sleep deprivation.

  They both take me in their arms at once.

  “Dante. Marino. Come in.”

  They pick me up and carry me into my bedroom.

  “I’ve missed you,” Marino says, kissing me.

  “And so have I,” Dante says, and I turn my face to him so that he can kiss me too.

  “You guys,” I tell them, completely surprised. “What happened to make you change your mind?”

  “My little brother here talked some sense into me,” Dante says.

  “And I had a plan. It all worked out,” Marino says, looking proud of himself. “I couldn’t wait to come tell you.”

  “I’m sorry,” Dante says, scooping me into his lap and kissing me. “I’m sorry for not hearing you out when you came to the office. I’m sorry I didn’t let you come.”

  “Hold up,” Marino says. “I’m the one who saved everything. Let me talk before you go fucking her right in front of me.”

  The tone of his voice is playful. They’d obviously fought and made up. And decided to make up with me as well. I still can’t believe they’re here.

  “I sold the club,” Marino continues. “I’d found an interested buyer and I sold it so that no one could have anything on us. We have bigger and better investments to look forwards to.”

  “That’s great,” I tell him. “I mean, I’ll kind of miss it. I have a lot of good memories there.”

  “We can make a lot more,” he says, kissing me. “And I also paid a visit to Senator Santara.”

  “You did?”

  I look at him in amazement and shock. That must have taken some very big balls. But I know he has the right equipment for the job.

  “I made sure that Samantha’s plan to rat on us backfired,” Marino says. “I told him that we had found out he was one of her top clients, and now to try to protect herself she was going to run around making up stories about us.”

  “Very nice,” I tell him. “That must have been the reason I still have my job.”

  “You do?” Dante asks. “That’s great!”

  “Yeah, Senator Santara refused to accept my resignation,” I explain. “He gave me some lip service about how it would be sexist to fire me after I went undercover at a strip club job. He said he was proud of me and glad that I was sticking up for the female employees of the club. I knew it smelled like pure bullshit. But I was just glad I got to stay on. Even though now I don’t know how I’m going to explain this relationship with two brothers.”

  “We’re not really brothers,” Marino reminds me.

  “I know,” I tell him. “But that won’t make much of a difference to everyone else.”

  “Fuck everyone else,” Dante says, nuzzling closer to me once again. “We’re all that matters.”

  “It’s the three of us against the world,” Marino says.

  He pulls down my tank top I was sleeping in.

  “Now I think we need to make up for last time,” he says.

  “You certainly do have a lot of making up to do,” I agree.

  He takes my breasts in his hands and massages them. Then he licks one of my nipples while Dante starts to lick the other one.

  I let out a soft moan.

  “I never thought we’d get to do this again,” I say.

  “How could I go my whole life without this?” Marino asks, sucking gently on my nipple.

  Dante sucks on the other one while his hands slip under the band of my sweatpants.

  “I think your little clit has been missing me,” he says, beginning to knead it gently.

  “Oh it certainly has.”

  I lie back on my bed while Dante takes off my pants and begins licking my clit up and down. Marino keeps playing with and sucking on my nipples. Dante spreads my legs wide and nuzzles his mouth in my pussy, his tongue making small circles all around my clit.

  “That feels so good,” I moan. “But wait a minute.”

  I sit straight up in bed.

  “I didn’t renew my prescription for the Pill. Since we weren’t together and it didn’t seem like we’d be getting back together. Which I’m glad I was wrong about now, but nevertheless…”

  “Don’t worry. Today is all about you,” Dante says. “To make up for last time. You won’t be needing pregnancy protection. Because you’re the only one who gets to come this time.”

  “Do I get to tie you guys up?” I ask jokingly.

  “Definitely not,” Marino says. “But you get to lie back and enjoy what we’re doing to you.”

  Dante bends my legs back nearly over my head so that my pussy is spread open wide. Then Marino joins him down by my pussy. They take turns licking me and then Dante tongues and fingers my hole while Marino sucks on my clit. Marino also plays with my nipples at the same time.

  “Oh my god, you guys are driving me crazy,” I scream, giving myself over to an amazing orgasm. “I’m coming in both of your mouths.”

  They take turns licking up my juices.

  “I want to suck you dry,” Marino says, as he sucks my clit some more.

  “I love you so much,” I tell him. “And you too, Dante.”

  “I love you too,” they both say at the same time.

  Exactly like I like it.

  EPILOGUE

  Dante

  It’s been a month, and despite my normal pessimistic attitude, everything has been going great for Marino, Jessica and me. Until today, when Marino decided that weather in the teens was a good time to take a road trip.

  “What the fuck are you dragging us out in the cold to go see?” I complain, as he pulls onto a narrow country lane. “There’s nothing out here this far from the city worth seeing.”

  “Oh yes there is,” he says, sounding very proud of himself.

  “What are we doing this for?” I groan.

  “Come on, it’s New Year’s Eve Day,” he insists. “I thought it was the perfect time to show you both how some of my plans have come to fruition. It’s a new year and a new start for us.”

  He pulls up to a newly paved driveway and a brand new house.

  “Come on,” he says, practically pulling Jessica out of the car.

  “What is this?” she asks, as I follow them up the walkway.

  Marino pulls a key out of the pocket of his wool coat.

  “Ta da,” he says, and opens the door.

  “I introduce to you, our new house.”

  “Our new what?” Jessica says, frozen in place.

  He picks her up and carries her over the threshold.

  “Sorry, Dante, but the honor of bringing our love to our new house belongs to me, since this was all my idea.”

  “Your idea was to buy us this big house?” I ask him.

  “Sure,” he says. “We have lots of money now, after the proceeds from the sale of The Fun House have come in. And we know that both of our places are too small for the three of us. Or maybe more.”

  “Jessica, you never renewed your birth control prescription, did you?” I ask her.

  “Nope,” she said, with a shy grin spreading across her face. “You told me not to.”

  “I have to admit, I’d love to put a baby in you,” Marino says, carrying her to the bedroom.

  “But so would I,” I say, ready to stake my claim.

  “That’s the beauty of it,” Jessica says. “Since we’re always all three together, and since you guys look so much alik
e despite not being actual brothers, we’ll never know which one is the biological fathers. You’ll both be the dad.”

  “And this house is definitely plenty big for the pitter patter of little feet,” I say.

  “Awww. Big bad Dante wants to be a daddy,” Jessica coos.

  “I never would have imagined that,” I confess. “But I see everything differently now. Marino, you taught me how to forgive, and that has made me a much happier person.”

  “I’ve even forgiven my parents,” Jessica says. “And they’re proud of me. I mean, they think I’m spearheading an investigation into the treatment of women at the strip club, which is some new campaign that Senator Santara wants to launch. And I’m not sure how exactly I’m going to introduce them to the two of you or what their reaction will be. But I figure one thing at a time. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

  “I’ve forgiven mine too,” I announce.

  “Really?” Marino asks, looking amazed.

  “Yes. My mother is in Federal prison on drug trafficking charges,” I tell them.

  “I had no idea,” Marino says.

  “I know, it’s something I didn’t even tell you.”

  I shrug.

  “I didn’t think it mattered. I was done with her. It’s just some trumped up charge that they’re holding her on but she won’t be getting out for a long time. But I went to see her last week. I thought I should tell you guys.”

  “Oh my god,” Jessica gasps. “How did it go?”

  I shrug again.

  “I don’t know what I expected. She wasn’t very remorseful. She just talked about how unfair the charges against her are, how unfairly she’s being treated in there, what a rotten life she’s had. She seems to think she was mother of the year and is still mad at the state for taking me away from her.”

  I shake my head.

  “I’m sorry,” Jessica says.

  “That really fucking sucks,” Marino agrees.

  “It’s okay. It made me realize what I sounded like. Going around expecting to be forgiven but not able to forgive. Everything about fucking me all the time. But not anymore.”