Gio proceeded to the checkout line. He was thankful no one in the store recognized him and delayed them leaving. The checkout lady looked vaguely familiar, but it wasn't someone he knew personally. Her eyes lit up though when she saw Lisa.
"Lisa, is that you?" The older woman queried squinting at them and giving Gio a thorough once over once she had recognized Lisa.
"Yes, it's me. Hi Matilda. It’s nice to see you again."
"What brings you back to the old neighborhood?" she asked immediately getting to the point. Gio inwardly groaned, as he placed Matilda. She was one of his childhood friend’s great aunts, and known for being quite the gossip.
"Matilda you know very well what's going on with me, as I'm sure the whole town does. I'm out on bail and working for my defense."
The older woman had the temerity to blush. "Sorry Lisa. Just making small talk. I hope everything works out for you. Albert was always someone in the neighborhood we thought would be heading down the wrong path, if you know what I mean."
Lisa knew the older woman’s words were meant to provide some kind of solace, but she just brushed it off. Quickly changing the subject Lisa introduced Gio. "You remember Gio Marino, don't you?"
"Oh my!” she gasped. “I didn't recognize you, but I see it now. You're the spitting image of your father. You’ve gotten so big. It's been at least ten years since I have seen you in the neighborhood. Since your parent’s were killed."
Lisa groaned under her breath at the busy body. Gio just shook his head in exasperation.
When no one responded, Matilda mumbled in embarrassment. “So big.”
Gio was tempted to deliver one of his famous lines when she made that comment, but resisted. The old biddy had enough gossip for one day, so he resisted and simply stated, “I've been working out." But then he also nodded pointedly at the groceries just sitting on the conveyor belt. He wanted to get out of there before others in the store overheard their conversation. The last thing he needed was for the neighborhood to all swing by and pay him a visit looking for any new gossip to share on their stoops.
"We're kind of in a hurry, if you don't mind?" he prompted.
"Oh, sure, sure." Matilda began to pass the shopping items over the electric eye that read the barcodes. But Gio could see her mind working. News that he was in town and that Lisa was with him would be all over the grapevine by tonight.
Lucky for Matilda the woman chose to remain quiet until she announced the price of the grocery items. Gio’s temper was rising. "Hers too," Gio indicated the items Lisa had placed behind the plastic divider.
"I can get these," Lisa mumbled looking away from Gio’s cold eyes.
"Ring them up," he commanded.
Matilda removed the divider wordlessly, and began ringing up Lisa’s items as well. Noting the total, Gio pulled out $100 bill from his wallet and collected his change.
He picked up the two largest of the groceries bags leaving Lisa to carry the last one. Without a word he marched out the sliding glass doors. He didn't even turn to see if Lisa was following. He just wanted to get home, and thankfully they were only a block and a half away.
Gio was relieved as they walked up the four steps onto the stoop. It had been a long day, and a long week for that matter. He’d just finished helping his brother Blaze and his girl out of a crisis, and now he was firmly enmeshed in a predicament of his own. He wanted a hot meal, and shower, and then tomorrow he would begin to work this Lisa thing. Setting down his packages, he quickly inserted the key into the lock and allowed the door to swing open. He was also glad he came earlier to open up the place. It wasn't nearly as stifling and stale as before. His suitcase still sat at the bottom of the stairs.
"You can stay in my old room. I'll sleep in my parents’ room." There were three bedrooms upstairs. One of them belonged to his parents. One was his, while Nikko and Blaze had shared. His parents had converted the attic into Andreas' room giving him privacy when he turned sixteen.
Lisa just nodded. She was too overcome with emotion to speak. Being back in the Marino home brought back a lot of memories.
Not waiting for a response, Gio made his way into the kitchen and began to put away the groceries. Lisa followed, and pulled a few items out of her bag and set them on the table, but still held on to the bag she had carried in. They contained some personal products she would put in the upstairs bathroom. She still needed to get a few items of clothing and wondered how she was going to do that. She only had the clothes on her back at the moment. The restraining order against her prevented her from going back to their house in Baldwin or their apartment in Manhattan. She could call her sister, and thought she would mention it to Gio.
"I’m going to need a few clothing items," she stated softly.
Gio's response was to grunt. He didn’t even turn around to look at her. "I’m going to make some spaghetti. I'll pick up a rental car in the morning and bring you wherever you want to go. There should be some old T-shirts and things in my drawers upstairs. I'm sure you'll find something that'll work for tonight."
“I can call my sister,” she offered lamely. When he didn’t respond, Lisa felt lost. She just turned and left the kitchen. The cold shoulder routine Gio was giving off was too much for her at the moment. She knew this was going to take a lot more work than she thought. She made her way up the stairs after crossing through the living and dining room areas and went down the short hallway to Gio’s bedroom. She'd spent a lot of time there growing up, and was immediately flooded with memories. His parents had always demanded that the door stay open when she came upstairs. That had been the rule.
She smiled remembering. But, she and Gio had found plenty of ways to be alone together, she reminisced. When his parents were out, or hers, they had some alone time. Then there was the park, the garage, the basement. Gio had taken her virginity after the junior prom. A friend had rented them a hotel room. It had been awkward, she remembered, with them both being nervous. But it had been a memory she cherished for a long time. As she glanced around the room, she noticed something tucked into the edge of the mirror. It was a photo of them together at prom, and it brought it all back.
She sat on the edge of the bed lost in memory. They could have had it all. But her father’s gambling had taken everything from them. Yes, she knew it hadn’t been her responsibility to take care of her father. But when he came and begged and pleaded, promising her that he would not gamble again, she caved. He said a year, and then they could have the marriage ended or annulled. Seeing her father beg, scared for his reputation, losing the house, and the respect of the community swayed her. That and her mother’s glassy eyes, the faraway look, the despair, sealed the deal. Her mother had always been there for her and her two sisters growing up under the roof of their stern father. Her mother had been fragile too, but withstood his domineering and traditional ways.
And his debts not only meant the loss of the house and the cars, but her two sisters’ college funds were gone as well, depleted by her father’s gambling, and to loan sharks no less.
When her father was approached by Albert Rasmussen senior to arrange the marriage, her father thought it was the answer to his prayers. A fine upstanding Jewish family. The wealthiest people in their zip code. Little did they know why Albert’s father wanted to marry his son off so quickly. That would only be revealed to Lisa later—after the marriage. The promise of a quick divorce was soon taken away. Albert’s father held the titles to everything. He threatened constantly to take it all away. He revealed that only after they returned from their belated honeymoon in London. That had been an eye opening fiasco, and a nightmare as well.
Albert revealed to her his true nature then. Not earlier, after their quick nuptials in Las Vegas. Only after finding out she was pregnant, and the child wasn’t his, had his attitude and demeanor toward her changed. True, he knew the arrangements, but her carrying someone else’s child sent him over the edge, and he confided his dirty little secrets to her. Having the child of the man she reall
y loved, and had hoped to marry someday, turned him against her.
Albert Jr. was a sick man. He was older than her by six years. Twenty-eight to her twenty-two when they got married. He had been involved in a raid of a night club in Manhattan that catered to fetishes, and had been caught during the raid in a situation that put the family name and honor in question. Albert enjoyed sex, rough sex, and enjoyed being the dominant to both men and women, he revealed. The raid occurred just weeks before their arranged nuptials. Albert’s father’s idea for them to marry was to distract the rumor mill and press.
As the years wore on, Lisa began to think that even his father did not know the extent of his son’s seedier side. But she knew, all too well, and had the scars to prove it. She had been raped, tortured, beaten and mutilated for years until she found the courage and strength to keep Albert out of her bed. And the proof. The photos of him beating a young man, naked and then taking him roughly. She had those pictures still tucked away in a fire safe box that she kept hidden in her parent’s garage. She’d shown those pictures to Albert senior, and then made a new deal.
But those first few years were hell. Both the father and the son blackmailed her into silence. And then, there was her son, Johnny, to think about. He was safe, away at boarding school for the past two years. The school was in New Jersey, and she had taken an apartment nearby. She was able to see him every Wednesday, and picked him up every weekend and they would spend time together going on outings or visiting with her family. That had been the agreed upon arrangement. She had to appear the happy wife by her husband’s side two nights a week, not weekends though. She had been adamant about that. The new deal stated that she would stay married to Albert until his parents died. His mother had passed away years earlier and his father was dying.
During vacations from school they had to attend some family events, but during the summers she was able to whisk Johnny away all by herself.
Johnny. It pained her to think what he must be going through now.
Last month though, she had finally had enough when Albert had gotten drunk at a charity ball, and tried to force himself on her in the car. So, she told him about the photos. Even sending a copy to his phone when he didn’t believe her. “As soon as your father is dead, Albert, I’m leaving you, and this charade of a marriage will be finally over.” She stormed out of the car when it had pulled up to a light, and got a taxi. Then took the train to her sister’s where Johnny was spending the night.
But that temper of hers was what she believed sent Albert over the edge, and he struck back. He faked, she was sure of it, his own attempted murder. His newest purchase, a vintage Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing, exploded in the lot of one of his many dealerships. An employee had been killed while moving it for him.
He never let employees drive his personal vehicles. The police had taken evidence from the scene. Purchases of the material that made the bomb were linked to her, and Albert acted shocked, but admitted to the police that the marriage was strained and that she had asked for a divorce a month earlier. He had planned it all out, carefully tying up all the loose ends, sealing her fate.
But the fight, the war, she corrected herself, was not over, not by a long shot. Johnny was hers. He was all that mattered now. She would prove her innocence and get both her son and herself out from under the thumb of the ruthless family she had lived with for over a decade, even if she had to take them all down to do it.
Taking the photograph of her and Gio, her hands shook, him so handsome in his tuxedo, and she in her blue gown smiling into the camera like they had the world in the palms of their hands. What did they know then? They had been so young. With one final glance at it, Lisa was full of regret, and she replaced it under the edge of the mirror. She needed Gio now, and she knew before he could really help her, he had to know the truth. All of it. The question now was how and when would she tell him? So much was at a stake.
Lisa lay on her side curled up on top of the blankets. She must've fallen asleep. He called her down to dinner twice, but she never responded. That's why he eventually came up to check on her, and then found her there. As hard as he tried not to, Gio couldn't help but recall past memories of days gone by. Finding her lying in his bed was just one of them. They had spent a lot of time in this room, and then later in the city where he shared an apartment with his brother. He’d been in the police academy then, and his brother was still a rookie. That was probably the best year of his life. She was going to college then and they got to spend a lot of time together. Andreas worked nights, and he worked part-time at a nightclub on the weekends to make ends meet. But during the week Gio and Lisa were able to spend time alone together.
She began to move in his bed and she softly moaned in her sleep. She sounded like a small injured animal. Crying out. He heard her say, “Johnny.” And a small part of him did pity her. She had a child and he knew she must be worried about her son. Yes, he was still angry, probably always would be about the way she left him, but their history ran too deep to ever truly hate her. Although he had in the beginning. He kind of understood in some weird way, why she hadn’t told him. He would have talked her out of it, and he would have gone off on her parents for interfering in their lives.
That was probably why she kept silent. She knew how he would've reacted. So, she had made the decision alone, and in the process had ruined both of their lives. His to be alone and hers to be married to that contemptible man, a sexually depraved human being who had used her in reprehensible ways, and had beaten her down.
When she told him the story at Rikers during that first meeting, he'd run the gamut of emotions. At first he felt denial, then anger, and lastly fury, although he did not reveal that to her. He wanted to lash out at Albert for all he put her through. But Gio kept those emotions in check. He still hadn’t known how much of it was true. The digging Andreas had done for him proved that a lot of it must have been.
"Mm, Gio," Lisa murmured groggily noticing him standing at his bedroom door. "Sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep." She began to rise.
"It's okay." His voice came out in a soft whisper, his eyelashes lowered, as he gazed at her beneath the thick fringe. "Dinner will be ready soon."
He continued to lean up against the door frame, filling it. He was at least twenty pounds heavier than he'd been the last time Lisa had seen him, and it was pure muscle too. He'd taken off the shirt he'd worn at the courthouse, and wore a tight t-shirt, black, that fitted him to perfection. It outlined all the changes his body had undergone in the years they had been apart. Lisa felt guilty for having these thoughts, but he never looked better, and she'd never stopped dreaming of him in all these years.
She finished pulling herself to a sitting position, and pulled her blouse closed. The top two buttons had come undone, and although he'd seen her before, times had changed. She didn't want him to feel obligated in any way to her. What he was doing was already enough. She was out now, and could begin building her defense. That was something.
Gio's eyes couldn't help but to gaze upon Lisa as she quickly did up the two top buttons on her blouse. And damn it if his body didn't react to that simple gesture as well. He felt it like a gut punch, and averted his gaze. "Well, yeah. Everything's ready, if you're hungry," he muttered, feeling like a teenager again caught ogling the girl next door.
Lisa heard the change in Gio’s voice and she recognized it for what it was. Desire. And she, too, felt the familiar ache begin. This was Gio, the only man she ever loved, so she wasn't surprised. To get past the awkward moment that engulfed them, she cleared her throat before speaking. "Um, let me just freshen up, I'll be down in a minute."
Gio nodded once, then fled back down the flight of stairs like the devil himself was chasing him.
Back in the kitchen, Gio began to set the table for two. He elected to have them sit at the small kitchen table and not in the much larger dining room that looked over the living room. He didn't want the kind of private mood that might create. The kitchen would suffice
.
Setting two plates across from each other, the silverware, the glasses, he then turned to the refrigerator and pulled out the Parmesan cheese he had purchased and the butter. The pasta was already drained, and sat in the bowl. He just needed to add more sauce to the top, and that still simmered on the stove to stay warm. It would be a simple meal until he had time to shop at a larger grocers.
He was busy cutting the loaf of Italian bread he had purchased at the local market, when Lisa came into the kitchen.
She slid onto the bench seat, and was sipping her glass of water when he turned towards her with the bread basket. "Smells great," she murmured setting down her glass and cupping her hands in her lap nervously.
Gio noticed. "Sorry, no napkins. I forgot. But . . . I have paper towels. Andreas has a cleaning service come every six months, so we got plenty of those."
Lisa nodded as he reached behind him to grab the roll sitting on the counter. "That'll be fine." She accepted the rectangle and placed it on her lap as Gio sat across from her. Without thinking, she picked up the ladle, and nodded towards him. He held out his plate to her, and once again he was brought back to their time together. All those simple meals, those simple gestures. It was like a tidal wave rolling in, bringing back the past, and flashes of memory, as they once again slipped into old familiar patterns of behavior. A decade evaporated into the mist.
Lisa filled his plate, until he nodded he had enough, then served herself a much smaller portion. Even this simple meal was a luxury compared to prison food, if she could manage to eat it. Guilt still ate away at her. She needed to unburden herself, tell Gio the whole truth. But she knew during dinner was still not the right time.
Gio wasted no time and dug right in. He never had a problem with his appetite, and he hadn't eaten anything since very early that morning. He watched under his eyelashes as Lisa picked up her fork and twirled her spaghetti around it then lifted up a dainty bite to her mouth. The girls had always eaten like a bird, despite her 5'9" frame.
Beautiful Regret Page 4
