Callie
Antonio had been pissed at my words. I’d seen it in his eyes, yet he’d said nothing. He’d just given me one nod and walked into the house. I’d held my breath, thinking that he was going to come back out and start screaming or shouting at me, but nothing. Part of me had assumed he’d grab me, carry me into the house, and then fuck me hard and fast. A part of me had wanted it. I had a problem. I knew that. Who would want a devious liar touching them again? But I couldn’t stop myself from wanting him. I hated him, but he was right about one thing: my panties were soaked.
“You ready to go?” Jimmy asked me, and I nodded.
I looked over at him, wondering what he thought about everything. He was young, most probably in his twenties or thirties as well, and he was a handsome man. He definitely looked like he was in the Mafia, though, if one in the Mafia had a look. He had a bunch of tattoos and a hard face. If I hadn’t heard him laugh so many times, I would have been scared of him.
“Come on. Let’s go,” he said as he grabbed his keys from his back pocket. We walked over to a black Range Rover, and he opened the passenger side door.
“You want to sit up front? Or you can go in the back if you want.” He seemed oddly awkward as we both stood there, and I just shook my head.
“It’s fine. I’ll sit up front. You’re not an Uber driver, are you?” I asked as I slid into the passenger seat. He chuckled as he slammed the door behind me, and then he got into the driver’s seat and started the ignition.
“So you go to NYU?”
“Yep, I do.”
“And you live on campus, right?”
I pressed my lips together. What was the point of him asking me these questions? It seemed he already knew the answers.
“So do you want to talk on the drive or…?” He pulled out of the driveway quickly, and I hoped he didn’t speed the entire time.
I looked over at him and then looked back down at my lap.
“So?” he prodded, and I sighed.
“I think my silence is answer enough,” I said softly and turned to him with a frown as he chuckled. He strummed his fingers against the steering wheel and then turned on the radio.
“You’re funny.” He looked over at me as he sang along to some hard rock music that was playing.
“I’m not trying to be,” I said, a slight attitude in my voice.
“Hey, I get it. You’re mad. I’d be mad, too. Antonio is a hard guy to… Well, I don’t know if I should say date or be in a relationship with or—”
“We’re not dating, and we’re not in a relationship. We’re nothing. He used me, which I’m sure you knew about.”
He pressed his lips together. “He likes you, you know.”
I stared at him with glaring eyes. “Are you freaking kidding me? Did he ask you to say that to me?”
“No, but I know he likes you.”
“And how do you know that?” I asked, even though I didn’t really want to.
“Well, he let you go, didn’t he?” He turned to me with a raised eyebrow. There was laughter in his eyes as if what he said was funny.
“What do you mean, he let me go?”
“I mean, he didn’t lock you up and keep you in the house.”
“What?” My stomach turned because a part of me had wondered if he would do something like that. Not that I was going to let Jimmy know that.
“I’m just saying.” He shrugged. “You know a lot. Dead fishes don’t talk.”
“I don’t know anything. I know that he tried to use me because my dad supposedly slept with his mom, but…”
“But you don’t believe it?” he asked as he got onto the highway.
“No way. My dad wouldn’t do that.” I knew my voice didn’t sound confident.
“So your dad’s just an all-around great guy, huh?”
I pressed my lips together. If Jimmy had asked me that question just a few days ago, I would have unequivocally said my father was the best man I knew. He was loving. He was kind. He was caring. I was his world.
But if I questioned his motivations, I knew none of it made sense. How my father had shut down after my mother’s death and never looked at another woman. I’d always thought he felt guilty that he’d lived and she didn’t. I’d always thought he’d been too solitary, too hard on himself after my mom died. She wouldn’t have wanted him to have given up his life because she’d had cancer.
But if he had cheated on my mom and if she’d died on the day that he’d gotten into a car accident and killed Antonio’s mom, well, then it made sense why he hadn’t forgiven himself and why he dedicated his whole life to raising me. He didn’t do anything for himself. Nothing. I was his life, and what if it was because he didn’t feel like he deserved anything more?
My heart lurched. If it was true that he’d driven the car that had crashed and killed Antonio’s mom and left the scene, well, that was unforgivable. A part of me understood why Antonio wanted his revenge. Not that I would ever tell him that, and not that I’d ever forgive him, because what he’d done to me was unforgivable. Sure, he wanted to hurt my dad. I got his motivations. But he’d betrayed me. He’d used me. All I’d wanted was to find true love. I’d been too trusting, too gullible, and now I felt like a fool. A broken-hearted fool.
“So you’re very thoughtful, huh?” Jimmy said.
I looked over at him, not sure I heard what he said. I rubbed my temple. I was starting to get a headache. “Sorry, what?”
“I said you seem to be deep in thought, and that would indicate to me that you’re very thoughtful.”
“I guess so,” I said, not wanting to tell him that the two things weren’t connected, at least not in how he phrased them, but I didn’t want to encourage further conversation with him.
“So you’re in college, huh? That must be cool.”
“It’s okay.”
“What do you want to be when you grow up?” he said. I didn’t respond. “I mean, I know you probably don’t want to talk to me, but we’ve got kind of a long drive, and I figured we can talk and let the drive go quicker or we can sit in silence.”
“Or we could just listen to the radio,” I said. “That’s a third option and a more preferable one.”
“Okay.” He nodded. “We’ll listen to the radio. What would you like to listen to?”
“This is fine.” I sighed and looked out the window.
“Hey, I’m just doing my job. No need to—”
“No need to what, Jimmy? You’re Antonio’s right-hand man. Right?” I snapped. He was getting on my nerves.
“Well, I like to think of myself as his…” He paused. “Wait, why are you asking?” I stared at him for a couple of seconds and shook my head.
“In case you don’t get it, as you’re Antonio’s right-hand man and good friend, I don’t like you either, and I don’t want to have a conversation with you. I don’t care if the drive is twelve hours. I still don’t want to talk to you. So let’s listen to the radio. You can play whatever music you like, and I’ll just sit here in my thoughts, waiting to get home. Because, frankly, I don’t like you, and I don’t like your boss, and I want nothing to do with you. I’m a good person, okay? I am a caring person. I’m sweet. I’m nice. My friends think I’m pretty great, and I didn’t deserve this to happen to me. You know? And as far as I’m concerned, I don’t forgive you guys, and I’m not going to just sit here and chat with you like we’re friends. We’re not.”
“Okay,” he said. “Got it. So I guess I can choose music?”
“Yeah, I guess you can.”
He pressed his lips together. “It’s an unfortunate situation, but there’s one thing I did want to say.”
“What?” I said, glaring at him.
“I mean, I don’t want to say it if you’re going to be in a bad mood about it.”
“Are you joking right now?”
He smirked at me. “I’m just trying to make you smile, girl.”
“Well, I’m not in a mood to smile, so?”
“Well, I was going to say that you’ve got a nice body.”
“What?” My jaw dropped. “Are you for real right now?”
“I mean, don’t tell Antonio I said that. He’d kill me, but—”
“Did you just tell me I have a nice body?”
“Well, maybe I should say rack.” He winked at me, and my jaw dropped again.
“Rack?”
“You know, your titties. I mean, I wasn’t trying to look, but they looked pretty nice.”
I pressed my lips together. “You know what? Maybe you should turn back around so Antonio can drive me home because—”
“Hey, I’m sorry. I know that was totally inappropriate.” He held his hand up. “I know it. I know it. I just thought maybe…”
“Maybe what? You thought maybe I’d want to hear you commenting on my naked breasts as your boss fucked me in the shower?” I bit down on my lower lip.
“I’m sorry. I don’t have a way with words. I didn’t go to college or anything.”
“You sure don’t have a way with words, Jimmy.” I shook my head. “You’re lucky that I can’t stand Antonio because I would totally tell him what you said, and I have a feeling he would not be happy.”
He nodded. “You’re right. I overstepped the line. You’re the boss’s girl and—”
“I’m not the boss’s anything. And now I’m done,” I said. “So just take me home and no more conversation.”
“Okay,” he said. “For what it’s worth, I think you’re a cool chick, though, Callie Rowney.” I didn’t bother looking over at him. “And I’m sorry about what happened. You didn’t deserve to get hurt. I think you’re a nice girl, and I think you and the boss, well, I think he could have been good if this hadn’t happened.”