Devious Little Lies (9 page)

Chapter Fourteen

“What the fuck, Rena? You on drugs and not fucking telling me?”

Tony’s hand was wrapped around her throat and his eyes were bloodshot. His body shook with the force of his rage as Rena tried to disengage his hands from her neck.

“No. I would never—”

“Then why are we going through this bullshit again? Why can’t you give me the one thing I’ve asked for?”

“I’m trying. I’m doing everything the doctor says.”

“No you’re not. If you were we’d have a damn baby by now.”

He shoved her away with all his strength and she couldn’t stop the momentum as she was hurtled to the floor. Tony stood over her, veins bulging, muscles clenching as if he was only seconds away from beating the very breath from her body.

“Tony, please…”

“Tony nothing. It makes no fucking sense, Rena. I want a son, an heir. If you can’t give me that then why the fuck did I marry you?”

Rena swallowed back tears as she rose from the floor. Malevolent waves radiated from her husband. His eyes looked like abysses ready to suck her into their endless, cold depths. She’d only seen that look reserved for “the business,” and men in the organization who’d fucked up. She couldn’t believe he’d turned that deadly gaze on her.

“You don’t mean that,” she said in a quiet tone.

“So now you’re telling me what I think but you can’t give me a baby?”

“Giovanna never gave you a son.”

There. She’d said it. She’d dared to bring up the sainted Giovanna, his perfect first wife and the mother of his three daughters. Before she could react, he grabbed her and threw her across their bed. She tried to scramble away, but he was on top of her holding her arms and pinning her down.

“How fucking dare you disrespect her? She did her duty as a wife and that’s more than I can fucking say for you.”

“I’ve tried. I want a baby just as much as you do. Probably more than you do, but I have polycystic ovarian syndrome. It makes conception even more difficult. The doctor explained that.”

“I’m sick of hearing the medical mumbo-jumbo. There is nothing wrong with your body. You haven’t given me a son because you don’t want to. Every time I manage to get you pregnant you do something to fuck it up so you lose the baby every time. Every time, Rena! You think I’m stupid? I didn’t get to the top by being a dumb cock.”

“It’s not my fault. I’m doing the best I can.”

“Spare me the bullshit. All you have to do is spend my money, look hot, and have children, and you can’t even fucking do that. Why did I marry you? Why?”

He climbed off her and stood beside the bed. He looked like a caged animal ready to pounce with the least amount of encouragement. Wary of him, she sat up.

“You married me because you love me. Because you knew the moment I saw you that I was going to be your wife. Don’t you remember that, Tony?”

He laughed, a biting mocking laugh that made the hairs on her arms curl.

“Of course I remember. A man never forgets the lines he uses to make a new conquest.”

His words stabbed her to the heart and she blinked back tears again.

“A conquest? A conquest, Tony?”

“Yeah, a conquest, Rena.”

Biting her lip, she climbed off the bed and before she realized it the palm of her hand connected firmly with his face.

“Fuck you, Tony. You’re a real bastard.”

He smirked. “The truth hurts sometimes, doesn’t it?”

“None of what you said is true. You’re deliberately trying to hurt me. You can lie to my face, but I know the truth. You loved me when we exchanged vows and you still love me now.”

“Now you sound like one of those dumb twats in those trashy romance novels you read. You were a hot commodity. There were so many men that wanted you, but I was determined to get you and I did. You should’ve seen the looks those fuckers gave me every time I walked out with you on my arm. I thought I had myself a real prize. A real trophy wife. What a fucking disappointment. Three years of marriage and nothing to show for it, but a dead son and two miscarriages.”

“I’ve been a good wife to you. Better than most women would be considering the circumstances.”

“You’re dumber than you look if you believe that. There’s a line of women waiting to take your place. Hell, if I’d known you were a dud I would’ve left your ass on that stage where I found you.”

Without another word he was gone, slamming the door behind him. Her heart ran away and suddenly Rena couldn’t breathe. She crumbled to the ground and the sobs she’d been holding in were unleashed. Her very soul was torn asunder and trying to escape from her body. He’d hurt her in one of the worst ways a man could hurt a woman, by attacking her very womanhood. She couldn’t help that her body had become her enemy. She hadn’t even known she’d had POD until she’d suffered her first miscarriage. But it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered except that she’d failed to live up to everything a mafia wife should be.

Emotionally she feared Tony was done with their marriage. She’d never experienced his wrath before and after what had just transpired, she wondered for the first time if she’d been a fool to marry him. A cramp hit her and she clutched her side. Rena knew what was happening and she screamed. The pain tore through her body as she started to bleed as the vicious cycle of losing another child took its toll on her body. Tony should be there, consoling her and giving her the strength she no longer had but those days were over. He’d had enough of false hope and Rena feared what would happen next.

* * * * *

Rena came back to herself and wiped away a stray tear. It had been so long since she’d thought about the day her husband had ripped her to shreds. It was the beginning of the most tumultuous days of their marriage. So many times she’d started to take Tricia and leave, but you didn’t leave a man like Tony unless it was in a body bag and her daughter had needed her. So she’d stayed and prayed that things would get better, but she was a fool then. Young and still madly in love with him she hadn’t realized that the end was on its way.

Sighing she picked up the remote and flipped aimlessly through the channels. Another Friday night alone in her bed. Tricia was right; she deserved better than this. Sometimes Rena wondered if she continued to stay in her marriage to punish herself for what happened with Tricia’s father. The realization that she came close to breaking up a home had never sat well with her but some mistakes couldn’t be undone and others could. Right now it was up to her to decide if her marriage was one mistake she was ready to escape from.

Her house phone rang and she looked at the clock. It was after nine. Sitting up she reached for the black cordless phone on the nightstand.

“Hello?”

“You have a pre-paid call from an inmate at Tucson Penitentiary…”

Her face hardened into a frown as she listened to the familiar operator’s voice on the other end of the line. She accepted the call and waited for her husband’s voice.

“Hey.”

“Fuck you, Tony,” the words exploded from her mouth.

“Nice to hear your voice too, wife.”

“Don’t. Not tonight.”

“What the fuck did I do? I thought you’d be glad to hear from me.”

“It never even crossed your mind, did it?”

“What?”

Rena shook her head. “You’re so wrapped up in your damn self that you can’t spare a thought for anyone else.”

“Are you going to tell me what you’re talking about, Rena?”

“Reno’s birthday. It was yesterday.”

There is silence on the other end. She waited for some kind of reaction as she silently burned inside.

“I thought we’d talked about this,” he finally said.

“I must’ve missed that conversation.”

“I told you to stop torturing yourself like that. He was gone before he ever had a chance to live, Rena. Why do you do this shit every year?”

“Because he was my son, you bastard.”

She was off the bed now, screaming into the phone. Her hand shook as she held it.

“He was my son too, but there’s no point in remembering something so painful.”

“That’s the line you’re going with now? It’s too painful?”

“I know it hurts, baby, even now and I know these past few years of our marriage have been rough on you, but I want you to stop doing this to yourself. He’s gone. Let him rest.”

“You never gave a damn about him either, did you? Like mother, like son huh?”

“How can you even say that? He was going to be my heir. I was going to give him the world. You know that.”

“No, Tony, I don’t know anything. The only thing I know is that he isn’t even worth you remembering him for one day out of the year anymore. What kind of monster are you and why do I stay married to you?”

“Rena…” his voice trailed off.

“Don’t. Once upon a time you said the same thing to me. Maybe now it’s my turn to re-evaluate things.”

“I know that you’re angry, but I didn’t mean to hurt you, Rena. I’m trying to hold things together while I’m in here.”

“You’re trying to hold things together? You fucking prick, I’m the one trying to hold things together. I’m the one still fighting for this marriage and trying to save your business. You aren’t doing a damn thing but sitting inside that fucking cell and twiddling your damn thumbs.”

“You can’t leave, Rena. I love you. I know things are fucked up and I know you’re tired of me being in here, but I promise things aren’t going to be like this forever. I’m going to come home and we’re going to fix things. I’m going to be a better husband than I was to you before. I’ve had a lot of time to think about things and I don’t want to lose you.”

A tear slipped from her eye and she covered her mouth. Any other woman would’ve been ready to believe the words coming out of Tony’s mouth but she was not other women. She’d learned her lesson the hard way a long time ago.

“You know there was a time when I would’ve given anything to hear you say that to me. To have you act like you still gave a damn about me, but I know better, Tony. Stop blowing smoke up my ass.”

“Rena, listen to me—”

“No, I’m done listening to you. I need time to think things through because the way I’m feeling right now I could give less than a damn about being Mrs. Tony Rosetti anymore.”

She disconnected the call and her hands shook as she placed the phone back in its cradle. Sitting down on the bed she took a deep breath in an effort to calm her nerves. It didn’t work and as her heart accelerated even more she realized that she was not going to be able to sleep. The phone rang again but she ignored it. Stripping out of her night shorts and tank top, she quickly changed into her black Dolce and Gabbana bikini before grabbing a towel from her bathroom. Swimming long laps back and forth would take her mind away from her problems and even if it didn’t at least she’d make herself so tired that she didn’t dream or think about the continued deterioration of her life and marriage.

* * * * *

His girlfriend slept like the dead. Tricia hadn’t stirred once despite the sounds of her mother’s yelling and screaming. He, on the other hand, was too twisted in knots to sleep. Today had been eye-opening in so many ways and as Tricia slept beside him in sleep shorts and a t-shirt, he wondered for the first time if he’d finally gotten himself into something that had the potential to blow up in his face. Tricia and Rena were like fire and water, complete opposites and he was attracted to both of them for very different reasons.

What he and Tricia had was safe, comforting, and wonderful, but the fire he felt being in the same room with Rena was unlike anything he’d ever experienced. It was a force of nature that couldn’t be contained. He wished he could forget about the simmering attraction between them as they’d made small talk, but most of all he wished he could forget the sadness in her eyes. He couldn’t now, not after hearing what he just had and listening to the pain in her voice.

She needed someone to be there for her.

She needed him.

Shane, do you hear yourself? You don’t even know this woman.
It was true in a way. They were strangers but he couldn’t help feeling as if he really knew her. There was no denying that there was something between them. Shane grew still as he listened to footsteps going down the stairs. Careful not to wake Tricia, he slipped out of bed and put on a pair of basketball shorts and a T-shirt. Silently he tiptoed across the room and opened the door before softly closing it behind him.

As he reached the top of the stairs he heard another door open and close. Going down to the first floor a flash of movement caught his eye. She was outside by the pool. He stood watching her as she threw her towel on one of the white lounge chairs. The bikini she wore did nothing to hide the luscious curves that nature had blessed her with. Her full breasts threatened to spill out of her top. Rena’s muscle-toned stomach would make women half her age jealous with envy. Her thighs and ample buttocks were causing a reaction he was not proud of.

As she dove into the water and disappeared he slipped outside to be closer to her. Underwater she swam lap after lap. When she brought her head up for air, she didn’t even glance in his direction, oblivious to the fact that he was watching her and quietly wanting her. He lost count of the minutes he stood there watching her swim beneath the moonlight and spotlights stationed around the pool. When she finally stopped and came up for air again, hanging onto the opposite side of the pool, she raked a hand through her wet hair and tried to catch her breath.

And then her hand covered her mouth as she choked back a sob. He hated to see her like this. Removing his shirt he threw it down on the concrete and then he was in the water. Rena’s head whipped in his direction and her eyes opened wide with surprise. He wanted to comfort her in the worst way, but he had no idea how she would react.