GianMarco (5 page)

“You have a good ear, Maggie. Yes, I was, but I haven’t lived there in years. This
is my home now.”

“What part are you from?”

“My family is originally from Rome, but there is some English in our blood.”

“I’ve always wanted to travel and see Europe, Italy in particular.”

“It’s a beautiful country. The people are very boisterous and open, delicious food
and gorgeous country sides. I think you’d enjoy it.”

“I believe I would. It sounds lovely.”

The only lovely thing he was interested in at that moment was here. GianMarco edged
to the door as he felt his control slipping.
“Well, Take care of yourself, Maggie, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Maggie’s response was to wrap her arms around his waist. “Thank you so much, GianMarco.”
She stood on the tip of her toes to give him a kiss on the cheek.

Her eyes widened. “Oh no. I’m sorry for being so impulsive. I don’t know what came
over me just now. I’m just grateful to have my job back.”

When she pulled away he snaked his arms around her and held her tight. He’d tried
so hard to reign in his lust but the contact of those soft lips against his skin was
more than he could handle.

“GianMarco?” she whispered in apparent surprise.

He didn’t respond with words, instead he lifted her in his arms and crushed her lips
beneath his. GianMarco took advantage of Maggie’s shocked gasp by, pushing his tongue
into the warm, sweet cavern of her mouth to taste her more thoroughly.

GianMarco was caught up in a whirlwind of ecstasy so strong there was no escape. Maggie
circled her arms around his neck as she returned his kiss with an unabashed passion
of her own. He couldn’t remember a time when he’d been so caught up in desire like
he experienced now, despite the fact that he had been married. With one arm still
holding her tightly, GianMarco slid the other hand down her back to cup her shapely
bottom, squeezing it roughly in his palm. Maggie had ignited a fire within him that
threatened to consume them both.

“It’s been so long since I’ve been touched and kissed like this,” Maggie whispered
against his mouth.

GianMarco marched over to the couch with her in his arms. He devoured her mouth with
his, unable to get enough of the taste of Maggie. He unbuttoned her blouse with skillful
fingers. She was so fucking beautiful. He was on fire for her. His cock was so hard,
he felt as if he would explode if he couldn’t get inside of her. At this moment, he
could think of nothing more than fucking Maggie Williams until all she could see,
think and hear was him.

She kissed like a virgin but with such fierce enthusiasm he knew that after proper
tutoring she would be very dangerous in the art of love. Damn, how was it possible
that she had been married for twenty-three years and could respond to him as if it
were her first time? Her husband obviously had no clue what he’d been doing.

Reluctantly, he broke the seal of their lips. Maggie reached out to pull him back
to her, and GianMarco was pleased that she was as eager for him as he was for her.
“No. I want to see you.” He finished unbuttoning her blouse and pulled it from her
body, then he focused on removing her bra. She stiffened, and he sensed her withdrawal.
“What’s wrong,
bellisima
?”

“I’m fat. Someone like you is probably used to model types.” She looked self-conscious
as she stared down at her rounded belly.

“You have nothing to be ashamed of,
ciccina mia
. I don’t want you to ever think of yourself as inferior because you don’t look like
some teenager on a magazine cover who has probably starved herself to look that way.
I’m not sure when society’s standard of beauty changed to hold waif-like women on
pedestals, but I’ll have you know I prefer a woman with your body type over theirs
any day. This is the body of a real woman.” He grazed her neck with his lips. GianMarco
was going to have fun with her. He could already smell the tangy aroma of her pussy
and he wanted it very badly.

He unhooked her bra to free her breasts. Maggie trembled as he reverently lifted the
full brown melons in his hands. They were magnificent. GianMarco lowered his head
to take one hard, distended, dark chocolate nipple into his mouth, sucking greedily.

“Oh, GianMarco, that feels so good.”

His tongue lapped at the dark areola, circling her stiff nipple before turning his
attention to the other breast.

Maggie buried her fingers into his hair, holding his head firmly against her chest.
GianMarco savored the taste of her, aroused by the unique flavor of her skin. He moved
his hand to her knee and slowly began to slide it under her skirt when the telephone
rang, raining on them with ice cold reality. They pulled away from each other in stunned
silence, as if neither one could believe that things had gone so far.

Maggie crossed her arms over her breasts, a look of shame and mortification in her
eyes. “God, we were behaving like a couple of teenagers.”

GianMarco stood up abruptly. “Oh, God, Maggie. I’m sorry for my inappropriate behavior.
It won’t happen again.” He adjusted his rumpled clothing. “I will completely understand
if you no longer wish to work for us.” He hurried to the door and refused to look
back.

Maggie sat with her arms still crossed over her bare bosom as she watched him walk
out the door. Did that just happen? Her panties were damp from his touch. Had the
phone not rung, she would have let him make love to her. She shivered, remembering
the feel of his hands against her body. The look of raw desire in his eyes had made
her feel as beautiful and sexy as he had claimed her to be. Toward the end of their
marriage, Eugene had made excuses not to touch her, and when he did, he would point
out all of her flaws, killing her libido and self-confidence. If she were truly being
honest with herself, Eugene had never inspired her to such great heights of passion.
GianMarco had made her feel more desirable in their brief encounter than the entire
time she had been married to Eugene.

Montana had been right. Maggie was clinging to something that hadn’t been real, not
because of some great love for Eugene but because she was had lacked the confidence
in herself to stand on her own. The phone rang again, bringing Maggie out of her silent
musings. Hastily, she pulled her blouse back on, not bothering to search for her bra.

She smiled when she saw her son’s number on the caller ID. “Hi, sweetie. I got your
message earlier. That was thoughtful of you.”

“I have to look out for my favorite girl. I didn’t expect you to be home so early.
I was going to leave you another message.” He didn’t sound like his usually exuberant
self.

Worry creased her brows. “Is everything all right?”

There was a brief hesitation before he answered. “Yes. I’m fine. How’s the job coming
along?” His quick change of subject made it apparent something was indeed up.

“I made it through the day. I met my new boss.” He didn’t need to know details, particularly
what happened right here in her apartment. She was still trying to put the pieces
together and how would she deal with GianMarco when she saw him again.

“That sounds cryptic. Usually when someone asks you how your day went you either good
or bad.”

“My day was fine. You’re the one who seems to be holding something back. I can tell
that something is bothering you. A mother knows these things.”

“Nothing is wrong. Actually, things are fantastic, but there’s something I need to
discuss with you.”

“You can tell me anything, honey.”

“I’d rather tell you face-to-face. Do you think you can spare an hour for lunch with
me sometime this week?”

“The office closes from noon to one-thirty so I’m available then. Just name the place.”

“Great, how about that pizzeria we liked so much on Connecticut Avenue?”

“Okay, let’s try for the end of the week, though. The work situation is a little weird
right now.”

“How are things going?”

“They’re fine. It’s only my first week so there’s a lot to take in.”

“Understandable. You’ll get the hang of it. I have faith in you.”

“Thanks, honey. So how did your midterms go?”

“Pretty good. Better than expected, actually. I’m on track to graduate with my Master’s
degree by the end of the semester, and then I’ll be able to tell Dad to shove off.”

“Darren, you know I don’t like it when you talk about your father that way. I think
it’s very generous of him to finance your education. Not many parents would pay for
their children’s schooling beyond college.”

“How can you defend him after the way he treated you? The only reason I haven’t told
him to go fuck himself is because you begged me to stay in school.” He sounded angry.

Maggie went into “Mom” mode. “Watch your mouth, young man. There isn’t a day I don’t
wish I had continued my education past high school. I don’t want you kids to go through
some of the struggles your father and I faced when we were starting out. A college
degree doesn’t make you as competitive in this abysmal job market as it once did.
It’s important to me that you don’t throw away the opportunity of obtaining your Master’s
degree, especially when it’s on someone else’s dime and you’re not putting yourself
in debt to get it.”

“I’m sorry, Mom. It’s important to me, too, but the only reason he’s paying for our
education is to control our lives. If we get out of line, he threatens to withdraw
the money. He makes me sick, and I hate the way he holds it over your head. I know
he threatened you to stop paying for mine and Camryn’s tuition if you didn’t give
in to his divorce demands.”

“Darren—”

“No, Mom. I could have handled it. I’m a grown man and I don’t need you to fight my
battles for me anymore. Camryn is tough as nails. She would have dealt with it as
well. Sure, it would have been a struggle, but we would have managed. Dad is a first-class
bastard.”

Although she agreed with his assessment, she didn’t want to be the facilitator of
rift between her children and their dad. “He’ll always be your father no matter what
happens between him and me.”

“I know, but how can I have respect for a man who treated my mother the way he did?
You were the strong one, and he screwed with your head and made you believe that you
were the weak one. He fooled you into thinking that you needed him instead of the
other way around. You were the one who came to all of our activities and stayed up
with us late at night when we were sick. You were always there for me and Camryn when
we needed you, and where the hell was he? He always had an excuse not to spend time
with us. He worked a lot but when he was home he spent all his time in his office.
Camryn and I were talking, and we think you should have left him a long time ago.
The best thing that Dad could have done for you was end your relationship, because
now you’re much better off.”

It seems everyone had an opinion all of a sudden. “I didn’t realize you felt that
way. I tried the best I could to leave you kids out of our marital problems. Seems
like that’s another front I failed miserably on.”

“It was hard not to notice. Dad constantly talked down to you and to be honest, I
was close to punching him. We didn’t say anything because we weren’t sure if you’d
be receptive to it. I love you, Mom and want to see you happy. You may not think so,
but even Camryn cares for you more than she knows how to express. Give her a call.
You two have a lot to talk about.”

“How is it that you and Montana know more about my own daughter than I do?”

“Mom, do you want to hear the truth or the watered-down version?”

“This sounds ominous but you’ve been very candid up to this point so you might as
well give it to me straight.”

“Camryn’s hurting, Mom, and she’s angry. She doesn’t know how to tell you, which is
why she moved away and doesn’t call often.”

“I wished she would have come to me with her feelings. Why doesn’t she share her feelings
with me?”

“She feels guilty because she thinks you went through everything because of us.”

“Do you feel that way, too?”

His silence was all the answer she needed.

“Now, listen up. I don’t regret anything I had to go through because of you or your
sister. You’re my babies and I love you.”

“I realize you don’t resent us and we love you for it. But you deserved better than
what Dad did to you, and we just find it disturbing how you seem to be rolling over
and playing dead. Maybe you should have this conversation with Camryn. I need to get
going, but let’s shoot for lunch on Friday. I’ll call you before then, okay?”

“Okay, sweetie.” She hung up.

Maggie stared out the window of her apartment. To listen to everyone tell it, she
was a big pathetic loser. She didn’t want to be that person anymore. Maggie wanted
to smile because she was really happy and not because she only wanted people to think
she was. She wanted to be loved like everyone else, too. And she realized first step
was learning to love herself. Somewhere along the way she lost sight of who she was
and had made her world all about her family. It was time for her to discover the Maggie
who used to dream and who had aspirations of her own. It was time for her to be her
own person and stop living in fear. Though the future was uncertain, she was ready
to tackle it head-on.