9: Chapter 9

RYAN

Ryan woke up early, slipping quietly out of Marco’s bed to head back to her room and shower before work.

She didn’t regret what had happened last night, but she couldn’t help wondering if they were doing the right thing. Were they moving too fast?

It wasn’t that fast, she knew. They’d slept together within hours of meeting each other. Now they’d been living together for weeks; getting physical made all the sense in the world.

Still, her guts twisted at the thought of having to see Marco again, talk to him. She’d never been scared of him before. She wasn’t scared of him now, not really. She was just…scared.

She slipped out of the house without saying goodbye.

For the rest of the week, she found herself picking up more and more shifts at work, coming home only after she was sure Marco would be asleep.

“You still haven’t spoken to him about it, have you?” Anna asked in her office on Sunday, throwing Ryan a stern look.

“I’ve been working,” said Ryan, keeping her eyes averted.

“No, you’ve been avoiding. You’re being ridiculous. You’re having a baby together, for heaven’s sake.” After a moment, Anna’s face softened with concern. “You forgot to breathe, didn’t you?”

~“Remember to breathe”~ was something Ryan and Anna always said to each other during med school when one of them would start to panic. It helped to calm them down and reminded them that everything was going to be all right.

“I’m breathing,” Ryan said, still unable to make herself look at her friend.

“You’re scared, and I get that. I don’t ever want to find you hurt like Chris hurt you. The day of that funeral was basically the worst thing ever.”

Anna took a deep breath. “But you can’t keep backing away whenever something new happens in your relationship with Marco. You need to talk to him.”

“I can’t tell him what happened,” argued Ryan.

“So just tell him that you’re scared,” suggested Anna. “He doesn’t need all the details yet.”

Ryan nodded and wiped away her tears. She knew Anna was right; she just felt totally panicked.

Anna hugged her. “Go home and talk to him.”

“I know. Remember to breathe.” Ryan made a show of pulling in a deep breath.

“That’s my girl.”

MARCO

After a week of Ryan avoiding him and ignoring his calls, Marco had come to her office to check on her, only to pause outside the door when he heard her inside talking to Anna.

He knew it was wrong to eavesdrop. But he was worried about her, and if she wouldn’t talk to him, maybe she would talk to her best friend.

He didn’t fully understand what he was hearing, though. Nothing in Tony’s research had turned up anything about a guy named Chris hurting Ryan. Just the idea made his blood boil.

When he heard Anna’s heels getting closer to the door, he ducked into another room, then waited a few minutes before he returned to knock on Ryan’s door.

“Come in.”

He opened the door. “Hi.”

She looked up at him from behind her desk, frowning. “What are you doing here, Marco?”

“I haven’t seen you much this week.”

She grimaced. “I’m sorry.”

He grabbed her hand. “Is everything all right, Ryan?”

“Just been busy with work,” she said, keeping her eyes trained on her paperwork.

Marco reached out, nudging her chin up so she’d look at him, then pulling her from her seat to join him on the other side of the desk. “Are we all right? I’m sorry if I pushed you into something you weren’t ready for.”

“You didn’t. I just panicked a little.”

He cupped her cheek. “You want to talk about it?”

“I’ll be fine; just need to remember to breathe,” she smiled at him. “We still having dinner with your parents later?”

Marco sank down into a chair, trying to figure out the right answer to that question. “We don’t have to go,” he offered.

Ryan sat on his lap. “It’s fine, Marco; we’re fine. I’m just…hung up about something from my past. One day I’ll tell you more about it, but for now, just know that I’m sorry I iced you out this week.”

“You panicked; it happens.” He loved having her so close again. “Just tell me next time. We’re in this together, you know.”

“I’m sorry.”

He looked at the clock. “We don’t have to be at my parents’ for three hours. What do you say we go home and I’ll run you a nice hot bath?”

She smiled. “I’d like that.”

He kissed her cheek. “Follow me there?”

She nodded and started gathering her things together. He slipped out, relieved that everything seemed okay again.

On his way home he called Tony.

“How closely did you look into Ryan’s past?”

“Not that closely. I only know what I told you: no arrests or legal trouble, she’s got plenty of money, no living family. Why?”

Marco took a deep breath. “You must’ve missed something. Look again, around the time of her family’s deaths. Something happened then, and I want to know what it was.”

“On it, boss,” said Tony, and hung up.

At home, Marco ran a bath, careful not to get the water too hot; he’d read that could be bad during pregnancy. Then he dumped some bubbles in and left Ryan to relax while he used one of the other bathrooms to shower.

When she came out a while later, wrapped in a towel, she looked pink-cheeked and delicious. “I don’t know what to wear,” she complained.

“You can wear whatever you want, kitten. My parents aren’t fancy.” He looked down at his own outfit, jeans and a button-up shirt. “I’m going like this.”

He loved the summer dress she settled on. The red looked great with her hair, and the neckline was low enough that he had to work hard not to stare at her amazing boobs.

Tony texted Marco while they were driving to his parents’ house, saying that he had found something.

Once they arrived, Marco greeted his parents and then immediately asked to use his father’s office. He kissed Ryan’s cheek. “I’ll be right back, kitten. Tony? Will you join me?”

Roberto followed them. “What’s going on?”

Tony handed Marco the file. “I really had to dig for this; somebody paid a lot of money for the incident to go away.”

“I don’t know yet,” Marco said to his father, taking the file from Tony.

The more he saw, the more disgusted he felt. No wonder Ryan had trust issues. The night of her family’s funeral, her boyfriend of three years lost his temper. Marco didn’t even need to read what he did to her; the pictures told enough.

According to the report, a neighbor heard her screaming and broke in to help. It didn’t say what had happened to the boyfriend.

“Find him,” said Marco, his voice deadly cold.

Roberto took the report. “Find who?” Then he took one look at the pictures. “Yeah, bring him here when you do.”

“With pleasure,” said Tony grimly.

Marco looked at his father and then at Tony. “Ryan doesn’t know we know; not a word.”

They both nodded in agreement.

Though Roberto had left the mob life behind when he moved to America, he still knew how to hide a body, and Marco knew he would do so for Ryan’s sake. Ryan was family now; nobody treated the Livingston family like this and got away with it.

Marco poured out three glasses of whiskey, and the three men shared a quick drink to calm their nerves before they joined everyone for dinner.

Marco understood everything now. Why Ryan had panicked after they slept together. Why she was always keeping him at arm’s length. She’d been hurt, and now she was finding it hard to feel safe.

That was okay. Marco was going to do everything in his power to let her know she was safe with him.