Page 18 of Bad Husband

She noticed a couple of the mothers admiring him.

“I’m your new neighbor,” he said. “The name’s Marco.” He winked at her and stepped closer, holding out his hand.

She stared at it, and realizing if she acted any differently, it would draw suspicion. “Chiara,” she said.

“It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

“New neighbor?”

“Yeah, moved in last night. I was quiet, so I hope I didn’t keep you up.”

She’d been so exhausted with the last couple of days, she’d pretty much collapsed onto the bed.

“No, you didn’t.”

She watched in amazement as he set out a chair, as well as a table. This was a man known for killing the enemy of the Bove Mafia. He was a man respected and feared, and he set up a plastic picnic-style table and placed it down. He let out a little whistle. Marco never whistled. He wasn’t even looking at his cell phone. Usually, in the morning, he was permanently attached to that thing. This was ... shocking.

She put her spoon back into her cereal and literally pinched herself to see if she was still asleep. She winced because she made sure to pinch herself extra hard, but that didn’t work. She was awake.

That meant Marco had gotten a trailer, moved in, and it also meant he’d gone back to the animal shelter and adopted the rest of Poodles’ family, which had been her intention from the start.

She watched as he came out, carrying seven bowls, all of them piled high, and he placed them on the table. The dogs, sniffing food, and potentially even weakness, dove onto the table. Chiara couldn’t help but laugh, as the table toppled over. Marco let out a command to sit, and they all sat for him.

Chiara forgot to eat her cereal as he got to work, and finally was able to feed them without the table toppling, but he did nearly lose a hand. They were like a pack of very hungry sharks.

Of course, Chiara made her escape as a few other residents in the trailer park came over to introduce themselves. It was while he was swarmed with women that she got changed into her uniform, was able to make her escape, and walk all the way to work. She’d never seen Marco outside of his element before and this was a whole new experience for her.

Arriving at the diner, Heather was already there, popping gum, and Chiara frowned when she saw she was sporting a black eye.

“Heather, what happened to you?”

“It’s all right.” Heather let out a shrug.

“No, it’s a black eye. That is not all right.”

She shrugged again. “I walked into a door, and it was a pretty bad door, and had a bit of a temper, but don’t you go worrying your head over it.” Heather let out a laugh. “It’s all fine. Promise. Did Rosemary tell you? We’ve got a new person coming in today.”

She didn’t like Heather’s black eye. “A new person?”

“Yeah, she’s not saying who so I don’t know if they’re a local or not, or just passing through. It would be nice to have the extra help, though. I don’t know about you but I am worn off my feet.” Heather let out a little moan.

She wasn’t used to Heather being so talkative about work. Usually, Heather liked to talk about the men she was dating, never about work, this was completely out of character for her. Before she got a chance to ask another question, Rosemary came to the door and took one look at Heather.

“What happened?”

“It was a door. Don’t worry about it. Now, you tell us about this new person? Guy or girl?” Heather asked.

Rosemary waved her hand as if that wasn’t important and instead grabbed Heather’s face. “Let me take a look at that.”

“You really don’t need to.”

“Enough, I have got to see what is going on. There is no way a door did this. A door does not cause a bruised eye. This was done with a fist.”

Again, Heather pulled away. “It’s fine. Honestly, I took care of it, and there is no reason to worry.” Again, more laughter and she pulled away.

“Customers are going to be worried,” Rosemary said.

“Well, if it’s a new girl, she can deal with them all.” Again, another forced laugh, and Chiara hated this.