Page 36 of Sinful Bargains

Her voice cut through the quiet like a knife. “Fuck you, Joseph Romano! What’s this I hear about you buying Adriana a car? I let it go when you started driving her kid all over town. I even let it go when half of Staten Island was whispering about your car parked outside her house all the time. But this? Buying her acar? Are you out of your damn mind?”

I stood, forcing myself to stay calm even as my temper rose. “She needed help. Her car was a piece of junk. Even Gino couldn’t fix it. She’s a single mother with no one to rely on, and she needed to get her kid where he needed to go. I helped her out. That’s all there is to it.”

“Is that right?” Renee’s arms crossed, her eyes locking on mine. “And what have you ever done for me, Joey? What have you bought me? What have you done other thantakefrom me?”

“Take from you?” I asked, the accusation hitting a nerve. “Don’t twist this, Renee. I helped her because she needed it. She’s got no one, Renee. No family. She’s trying to survive on crumbs!”

Her laugh was cold and bitter. “And I guess I don’t need anything, right? Funny how that works. I’m here, day in and day out, but somehow, Adriana walks in, and she gets the royal treatment when I’ve begged you for the bare minimum for months now! Do you even hear yourself right now?”

“This isn’t about you,” I snapped, running a hand down my face. “It’s not some competition, Renee. She’s been through hell, and I’m just trying to help her get back on her feet.That’s all.”

She closed the gap between us. “You keep saying it’s just about helping her. But tell me, Joey, if that’s all it is, why does it look like so much more? Why is everyone whispering, huh? Why do you keep defending her like you’ve got something to hide?”

“I don’t have anything to hide,” I said, though even I could hear the lie in my voice. She was breaking me down, and I wasn’t a weak man. I was falling for Adriana.

She stepped back, shaking her head, her voice trembling now. “You don’t even see it, do you? It’s not about the car or the kid. It’s about the fact that you’ll never love me. You never did. And you know why? Because you’re already in love—with her!”

“Renee, that’s not—” I tried, but I couldn’t even finish the lie.

“Oh, save it,” she snapped, cutting me off. “I know the truth. I’ve known it for weeks, Joey. You’ll never feel that way about me.”

Her words hit harder than I thought they would. She was right, and I knew it. I never loved Renee. I wasn’t built for love, or so I thought. But Adriana and Antonio had changed all that. They showed me what love could be—what it should be.

I sighed. “Renee, I don’t want to hurt you.”

Her laugh was hollow. “It’s too late for that, Joey.Way too late.” She pressed her lips in a thin line and spat, “But I get what I want.”

I chuckled; I couldn’t help but let the laugh out. After the day I’d had, and this was how it was going to end? “Are you blackmailing me?”

Her eyes said yes. Though she turned and walked away, leaving me alone in the quiet once more, the weight of her words pressing harder than anything else had that day.

ANTONIO

Ilistened from the carport, watching Renee and Ma. I wasn’t sure what Renee was capable of—I didn’t know her like that. But I could tell she was pissed. And I had vowed to myself, a long time ago, that nobody else would hurt Ma ever again. If Renee so much as looked like she was going to cross a line, I’d step in.

Giovanni must have gotten his ways fromsomeone, and looking at Renee now, I had a pretty good guess. It was the same kind of controlled fury I’d seen in Giovanni many times before.

But then she said,“You know who Joey really is, Adriana. He’s not some saint, and you know it.”

My heart dropped into my stomach.

Did Ma know? Did she not care? Or was she just finding this out?

Was Renee talking about what I’d seen in the papers—about the mafia, about Staten Island crawling with criminals and Joey leading the pack?

An uneasy feeling settled in my stomach. I had pushed those thoughts away. I had told myself that wasn’t who Joey was. Joeyhad helped us, no questions asked. He was like a father to me. But was any of it real? Or was I just seeing what I wanted to see?

Then Renee asked if Ma and Joey were sleeping together, and I wanted to burn my own ears off. My stomach twisted, bile creeping up my throat. I had to swallow it back down before I lost it right there.

Thatcouldn’tbe true. They hardly spent any time alone together. But what if there was more? What if things were happening right in front of me that I hadn’t noticed?

I felt ambushed. Who was lying?

I didn’t know. But I needed to find out.

For Ma’s sake. To protect her.

Ma came marching toward me, her lips pressed so tightly together they were white. She didn’t slow as she passed; she just threw a sharp, “Come inside and wash up for dinner.”

---