Page 10 of Mafia Men Need Love Too
Nico nodded. “What went wrong?”
She swallowed hard. “It became clear early on that he had issues. He drank too much, spent too much money, stayed out too late. Always claimed to be working on ‘the next big thing’ that would set us up for life.”
He also spent way too much time on the dating apps he never deleted, too. But admitting that to Nico felt way too embarrassing.
River knew she should’ve left him after the first affair. But she didn’t. Not after he begged and pleaded prettily for her forgiveness. Promised her that he was merely using these women as business contacts, all while convincing her that if she only believed in him more, they’d be fine.
Jeremy had been a shitty husband, but if gaslighting were a sport, he would’ve been an elite athlete.
Eventually, she decided she’d had enough and told him she couldn’t do it anymore. She wanted a divorce.
On some level, she’d hoped he’d beg her to stay. To commit to couples therapy and change his ways.
He left that night without uttering a single word.
River didn’t see him again until he signed the divorce papers. He did so without even making eye contact.
She didn’t realize he’d stolen her credit card and cleaned out their bank account until three days later. He’d managed to trash her credit along the way, too, by taking out a handful of cards in her name, maxing them out, and defaulting on the payments.
That was when she realized he’d probably never really loved her. He’d been merely using her to finance his gambling addiction. To him, she was nothing more than a meek, gullible wallet.
Throughout her whole story (the parts she was willing to tell him, at least) Nico listened quietly, his eyes never leaving her face. The only emotion she ever saw in his expression came in the form of a muscle in his jaw jumping when she told him about her ex breaking into her apartment while she was at work and stealing a wad of cash from her vacation fund that, she could only assume, he promptly lost at the casino.
The casino she now knew was Russian mafia owned.
“Fortunately, I owned our house outright,” she said, trying not to let any of the heartbreak she felt at her husband’s betrayal come through in her voice. “It’d been left to me in my grandmother’s will, and I never added his name to it. I was able to sell it, pay off some of the debt, and pocket enough cash to get by on while I rebuilt my savings.”
Nico looked seriously pissed off on her behalf, which was terrifying and sweet all at the same time. “Did you report the theft to the police?”
She shook her head. “I know I should have. But I just wanted to put it all behind me, and I haven’t seen him since. Apparently, the Russians haven’t either.”
He leaned forward. “He abandoned you to the mafia to cover his debts? Even after you didn’t report him to the cops?”
“Well, I mean…he had no way of knowing what would happen if he disappeared.”
The look he gave her bordered on pity. “The mafia is a great many things, fiorellino. Ambiguous is not one of them. If he borrowed from the Russians, trust me when I say he knew exactly what would happen if he skipped out on that debt.”
His words took a minute to penetrate her brain. “You mean, um, Jeremy knew they’d come after me for the money?”
“I’m afraid so.”
Well, Nico had promised he wouldn’t lie to her, and he didn’t. Not even to spare her feelings.
Being a bad husband was one thing. But knowing Jeremy deliberately put her life in danger and couldn’t give a shit about it was depressing.
She’d been married to a man who basically threw her like a chewed-up dog toy to the Russian mafia. Had sex with a man who would betray her like that.
Her father had passed away when she was ten. Her relationship with her mother wasn’t all that great. She had no connection to her extended family. And she’d never made friends easily. So, her ex, sadly enough, was the closest relationship she’d ever had…and he couldn’t be bothered to even consider her when it mattered most.
She was so… alone.
“Otters hold hands while they sleep so they don’t float away from each other,” she whispered.
She didn’t have anyone to hold her hand so she wouldn’t float away and probably never would.
“No,” Nico said, his voice low and stern. “Don’t you dare cry. He doesn’t deserve one single tear. Especially not your tears. You should be angry.”
She blinked at him and sat up straighter. “I should, shouldn’t I?”
