I stop on a picture of her holding a little boy in her arms. He must be her son. I look past the kitchen doorway to the den and take a peek at Gino.
“What’s Gino now? Is he three?” I ask him as I lean against the granite countertops.
He shrugs, “no clue, Dom.”
“Ma!” I yell through the kitchen to the dining room where her and Jessica are having a cup of tea. I know I’m interrupting them, but Ma won’t mind.
She walks to the doorway with her hands on her hips and her lips pursed. “Why do you have to yell Dom? Huh? You can’t just walk into the room like a normal person?”
“Sorry Ma, just wanted to know how old Gino is.”
“He’ll be three in June.” She narrows her eyes at me, “why are you asking?”
I shrug, “no reason.” I don’t lie to my Ma, not ever and the one time I do, she sees right through me. I guess I don’t lie cause I’m a shitty liar. Her eyes focus on the iPad in my hands. “Not now, Ma.” I warn her. Her lips part and she takes a step back giving me a look of disappointment.
“I wanna see Dominic.” She puts one hand on her hip and the other is palm up extended in front of her. Fuck me.
“Ma. It’s just a girl; she doesn’t even know me.” Well she kind of knows me, in the biblical sense, but Ma doesn’t need to hear that.
“There’s a lot of broads out there Dom,” Pops comes up from behind me and takes the iPad out of my hand. He’s the only one in here I’d let get away with that shit. He chuckles. “You always go for the challenge don’t you? You can’t be happy with a nice single 20 something. You wanna go with a chick with baggage.”
“Dante! A child is not baggage!” Ma looks pissed. I raise my eyebrows and stare passed my Ma to the dining room. My parents don’t fight. Never. Can’t tell you one time they ever got into an argument. But Ma sure as shit likes to beat up on Pops. She doesn’t let him get away with a damn thing.
“Oh hush, I’m only saying having a kid creates extra work.” He hands the iPad back to me and adds, “if he’s not looking for anything but a good time, there’s no reason to go after a broad who has to worry about a little one.” I nod my head, hearing what my Pops is saying, but I don’t fucking like it.
“What you need to do is knock it off with all the girls and find a good woman to settle down with.”
“All the girls?” I scrunch my face up in distaste. “What girls?” It’s not like I bounce from girl to girl. I’m not some fucking man whore. Not that I really see a problem either way. I mean I’m not into slut shaming. You do what you want, how you want. Vince has a fleet of women coming and going. They know what they’re signing up for. I don’t give him a hard time over it. I just prefer something different. I like to build some trust. A one-night stand is nothing that can give me the high I need. It’s a quick release, and that’s just not my thing. I like gaining trust and pushing limits. I enjoy finding out a woman’s deepest, darkest fantasies. Hard to make that come true if they don’t trust you enough to tell you.
I hear Vince laugh from the den, great the whole fucking family is in on it now. He walks into the kitchen leaning against the fridge with a huge fucking grin on his face. I cut him off as his mouth opens. “Shut it.” I point my thumb in Ma’s direction. “She gets a pass.” Then at Pops. “He gets a pass.” Then I point at him with my brows raised. “Not you. Fuck off.”
“Dom!” Ma scolds me.
“I know, I know.” I roll my eyes and pass the iPad back to Tony. “Language.” I look at Tony, “email it to me.”
Ma looks at me expectantly. “Ma, really.” I don’t fucking want her involved. This is just pussy. I can’t get this broad out of my head. Partly because I want to apologize, but mostly I want her cunt wrapped around my dick again. And that ass. Just thinking of it makes my dick come to attention. And that’s my cue to fucking leave. I did my part; I came to Sunday dinner. I told them about that little shit Marco and De Luca’s bull shit.
I give Ma a hug, “you’re leaving already?” She sounds hurt and it would make me feel guilty if she didn’t say it like that every time.
“Gotta go Ma; I love you.” She gets a kiss on the cheek. Pop gets a quick hug and the rest get a wave as I walk my ass out the door to my Benz.
Time to go home and really look into this woman. I already know I want her; I’ve just got to figure out how I’m gonna get her to owe me again. The smirk on my face vanishes as I remember I’m gonna have to address how I behaved the first time. My hands twist the steering wheel. I’m not so good with apologies, but I’m sure I’ll figure out a way to make it up to her. I groan thinking up all the ways I’ll make it up to my doll.