Wed to the Bad Boy(28)

It was huge to me.

“Home sweet home,” Greyson said, only a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

“You don’t like it?” I asked.

“It’s like anywhere you grow up, I guess. It’s nice enough, but it still feels like a cage.” He shrugged, but I could see the sadness etched on his face. Sometimes I swore I saw behind that projection of who he was to the truth. And it was peeking out. “Mom is great, though, she carries the family. It's hard, being married to the mob.” As if I didn't already know that. But it was more than just that.

I could tell by the look on his face.

There was so much more to it, I could tell that much, but he was just so closed off. I didn’t even know him, and I wasn’t sure if I ever would.

He got out of the car and walked around the side, opening the door for me. I got out and smoothed out my blouse looking up at him.

“You’re sure this is a good idea?” I asked.

“It wasn’t my idea. It was my mom’s. I think it would be a worse idea to disobey her,” he said, but he winked. Any chance of serious conversation was gone. I was only going to get the facade of him, and I knew it.

Greyson was so many things, and I couldn’t pin any of them down. It intrigued me. It made me want him. Hell, I always wanted him, but this was different.

It made me want to know him.

I just wasn’t sure how I was going to convince him to show me any of it. We were stuck in this impossible situation together, and now I doubted he would open up to me. I doubted everything.

“Grey! You didn’t tell me your bride to be was so adorable!” A smiling face greeted us and took me in immediately for a hug. I could tell by the smell lingering on her clothing that she’d been cooking all day. “I’m Greyson’s mom, Maeve, but everyone calls me Mae, and you can too.” When she smiled, her eyes turned into small creases revealing the roundness of her face, her plump body hidden behind an apron and a flared skirt. She looked like every mom I’d ever imagined in my fantasies. A kind smile and a warm house. I never had anything like that, and even now I could feel the pain of it deep within my soul. Soft and warm and just… mom-like.

And she raised a man who probably murdered a hundred men.

Looks could be so deceiving.

“Let’s get to the kitchen so that we can get dinner ready, huh? I’ve already got the roast in the oven, but I need help with the potatoes,” Mae wrapped her arm around my shoulders and turned towards the kitchen. “Grey, your father is due home any minute, help yourself to a drink.”

We ducked into the room, and I smiled when I saw two other girls in there working. One looked to be around my age, the other a little older and they were both doing dishes by hand.

“This is Maggie and Mary, two of my girls. Kathryn is still at school, but she should be home soon. We made a mess of it when we did the rolls, but that’s okay. Here let me get you set up with some potatoes and a peeler.”

I got to work immediately, losing myself in the monotonous activity. I didn’t need to talk if I was working hard. I didn’t need to even think about what was going on. About the man sitting in the next room, or the fact that his father was being forced by my uncle into a marriage of the families.

It was all so scary and weird and just unreal to me.

“So, Joanna, how did you meet my son?” Mae grabbed a potato from the basket and started peeling next to me.

“I was working for him, servicing drinks over at the warehouse in Glen Burnie.”

“Ah, I see. And what do you think?”

“He’s strong.”

“He is, all of my children are strong. And he’s fair. At least I hope he is. And smart,” I could tell by the way she was speaking that she wasn’t bragging she was just telling the truth in her mind. I couldn’t disagree. At least not when it came to what I’d seen so far.

“And he took you out and got trapped into a marriage, is that true?” she asked.

“I-” I started, but she held up her hand.

“I do not mean it as an insult. My son has been avoiding settling down for almost ten years now. I’ve tried, but nothing else has worked. I’m almost glad that you came along when you did. You work hard, as I can see, and don’t think I didn’t notice the way you looked at him.”

I blushed, was it that obvious? Was his repulsion as obvious?

“He is blind to any type of affection, at least, outside of my own. His father… he wanted tough. At any cost. You have an uphill battle. I won’t lie.” I looked around. The girls were gone. They'd been so quiet I didn't even notice it.

“They are setting the table,” she answered the question I didn’t ask. “I wanted to get you alone, to look into your eyes and see what was there. You are a good person. I could tell the moment I hugged you. Most women wouldn’t have hugged me back.”