Shit, I’d forgotten we have mutual friends and that I didn’t hang out with anyone except with him. I slightly caved in. “Okay, so I met this guy, and we are just going out for lunch, that’s all.” He wasn’t buying it; adjusting his body on the couch, he was now facing my direction with an amused grin.
“What’s this guy’s name?”
I looked away because I couldn’t stare him in the eye. I’m the worst liar. “I rather not say because we’re just friends getting to know one another.” Biting my bottom lip, I bravely looked at him, hoping he’d leave it at that.
He frowned. “Is it Marcus?” His expression shocked me.
“No! It’s not, and why did you say it like that?” I thought he and Marcus were friends.
“He’s a cool guy and all but wouldn’t be good for you.” He faced the flat screen to restart his game.
“Not that I care because it’s not Marcus, but if it were, why wouldn’t he be good for me?” The question was delivered a little harsher than I expected. You could feel the tension building between us. He knew something and didn’t want to say, but I was nosy and would continue drilling until I collected my information.
My tone of voice set him off. His ears were bright red, and he seemed to be biting his tongue. I knew that look: the steam was building, so he’d blow up pretty soon if I kept pushing his buttons, but didn’t care. I stood from the chair and crossed my arms, giving him a nasty stare. “It is Marcus, so what!” That did it. He got up, throwing the controller on the couch.
“Jesus Christ, Mia! Did you fuck him?” His cheeks turned the same fire-engine red as his ears.
What the hell was his problem? I gripped my hip with my one hand and waved my other at him like he was a five-year old. “That is none of your business!” I stormed to my room and slammed the door. The nerve of him! Did I fuck him? Why was he so against Marcus? I paced back and forth in my bedroom to calm my nerves.
The door swung open, and Jeremy was standing by the doorway irate.
“First of all, it is my business because you’re my friend, and I don’t want to see you hurt. Second, have you thought about the rest of the summer when you’re working for him and how it would affect you? Third, I highly recommend you do some research on him and see the stuff that he’s into, because so help me God, Mia, if you get hurt in any way and I find out that he was involved, there’s no telling what I would do.” He slammed the door behind him and left me in the room speechless by his outburst.
What did Jeremy mean, “if I’m hurt in any way,” and what’s this research thing about? What kind of stuff is Marcus into that could possibly harm me? My mind was racing, and I had so many doubts. This was what I didn’t want to happen, and yet a kiss from him had made me weak. There I was getting ready to meet him for lunch while my best friend was angry with me in the other room.
I threw myself onto the bed, trying to go over the past few days. My friendship wasn’t worth losing. What if Jeremy were right? Maybe I would get hurt in the end. Was Jeremy jealous or just being a concerning friend? I had so many unanswered questions. There was only one way some of these blank holes could be filled: Google. Jumping off my bed and slamming into the chair, I started up my laptop.
There were lots of articles on Marcus DeLuca: on his firm, his achievements, charities, and his successful verdicts on many criminal cases, mainly involving the mafia. I looked at many websites and spent twenty minutes trying to find something until the headline of one Boston newspaper caught my attention. It was short and to the point.
JIMMIE DELUCA QUESTIONED ON MAFIA DRUG DEAL
21 December 2011
Written by Samantha Jones
Jimmie DeLuca was taken in for questioning Monday morning regarding a drug deal at a local warehouse in Midtown Center City. For many years, there have been allegations that the DeLuca brothers, Jimmie and Marcus DeLuca, were and still are involved with the illegal acts of the Sorrento Mafia Family. Sources close to the brothers have denied all allegations, and there has been no evidence to charge them with any crimes.
Shortly after Jimmie DeLuca was taken into Boston Police headquarters, his younger brother Marcus DeLuca came to the rescue as his attorney. The detectives had no evidence to arrest Jimmie, and released him, not even ten minutes after Marcus DeLuca arrived.
Anyone who knows the DeLuca brothers knows that Marcus took over his brother’s firm five years ago. When he became involved with the firm, he began to represent the Sorrento family and cleared their names from many accusations involving drug deals, money laundering, as well as gun trafficking.
Whether these accusations against the DeLuca brothers are true or not, it does raise one question: What is their true involvement with the Sorrento family?
End of Article. SJ
I continued to research and found similar articles but with Marcus brought in for questioning a few times. After researching for what seemed like forever, I blankly stared at the monitor for a while, trying to wrap my head around what I’d just read. Was this what Jeremy meant? There was nothing incriminating about it. They were taken in for questioning, but they were never charged with a crime.
I’ve heard that the Sorrentos were very dangerous and definitely not a force to be reckoned with. I’d heard stories about murders, corrupt cops, and drug deals involving the Sorrentos and that anyone who crossed their path was either family or an enemy. In the Italian mob, there were no friends: you were considered family even if you weren’t blood related. The thought that Marcus could be involved made my stomach turn.
Though growing up with a cop as a father and a detective as a brother, I knew that the media portrayed things as worse than they really were.
I was stuck. Should I believe the media, or would hearing him out be a better idea? Should I cancel this lunch date, or go and flat-out tell him what I read? Due to the fact that I was very pushy and needed information to make a decision on anything involving my life, I decided to meet him for lunch and ask all the questions that I needed. One thing I’m grateful for is that I can read people very well, courtesy of my brother. If it so happened that I felt he wasn’t trustworthy, I’d walk away.
I took a shower and threw on a navy blue maxi dress, beige flip-flops, and a matching messenger bag. My hair was in a low ponytail, and I accessorized with gold hoop earrings and a long gold necklace with a horseshoe charm. It was my favorite piece of jewelry. Michael bought it for my 24th birthday last October before he passed away.