Free Criminal Pleasures by Darien Cox Page A

it as simple small talk, but now he wondered if there wasn’t something to it. Maybe it was a warning of sorts.
    He claimed to be engaged, but Brendan hadn’t seen any evidence of a girlfriend, and Marc had seemed ready to jump into Brendan’s bed at a moment’s notice. His free time didn’t appear to be tied up with a significant other. Did this mysterious fiancée even exist?
    It was almost comforting to think maybe Marc was just bat-shit. It made it easier to accept his walking out on Brendan the other night. It’s not me! It’s him! He’s just nuts!
    But if this was true, then he shouldn’t feel compelled to go down to the restaurant and see him. And the excuse of needing to explain about Gina and her child support problems sounded lame even to him. But he was going down to the restaurant tonight. He knew this the moment Gina told him Marcello would be bartending with her.
    He was going. He just didn’t know why.
    I can’t help myself .
    He wanted to see him. He only hoped Marc felt the same about him.
     

 
     
    Chapter Seven
     
     
    Brendan spotted Marc behind the bar as soon as he walked into Bibeta’s Garden. Marc had his back to him, fussing with some glasses, but there was no mistaking that ass, or the sculpted slope of his shoulders. Gina was behind the bar at the other end, setting drinks on a tray for a pretty dark-haired waitress. Brendan recognized the waitress from the first night he was there. Carmen . She’d also said Marcello was her cousin. He wondered how many were in the DiPietro family. But his thoughts were interrupted when Marc turned around and spotted him.
    Marc went completely still. He stood there like a statue, a rag in his hand, just staring. Then abruptly he moved off and leaned over to speak with a customer. Marc turned around and poured a glass of white wine as Brendan approached the bar. Brendan waited until he’d set it down in front of the customer, then he decided to bite the bullet and speak first.
    “Marc.”
    Marc stepped over to him, doing a little tilt with his head, like he was simply waiting for Brendan’s drink order.
    “I just wanted to let you know, Gina came in today. I wasn’t expecting her. I helped her out, it was a simple thing. I know you told me not to, so I didn’t want you to think I was going behind your back. I tried to call but I guess your phone is shut off?”
    Marc gave a quick nod, but his expression remained placid, unreadable. “Do you want a drink?”
    “He’s not paying for nothing!” Gina called out.
    Marc glanced at Gina as she approached, then he moved off to help another customer. Brendan’s heart sank. He won’t even talk to me .
    Then Gina was there, all smiles. She was dressed identical to Marc, in black pants and tee shirt, except her short curly hair was partially hidden under a red kerchief. “What can I get you, honey? Anything you want.”
    I’ll have the other bartender, please. On a skewer.
    “Thanks, Gina. I’ll have a beer.”
    She frowned, hands on her hips. “That’s it? Come on, it’s on me. You want a martini? I make a great martini.”
    He chuckled. “Martini it is.”
    She patted his hand and went off to make his drink. Carmen, the waitress, came up to the bar with another drink order, and she did a double take at Brendan. Her long black locks flowed out from under a red kerchief identical to Gina’s. “Hey, back again, huh?”
    He smiled. “How you doing?”
    “Not bad, thanks.”
    “Hey Carmen,” an older, balding man at the end of the bar said. “Quit flirting with the customers.”
    “Shut up,” she said. “I know him, I’ve served him before.”
    The man leaned forward and looked down the bar at Brendan. He had a hawk nose and a rounded belly. Next to him sat a very young, very attractive blonde woman. “Don’t mind my daughter, Carmen,” the man said to Brendan. “She never forgets a handsome face.”
    “I never forget a handsome tip , Poppy.” Carmen smiled at Brendan, then went