She ended the call and slipped the phone back in her purse just as they were coming to a red light. Marco turned and looked over at her. "The cousin?"
"Yes. He said to tell you he's putting in an extra rotation and is getting a huge bonus for it. He'll have the money to pay you back soon."
"It's not his debt, Natalie. I don't want his money. I won't take it."
"If it's not his debt--then you mean it's my debt."
"Yes."
"But you said the debt was cleared--I knew you didn't mean it."
"It is cleared--" he gritted his teeth. "It's never been about the goddamn money anyway. You know that."
Her face lost color and the light changed.
They drove in silence the rest of the way home.
****
When they arrived at the penthouse, Marco tossed his keys on the coffee table and grabbed her hand and pulled her down on the sofa with him. "Tell me the rest of it."
"Rest of what?" She shifted to face him.
"You told your cousin you've been talking to someone. Who've you been talking to?"
She studied him, feeling the need for some small measure of preservation. "I have friends, Marco."
"I know that." He put his hand to his mouth and stared her down. "Who?"
She rolled her eyes at him and said simply, "My mother."
"Your mother?" he asked sharply, surprise coloring his tone. "Your mother has a freeloader living with her who makes you so uneasy you won't go see her?"
She crossed her arms over her chest. "Wow. You really listened in on that conversation, didn't you?"
"Yeah, I sure the fuck did, Natalie," he stated firmly.
She drummed her fingers against her biceps and remained silent.
"Answer me," he demanded.
"No."
He growled low in his throat and began to reach for her. "Natalie--"
She jerked away from him and interrupted, purposely trying to throw him for a loop, "What kind of game were the Kennedys disappointed they wouldn't be playing tonight?"
He ignored the change of subject without a flinch and continued with his interrogation. "It doesn't take a goddamn rocket scientist to know what the fuck's going on. Your mother has a low-life son-of-a-bitch living with her who wants you. Does she know?"
"Are you clean? Have you been tested?" She said that to piss him off as well, but she also really needed to know.
"Yes to both."
"Promise, Marco."
"Swear to God, Natalie." He continued to look at her. "Does your mother know?" he asked again.
Natalie eyed him thoughtfully and refused to answer with a challenge of her own, "So--have you slept with Nora Kennedy?"
He drew in a deep breath and released it. "No--I haven't slept with her. Not from a lack of her trying."
Natalie studied him, inordinately relieved to hear his denial. She didn't think to doubt him. "I'm impressed. An actual answer. I didn't really expect one," she said only half sarcastically.
"Because you won't answer my questions? You deserved that one, baby." He reached out to touch her again, more gently than before, and this time she let him. His hand took hers and entwined it with his, his thumb rubbing over the backs of her fingers.
She watched his thumb making circles over her flesh and felt it all the way down to her toes. "I don't deserve all of them?"
"Probably. But then there would be more questions--and more--and you'd find out what a depraved mother-fucker I am and you'd try to leave me."
"Try, Marco? If I wanted to leave you--I'd pick up and leave you."
"It wouldn't be that easy."
"No?" she questioned softly.
"No."
"Why?"
"We're getting a little off-track here, Natalie. I want to know what the fuck was going on at home. Did the mother-fucker touch you? Did he hurt you? Do I need to go to Vidor and kill him? Is he the reason you came to Houston?"
Natalie sighed and knew she wouldn't get out of this without spilling her guts. He was like a junkyard dog tearing after a bone he was determined to get. When he wanted something, he was completely tenacious and she knew he wouldn't be letting this go. She looked him straight in the eye and answered him as quickly and as simply as she could. "Yes, my mom has a scumbag living with her. Yes, he attempted to touch me when she wasn't in the room. He also tried to sneak into my bedroom at night but never made it. He never got me alone, so he never hurt me. The second time he tried it, I left home. My mom doesn't know and I'm not going to be the messenger. Trust me, she'll figure out what a douche he is before too long all on her own. There's no need to screw up my relationship with her. So, yes, I came to Houston to get a job and to mark time. Is that what you wanted to know?"
"Mark time?" he asked incredulously.
"Yes."
A scowl crossed his face and his voice grew to an alarming level. "I'm sorry. Mark fucking time?"
"Marco--"
"That's what you're doing here with me? Marking time?"
"I didn't mean it like that--"
"What the fuck did you mean, Natalie?"
"What do you want from me, Marco? You want your twenty-thousand dollar payback--then you don't want it. It's never been about the money. What the hell does that mean anyway?"
His eyes glimmered with anger as he watched her and his grasp tightened on her hand, but he remained silent, simmering next to her.
She tried to jerk her hand back but failed. "Don't act like your feelings are hurt, damn you. I said I was marking time. Big freakin' deal. You said we had an arrangement. An arrangement, Marco," she reiterated sharply. "You want to compare hurt feelings? You told me we weren't friends--you told me you didn't want a girlfriend." She tugged viciously on her hand until he released her. She immediately stood and crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. "I'm not your damned girlfriend, Marco!" she accused hotly. "What the hell am I, then? Your latest fuck? No, I know, I'm the one who takes care of that aspect of your life."
"Don't talk like that, Natalie. I don't like it."
"Well, too damned bad. I'm not your girlfriend. I'm not your anything. I guess you don't get the privilege of telling me how to talk, or what to do, or when to leave. So yeah, I'm marking time until my mom comes to her senses and I can go home. She'll really need me then. I'm all she has." She turned to leave the room and hadn't taken more than two steps before she was grabbed from behind and jerked around to face him.