“You’re mine, little bird.” He growled, then with one more quick kiss to her hand, he pulled her over. Over the center between them, and right up next to him.
Little bird.
The name sawed through her walls straight to her heart. It was just one of the many things that he did that had her feeling like a puddle in her seat.
Just like when he called her ‘mine’.
With her history, you wouldn’t think that she would like that. But that word didn’t trigger something with her, it wrapped around her. Telling her that he was just as gone for her as she was for him.
It wasn’t till they were down the freeway a ways that she realized something.
“Hey! Your last name is Mancini?” She gawked up at him.
“Yes.”
“I thought you were … well I don’t know what I thought.” She finished lamely and he chuckled.
“When Sergio found me, he adopted me.”
“Did he adopt Danny and Rick as well?”
“No. Just me. I always thought that it was his way of letting me know that I was a part of the family.” His voice turned hard at the end.
She decided not to push.
“What happened to your parents?” she asked, then instantly regretted it as she watched his face change. “I’m sorry I shouldn’t have asked.”
“No, little bird, I just don’t like talking about it. You can ask me anything. My parents were dealers.”
“Like drug dealers?” she asked in horror.
“Yes and they owed some money to some very bad people.” He said softly his hands clenched on the steering wheel, his jaw tight. She reached over placing her hand on his leg. Leaning her head against his arm.
“I’m sorry mark.” He didn’t answer for long moments.
“They were in debt to a local bookie. They were hopping from house to house and ended up in a halfway house hoping to outrun the guy, but it doesn’t work like that. They came in shooting, taking out everyone that had been in the house.” She clenched her eyes shut, tears streaming down her cheeks.
He let go of the steering wheel with one hand to grab hers, squeezing it, and bringing it up to his lips he kissed the back of it, before laying it down on his thigh, never letting go.
“I’m sorry, Mark,” she whispered.
“It’s okay, little bird.”
It wasn’t.
But there wasn’t anything she could do for him now.
What she had gone through was horrible, something that nobody should ever have to experience, but that didn’t mean that it couldn’t have been worse. That others hadn’t gone through something worse.
Her Mark was a reminder of that.
He was also a reminder that if he could survive what he did, and come out on the other side, then she could too.
Especially if he was there with her.
“The past is often really hard,” she said softly. “But lately I’ve been thinking that sometimes you have to go through things like that so that you can have the good.” She sat up and leaned over lightly kissing his cheek.
“You’re my good, Mark.” She laid her head back on his shoulder silently thanking whoever was watching over them.
