First Love Only Love (The Life 2)

We’d reached my room while my head was filled with plots of revenge after she stopped off at hers to get the ankle-biter and her eyes went immediately to the loot on the bed. “What’s all this?”

“Open it.” She reached for the box with her new phone first and freaked when she saw it.

“This, this is, is this just like yours?” She held it away from her as if it were a snake ready to strike.

“If you’re going to tell me you can’t accept it, don’t waste your breath.”

I took it from her hand and unwrapped it before giving it back to her. “Does it work?”

“Of course it works.”

“No, I mean, can I call out with it right now?”

“Once we get it set up, of course.” She sat on the bed with the dog in her lap while I walked her through how to set up her phone.

“Can I call my grandmother?” The hope and fear in her eyes tore a hole in my gut. I know the fear stemmed from her expecting to be denied. “It’s your phone, sweetheart; you don’t need to ask.” When she gleefully punched in the numbers without having to hunt them down, I knew all I needed to. She doesn’t know the number of the father she lives with, but the grandmother’s she hasn’t seen in years is stored in her memory. They’ll pay for that.

I walked out of the room, giving her space, and went in search of Ma. I’d told the twins about inviting Gianna’s maternal family to their party, but that was a situation more suited for Ma to handle. It looks like they’d already beaten me to it when I spoke to Ma, and I left her to go in search of Pop.

“Pop? What’s the matter?” He was sitting behind his desk with his chair turned around, gazing out the window.

“Oh, you’re home. The Fontane woman was arrested. Since the daughter is of age in this state, they’re looking at charging her as well.”

“Where are they now?”

“With the Feds.”

“Okay.” I turned to leave, and he stopped me.

“What do you see happening next?” It wasn’t an unnecessary question by any means, but somehow, I got the feeling he was testing me. Okay, I’ll bite.

“She won’t admit where she got the money; that’ll open a whole other can of worms. She most likely tried passing a few grand, but the first store would’ve caught the bills if they checked. She can lie and say she got it from the bank, but that’s easily debunked. The Feds will have to raid their place if they haven’t started already, where they’ll find the rest of the money, and her story will then change, but she still can’t mention selling the car or her husband, who may still be trying to save face by standing by her, will exit stage left.”

“I thought you didn’t hold out much hope for him?”

“I don’t, but I planted the seeds of doubt in his mind; he’s going to see the light at some point.”

“And the girl?”

“Victoria? I’m not sure yet. I just want her as far away from Gianna as possible, but I’m not ready to move on that yet. First, let the mother face the fallout. By the way, Pop, who do you have that can make sure she gets bail?”

“You want her out?”

“Yeah, for now. Twenty years in the pen is definitely in her future, but she has a lot of suffering to do before that happens. I only need a few months; then the Feds can have her.”

“You hate her that much?”

“For what she did to Gianna and allowed her daughter to, I despise her.” He just nodded and went back to looking out the window with an odd look on his face.

I walked away and headed back to her. Pretty soon, she’s going to hear the buzz, no way to avoid that in a town like ours. Knowing her, she’d probably feel some kind of sadness for them, but I can’t be bothered with that. I’m doing this for her so that when I’m gone, her enemies will no longer be in her way. That’s what I’ve decided I can do for her.

She was now hanging up when I walked back into the room, and the look of pleasure on her face felt like the highlight of my day. “You spoke to your grandma?”

“Yes!” She made a move as if to come to me but then caught herself and stopped short, wringing her hands instead. I felt the loss but knew it was for the best.

“Open that one next.” I pointed to the bag I knew held the specialized dog collar. If Simon held true to form, she’d never suspect that it was anything more than an overpriced diamond collar that would expand as the mutt gets older.