First Love Only Love (The Life 2)

His mind is the one thing I can’t control and shouldn’t want to or even try. I love that he’s so damn smart he puts most of his peers to shame. But with that pride now comes a hefty dose of fear. He’s too good. He would’ve been a boss of bosses had I not changed things to give him and his siblings a better life.

BECKY

It’s gone, the money. Where did it go? Had Felix taken it? No, if he had, he’d be way more furious than he is right now. But who? The cops? But Felix said they hadn’t found anything. I plopped down on the side of the bed, still dressed in nothing but the towel I’d wrapped around me after a much-needed shower.

I hadn’t been able to talk to Victoria with Felix in the house to find out what that look she gave me was about. I know it can’t be anything related to her father; he still has about fifteen years left of his sentence. So, who had shown up at the precinct, pretending to be her dad, and where is that person now?

Everything seems to be unraveling too quickly with too many questions and not enough answers. I need Gia to come back, need her under my thumb; it’s the only way to control Felix, though that seems to be slipping more of late. I rushed to the closet where I kept my emergency stash and sighed in relief when it was there still.

I heard the door close downstairs, and an engine start; Felix was finally out of the house. Grabbing my robe, I pulled it on and walked down the hallway to her room. “It took you long enough.”

“What was that look about? Who took you out of there last night?”

“Who do you think?”

“How should I know? Stop beating around the bush and talk.”

“Jimmy is very much alive.”

“How do you know? I mean, other than the obvious, why are you bringing him up now? Who was at the precinct?” I’m afraid I knew the answer before she spoke.

“It was Jimmy, dear old dad.” I felt the blood rush from my head and had to sit down before I fell.

“Where did he come from? Does he know where we are?”

“Of course not; I’m not stupid. I gave him the slip in Jersey.”

“Jersey? What were you doing there?”

“That’s not important right now. What you should be thinking about is how you’re going to get Felix to make the school take me back. Oh, and I still want the shopping trip you promised me.” She turned to look into the mirror. “I have to go back in style.” The look that came across her face put me in mind of one I used to wear.

It means she won’t let go of whatever she’d set her mind to. I can also read between the lines and know that she’d just threatened me. If I didn’t get her what she wanted, she’d tell Felix the truth. Then again, maybe not. She’d suffer too if we get kicked out of here. So what is she implying? I don’t have time to think about that right now; there are more pressing things needing my attention.

FELIX

I left the house and took a long drive so I could mull over everything that was going on. Something doesn’t seem right about either of their stories. I don’t believe for a second that the Feds had made a mistake, so what exactly is going on? Who’s the man that picked Victoria up from the station, and how can I find that out?

I’m embarrassed to admit that I didn’t know the name of Becky’s dead husband; I just never got around to asking as it never seemed important. Such is the way of our relationship, and it has ever been this way. She knows we didn’t get married for love that I was just trying to give my daughter a stable home while she was looking for the same.

Intimacy between us has never been an issue; I’m still alive after all, but there was never any great passion between us, and she knows and has been fine with this. In fact, after the crisis bonding period right after Adrienne passed, the guilt had been so strong that I may have neglected my new wife there in the beginning.

Then I had that guilt to deal with as well. I mean, here was a woman willing to step in and take care of someone else’s kid, no questions asked. I brushed off the tension between her and Gia as just adjustment issues on my young daughter’s part, and I admit now that part of my reason for that was probably because of the guilt I felt for not loving Becky the way I had my first wife.

But could I have been wrong all along? Or am I being too influenced by the Russo kid’s words? And why does it seem like since he came into our lives just a short while ago, things just seem to keep getting turned upside down? It’s not just the things he said but the way in which he said them.