The Life: Sacrifice (The Life 3)

I found my so-called team in their quarters, one of the little cottages off the main castle, yes, a literal castle. They were surprised to see me since I’ve pretty much been ignoring them since they’d been hired a few weeks ago. “Hey, did something happen?” Marcus stood from his chair while looking around at the others.

“No. Who do you work for? Me or my father?” No point in beating around the bush. That’ll only make them suspicious anyway.

“That’s a tough one. What are you getting at?” Again, Marcus took the lead.

“OK, let me rephrase that.” Who is your loyalty to? Me, or my father?”

“That’s another tough one. What is it that you’re trying to ask?” It was Robert who answered this time.

“Simply put, there’re going to be times when there will be certain things that I want to do that my Pop might not agree with. Whose side are you gonna be on?”

“You’re putting us in a tough spot here, Gabe.”

I guess Denver picked up on where I was coming from before the others, who soon caught on. Like I said before, I’m the one who saw that each of them was in a not-so-good position at home when we first met years ago, and it was I who brought that and them to Pop’s attention, knowing that he’d step in. I’m not one to do shit for people expecting something in return, but I have no qualms about taking that stance this time around.

I knew from the first time I saw them on campus that Pop had brought them in at this point in time because he’d grown suspicious of my activities concerning Sicily. Even though I’d gone to great lengths to keep him from knowing anything about my progress there, he too knows his son, and there’re just some things I can’t hide from him.

“OK, think about it and get back to me. Just know while you’re thinking, we can make this very hard or very easy. If you answer correctly, you have no problem, say the wrong thing, and I’ll make it extremely difficult for you. Remember, I am my father’s son; think about why he asked you of all people to shadow me.”

I left after giving them food for thought, knowing that they were smart enough to get where I was coming from. I know that Pop put them on me to keep me out of trouble; I also know that they have no idea what that trouble might be. Pop would never tell anyone outside the family what had been done to Ma, so there’s no way he’d come right out and mention Sicily to them. I have that working for me.

Now, to the point that we’re all basically teenagers, who do teenage crap, I don’t see too much of a problem getting them on my side. Soon they’d know what to report and what to keep to themselves. Basically, with my last parting shot, I’m trying to con them into believing that Pop hadn’t hired them so much to keep an eye on me as he did to protect me. Meaning they had no say in what I did and wouldn’t try to stop me, not that they ever could. But I don’t want Pop knowing my moves before I make them, not until I was ready to share.

I didn’t hang around waiting for them to put it together but went back to the main dwelling where the girls were busy with their etiquette coach. One thing I hadn’t prepared for was the feeling of loss I carry around with me now. Each time I look at Gianna, it’s with the eyes of someone who’s saying goodbye.

While she’s excited and brimming over with joy, my heart’s being torn in two. Each laugh, each gentle touch of her hand when we’re close, is like a dagger to my chest. I didn’t know it would be like this that I would mourn her. This makes me worry about her own feelings when the time comes. It’s only been a few weeks for me, too and I’m arguably more well equipped to deal with what’s coming than she is.

The thought of her feeling even a fraction of what I do, makes me hate myself even more. I wish there was a guarantee…I brought myself back from the brink when I caught Lance standing outside the door to the room where the girls were, peeping in. “What’s up?” He almost jumped out of his skin at the sound of my voice.

“Shit Gabe, you scared me.” He went back to peeping through the crack in the door where I could see over his head into the room where the girls were practicing deportment. “What exactly are you doing?”

“I’m just keeping my eye on that chick. I think she’s a bit abusive. Did you hear the way she spoke to them?” I barely contained my laughter at the look on his face.