The Life: Sacrifice (The Life 3)

I’m still not sure what I’m going to do with Fontane if I’ll leave him standing or not, but those two I know for certain must go. He’s already starting to pay for his mistakes though it will never be enough, but at the end of the day, he’s Gianna’s blood, so I’ll only go so far with his destruction. Victoria and Becky, on the other hand, can’t be left to do more damage than they’d already done.

I made sure she was dressed well enough to cause havoc, changing her out of the jeans and sweater she’d worn shopping into something more upscale. The black velvet palazzo with a cream silk blouse and matching black velvet jacket was perfect though she balked.

“Gabriel, I’m just going around the corner to see dad; why do I need to get all dressed up like this?”

“I see Ma hasn’t given you the talk. A lady must always look her best even if she’s just going down the driveway to grab the mail.” She rolled her eyes and giggled, which caused me to do something stupid, like pulling her in for a kiss. So much for distancing myself.

GABRIEL

I think my sisters may have rubbed off on me some in the last couple of days because I don’t recall being this majorly petty before. But as I walked her towards her family home, hand in hand, her mother’s car, now hers parked on the driveway behind us; I was almost bursting with anticipation at the havoc I was about to cause.

I could give less than half a shit whether Felix Fontane knows that she’s leaving the country. Pounding the nail deeper into Victoria’s coffin, though, is high on my priority list. I guess I’ve decided to come down to their level to deal with them since not one of the three, Becky, Victoria, or Felix, seems to have a working brain cell to share between them.

Had my opponents been more formidable, I wouldn’t go this route, but since they have the underbelly of a half-dead fish that had been caught and thrown back in, this is where it’s at. “Hello Fontane, may we come in?” He answered the door looking his usual flustered self with red-rimmed eyes. Bastard, you haven’t cried enough yet. Soon!

I realized as I looked at him that he irritates me; that’s what this feeling is. This is new for me; I never let anyone or anything irritate me long enough to get under my skin, but because of her, I’m putting up with this mook, and my give a shit meter is running on empty.

“Oh, hi, I didn’t know you guys were coming over today. Come on in.” He looked at her with something approaching longing in his eyes, longing, and dare I hope, a tinge of regret? I barely held back the sneer that always wants to break out in his presence from reaching my face as we followed him into the room where the portrait of his late wife dominated.

Now I almost wish I’d let Becky out to enjoy this. But she serves my purpose much better behind bars for now. Out here, with me gone, who knows what the hell she’d talk this fool into doing, so as much as I wanted to get my jollies watching her squirm like a worm at the end of my hook, this will have to suffice.

“We’re just here to let you know we’ll be leaving the country shortly, Fontane.”

“Leaving, what do you mean? Where are you going?” He looked from me to Gianna, but I noticed she wasn’t even looking at him. In fact, she hadn’t said a word since we left the car.

“Um, it’s my sisters’ birthday; they’re taking her to Turk's and Caicos for a week to celebrate.”

“Oh!”

His response sounded weak and laden with something approaching guilt. Was he now realizing that he’d robbed her of her damn life? Going from my own and my siblings, there’s so much we’ve done that she won’t get to do. Her mother was damn near royalty from the looks of the family, and this jackass had let her daughter suffer the life of a destitute hermit.

“I see; wait, she doesn’t have a passport; how is she going?"

“My father took care of it.” My look dared him to say shit; he couldn’t possibly know that I had an argument ready for anything he could throw at me. He had the good sense not to even think of objecting, which saved him from my wrath. I wasn’t here for him anyway.

I relaxed and took a seat pulling Gianna down beside me when I heard the faint tread of footsteps on the stairs. I’m pretty sure the other two didn’t hear them, as Fontane went on to ask about the trip and how she was doing. The kind of crap you’d ask a stranger or an acquaintance you ran into after a long absence,