by Jake Biondi
“I would just be a burden; you just said so yourself.”
“I never said that. You aren’t a burden,” Gino said. “I just want you to become independent. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. Don’t let the blindness defeat you. And don’t let your need for revenge wreck what could be a happy future.”
“Wreck a happy future? If my future is wrecked, it’s your fault.”
“My fault?”
“Yes,” Justin said. “You and your family. You’re responsible for the bomb that did this to me.”
Gino stood up from the bed. “I can’t believe you’d even say that. God, you’re a piece of work. You don’t know me at all, do you? I don’t know why I even bother.” Gino walked away into the bathroom.
“Gino, wait,” Justin said.
Gino stuck his head out of the bathroom. “Just so you know, your brother Derek is headed to California to see your father. I thought you’d want to know since that’s all you seem to care about anymore. If you’re lucky, he’ll steal your whole inheritance out right from under you!” Gino returned to the bathroom and slammed the door.
Justin sighed. “Fuck.”
In the hospital cafeteria, Tyler Bennett and Joyelle were seated at a table near the window. The beautiful Lincoln Park visible behind them, Tyler and Joyelle each had a cup of tea on the table in front of them.
“It’s so good to have you back here,” Tyler said.
“Thanks,” Joyelle responded. “It’s great to be back. I’m always better when I have a routine.”
“And the doctor has given you clearance to come back to work?”
“Oh, yes. I’m completely fine. At least physically.”
Tyler reached out and put his hand on hers. “I’m so sorry about the babies.”
“Thank you,” Joyelle said. “It’s been difficult, but Derek and I are dealing with our loss together. That makes a big difference. If only I could get my memory back.”
“Have the doctors said anything about that?”
Joyelle sighed. “Just that I have to be patient. My memories will come back on their own.”
“That must be so frustrating for you,” Tyler said. “Is there anything we can do to try to help you get them back sooner?”
“The doctor discouraged trying to force things. He said that would just prolong the process. It has to occur on its own.”
Tyler smiled. “You know me. I don’t have patience. For anything.”
“I usually don’t, either. But I don’t have much choice.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re safe and healthy otherwise,” Tyler said. “That’s what matters.”
“And that I can have more children,” Joyelle added. “Derek and I have already been trying.”
“Ah,” Tyler replied.
Joyelle laughed. “Too much information?”
“Maybe,” Tyler said. “And you don’t remember anything from the New Year’s Eve party? Nothing?”
Joyelle shook her head. “I’m sorry; I don’t.”
“Well, it’ll all come back to you. It has to.”
Joyelle stood up. “Come on, we better get back upstairs.”
“I’m right behind you,” Tyler said, standing up and following Joyelle to the elevators. As they passed a recycling bin, Tyler tossed their paper cups inside. Then they hopped into the elevators, which took them back up to their work floor.
As Tyler and Joyelle returned to work, Marco Ciancio was in his office on the phone with his father.
“Yes, Father,” Marco said, fidgeting with a pen in his right hand. “I’ll head back to Chicago this afternoon to meet with Justin.” Marco paused a moment as his father spoke. Then he replied, “Don’t worry, Father. I’m on it.”
Marco put the phone down, stood up, and turned to look out the window behind him. All of San Francisco was in view and he gazed out over the city he loved. Then he turned back to his desk, picked up the phone, and dialed a number.
“It’s Marco,” he said. “Change of plans. We’re not going to Chicago. Fuel up one of the larger planes; we are headed to Rome.”
At the same time, Michael Martinez rolled over on top of Keith in bed. The weight of his body pressing down on Keith, he kissed Keith’s ears and neck. Keith ran his fingers through Michael’s thick hair and then worked his hands down Michael’s powerful back.
“I love you so much,” Michael said.
“Mmm, I love you, too,” Keith said, as Michael rolled over next to him. “You always make me feel so safe.”
“You are safe, Stormy. Always.” Michael kissed Keith’s forehead. “You didn’t say much last night about your meeting with your friends.”
“Well, I wanted that fabulous dinner you made to be about us. Not about them.”
“So how did it go?”
“Okay, I guess,” Keith said. “Justin showed up.”
“He did? Where has he been?”
“Apparently hiding out with Gino Ciancio, which is really odd because Mancinis and Ciancios don’t usually mix.”
“So I’ve heard,” Michael said.
“Have you made any progress at all with the bomb investigation? Justin and Derek seem to think Marco Ciancio was behind it. And me, too.”
“You? What are you talking about?”
“Well, not the bomb but that video with Derek and Cole.”
“What would you have to do with that?”
“Justin took that video with his phone. And he thinks Rachel Carson actually showed the video at the party.”
“Rachel Carson?”
“Nick’s sister,” Keith explained. “Apparently, she blames all of us for her brother’s death and is hell-bent on destroying the Mancinis and me.”
“Wow.”
“In fact, Justin said that she is responsible for the calls with Nick’s voice that you and I have received. And the video of Emmett and Nick.”
“Do you think that’s true?”
“It’s certainly possible. I remember Rachel being a total bitch. This would be consistent with how I remember her.”
“Besides the calls, has she threatened you? Or any of the Mancinis?”
“Not that I know of. All of this is what Justin said about her. None of us has actually spoken with her directly.”
“Well, please let me know if you do.” Michael wrapped his arm tightly arm Keith. “And as far as the Ciancios go, we’ve already questioned both of them. And everyone else at the party or near the explosion. The driver was killed, Justin had been impossible to locate, until now, and there’s been little salvageable evidence from the explosion -- so our investigation has been very slow.”
“You’ll get to the bottom of it,” Keith said. “You always do.”
Michael smiled and rolled back on top of his boyfriend. “So do you,” Michael said, kissing Keith deeply. “And I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Michael kissed Keith’s neck and made love to him again.
As the day progressed, Derek’s plane made its way to California as Marco’s left California for Italy. Still horrified by what she had viewed in the video that Ben showed her, Jacqueline sat quietly on the sofa in her living room next to Ben.
“I’m sorry that you had to watch all that again,” Ben said. “But I wanted you to see that it wasn’t my fault. Jesse set the whole thing up.”
“You’re both at fault,” Jacqueline said. “Our entire relationship is based on lies. You and my son were together before you and I ever met. And you never said one word to me.”
“Because it was over. It was in the past.”
“But it’s the only reason you’re with me. To get back at him or something.”
“No,” Ben said. “I mean, yes, that was my plan originally. But as I got to know you, I really and truly fell in love with you. I swear.”
“If you loved me, you would have told me the truth. And used your real name all along. And resisted Jesse’s advances in that damn video.”
“If you loved me,” Ben said, “you would have told me the truth about
Max.”
“That’s hardly the same thing. My past with Max didn’t motivate my actions regarding you. One has nothing to do with the other.”
“Well, now I know that truth. And I will keep it to myself so long as you co-operate.”
“So you’re going to blackmail me?”
“No, baby,” Ben said. “I’m saving our marriage. I love you.”
“You don’t even know what that word means.”
“You can forget all your ideas about divorcing me. As long as you stay with me as my wife and we move forward from this together, your secret is safe with me. Otherwise, I’ll go public with the information. They already hate each other. And you will never have any kind of relationship with Jesse or Max again. They’d never forgive you for keeping this secret from them.”
“I hate you,” Jacqueline said.
“No, baby. You think you hate me at this moment, but that will pass in time.” Ben ran his hand along Jacqueline’s face. “You will love me like you always have. And we’ll raise our family together as we always intended.”
Jacqueline pulled her face away from Ben. “Don’t touch me.”
Ben smiled. “I’m your husband.”
“I will remain your wife…for now…but I will never be with you again.”
Ben reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone to show her. “See this phone? Watch this.” He opened an app and a map appeared on the screen. “That dot is your son. I have been tracking his whereabouts for months. Remember that, because even though you want nothing to do with him now, I know you still love him. And you’d hate for anything bad to happen to him.” Ben put his phone back into his pocket. “Do what I tell you to do and nothing will.”
“You really are a miserable person.”
“Not when I’m with you, baby. You make me so happy. And so will our child.” Jacqueline rolled her eyes at him. “Do we understand each other?”
“Perfectly,” Jacqueline replied.
“Good,” Ben said. “Now let’s get working on hiring some movers because we are moving to Chicago, as we had planned. I know how much you’d like to be closer to your son…and his father.”
As Ben’s phone app had indicated, Jesse Morgan was headed toward Logan Pryce’s office. In spite of Logan’s secretary trying to stop him, Jesse pushed past her and barged into Logan’s office with a piece of paper rolled up in his hand. Sitting behind his desk, Logan looked up as Jesse entered followed by the secretary.
“I’m sorry, Logan,” she said. “He wouldn’t listen to me.”
“Not a problem,” Logan said, looking up from his computer toward the door. “It’s okay.”
“Thank you,” she replied as she left the office, closing the door quietly behind her.
“What the hell is this?” Jesse said, throwing the paper down onto Logan’s desk. “I’m being reassigned to a new division?”
“That’s correct,” Logan said, turning back toward his computer.
“That’s bullshit is what it is,” Jesse said, sitting down in the chair across from Logan. “First you won’t return any of my calls and texts for the past two weeks and now you want to re-assign me to another division with a different boss? You can’t do that. I’m doing very well here and you know it.”
“I can do whatever I think is best for the firm.”
“Keeping me where I am so that I can do my best work is what’s best for the firm,” Jesse said. “This isn’t about business; it’s personal and you know it.”
“As you can see, I’m busy,” Logan said, keeping his focus on his computer screen. Jesse got up from the chair, walked around to Logan’s side of the desk, and sat down on it.
“Look at me,” Jesse said, still getting ignored. He grabbed the back of Logan’s chair and turned it toward him. “Look at me.” Logan reluctantly looked at Jesse. “I love you, Logan. And you love me, too. I know it.”
“You slept with your mother’s husband. I can never forget or forgive that.”
“It wasn’t as it seemed.”
“Oh? I imagined it?” Logan asked. “I may have too much to drink on occasion, but even I know what I saw. You and him naked in that hotel room.”
“Yes,” Jesse agreed. “That is what you saw. But it’s not what you think. It was my way of exposing him to my mother. His true nature. She wouldn’t believe me when I told her about him, so I had to show her. To let her witness it with her own eyes.”
“She was traumatized,” Logan said. “Heartbroken. And so was I.”
“I know,” Jesse agreed. “And I’m sorry. That wasn’t my intent. I only wanted to--”
“To what? Hurt me? Ruin my life?”
“No, of course not. I would never intentionally hurt you. You weren’t supposed to be there.”
“Oh, so since I wasn’t supposed to see it, I’m supposed to forgive you? And if I hadn’t seen it, would you have ever told me about it? Or would you have just kept on lying?” Jesse struggled to articulate a reply. “Never mind,” Logan said. “It just doesn’t matter.”
“But it does. It does matter to me,” Jesse said. “I don’t want to lose you. I just wanted to protect my mother from that monster.”
“Be careful about who you’re calling a monster. I could say the same of you.”
“How many times do I have to tell you? It was a set-up. I just wanted to protect my mother.”
“And in the process, you lost her. And me.”
“No,” Jesse said. “I refuse to believe that we are done.”
“Well, we are,” Logan said, turning away from Jesse.
Jesse put his hands on Logan’s shoulders. “No. We just need time. I just need time to make things right and show you how much I love you.”
Logan pulled his shoulders from Jesse’s grip. “You couldn’t do that in ten lifetimes.”
Jesse paused and looked around the office for a moment. Then he spoke again. “The fundraiser. For Cole’s mother. You promised you’d help me.”
“That was a long time ago.”
“Yes, one of the first times we ever met, in fact. But you promised and it’s for a good cause and a special person. You can’t go back on your word.” Logan didn’t respond. “You have to help me plan it. I can’t do it alone. I’m counting on you.”
“Yes,” Logan mumbled. “I promised I’d help you.”
“Yes!” Jesse repeated, excited. “We will work on it together.”
“I’ll do what I can to help,” Logan said. “But that’s all.”
Jesse smiled. “I’ll take that. It’s a start.” Jesse walked toward the door. “And you won’t transfer me?”
“You can stay,” Logan said. “Like you said, it’s best for the firm. This is your division.”
“Thank you,” Jesse said. “I promise you won’t regret this.”
“I already do,” Logan said, returning to his work on the computer.
“I love you,” Jesse said before opening the door and leaving the office.
Logan remained seated and looked toward the door where Jesse had stood moments before. He mumbled to himself, “I still love you, too…”
While Logan tried to refocus on his work, Keith was engaged in his own work in his office. When his phone rang, he quickly answered it.
“Hello?”
“Hello, Keith. It’s Nick. I’m not finished with you yet.”
As Keith listened to what he knew to be a fake call, the voice grew louder. Keith turned around only to find Rachel Carson standing in his office with her cell phone in “speaker” mode. She laughed and soon the message with the voice of her dead brother stopped playing.
“Rachel! What are you doing here?”
“It’s been a long time, Keith. Far too long,” Rachel said, closing Keith’s office door behind her. “You’re looking as fit and handsome as ever.”
“Why have you been calling me with that recording of Nick?”
“Maybe it was just to amuse myself. Or maybe I was just bored,” Rachel said, sittin
g down in a chair across from Keith’s desk. “Or maybe I hold you and your friends responsible for my brother’s death.”
“That’s insane; none of us had anything to do with that. He brought it upon himself. He was a reckless drug user.”
“Only because he dated you,” Rachel replied. “He never touched drugs until you came into his life. And then you left him in prison. Alone.”
“Rachel, he was selling and distributing drugs. I told him not to. There was nothing else I could do to stop what happened to him from happening.” Keith sat down in his chair. “And then he kidnapped Emmett, too.”
“He loved you,” Rachel said. “Love makes you do crazy things sometimes.”
“When we were together, I loved him, too. But his behavior got out of control. What happened at the warehouse is his fault and nobody else’s.”
“Well, that’s where we disagree,” Rachel said. “I blame you and your friends. And so you have to pay.”
“By listening to that recording over and over?”
“Oh, honey, that’s just the start. I have big plans for you. For all of you.” Rachel smiled. “Did you get my note?”
“Your note? The one you shoved in my hand at the party?”
“That’s the one.”
“Yes, I got it. Although it makes no sense to me.”
“Oh, come on, Keith. We both know exactly what I’m referring to. Nick told me everything. In fact, he unknowingly gave me all the tools I need to bring you all down.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Let me refresh your memory. The accident. All those years ago. The one you never did time for.” Rachel grinned. “Sound familiar?”
Keith slumped in his chair. “What do you want from me?”
“Today? Nothing, really. Just for you to understand that I hold all the cards.” Rachel stood up. “I’ll be in touch.” Rachel blew Keith a kiss and left the office. Staring blankly at the door, Keith remained silently in his seat.
At the same time in Rome, Marco sat quietly in a cavernous room of the convent. Sun streaming through the beautiful stained-glass windows created colorful patterns on the walls and floor. Magnificent tapestries featuring Biblical scenes on the walls fascinated Marco and he carefully examined them as he waited for someone to enter the room.