by Jake Biondi
“Is she okay?”
“She yelled at me and didn’t come home last night. I’m assuming that she stayed with her mother.”
Cole stood up in front of Derek. “I’m sorry.” He wrapped his arms around Derek. “But now we can be together.”
“One step at a time. I still have to talk to her and try to make her understand all that’s going on. I don’t want to hurt her.”
“I think we already have,” Cole said, running his hands up Derek’s chest. “I feel bad about that, but we have waited so long to be together. And now we can be.”
Derek pulled away from Cole and walked over to the window. “I have an idea for us.”
“I’m listening.”
“You know that I have taken over my father’s company. Well, we have decided to move the headquarters to Chicago, so we can run it from here. It’ll be a long process, but worth it.”
“That’s great. Less travel for you.”
“And an opportunity for you as well. I want you to come work for me.”
Cole’s eyes widened. “Wait, what?”
“I know you just started your current job, but I want you to join my company. In fact, I’d like you to head up our public relations department.”
“Wow.”
“What do you say?”
“Derek, that’s a huge job.”
“I know, but you can handle it. I’ve seen your work. Our current department head is retiring and doesn’t want to make the move here to Chicago. He’ll work with and mentor you until his retirement so there will be a smooth transition. And, yes, there will be a significant pay increase for you, too. So what do you say?”
Cole walked over to Derek. “What do I say? To working with you? Yes, yes, yes.” Cole kissed Derek, who wrapped his arms around Cole.
“Happy?”
“And surprised,” Cole said, kissing Derek. “Honestly, I often wondered if we would ever really be together. But I trusted your word and now it really feels like it’s happening. Thank you.”
“I told you -- you’re mine,” Derek said. “It’s going to be a lot of work, but exciting at the same time.”
“Thank you. I’ll give my notice at work this afternoon.”
“Good,” Derek said.
“The only thing that would make this better is if I knew Jesse was safe.”
“Has there been any word?”
“Unfortunately, no. Jacqueline stayed with me last night. I didn’t want her alone at a hotel.”
“That was nice. Please give her my best.”
“I will,” Cole said, kissing Derek again. “Now I should probably run. I need to give my notice at work and to check in on her as well.”
“Okay, I’ll see you soon.”
“Good luck with Joyelle. Let me know how it goes -- and if I can help.”
“Will do,” Derek said.
“I love you,” Cole said, grabbing his coat.
“Love you, too,” Derek replied, watching Cole leave the office.
Derek sat back down at his desk, picked up his cell phone, and dialed Joyelle’s phone. The call went right to voicemail, so Derek ended the call and dropped the phone onto his desk.
After concluding his phone call with Derek, Emmett walked into his living room where Max was seated on the sofa. He sat down next to his fiancé and grabbed his hand.
“You okay?”
“Yes,” Max replied. “Just thinking.”
“They’ll find him,” Emmett said with a smile. “And he’ll be okay.”
“Thank you,” Max said, putting his arm around Emmett. “I could never get through all this without you.”
“You don’t have to.”
“How are you feeling?” Max asked. “You still look pretty pale.”
“Not so great, but I’m okay. Just sort of nauseous.”
“You need to take it easy and rest today.”
“I’ll be fine,” Emmett replied.
“I’ll take care of the meeting with Logan and Keith to discuss the fundraiser. And I’ll interview Dustin, too. It’ll get my mind off Jesse and you can stay here and relax.”
“Our sign is going up outside today. It’s a big moment for us and the restaurant. I’m not going to miss that.”
Max laughed. “Okay, you can come downstairs for that, but then you need to promise me you’ll rest.”
“We need to talk about Jensen.”
“What about him?”
“How do you feel about him staying here for a while? Just until he can afford his own place.”
“You really feel for that kid, don’t you? Even after all he’s done.”
“Max, when my father threw me out of the house for being gay, I had Derek to look out for me. Jensen has no one. He’s stripping and hooking for a living and he’s basically homeless.”
“He’s not as lucky as you were.”
“Every time he hooks up with a client, he puts himself at risk. His health and his safety. And after being raped by Nick, I know how scary that can be. I feel like we can give him a new start. A job and a chance to stand on his own.”
Max smiled. “Do you know how much I love you? You are one of the most selfless people I know. If you want to help that boy out, then let’s do it.”
“Really? You’re okay with it?”
“I’ll be honest -- I don’t entirely trust him. Not just yet. But if you feel good about him and want to give him a chance, then I’m on board.”
Emmett smiled and kissed Max. “Thank you.”
“All right. Now, you promised you’d rest today. So until they come to install the sign later today, I want you lying down.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Max stood up and Emmett reclined on the couch. Max covered him with the blanket and Emmett closed his eyes. Max kissed him softly and then quietly left the room.
While Emmett fell asleep, Marco entered Gino’s office. Gino was seated on a sofa with his mother’s diary in his lap. Marco closed the door behind him and sat down in a chair across from his brother.
“I wanted to meet here so there was no chance of Father overhearing us.”
“I understand,” Marco replied. “I’m assuming you read the diary.”
“I will never forgive you for tricking Aunt Connie. You knew that diary was meant for me and you stole it anyway.”
“I did what I thought was necessary,” Marco said.
“You manipulated a kind woman and you stole something very special from me. It’s clear after reading this diary that Mother intended it for me and me only.”
“And you think that was fair?”
“Fair or not, it’s what she intended. And you violated her wish.”
Marco rolled his eyes. “So you have read the whole thing?”
“Cover to cover,” Gino said. “And Aunt Connie was right -- things will never be quite the same.”
“Our mother had quite a few secrets,” Marco added.
“Since you have read the diary as well, we may as well work together on some of these issues. That is, if I can trust you.”
“You’ll have to decide that for yourself.”
“My understanding from reading this book is that Mother initially lied about having cancer as a way of going to Rome to hide her pregnancy. She secretly gave birth to a son and gave him away for adoption.”
“Yes. She told Antonio Mancini that she gave birth to his son and that he would never, ever know the child. I guess that was her revenge against him for the affair. And then, as she was preparing to return to America, she was diagnosed with cancer. Aunt Connie said Mother thought that was God punishing her for the affair.”
“That’s what she says in the diary, too. And Aunt Connie had no other information about the child?”
“According to Aunt Connie, Mother told her nearly nothing. She gave birth to the boy and then put him up for adoption. She didn’t tell her sister any of the details; instead, she put everything in the diary and locked it.”
“It sounds like she want
ed the boy to be raised to be a nurse, just like her.”
“Or at least in health care to serve others, as she did,” Marco added.
“And now I know why you were asking Father about the art collection.”
“We have to get our hands on that painting. All the details about our half-brother are in that painting.”
“Have you made any progress?” Gino asked.
“I contacted Strauss, who ran the art auction. He is putting together a report of who bought all the paintings. We’ll have to go from there once I receive the list.”
“It could be anywhere,” Gino said. “And it’s important that we recover the rest of the collection as well.”
“Once I hear back from Strauss, we can plan our next steps. It goes without saying that Father can’t know about any of this yet.”
“Exactly,” Gino said. “And what do we do about the other matter she wrote about in the diary?”
“One thing at a time,” Marco said. “One thing at a time.”
“I’m putting you on notice, Marco. No more lies. No more tricks. And no more going behind my back. This situation is too important and delicate for that.”
“You have my word,” Marco replied.
“Whatever that’s worth,” Gino mumbled.
As Gino and Marco finished their conversation, Tyler was drying off after taking shower. He looked into his bathroom mirror, turning his head to the right and left to look for signs of a lump where he had been hit on the back of the head.
A knock came to his front door, so he wrapped his towel around his waist and headed into the living room to answer the door. When he opened it, he saw Joyelle, who was carrying a tin of cookies.
“Joyelle,” Tyler said, smiling.
“I heard what happened to you at the hospital. I wanted to make sure you are okay.”
“Thank you.”
“I made some cookies. May I come in?”
“Oh, of course. Come on in,” Tyler said, opening the door wider. “David’s at work and I was just showering. Obviously.” Tyler took the cookie tin from Joyelle and placed it on the counter near him. “Give me a minute and I’ll pull on some clothes.”
Joyelle’s eyes filled with tears. “Oh, Tyler...”
Tyler walked back over to Joyelle. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
“I remember. I remember...everything.”
Tyler smiled. “That’s a good thing, right? It’s what you were hoping for.”
Joyelle shook her head. “I remember what you said about my wedding ring. And the New Year’s Eve party. And the video.”
“Oh, God,” Tyler said softly, folding his arms around her. Joyelle continued to cry and put her head against his chest. “It’ll be okay. It’ll be okay.”
Joyelle lifted her head and looked into Tyler’s eyes. “I -- I can’t...” Without saying another word, Joyelle kissed Tyler. He pulled her closer and kissed her softly.
Stepping back a moment, Tyler looked at Joyelle. She looked up into his eyes and kissed him again as she took off her overcoat. He pulled her to him, kissing her deeply and unzipping the back of her dress. She ran her fingers over his lightly-hairy chest and then held the back of his neck as their tongues met.
She let her dress slip off and fall to the floor. Then her hands explored the muscles in his back until they reached the towel wrapped around his waist. She pulled it from him, revealing his fully erect penis, which pressed up against her panties.
Kissing her neck and her shoulders, Tyler lifted her off the floor. She threw her head back as his tongue explored the top of her breasts. His arms around her lower back and under the backs of her knees, Tyler cradled Joyelle as he carried her to his bedroom.
His bed still unmade, Tyler put Joyelle onto the bed and knelt beside it. She leaned forward to watch Tyler remove her underwear. Then he kissed his way up her body, his nipples tickling her stomach. She ran her fingers through his hair, pulling his face to her and kissing him. Her legs spread widely beneath him as he seduced her vagina with the swollen head of his cock. He looked into her eyes and wiped the tears from them as he pushed himself inside of her.
Joyelle let out a moan as Tyler entered. She dug her fingers into the small of his back as he drilled deeper inside of her. His mouth sucked her hard nipples, first one and then the other. His thrusts grew stronger and more rapid as her hands slid from his back to his firm ass.
“I have wanted this for so long,” Tyler whispered. Joyelle kissed him and ran her feet up the backs of his legs. Tyler pushed up and looked into Joyelle’s eyes as he released inside of her. She moaned loudly as Tyler spewed more and more inside her.
He pulled out of Joyelle and rolled over onto his back, breathing heavily. Joyelle put her head against him and he held her in his arms. As he kissed her forehead, she quietly cried, her tears rolling onto his chest.
Across town, Jacqueline opened the door to Jesse’s apartment and greeted Max and Michael. They entered the living room and closed the door behind them.
“I’m sure you understand how anxious I’ve been since getting your call, Michael,” Jacqueline said.
“We got here as quickly as we could.”
“Have you found Jesse?”
“Unfortunately, no,” Michael said. “However, we have found this.” Michael held up an evidence bag containing a cell phone.
“A phone?” Jacqueline asked.
“When my team was searching Jesse’s hospital room, they found this on the floor under the toilet in the bathroom.”
“They are hoping that maybe you recognize it,” Max added.
“You mentioned that your husband could be involved with Jesse’s disappearance. We believe this is his cell phone.”
Jacqueline took the bag from Michael and examined the phone through the bag. “That’s Ben’s. I recognize the cover and the small crack at the top.”
“That’s what our tech guys said as well, but I wanted to show it to you, too.”
“What does this mean?” Jacqueline asked.
“It means your hunch may very well be correct,” Max said. “We’re pretty confident that Ben is the one who took Jesse.”
Jacqueline’s eyes filled with tears. “Well, what do you intend to do to find him? Ben’s a crazy man. And when he’s desperate, he’ll do anything.”
“You need to remain calm,” Michael advised.
“Calm? My son is in the hands of a lunatic. For all we know, he could be dead by now.”
Jacqueline broke down crying and Max put his arms around her, saying, “It’s going to be okay. We’re going to find our son.”
While Max tried to comfort Jacqueline, Ben Donovan woke up lying on a bed wearing only his underwear. His hands were wrapped together with duct tape and his feet were bound together with tape as well. He looked around the room, which had no windows and only one door.
Ben rolled himself off the bed, landing hard on the floor. Then he struggled to make his way across the floor to toward the door. After a short amount of time, Ben made it to his destination. His back against the door, he slowly stood up, his bound hands reaching for the door knob.
He tried over and over to open the door, which was locked from the outside. He attempted with all his muscle to pull the door open but, losing his balance, fell onto the floor. “Let me out of here!” he yelled. “Let me the hell out of here!”
As Ben screamed for help, two nuns in Concetta’s convent in Rome made their way down the hallway toward her room. The dim light fixtures along the corridor threw the women’s shadows in several directions as they walked.
“No one has seen Sister Concetta for at least two days. She hasn’t come down to any meals,” one woman told the other.
“I wish someone had told me sooner,” the other nun replied. “I would have checked on her right away.”
When the ladies arrived at Concetta’s room, they knocked on her door several times. When no answer came, one of the women pulled out a key and unlocked the door. They opened it and e
ntered the room.
Upon entering, the women were greeted by a breeze coming from the open window at the far end of the room. They turned on the lights and saw Concetta’s bed in an odd position beneath the window.
“Concetta? Concetta?” one of the nuns called out loudly. The other approached the bed and the window. She noticed a rope tied to one leg of the bed and running through the window. When she looked out of the window, she let out a horrible scream. Immediately, the other woman rushed over to the window and looked through it.
Looking out the window, the women saw the limp body of Concetta hanging from the rope by the neck and swinging slightly in the wind. Both women yelled out as the breeze rippled through the dress that clung to Concetta’s dead body. The search for a missing person often leads to unexpected discoveries.
Episode #29
Complete satisfaction is often elusive. Because of unforeseen circumstances or shifts in focus, people often adjust their goals as they work toward them. Even the most carefully planned strategies often require revision or fine-tuning. And sometimes the path to success is a long and bumpy one.
As the Ciancio jet circled the city of Chicago, all three Ciancios -- Carlo, Gino, and Marco -- discussed strategy for their meeting with the Mancini brothers. Carlo and Marco spoke of a specific endgame, but Gino advocated for flexibility and compromise.
“This meeting is what we have worked so hard for,” Carlo said. “It’s time to take from them what we deserve.”
“Father, as I have said before, we need to be careful,” Gino said. “And fair.”
“Fair?” Carlo asked. “Don’t forget your loyalty to this family, Gino.”
“I am thinking of our family. And I’m thinking it’s better in the long run for all of us if we can resolve this situation peacefully.”
“No one’s advocating violence,” Marco said, pouring himself another glass of wine at the bar. “We just want what Justin originally agreed to give us.”
“We all know the situation has changed since then. Their father is dead and the Mancini brothers are united.”