GABRIEL
I waited for her to go inside before making my way around to the other side of the house. “You two don’t need to follow me.” I saw Lance and Pop lurking in the shadows out the side of my eye like the worriers they are. Lance took a step forward, but Pop stopped him with a hand on his shoulder, pulling him back.
“We’re right here, son; you go ahead.”
The gate slid open, and I stepped out to see the car parked there. I’ll give him this; he looked genuinely worried. I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, wanted to believe that everything that had happened to her had gone over his head and that he wasn’t a willing participant, but I can’t overlook the fact that that shit did happen on his watch.
Whitewashing his part in her unjust treatment at the hands of the woman he himself had brought into her life would just be another slap in her face. I’d just be one more person who didn’t take her feelings and wellbeing into consideration, and that’s not about to happen.
I’d seen firsthand what a little bit of love and attention could do for the girl, and it certainly wasn’t too much to ask from the father who was supposed to cherish and protect her. I have a real hard time understanding how anyone, including a grown-ass man who should know better, her blood no less, could be too dense to see what was right beneath his nose.
Gianna, for all her shyness, blossoms with just the slightest of encouragements, something that was sorely lacking in her home but something that all growing things need. By the time I took two steps towards him, I was no longer in a giving mood. The only person who needed any show of my kindness was her. He can go fu… better yet, he could go off himself for all I care.
With my mind made up, I approached the car as he got out and came towards me. “Where’s my daughter? Where are you hiding her?”
“Keep your voice down.” I waited for him to calm down before answering him. “Before I answer that, let me ask you a question. Did your kid call you all weekend? Did you call her? Did you even have a way of getting in touch with her?”
My questions seemed to stump him, which only pissed me off even further. These are basic questions any decent man with a teenage daughter would have the answers to right off the bat, the fact that he didn’t make me both sad and furious. “Do you know how appalling you are?”
“I knew she went to New York with your family; of course, I know where she was.”
“It’s not the same. Your daughter went out of state with relative strangers and didn’t call you once to check in. She didn’t mention you even once in the time she was gone, and when she landed back here, instead of joy at seeing her only remaining parent, she looked forlorn, like she was dreading what awaited her here.” I’m sure she has no idea that I can read her so well that I’d seen and felt the change in her.
It was that sadness that had made my decision that much easier. “Look, I don’t know what you think you know about my family, but you’re wrong. Either way, this has nothing to do with you. Now bring my daughter out here, she has school tomorrow, and it’s getting late.”
“I guess I didn’t make myself clear the first time. Until I know what part you played in the shit that’s been happening to her, you won’t be allowed around her. Push me on this, and it will be a long time before you see her again. Even now, you’re not thinking about her but about what you want. Is she even human to you?”
I’m trying for her sake to give this guy a chance. I know as pissed off as I am, he’s still her dad, and with her being who she is, she’d want that. But he’s either very obtuse or just downright stupid, neither of which are any use to her right now, not with those two he has living in his house.
“I’ll tell you what, go home, kick your wife and her rejected placenta out of your house, and I’ll think about letting Gianna come home.” He blustered and recoiled like my words were too harsh. “No? Okay, then there’s your answer; she’s not coming back any time soon. In about a week, I’ll ask her if she wants to see you and if the answer’s yes, you may come here. But if I find out that you knew about what those two were doing to her, you’re fucked.”
I didn’t have anything else to say, so I turned and walked back through the gates, hearing them close behind me as he stood there. Crap, he’d made me miss her meeting the ankle-biter for the first time. The phone and perfume wouldn’t be here until tomorrow sometime, and I still had the jewelry I’d bought her to give, so there was that.
By the time I reached the house, I’d forgotten about Fontane; he wasn’t that important in the scheme of things. I wasn’t kidding before when I asked him if he knew the age of consent in this state because it’s one of the first things I made sure of before deciding to get this involved in her mess. What he doesn’t know, what not many do, is that I’m a vengeful little shit with the mind of a despot who sincerely gives no shits about anyone who crosses me.
According to his actions in the next few days, he can either win his daughter back, or I can sever their relationship like a pro, and he wouldn’t know what the hell happened. For her sake, I’m hoping I don’t have to go that far, not with him anyway. The other two, well, there’s no hope for them. I haven’t yet found any redeeming qualities in either the mother or the daughter.
I’ll let them think the little petty games I’m about to let the twins play is the beginning and the end of what they’ll face, but there’s no way I’m leaving it there. In my experience, anyone as disgustingly vile as Rebecca Fontane didn’t just become that way. I’m about to open her closet doors and sift through the debris, looking for anything I can use as leverage to put in Gianna’s hands to use as she sees fit.
Knowing her, she won’t use it, but there’s nothing stopping me from doing so. ‘Let your plans be dark and as impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt,’ is one of my favorite strategies from the art of war. That shit makes the blood sing in my veins, and yes, this is what the fuck I play for; vengeance is just my game.
My mind went to the next day, which is going to be a big day for her as I start stage two of my plan. I still had some preparation to do, so I shifted gears once again. “What the…” I’d forgotten about those two, still lingering in the dark.
“Everything good?”
“Yeah, everything’s cool, Pop. Lancelot, you’re still here?”
“Of course, I’m still here; you looked like you were going to throw hands. Somebody’s got to calm your demented ass down. Now I’m going home.”
“Go ahead on; I had the guys pack the stuff for you and your dad in the car already.”
“Thanks, unc; I had a wonderful time as usual.” They shared a hug before he walked over for our usual handshake. “Did you say bye to your aunt already?”
“Not yet unc, I was too busy trying to make sure you two didn’t end up in cuffs. I’ll go do that now. Come on, you, what did he say when you turned him away?” I gave them both the gist as we walked back inside, where the noise level was high because the girls were letting their mutts have the run of the house.