“I think I told you before; her name is Gia. Isn’t that what you made everyone else call her because you were jealous of her name? How beautiful it was? Or was that your mom too? Did your mother lie to all Gianna’s friends and turn them against her?”
“What’s this?”
“Oh, Fontane, you still don’t know? When you made all those visits this week, didn’t you think to ask why they all dropped Gianna in favor of Victoria?”
“Yes, that was mom’s idea, all of it.”
“Why, you little bitch.” Becky cracked Victoria across the face, and she ran to Fontane. I looked at Gianna to see her rolling her eyes; no fucks given.
I squeezed her hand when she opened her mouth to speak, then mouthed the words not yet with a shake of my head. “So, Becky, when are you leaving? This one has homework to get back to; we don’t have all night.” If hate had a look, I just caught it.
“And don’t take anything from here. The clothes on your back, that’s all you deserve. Everything you have was bought with my mother’s money one way or another.”
“Where am I supposed to go?”
“Hell would be a good start. Now get out of my house before I call the police. Don’t look at dad he can’t save you. I’ll just call my grandma if he even tries, then no one will have anywhere to live.”
“Gia…”
“Don’t start, dad; don’t even start.”
“I think you should leave Becky.”
“Yeah, and thank your lucky stars that we don’t have enough evidence to have you charged with murder.” Gianna went in for the kill.
“I didn’t kill anybody. Felix, are you really going to take their word against mine?”
“I don’t see why not. You’ve done nothing but lie to me our entire marriage. I’m tired; you should go.”
“Not to worry, Fontane, there’s no statute of limitations on murder. I have someone working on bringing a case against her. If push comes to shove, we can always go with exhumation, but I’m trying to spare Gianna that. She’s been through enough.” Fontane did the only thing I could respect since we met. He went to the room’s entryway and pointed to the door in a silent order for Becky to get out.
“I’ll let you keep the car for now….”
“Dad!”
“It’s okay Gia, I’m not letting her keep it, but since she can’t stay here, she’ll have to find someplace to go, and there are no hotels within walking distance. I doubt the neighbors would welcome her at this point.”
“I don’t really care. She talked you out of letting me drive the car mom left for me, claiming I was too careless to even get a license while her daughter drove around in a luxury car. If that wasn’t bad enough, she even sold my car, so no, she should walk to wherever she needs to.” Now that’s the Russo twins talking right there. Then again, Anna and Rosa would’ve stripped her naked, down to her bare feet. They’re vicious like that.
Becky left the room screaming obscenities and headed up the stairs, apparently to get her important papers. I glared Victoria out of the room to give Gianna and her dad some space after telling Greta she could leave with the team that was waiting for her outside. Her job here was done, but since she means so much to Gianna, Pop already had a job lined up for her at one of his places back in the city.
“What a mess.” Fontane dropped down in his chair, looking worn. “I’m so sorry Gia, I guess I really let you down.”
“You did more than that. You lost me.” Good girl!
“I know, I’m sorry. I won’t ask you to forgive me, but I hope one day to make it up to you.”
“I don’t understand; why did you change so much? When mom was alive, we were so close. You’d never let anyone hurt me.”
“I admit I was a different person back then. I had my head on straight. Your mother was my guiding light. With her by my side, everything always seemed so much easier. After your mom passed away, I didn’t know what to do. I thought that all the things I did were for you for your benefit.”
“I didn’t know how to be a mother and father to a girl, a young girl who just lost her mom at that.” His voice broke, and he looked like he’d aged ten years. While they talked, I kept my ears pricked for what was going on in the rest of the house. Becky might be thinking she’d got away with this one, but she can have no idea that this was just the beginning.
“I swear I only had your best interest at heart. Things got away from me, I guess. I only wanted to give you the best in life. That’s why I married Becky in the first place. She convinced me that as your mother’s close friend, she’d take care of you. So, I held onto that with the hope that you’d not suffer your loss too much. The more you fought against what I was trying to do, the more I pushed back. I see that now. I admit I wasn’t in the best place back then; I was in no condition to raise you on my own, but I did everything wrong, I know that now.”
“I can’t blame Becky for any of this. It was all my doing. I never saw her for what she was. Now that I look back on it, all the things that you endured while I turned a blind eye, things I should’ve noticed. I’ll never forgive myself for that, but not to worry, I’ll make reparation for my sins.”
“What does he mean by that?” Gianna asked me since Fontane seemed to have gone off somewhere in his head.
I shrugged my shoulders to put her at ease, but I’m hoping he means to jump off a cliff or some fuck.
“We should go; it’s getting late.”
“Yes, you kids should go on ahead; I’ll talk to you later. It’s been a long day.” He got up from his seat and started walking us to the door. Gianna walked out ahead of me because I was still trying to pick up anything from upstairs. I need the next scene in this play to play out before I can get rid of Victoria as well. I can tell that Fontane still has his head buried in his ass.
Just because she came forward and sold out her mother, he seems to think that gives her a pass. Me, not so much. He stopped me at the door and took a step back from the look I gave him.
“Uh, one last question before you go. Your dad came to visit me while you were gone. He mentioned in passing that I should cover the portrait in glass, even told me where to go. Was that your idea?”
“Yes.”
“How did you know?” I just smiled and walked out the door.
“I don’t think we should’ve left Victoria in the house. I don’t care where she goes; she needs to go.” Gianna pounced as soon as I got in the car where she sat waiting, breathing fire like a dragoness.
“Not yet; we’re not done.” I turned up the device in the car so she could hear what I’d caught, what I was hoping to catch.
“Why did you sell me out after everything I’ve done for you?” Becky’s voice came through loud and clear.
“I told you I wanted back in that school. I told you I wanted the designer clothes that you promised when you had all that money. You didn’t give me any of the things I asked for. Besides, I don’t owe you anything. I’m a minor, remember. I’m just a kid. All of this was your doing.”
“You’re lying. You hated Gia; you wanted her life, even as a little girl. To the point that you poisoned everyone against her. Remember that?”