Isaac's POV
Dion and I stay standing in the bathroom with Bri and Milo still on the floor for a few seconds after Pops takes off.
Dee walks up behind me, placing a hand on the back of my shoulder blade, "go talk to your old man, KP, I got this."
I shake my head, "he can wait, I have other priorities to tend to right now, help me out," I incline my head towards the couple on the floor.
"Can you get up?" I asked, looking down at Bri.
She nods her head quietly and is gently laying Milo's head on the floor, scooting out from underneath him, Dion is instantly offering a hand helping her up.
"Thank you," she says softly.
Dee nods and tilts his head towards the bedroom, "why don't you wait out there, Molezzo."
She nods quietly for a second time and is slowly making her way out of the bathroom leaving Dion and myself alone with Milo.
"I can probably throw him over my shoulders, just help me get him up first."
"Nah, I wanna make him throw up some more to get anything left out of his system." I point beside Milo, "you get his left side and I'll get the right."
"If he's out completely he's gonna be dead weight, KP. He won't stand on his own."
"Fuck I didn't think of that," I mutter under my breath and crouch back down next to Milo's unconscious body. I turn him onto his back and he quickly begins to stir. "Hey," I tap my hand on his arm but get no response.
Dion walks around Emiliano and squats on the other side of him, waiting patiently as I begin to smack Milo gently on the cheek, "Sax." I smack him a couple more times, calling out to him, until I get a response and he's slowly attempting to open his eyes.
"Hey," I tap the back of my fingers on his cheeks, forcing him to look over in my direction. "You with me?" I asked.
Same as before, no response. His eyes are half open, he's awake, he's conscious, but I don't think he's alert, he's still in and out of it.
I look up at Dion, "can you check to see if there's a first aid kit under the sink?"
He nods and is quickly making his way to the dark gray bathroom vanity, retrieving the small red box, crouching back down where he was just a few minutes ago. "I don't see how any bandaid is gonna fix him, KP," he comments, handing the kit over.
I snort softly while reaching for the red box, "as my second in command, Dee, I'd expect you to know that pops started adding smelling salts into all the first aid kits, among other things in case of any OD's," I smirk, pulling out a small capsule.
I crack it and place it near Emiliano's nose, slowly moving the capsule closer and closer until his eyes are snapping open and he's inhaling a deep breath, moving to the side.
I toss the capsule at Dion and he's quickly catching it.
"Smelling salts don't stop an overdose from happening, but they do snap you out of the haze long enough to be coherent enough with your surroundings." I point over at Milo, "he's no longer dead weight."
"I'm not sticking my fingers down his throat."
I scoff, "you won't have to."
As if on cue Milo immediately gets up and leans over the toilet and begins to puke his brains out.
"Ammonia always seems to leave a nauseous sharp feeling in the pit of your stomach," I say while stretching my right hand, rubbing it on Emiliano's back as he continues to throw up and stand up. "He'll be fine."
Dion follows in pursuit, standing up to his full height as well, "how do you know so much about the salts, KP?"
"Because I grew up within these walls. I watched countless men overdose in this building, these rooms. I watched men that I used to look up to ingest products, inject themselves with things they weren't supposed to."
"Beans," he murmurs.
I nod.
Beanie actually took a pretty hard turn a few years ago when he first found out he was going to be a father.
It started off with him dealing with his own demons thinking his baby deserved a better father than he could ever be, he didn't think he could possibly allow himself to love anyone else, he was taught to be selfish, to only care about my family's well being.
His downfall didn't come till after his baby momma decided that he wasn't allowed to be in his daughter's life, causing even more demons to surface.
Demons strong enough to trigger something in a man to completely break, demons strong enough to just want to numb the pain because I myself and these men sure as hell don't know what to do when feelings start to get overwhelming.
It slowly started with alcohol, just like it always does, but it progressively moved to cocaine for a short period of time when Pops noticed the mood swings and decided it was time to intervene.
It was far worse than he'd ever expected when he finally got his hands on him.
Coke wasn't the only substance that Beans was abusing though, he was getting addicted to ice, methamphetamine. And the only reason Pops ever found out was because he found him overdosing on the bathroom floor one weekend when he didn't come down for roll call.
That morning still haunts me till this day, the scene that Pops and I walked into. We had found Beans laying on his back on the bathroom floor, choking on his own vomit, his shower running still.
I still remember the panic in my dads voice the second he rushed to him, rolling him on his side, shouting at him, asking him what the fuck did he do. The anger that quickly replaced his fear as he began to yell at me to go get help rather than just stand around.
My fathers not one to panic, he's pretty calm and collective, but he definitely has an attachment to some of his men, a genuine bond, friendship, no matter how much he denies it and his friend was dying in front of him.
We were lucky enough to have him still, Leo was able to save his life, he was able to give Naloxone to reverse his symptoms and rush him down the infirmary to pump his stomach and immediately start his detox.
After Beans came to, Pops didn't give him an option and immediately threw him in his lower level and locked him up in a cell to finish his detox, keeping him safe from himself during the withdrawals.
The second we saw the track marks on his arms, we knew how far he was actually gone. Pops knew if he didn't drain him out when he did he'd completely lose him, he was becoming a junkie, he could no longer be trusted being alone and had around the clock guards outside of his cell.
Beanie was stuck down there in that cell for ten days, ten, and according to Pops the first few days were complete hell. Beans immediately used up every last ounce of strength he had left in him to try and break out of the room he was in when the withdrawal symptoms started hitting.
After everything was done and dealt with, Beans actually ended up admitting that being locked up in that cell was probably the hardest most uncomfortable thing he's ever done in his life. He was beyond grateful for Pops saving his life because he never wants to go through another detox and withdrawal process ever again and has been completely sober since.
"Is he still seeing his counselor?" Dion asked, pulling me out of my deep thinking.
I shake my head, "he stopped meeting up with him almost a year ago, according to his file."
Dee's lips slowly start to pull to the side, "do you have a file on me?"
"Of course," I smirk.
"Can I see it?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"It's above your pay grade," I tease.
Dion chuckles softly, "you're a dick."
I chuckle in return, "I'll forward it to you later, everything's still in his notes. I haven't made any modifications to anything yet, just trying to intake as much as I can without burning myself out."
"It'll come naturally eventually, KP, it's a lot to take in overnight, or even in a few weeks."
"I for one think you're doing a stupid job," Milo grumbles from beneath us.
He's laying his head down on his arm on the toilet seat, a grin on his face, his eyes closed.
Dion quickly smacks him on the side of the head, "shut the fuck up druggy-McGee."
Milo chuckles softly as he slowly opens his eyes and looks up at me, his smile slowly fading away.
"I'm s-sorry," he slurs. "I really did try this time."
I shake my head, inclining it towards Milo, indicating to Dion that we get him up while he's conscious.
Dion stands to Milo's left as I stand to his right and place his arms around us, slowly getting him up from the floor, walking him out into the bedroom.
Brielle's waiting anxiously on the other side of the room and instantly heads in our direction once we're near the bed and I'm quickly shooting a hand out stopping her where she's at.
"I miss him," Milo mumbles as we lay him down on the bed. "I miss Fonz."
"I know buddy, I miss him too," I confess, attempting to give him any type of comfort.
"Itwouldn't stop," he continues to slur some of his words.
"What wouldn't?" Dion wonders out loud.
Emiliano looks me in the eyes, holding my stare for a few seconds, "the l-loneliness, I just wanted it to stop. I was gonna s-sleep it off but I started fighting it and the rush immediately hit me and I found myself calling Bri when things were starting to feel numb."
I take a couple steps forward sitting at the edge of the bed, "that was my bad, Milo, I should've never given you an ultimatum. I shouldn't have made you choose between her or the surgery."
"It's all good boss."
"I can't be the friend you need me to be right now, Sax, I can't even be the boss you need. I'm dealing with my own demons and it's not fair of me to drag down my family with me. I'm trying to be better but I keep falling into his ways... I'm sorry for isolating you, for pushing you away from her when she's probably the only one who can really be there for you right now."
He smiles softly glancing towards Brielle then back to me, "a king should never have to apologize to anyone," he huffs.
"I'm speaking as your friend, not the head of this empire."
"Well- my last boss never once apologized to me about anything, so you're already winning in my book," he offers a small smile.
I smile in return and smack the back of my hand on the side of his leg as I stand back up, "get some sleep, I'll check in on you in a couple hours."
Milo nods, averting his gaze towards Brielle, "she can stay?"
"She can stay," Dion answered in my place.
"Under two conditions," I cross my arms over my chest. "I need a name."
"Alexander," Milo quickly utters and I feel the corners of my mouth instantly want to smile as Dion snickers behind me.
"You know what I mean idiota. Who's helping you sneak her in? Who's deleting my footage?"
Milo stays completely silent, his Adam's Apple suddenly bobbing and he attempts to play off the instant panic that's probably hitting him.
"I don't know what-"
"Don't fucking toy with me, Zane, I really don't have the patience for it right now. Who's sneaking her into this warehouse?"
"Guess the head of the empire is back," he mumbles. "Esdras," he says even softer a second later.
"Castellanos?" I frown. "He's not in surveillance, he doesn't have clearance to the tech room."
Milo shakes his head, "Peewee does though. He owed him a favor or something.
Mother fuckers. No wonder these fucking moles are getting away with things, I can't even count on my own surveillance team to inform me of some bimbo sneaking into my building, repeatedly.
I turn to look behind me to find Dion already frowning, "ready for your first task?" Dee nods. "Extract Peewee from my tech team and teach Esdras a lesson for doing favors."
"On it," he smirks.
"Isaac, please-" Milo mumbles under his breath.
I turn to look at him to find Brielle sitting near him now, "you shut the fuck up," I snarl and take a step closer towards him. "You're lucky that I actually give two fucks about you and your healing process. If I didn't spend so much fucking money fixing your back you'd be the third amigo out there I'd be making a prime example out of.. I'd be out there personally demangling it myself."
I point to Brielle who now has a nervous look on her face. "She won't be so lucky if you cross me one more time, Citilaní. Don't forget that you're living in my world, under my roof, by my rules. Learn to fucking respect me as your boss or I swear to God you're gonna be sorry. I am no better than my father. If I have to put three bullets back in you I will, you understand me?"
He nods hesitantly, silently.
I turn my head to the side, "I'm sorry?"
"Yes sir," he answers.
"You wanna continue seeing her; I want a negative test every morning."
"Every morning?!" He exclaimed.
"Did you hear me stutter?" He shakes his head no. "Let me repeat myself anyways. Yes, I want a negative drug test every fucking morning. I want a negative test until you can show me you can go longer than a day without getting high! A week, a month, three months, six, a year-"
"I get it," he blurts out.
"No," I shake my head. "But you will. You think my father was hard on you then?" I Scoffed. "You don't know hard, Emiliano. If getting you sober makes you hate me then so be it. You will not fail under my watch, letting you fail means I failed, not only as your boss but as a friend, and I wasn't raised to be a failure."
***
"You wanna talk about what just happened back there?" Dion questions, breaking the silence between us as we walk back down the stairs and head towards my office where my dad's supposedly waiting at.
I shake my head, "I'm good."
"Did it help? Feeling less explosive? Less frustrated? More patient?"
"More patient? Never," I smile. "Less explosive, yes," I answer truthfully. "The uncomfortable tension is still there," I tap my hand against my chest.
"That's valid. The conversation you're about to have is gonna be anything but comfortable. It's gonna make you feel extremely vulnerable, but you gotta remember to breathe, KP. Your dads way more out of his comfort zone than you will be, he's never been on this side of life. He's losing a lot more. Remember to keep an open mind, listen to everything before we make rash decisions, alright?"
I nod coming to a stop when the office door comes into view and inhale a deep breath, "get back to your family, I'll update you once I'm done and on my way home."
"You got this man, get it over with.. You really want me to do the things you asked up there?" He inclines his head towards the second floor.
I nod for a second time, "I gotta make some type of statement. I gotta show these men that I'm not the same kid they think I am just because they watched me grow up. I'm Isaac mother fuckin' Matteo, head household of this establishment, and I will be respected because of who I am not because I am my fathers son."
Dion begins to grin, "calm down killer, we wanna be respected not feared remember."
I snort softly, "get the hell out of my face, Dion, tell Angela hi for me."
His hand is quickly flying to his head, saluting me, "yes sir, right away sir."
"You're an idiot," I roll my eyes playfully.
He chuckles softly, "call me if anything, I'll be here in less than ten minutes."
"I will," I tell him. We say our goodbyes one last time before he's gone and I'm left dreading turning around and heading towards the office.
I make sure to take plenty of deep breaths as I walk the rest of the way, stopping short once I've reached the closed door in taking one last deep breath.
I place my hand on the doorknob cracking the door open, finding my father towards the back of the office, digging around in one of the metal black vertical cabinets.
He looks in my direction, "how's he holding up?"
"He'll live," I incline my head towards him. "What are you looking for?"
"Just some files," he says, pulling out a green folder, pointing behind. "Close the door behind you son."
I hear the metal cabinet close behind me as I turn around and shut the door, soft shuffling behind me as my father takes his seat.
I'm completely surprised to find him sitting in front of the desk where I normally would sit rather than behind it, where he normally sat at. I would've assumed that he'd sit down where he normally would out of instinct, all his nicnacs are still sitting on top of the desk, his pictures of my mom, me when I was younger, I didn't have the heart to clear it.
I take a seat on the chair, watching him flip anxiously through the pages of the green folder on his lap. He has three other semi thick folders sitting on top of the desk in front of him.
I avert my attention back down at his lap to see him shaking his right leg up and down, an unsettling feeling starting to form at the bottom of my stomach.
"Why are you so nervous?" I point out the obvious.
He shakes his head, closing up the chart on his lap, stacking on top of the others, "because I really need you not to hate me after this."
"Can you please stop beating around the fucking bush already and just tell me everything that I need to know."
He inhales a deep breath and nods his head, "plug in the usb."
"Just- lay it on me dad."
His lips subtly pull to the side for a split second, "I didn't think I'd ever hear that ever again."
I instantly want to roll my eyes, I want to voice that snarky comment at the back of my head, but I don't. I genuinely try to swallow any agitating annoying petty feelings and try to keep my patience. Instead I inhale a deep subtle breath, breaking my fathers eye contact, looking off to the side.
"I genuinely don't know where to start son, so please just plug in the USB so you can see for yourself and we'll take it from there I guess."
I pull the lipstick tube from out of my pocket and reach for the mac laptop, inserting the usb to the port on the side.
A small square icon with a key lock is immediately displayed on the screen.
"September 3rd, 2008," he utters softly.
I frown and look up at him to notice he's looking a bit pale. "Why that date? What is it?" I asked.
"The day I took your innocence," he mumbles. "The day I threw away the father you needed."
"Montse.."
Pops nods his head, "your first kill.."
The nasty knot in my chest continues to twist even tighter as I type the date into the laptop and a bunch of files are filling up the screen.
"Most of them are just files on men that I highly suspect are moles, two of them are actually confirmed thanks to Cris."
I slowly begin to drag my fingers across the mouse, clicking on files here and there, closing them, making a mental note to pay attention to who my father thinks is a mole in this family when I come across a file named "010V" and click on it.
Chills instantly begin to run up my arms and down my back as I feel the bile attempt to up my throat, my heart nearly ripping out of my chest as I look at the picture on the screen.
It's a dark haired dirty woman holding up a newspaper article, the date on it circled in red marker. She looks completely different, her hair is mangle mess, her skin is filthy, she has bruises all over her face, her arms, she's a lot thinner than the last time I saw her, but it's her, it's Veronica, it's my aunt Vee.
I quickly look up at my father and turn the laptop around to face him, "w-what the fuck is this?!"
He begins to nod his head, "yeah, she's alive, she's been alive."
"What the fuck do you mean she's alive?! HOW?!"
"I don't know," he answers calmly. "That's actually the last update that I got of her."
"When?!" I growled.
"Three months ago maybe, right before everything happened."
"Three months?!" I exclaimed.
I think I'm gonna be sick.
My stomach whirls at the mere thought of having to explain to Nathaniel that his mom is still alive, at the thought of having to tell Sal, at the thought that my fathers knew this entire time and never said anything.
"How long have you known?"
"Almost a year now, nine, eight months maybe."
"You explain yourself right fucking now," I snarl.
"Everything's in there, Isaac, look at the first envelope they sent."
I drag my glare away from my father and turn the laptop back around going through all the files I can without puking my brains out when I come across what I think is the first proof of life.
It's a scanned copy of a note along with a picture of Vee holding up a newspaper article, again with red marker circled around the date, three months after her supposedly death. The date isn't what's making me sick to my stomach though, it's not what's leaving a vile feeling, it's the note attached to the image.
"Your life for her's, a life for a life," I read it out loud.
"I had reasoning for doing what I did, son. They wanted me dead, and I needed to stay dead for a period of time in order for you guys to get her back. I needed to die," his voice cracks. "To save her life. I needed to be as real as it could be, I needed it to be believable.. Your pain and grief had to be real. They had to believe I was genuinely rotting in a grave somewhere. I only trusted Cris because he still has insight with the other families, he's the one who told me about the moles after I regained consciousness. This changes everything. Me being back from the dead makes everything so much worse-"
I quickly pick up my hand, "stop talking, stop. fucking. please."
Surprisingly he stays quiet for about four seconds when he begins to push the green files toward, "these are the top men I suspect are being disloyal to the family," he says. "We can't move forward with the moles watching our every fucking move, we need to eliminate them and strategize a plan. The family's need to burn, it's time you rise up from the ashes son, it's time you take back your city."
"I- I-"
"I know, it's a lot, I'm sorry, this is not how I wanted things to play out."
I get up from the chair shaking my head while closing the laptop, "I can't be here right now."
"Isaac-"
"Stop fucking talking!" I shout. "I can't be in the same room as you right now.. I need to go, I need to breathe, I need some air, some space away from you right now. I need to process everything on my own so please stop talking for once."
He nods.
"Don't you fucking go near my cousin and say a word of this to him or Sal.. To anyone else," I commanded. "Give me a few hours, the night max to wrap my head around everything. We'll pick this up in the morning, or I'll come find you sooner if I'm able to calm down."
He nods one more time and I'm grabbing the usb, storming out of the office, out of the building, quickly climbing into my car and racing home.
What I really wanna do is pound my fist into the fucking wall, I want to lock myself in a gym and release all this pent up anger until I can't feel anything anymore, until I can only feel physical pain but I don't.
Instead I drive home, I drive home to my pregnant wife because she's the only person who I can count on right now, the only person who can make me forget that my world is crumbling on top of me.
The drive to the estate takes no longer than seven minutes and I'm immediately running in through the doors, looking everywhere for her but come up short in every room that I look in, when Beven's informs me that she's actually down in the basement levels of the house.
Hailey being down in the basement means she's either having a bad mental health day or she's trying to avoid me, she only ever goes down there to be in her head, her thoughts; she loves being down there in that living room area when she wants to hide from the world.
The sight of her on the couch is enough to relieve some of the tight feeling in my chest but it's back just as quick as it left as I make my way to her. I'm in such a shit mood that I don't know how to approach her and stay standing there like a dumbass.
"What's wrong?" She frowns.
I shake my head, "nothing," and lean down to kiss her. She's down here for a reason, I don't need to bombard her with all my shit right now, I need to be her husband right now rather than a mafia lord.
She instantly turns her face away from me and I feel my heart suddenly begin to ache in my chest for a whole different reason now. My head instinctively hangs low as I crouch down in front of her, placing my hand on her right leg.
We haven't entirely talked to each other these last couple days. Don't get me wrong, we've talked but not freely, we've talked about everything that's happening around us, but not about us.
We haven't talked about how much of an asshole I actually am, how I keep proving that I don't deserve her. I haven't really apologized for anything and I hate that it's taken this long for me to pull my head out of my ass and pay attention to my wife.
"I am so sorry, babe."
She moves her leg removing my touch from her, "for what?"
"Everything."
She sits up straight, pushing herself away further from me, "not good enough, Matteo."
I inhale a deep breath and place my hand back on her knee, "I'm sorry that you had to see the most disgusting side of me... I wasn't thinking, baby, I would never hurt you, Hail."
"Would you actually have gone through with it?" She asked. "If I hadn't stopped you when I did, would you have taken me down there?"
I immediately begin to shake my head, "fuck no, I would've stopped the second I heard you say no. I wouldn't have forced myself on you. I was.. I was trying to escape the tension, the anger that was building up in my chest. I was trying to replace the feeling with only you.. I just wanted to feel the way you always make me feel. I wanted to feel safe from my own head, my own thoughts, feelings."
"Instead I provoked you, I made you feel ugly," her voice trails off softly.
I shake my head again, "I'm sorry, Hail, the last thing I ever want to make you feel is uncomfortable. Funny thing is I knew what you were doing, I had a feeling you were picking a fight, provoking me for a reason, and it instantly infuriated me."
Hailey frowns, "wait- what do you mean you knew?"
I force a breath of air through my nose, "my fathers pushed me around and provoked me one too many times for me not to recognize when I'm being torn down, apart, when he's trying to get his creation out."
"Isaac-"
"I forgot," I say softly. "I forgot in the heat of the moment that you weren't him, it was only a couple seconds, but I forgot just how precious you are to me, that you're soft and caring. I let the angry side of me drive me and old habits quickly kicked in.. I am so sorry for putting you through that, Hail. I'm sorry for putting my hands on you in such a disrespectful way, for scaring you, breaking your trust."
"Ten thousand," she quickly utters as I arch an eyebrow. "Ten thousand dollars and I'll consider forgiving you."
I feel my lips softly tug to the side, "done."
"No, twenty," she says. "Twenty thousand. Ten thousand is nothing, it's chump change to you."
"How about fifty?" I smirk. "Even though you have full access to all my money mamas.".
She smiles softly but there's a sadness behind those green eyes.
I often wonder if our son will have her colored eyes or mine, or if he'll have her red locks or my dark roots.
"I don't want your money, I just want one day with my husband," she says hesitantly. "I just want one day of us, I miss you, I miss the man I fell in love with."
"I can do that," I nod and take a seat on the coffee table behind me. "Give me a week tops, let me get things situated with everything that's going on. Let me transition Pops back in and I'm all yours, Princess."
She nods, "are you gonna give him back the empire? Did he ask for it?"
"No," I answered. "Then again I haven't really given him a chance to talk to me to ask for it."
"Would you step down if he wanted it back?"
I inhale a deep breath and begin to shake my head while shrugging my shoulders, "I don't know honestly.. You want me to step down?"
She shakes her head, placing her hands on top of her stomach, "c'mere," she smiles. "He's moving."
I quickly get off of the table and make my way onto the couch, sitting right beside her. She reaches for my hand, placing it where hers was at a couple seconds ago.
A few seconds goes by when I feel the smallest rumble, movement, coming from inside her stomach and an overwhelming feeling instantly washes over me.
"I want you to do whatever makes you happy, Isaac." I glance up at my wife. "If you want to step down and continue your life then do it. If you want to continue being king, in control, then I'm right here behind you baby."
I remove my hand from her stomach sitting back on the couch, "I've done such a shitty job so far," I mutter under my breath.
Hailey reaches for my hand, "no one said it would be easy.. With the right support, the right motivation, I know you'll make one hell of a king, and father when the time comes," she smiles, squeezing my hand .
"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you, Hail. God I'm so sorry that I've been so absent, that you've been doing this pregnancy alone."
"Shh you're here now, your son is not coming anytime soon, you have plenty of time to make up for it."
"Do you think I can do it?"
"Do what, baby?"
"Do you think I can manage running an empire, being a father, and being your husband all at the same time?"
She reaches for my hand again, squeezing it tight, "I think you can do anything you set your mind to, Isaac, if you allow yourself to really be yourself."
I frown.
"You don't have to forgive your dad just yet, or ever if you really don't want to, but you do need to talk to him, Isaac. He's back. Let him coach you, guide you, let him help when you think it's too much, when you don't know what to do. You were given a second chance, baby, take it, not many of us get them, we don't always get back the person we've lost."
The disgusting feeling from earlier is immediately back. I hate that I can't tell my wife about Veronica, that I still have to keep secrets from her until we can work out a game plan, until I can get Nathaniel sober enough to speak with him and let him know his mother has been alive this entire time.
"I think we should move out," I tell her. "I think it's time that we move into our home and live our own lives, especially now that he's back. I need to be able to get away from him without wanting to strangle him. I wanna be able to breathe peacefully and I can't do that with him and I under the same roof. I need to distance myself in order to be able to forgive him."
"Are you willing to leave your mom behind? Alone, with him? She's just as mad and as hurt as you are babe."
I shake my head, "she'll forgive him, she always does. She's probably only putting up a front for my sake," I tell her. "I know that she's afraid of me judging her, scolding her.. If she doesn't want to forgive him, if she wants to hold a grudge, I want her to do it freely, not because she thinks that's what I want. I want them to work out their bullshit, their problems on their own, while we move on with our lives, focusing on our main priority.''
She nods her head in understanding. "Now's probably the best time to tell you that I don't think we should have the baby shower then."
"Scusami, why the hell not?"
She shrugs her shoulders quietly, a sad gaze in her eyes now. "There's a lot going on right now."
"And? You still deserve your baby shower princess, you deserve to be surrounded by your friends and family. I thought you wanted to invite Rodriguez?"
She shakes her head, "I'd feel like we'd be taking away from your healing process, from mending time with your dad, and if she really wanted to reach out to me she would've bye now. I could only text her so much."
I try my hardest not to frown at the last part of her sentence because I really don't want her to get sad that I'm upset, but Carmen's irking my last fucking nerve right now.
The second I caught up on Carmen's file I gave my wife a choice, I told her that I would hand her the folder so that she could burn it and start fresh with her best friend, or she could keep things the way they were, keep her at a distance but still attempt to reach out to her should she ever feel the need to and surprisingly she chose the second option.
She asked if she could see the file and I showed it to her that same day. I even showed her the part where she and Silas are supposedly dating and Hailey immediately handed it back to me stating that she wanted nothing to do with it.
To her It had seemed that her best friend was moving on in life and she didn't want to be the one to interfere with it and decided she would leave her alone, she would let her be happy.
That actually only lasted for about a week. I hadn't lifted anything or made any modifications on Carmen's file so the second my wife reached out to her my tech team immediately informed me that she was texting an unknown number and matched it to Rodriguez.
The thought of having that many tabs on Hailey instantly made me sick, as possessive as I can be at times invading her privacy actually made me feel grimy. As much as I want to know everything about my wife, I don't at the same time. I like the element of surprise. I love coming home to her talking her heart away, venting her heart away, telling me everything she considers I might think boring.
After reading her message to Carmen I quickly instructed the tech team that I didn't need to know anything about my wife unless she was in danger, or I asked.
They're still to monitor her as closely as they can but had them immediately debug her phone, removing anything that wasn't her tracker.
I may be overly jealous here and there, but I trust that woman more than I trust myself. I wasn't about to strip her privacy, she would tell me something if she wanted me to know.
"I don't need to heal," I tell her. "I need my wife to be happy."
Her lips softly tug to the side, "I'd be happy just spending the day with you."
"Hail-"
"I'm not gonna go back and forth with you, Isaac. I've made my decision, I will not have a baby shower and that's final. You can support me on this and give me the best day ever by taking me baby shopping, just you and I. That'll be better than any baby shower Ang and I could ever possibly plan, a lot less stressful too, less surveillance," she smiles smugly.
I nod and place my left hand behind her head and bring her in as I lean in to place a kiss on her forehead, "no baby shower, got it."
***
SHITS STARTING TO HIT THE FAN GUYS 😫 YALL REALLY AINT READY, THE PLOTS ARE
JUST STARTING!! God bless everyone's soul starting from this point. Bye 🫶🏼