One afternoon was all it took for Axel to reveal his true self. Annoyed at his father's request for him to attend the twelfth birthday party of an associate’s daughter, he arrived at my house with muddy boots and an even dirtier attitude. I detested him on sight, and we hadn't even been officially introduced. He walked through my home like he was a king, not the least bit worried about the mud he was tracking in across the wooden floors. He even laughed when he noticed our butler Charles kneeling down to mop up his mess.
What did Ryan do when he spotted the mess Axel had made? He helped Charles clean it up. He didn’t do that to express his gratitude for a fun afternoon. He did it because he knew what it felt like to clean up other people’s messes.
The night before had been rough for Ryan. Not content with the "mediocre meal" his wife made him, Ryan's father threw it in her face. If that wasn't humiliating enough, he tossed her food onto the floor and made her eat as if she was an animal. Ryan begged his mom to return to the table, but no matter what he said or did, she followed Ted's command to the T.
It was that instant I knew my juvenile infatuation was no longer childish. I was in love with Ryan. I had always had a strange fascination with him that couldn’t be satisfied by friendship, but I never knew it was true love until that moment. I should have. He has always been an admirable man, even when he was only a boy.
As my car glides down streets I know like the back of my hand, I glance down at my phone, hoping for a return message. I’ve been messaging Ryan on and off the past eighteen hours. He has yet to return my contact.
That is so unlike Ryan.
Unless he is working, his replies are prompt. He hates waiting on people, so he never makes anyone wait on him.
Sighing at his lack of response, I drop my cell back onto the seat opposite me and continue my travels. There is a little niggle in my tummy advising me to turn left on Traitor Avenue instead of my usual right, but I shut it down, blaming a tedious commute for the knot sitting firmly in my stomach.
I shift my eyes sideways when my journey has me passing a house I know all too well—unfortunately. Axel’s family mansion is only half a mile from mine. It stands proudly on a parcel of land my father used to own. I don’t know if that was the transaction that brought our families together, or another foolish business decision.
I also don’t know what happened to the impressive amounts recorded in my father’s business records. Right around the time he sold land he intended to hold until Ravenshoe’s economic boom demanded top dollar for the smallest capital, Axel’s family came into our lives. As Ryan likes to say, “When you put two and two together, you can only reach four.”
I reached four.
I haven't seen Axel since the day he disclosed he was responsible for Col Petretti’s missing millions. Gah—the gall of that guy. He played me like a fiddle, recognizing my desperation had blinded me.
With my father’s illness progressing at a rate faster than I could have ever fathomed, his business affairs soon piled up. I’d never had an interest in following in my parents’ footsteps, but when your lack of business knowledge raises the risk of your demented father losing his home, your priorities change rather quickly.
To begin with, I hid my father’s disease from his associates. That barely lasted a month. They soon caught on that the brilliant man usually at the helm of their operation wasn’t the same person uploading reports via the internet. The only person not smart enough to recognize the change was Col Petretti.
His accounts arrived every Monday morning like clockwork.
For the first few weeks, they were delivered by his right-hand man. But a change in delivery schedule came with a variation I never anticipated. Axel arrived every Saturday night within minutes of me returning from Bob's Burgers. Unlike his predecessor, he didn't hand the papers to me and go on his merry way; he lingered like a bad smell.
I don't forgive easily, so for the first four weeks, I degraded Axel in the same manner he treated Charles years earlier. Unfortunately for all involved, Axel is as determined as I am stubborn. Within a month, our conversations shifted from one- and two-word replies to brief sentences. By the time another month passed, we were somewhat friendly.
He was a wolf wearing sheep’s clothing, but since he failed to interrogate me on my father’s whereabouts as his predecessor had done on numerous occasions, I let my guard down. I was an idiot.
I didn’t stumble upon the missing millions as my love of accounting flourished like Axel’s feathers do when he struts like a peacock. Axel pointed the blunder out to me.
I'm not going to lie; I was devastated. I called my mom every name under the sun while pacing in my den. From the pittance she left in our savings account, I knew there was no way I could repay the money she had stolen. Right at the time my father’s displacement issues began playing out, I was thrown a curveball. I wasn’t even holding a bat.
When Axel suggested his proposal, I thought it was perfect. He needed a well-known local girl to get his parents off his back about his philandering lifestyle, and I needed a lifeline to stop me from drowning.
Once again, I was a gullible idiot.
Axel couldn't care less what his parents thought; he just wanted a scapegoat at the ready if his plan went awry. I was his pawn. By helping me fudge the records to hide my mother's apparent theft, I shifted the burden of guilt from his shoulders to mine. My fingerprints were all over the ledger, and my handwriting was additional proof of deceit. If Regina hadn't suggested that Ryan wear a wire, I'd most likely be spending my college years behind bars.
I did everything Axel asked as he genuinely seemed worried about my wellbeing. He is a good actor—even the jealous boyfriend routine he played like a pro. There was just one issue: his performance didn't end once we were away from prying eyes.
Axel wasn’t just intimidated by Ryan. He hated him. I often wondered if he could sense the natural connection Ryan and I always had. Even though we hadn't been within one hundred feet of each other in years, the electricity that forever bounced between us could be felt for miles. I could feel it. Ryan could feel it. Even Axel couldn’t deny it.
It was only when Axel disclosed the reason for his parents’ separation did the truth come out. Just like the dissolution of my parents’ marriage, Ryan's father was responsible for Axel's parents’ demise. But instead of Axel's mother suffering the kickbacks of her cheating ways, his father did.
Axel's dad is an everyday guy. He doesn't have millions of dollars in his account or an infamous last name that opens doors to him. He simply fell in love with a woman who had a mobster for a brother.
Axel may not have the Petretti name, but he has their blood.
Although I don't give two hoots about Axel or anyone in his family, Regina keeps me updated on his whereabouts. The last update I was given was that he was working with the authorities on their inquiries. Though peeved by the delay in the trial, in all honesty, I'd rather pretend it never happened. Who wants to have their stupidity broadcast for the world to see? My family has always been private. I want to keep it that way.
My thoughts switch from negative to positive when I spot my family home peeking over the horizon. I’m glad after everything my dad has been through the past four years, he can still call this place home. It may have a mortgage on it the size of Ben Hur, but his name is still on the deed.
