Page 29 of Mending Our Chance

15 Marcus

Later that day, while Felicity instructed the movers on which pieces of furniture to send to a thrift store and which would go on the truck bound for her storage unit, I slipped out the fire escape. Shutting the window behind me, I shook my body as it adjusted to the cold. Thankfully, the stairs were shoveled so I could sit. Wanting to make this fast, I dialed Argento back.

When he picked up, I was direct and to the point. “You called?”

“Oh.” Argento sounded exhausted, as if he hadn’t slept in days. “I just was seeing if we were still making a deal.”

“Why wouldn’t we be? I signed a large client on Monday, which was exactly what you asked for.” Terror rippled through me that my shady backer would refuse to sign. I had plans for that money and our business wouldn’t be stable without it. Just then, a mover dropped an end of the entertainment set inside. The noise was enough to jolt me out of the tailspin my panicked thoughts had produced. I jumped, feeling a cold sweat break over my skin, suddenly oblivious to the frigid northern temperature. Refocusing on Argento, I asked, “Sorry, what was that?”

A low chuckle sounded through the phone. “You do have damage, don’t you, Marine?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You yelped,” Argento blandly noted. “You don’t do well with sudden noises—anxiety is harder on you too, I’ll bet.”

Mentally counting to three, I growled into the phone, “I get treatment. I don’t let it bother me.”

“Clearly.” Argento fell silent.

“What did you want?” This time the annoyance was plain in my voice.

“I heard there was a death in the family. I just needed to know if our deal was still on.”

Suddenly wary, I considered my reply and chose to smoothly dismiss him. “I don’t appreciate you knowing about my personal life.”

“Your personal life will always affect your business. As they say where you are from, don’t go getting above your raising, boy. You know nothing.”

How true his words were. Still, I was learning fast. “You are my silent investor. Nothing has changed.”

“Good.” There was a cough, then the man added, “I’m sorry for your loss,” before hanging up.

Furrowing my brows, I stared at the phone. Wondering at the reason for Argento’s cryptic call, I told myself it wasn’t anything to be afraid of. Much to my relief, he wasn’t pulling out of our deal, but was there a reason I should be?

I could feel my pulse hammering. Was it because Felicity would find out about my deal with Argento? No, not if I funneled the money into the company quietly. In weeks, we would have products ready to be sold. The developers we had contracted were already working on them. I also had a clear path and a to-do list from Felicity. I reminded myself that there was no reason we wouldn’t succeed.

Shifting my gaze back inside, I saw Felicity standing at the kitchen counter with papers in her hands and more scattered about on the counter top. It was the wide-eyed look of utter horror on her face that caused me to leap to my feet and scurry back through the large window of the fire escape.

I approached her carefully. “Hey, city slicker, what’s that you got there?”

She waved a piece of paper in the air. I could barely see the pencil marks, let alone read it. Trying and failing to grab it from her, I pressed, “What does it say?”

“My ex-husband!” Felicity slammed the paper on the counter top. “He was fucking in league with my aunt! He approached her with a scam. They were trying to get money from my family—and using me to do it!”

My hands, which had been reaching for her a moment ago, dropped to my sides. Shock rippled through me. I knew that cleaning out her aunt’s apartment might dredge up all kinds of memories, but something like this was so unforeseen that I was blown away.

I saw the smallest of smiles briefly cross Felicity’s lips. “You look how I feel,” she fumed.

Words failed me. “All I can say is that it is in the past.”

“But it’s not!” Felicity riffled through the papers again. “I turned to my aunt when my father threatened to disown me. That was not her plan; she expected my family to pay off Toby so he and I could fuel her wealthy lifestyle. When my family refused to pay me the trust I would get on my marriage, I chose freedom and independence with her! Mio Dio, I was so fucking naïve! Those monsters played me.”

Not knowing what else to say, I kept my mouth shut and let her vent. The bastard was dead, yet he was still causing this incredible woman angst. I knew that her aunt had separated from the family some years before Felicity had been born. I understood that it had all been due to another bad marriage, although nothing like this scam. I remembered Felicity telling me the story back in California. She’d described her aunt as an old woman with deep-set bitterness, and now there was no way to mend the broken bridges she’d created.

I couldn’t stand Felciity waxing on about her stupidity. “We were all stupid once, darlin’. Like I’ve said many times before: you grew up.”

“Oh, it was all pure stupidity. Toby was the opposite of you. I was brokenhearted because you didn’t stay with me, and—” She suddenly pressed her lips together, blinked a few times, then shook her head and let out a frustrated screech. “Gianna knew how I felt about you. And she set me up so that I’d see Toby.” Lifting her hands into the air, Felicity yelled, “I fucking fell for it!”

I now understood a fair bit about Felicity. She’d broken off from her family and had become closed off because of it. Going forward, I knew I would have to tread carefully with her. Betrayals ran thick in her family—she couldn’t see me as another one. I thought about the deal I’d made with Signore Argento. But I am only doing it to help her, not to hurt her. It is for the good of the company. But I knew that given what she’d just learned, that she would never understand my betrayal—not after having to live with this new revelation. There is no reason she should ever find out. I vowed then that I would make sure of it!

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