They made their way down the elevator. The silence was suffocating. Mauricio was waiting for them at the front door.
"Mauricio, this is Mr. Gratiano. He's my new personal security."
"Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Gratiano."
"Mr. Gratiano is my father. Please call me Dylan. Or call me later, and we can go out for a drink." He smiled. She swooned.
Mauricio smiled. "If you insist. I'm always looking for someone to watch football with."
"As long as you don't root for Navy or the Pittsburg Steelers, we will get along just fine."
"I'm an Army man and a Cleveland Browns fan," he answered.
"You and I are going to be good friends, Mauricio."
"Okay, boys. Enough male bonding. We have to get Ash. I miss my Tesoruccio."
"Tesoruccio? You call him Your little treasure? Like Tesoro Mio?" Dylan was taken aback.
"Get in the car. We need to go," she said, ducking into the car.
The first half of the ride was silent. Neither said anything. She was scrolling through her phone, and he was looking through the file folder she had given him when they left the office.
"It's weird looking through the client file, you being the client and all. At least I know what you have been up to all these years. There seems to be a chunk missing." She looked, and he smiled at her.
Her cheeks started to burn. "That's right, you know about all that. You never told me how you found out."
"I was eavesdropping on the conversation you had with Greta in the VIP room. I have to say it was a surprise. Wanna talk about it?"
She looked back at her phone and let out a snicker. "It took me half a bottle of vodka to even tell Greta. What makes you think I am going to tell you? Plus, if you really heard our conversation, you know most of it."
"There is one thing I want to know."
She peered up. "And what would that be?"
He leaned in close. She smelled cinnamon and his cologne. His breath was hot on her neck. "What exactly is a sensual massage?"
She squeezed her eyes together and scrunched up her nose. Her face and ears were the color of a candy apple. "You heard that, did ya?"
"If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine. She turned her head to look at him. You can just show me if you want." He smiled.
Keep smiling at me like that, and I just might. "That would be beyond inappropriate."
"Are you sure? I have really great health coverage?"
She threw her head back and laughed. "You heard that too?"
"I thought it was absolutely hilarious. But really, I do. My boss is a saint—or a demon—I am not sure yet."
"Gesu Cristo. How long were you listening?"
"First, don't take the lord's name in vain. Second, you sure have retained a lot of the Italian I taught you. Third, you still can't whisper worth a shit; Fourth, I heard the entire conversation. Till Natalie interrupted you. Which, I love that little pixie, but talk about bad timing."
She turned to look at him. "First, I'll go to confession and let Father Patrick know I have sinned. Second, I have been to Italy a half dozen times, so I have used my Italian a lot over the last five years. In fact, I am teaching Asher. Third, I didn't know that anyone was listening, and even if they were, they didn't know me. Fourth, exactly how close were you that you heard the whole thing."
"First, you know what? I think we can quit counting. I would love to know when your last confession was. I am one hundred percent Italian, and I have never been to my homeland. How are you teaching a five-year-old Italian? And I was ten feet away from you."
"I go to confession once a year. Might as well make it worth the trip. And you're in luck because you'll be visiting the homeland this year. My Asher is one of the smartest little boys in the tri-state area, and California is a big state all on its own. And I need to be more aware of my surroundings."
"Are you fucking serious?"
"To which part?"
"Everything but being aware of your surroundings."
"Well, I am fucking serious. I rarely ever joke around anymore," she said in her no-nonsense voice.
"You used to."
"That was a long time ago." She seemed to detach for a moment. "So, tell me, Mr. Gratiano, what have you been up to?"
"Well, I worked at Trinity for two years. I am divorced. I am confused why your husband---"
"Ex-husband," she snapped.
"That's what you took out of that conversation? You're not going to mention I'm divorced?"
"For a man who just told me that he was scared to marry me, I don't want to hear that you got married to anyone else. Is there anything else I need to know?"
"I have looked for you for the last three years. I didn't know you got married and changed your name. You told me you weren't going to change your name when you married me."
"Maybe I didn't want you to find me, so that's why I changed my name."
"Really? Is that true? You didn't want me to find you?"
"One hundred percent."
"Why?" he asked.
"Reasons."
"Reasons?"
"Who did you marry?" Lena asked, not exactly sure we wanted to hear the answer.
"A woman."
"Well, I don't doubt that."
"Who was she? Do I know her?"
"You might remember her from our time in the service."
Never ask a question you may not want to know the answer to. She looked at him. "Sowa?" She shook her head. "Fanculo."
"I see you remember the swear words," he muttered.
"How do you think I swear at my ex in front of Asher? Please, when you're in Italy, you need to know when someone calls you an asshole American. And don't change the subject."
He ran his hand down his face. "Yes, I married Sowa." Maybe I shouldn't have included the divorce in the recap of my life.
"So, you loved her. When you cheated on me, you were in love with her?"
"No. I didn't."
"You are a Fanculo figlio di puttana!"
"I'm not five, Lena! You can swear to me in English," he sounded condescending.
"Fine. You are a fucking son of a bitch. No offense to your mother. I always liked her."
"Lena." He took a deep breath and sighed. "I thought we were going to put the past in the past."
"That's until I learned that you lied and dumped me for Sowa! How could you do that?"
"I didn't marry her the day after you shipped out."
"How long have you been divorced?"
"A year and a half."
"Do I even want to know how long you were married? I do know how to do math."
"Two years."
"Wow. You waited a year and a half. We were engaged for three years." She was starting to feel the anger bubble up inside her. Guess he wasn't afraid of getting married to her. "Do I want to know what happened?"
"I had a stepson."
"You got divorced because you had a stepson?"
"I found out he was my stepson by default."
"Oh. So, you thought he was yours?"
"She told me he was mine."
"Oh." Alright, now I feel really bad. At least I know Asher is his. He doesn't. Gesu. I am worse than Sowa."How did you find out?"
"He got sick and needed blood, so I volunteered to donate, and they told me I was incompatible. I was type B- and he was A+. So, no DNA test needed. She had cheated on me. Obviously."
"Wow. Do you know the definition of karma? If not, look in the mirror." You self-righteous bitch.
"That was unnecessary."
"A lot of stuff that happened between us was unnecessary."
"I wish I could make it up to you. I know how you felt that day. And I raised Patton for two years and I had no rights to him. I have no idea how he is if he's still sick. If he's even alive. Taking a child away from someone is cruel and unusual punishment."
Oh God. This is not going to go well. I am fucked. "I still think I should reassign you, Dylan. There is just too much here." Like I kept your son from you for over five years and changed my name so you wouldn't find us because I was jealous and petty and evil. FUCK!
"Can't we just work this out? I don't want anyone else in charge of your protection."
I will need protection from you, so I think that is going to be a conflict of interest.
"Ms. Baxter, we are here." Mauricio went to get out.
"It's okay, man. I'll take care of her."
Dylan got out of the car, went around, opened her door, and helped her out.
"I thought you said you lived in a penthouse. Not a house."
"This is Cole's house. He had Asher this week."
She knocked on the door, and a tall woman with red hair opened it. "Hi, Lena! How are you? It's been a long time since we last saw each other."
"Morgan, don't piss on my leg and call it rain. Where's my son?"
Dylan was taken aback by the exchange.
"He's in the kitchen. Asher is just finishing his lunch. I made his favorite!"
Lena followed Morgan as they made their way to his kitchen. Dylan followed.
"Mama!" The little boy with the messy brown curls exclaimed.
Lena knelt, and he ran full speed into her, knocking her backward. "Hey! I wasn't trying to make it to the endzone! Nice tackle, though."
"Sorry, Mama. Sometimes, I don't know my own strength. Who's your friend?"
"This is my new guardia del corpo."
"Where's Mr. Cutler?"
"He got a new person to protect."
"Oh." He looked up at Dylan. "Look here, mister. You better take care of my mama."
Asher whispered out of the corner of his mouth to Lena, "What's his name?"
Dylan squatted. "If it's okay with your mom, you can call me Dylan."
He looked at his mom, and she nodded. Asher put out his hand. "It's a Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Dylan."
"Just Dylan."
"Okay. I am Asher. You can call me Sir."
Dylan smiled. "If you insist, Sir." He shook Dylan's hand.
"I was just joking. You can call me Ash." Asher smiled at him.
Dylan looked into his eyes and stood up quickly. "I'll be waiting for you in the car," he said.
"Don't you want to meet Cole?"
"Dad's in il bagno. That means bathroom." Asher informed Dylan
Dylan turned quickly on his heels. "I will meet him at another time. He turned and made his way to the car."
"Why don't you go get your stuff Tesoruccio?"
"Okay." He took off, curls bouncing.
Cole came into the kitchen. "You're late."
"I had to give the new guy his orientation. You know the new guy you hired without talking to me. So, yes. I'm late."
"Did he see the boy?"
She crossed her arms. "Yes. He saw the boy."
"So, where is he?"
"He's waiting in the car."
Cole laughed. "Awe. Too bad, I wanted to meet the man who crushed your soul."
"Cole, you know what--"
"You are so fucked? Hey, if you're lucky, he'll quit on the spot. I would watch out when he goes for shared custody. Boys going to have to be split three ways."
"You are an asshole. You know that, right?" Her blood was beginning to boil. "Where's the papers?"
"Hey, Babygirl, can you go get that manila envelope off my desk?"
Morgan kissed her on the cheek. "Of course, Love."
Lena looked dumbfounded. She had been hounding Cole for the last three months about those papers. "I am surprised you did that with no more argument."
Morgan came rushing back into the kitchen, her hooker heels clicking on the floor. She handed him the envelope. "Here Boo Bear."
Lena rolled her eyes. Boo Bear? For the love of all that is holy.
He handed me the envelope. "We would appreciate it if you could get those filed as soon as possible."
"Why? What is it to you? What's the big hurry all of a sudden?"
Morgan raised her left hand. She had a diamond on her finger so fucking big you could ice skate on it. "WE'RE ENGAGED!" she squealed.
"Dio mio. Questo e il mio incubo."
Asher had come back into the room, rolling his Paw Patrol suitcase. "What's a nightmare, Mama?"
She kissed him on the head. "Nothing Tesorccio. Why don't you go see Mauricio? I think he has some candy in the car."
"YAY! Bye Daddy! Bye Morgan." He turned and ran without hugging either of them or waiting for a response. He was the definition of someone high-tailing it out of there.
She waited until she heard the door slam. "Don't you think you should have told me Cole?"
"It's really none of your business," he said as a matter of fact.
"You know what? You're right. I would say it is because it concerns Ash, it concerns me, but you aren't going to see him anymore anyway after these papers go through."
"What are you talking about? You're not giving me visitation! He's my son too!"
"No, he's not. You never legally adopted him, and not one drop of your blood runs through his veins."
"Maybe you should let Ash decide."
"After that stupid fucking comment about splitting him three ways? He will have nothing to do with you, and neither will I." She went to turn around. "Morgan, you do know that since he cheated, the prenup is voided. He's only getting the money he invested in the company. Plus, a small divorce settlement. What was that Cole three-hundred thousand and two-fifty thousand, so five-fifty total? That's not going to last extraordinarily long. I hope you kept the receipt for that ring because you may have to turn it in for cash."
"Are you fucking kidding me? Why didn't you mention that before? How is that... I thought you renegotiated the settlement!"
"Morgan, baby, come on. I said we might be able to. Does it really make a difference? We love each other."
"Oh, don't give me..."
Lena smiled an evil smile and walked away from them. As she did Morgan's voice trailed off.