Betrayed

Chapter 1

Sitting at her desk at Gorman’s private investigations agency, late on Friday afternoon, Jessica Oats mobile phone rang. She looked down at the caller Id. and was surprised but not displeased to see Marco’s brother’s name on the screen. She pushed a strand of curly red hair, that had slipped out of the long plait she wore, behind her ear and hit the button to receive the call, “hey Gian.”

“Jess, hi” he said “sorry to ring you at work.

At thirty years old Jess had been working as a private investigator for six years, ever since she left the police force after her partner was killed. As such she’d had quite a bit of experience reading people and she thought she sensed some anxiety in her caller’s tone. Her chest tightened. Had something happened to Marco?

 She and Marco, a lawyer and the oldest of five boys from a close knit Italian family, had been living together for a year now. She’d never been happier and although it had been a bumpy road getting to that point, he was her world and she couldn’t stand the thought that he could be hurt or in trouble. She held her breath, her green eyes clouded with concern. She said “is there anything wrong?”

There was a pause before Gian said, “I don’t know, that’s the trouble.”

This didn’t make Jess feel much better. “Is it Marco?” she asked, needing to know the worst. She was having trouble breathing now.

“God Jess, I’m sorry” Gian said. “No it’s nothing to do with Marco. As far as I know he’s as disgustingly happy as the he has been for the last year.”

Jess smiled and sighed as the pain in her chest receded. Gian had sounded his normal cheeky self for a second, but then his tone changed and her smile faded away as he added “I wish I was.”

“Gian, what’s going on?”

There was silence for a minute and Jess sensed he was hesitant about telling her. This only gave her more cause for concern.

At length he said “I’d rather tell you in person. Can you meet me for a drink later?”

“Sure” she said “when and where?”

“Do you know a bar called The Living Room? It’s not far from your work.”

“I don’t” she said “but I’ll find it. What time?”

“Five thirty?”

“Done” she said “see you then.”

“Jess?”

“Yeah?”  

“Don’t tell Marco, okay?”

“What, that I’m meeting you?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“You’ll understand when we talk.”

She frowned. She didn’t like keeping things from Marco but she had a feeling Gian was in trouble so she didn’t want to say no to him. Also she reasoned that she probably wouldn’t speak to Marco before then anyway, so she agreed. “Okay” she said. “See you later.”

“Bye Jess and thanks.”

Jess hung up and sat staring into space.

It was the office manager, Kylie’s voice that brought Jess’s focus back into the room. The desks of the two women occupied the same work space of the purpose built, free standing office building in an outer city suburb. Jess’s desk was situated in an alcove in front and to the right of the reception desk. Her desk faced the other one so the two women could see each other, but a piece of wall shielded Jess from view of anyone entering from the street.  The alcove had three walls with her desk filling part of the open void that would have been the fourth wall. On the right hand wall that Jess’s desk butted up against, and further along, in line with the reception desk, sat the door to John Gorman’s office. He was the owner and of the agency and boss to both women. 

When Jess had first started work at the agency there had been no room in the office used by the other detectives so her boss had set her up in the only space available. In the main she still preferred it to the larger office that was situated to the left and behind where Kylie sat. This office housed the six other male detectives employed by the agency. The main reason for Jess’s preference was that behind her desk was an external corner of the building which was constructed of floor to ceiling one way glass. This gave her a view out to the street and great natural light. The internal office the men all shared had no windows. Also out where she was, she had her own space, even if it wasn’t completely private. In the larger office she’d have had a desk of her own but everything else would have been shared. So despite Kylie being the initial point of contact for the public, meaning her phone rang often and clients arrived and left via her desk, Jess had chosen to remain where she was even when the main office was extended and a spot had become available for her.

“Everything okay Jess?” Kylie asked.

Jess smiled over at the pretty, dark haired girl in her early twenties. Kylie Spencer had kind blue eyes and a warm smile and was always willing to help anyone.  She’d started out as a temp but had fitted in so well she’d taken on the job permanently and now the office couldn’t run without her. “Thanks Kylie” Jess said “I’m good.” Jess still couldn’t believe the difference it made having such a lovely person to work with again. Their last receptionist, Chelsea, had seen her and all other women only as competition and had made Jess’s life as difficult as she could. In a traditional male industry, where they were the only two women employed by the company, it made life so much easier now Kylie worked there and they got along so well.

“Okay” Kylie said with a smile. “Let me know if I can help.”

“I will thanks. “

Jess turned back and tried to work but her mind kept wondering to Gian. She was worried about what was going on with him. He’d sounded distracted and upset on the phone. What gave her further concern was that it was her he’d asked for help. They were good friends but she hoped it wasn’t in her professional capacity that he needed her assistance. If it was, it was bound to be messy. Very few people employed a private investigator for a good reason, it was nearly always bad. She sighed and looked at the time. Four thirty, only an hour to go and then she’d know. With determination this time she pushed Gian’s problems aside and finished typing up the report she’d been working on. 

Three quarters of an hour later Jess gathered the files she wanted to take home, locked the rest away and switching off her computer she knocked on her boss’s door and stuck her head in, “I’m out of here John, see you Monday.”

“Have a good weekend Jess” John Gorman said looking up from the file open on his desk. Her boss was a tall man in his fifties and as usual he was wearing an open neck shirt, untucked over a pair of suit pants. He rarely wore a jacket and never wore a tie. His dark hair, while having developed a little more grey in it in recently, much like the light beard he wore, was still thick and showed no signs of receding. He was a kind man but with a mouth that was curled up in a habitual smirk he was often assumed to be arrogant. However this was at odds with his soft brown eyes that denoted his true personality. 

Jess liked and respected her boss and she smiled at him. “You too, see you.”

John held up a hand and then turned back to his work.

Jess retreated and closed the door. She turned to Kylie. “Have a great weekend Kylie.”

“Thanks Jess” the other woman replied “you too. Bye.”

“See you Monday” Jess said and after sticking her head into the other office to say good bye to the staff still there, she walked out.

Chapter 2

In the car park Jess locked her files in the cargo compartment below the seat of her motor bike and then pulling on her helmet, she threw her leg over the seat. Her Harley started at the first attempt and roared into life beneath her, kicking up the stand she rode out of the car park. Jess loved her bike. She had owned the black Harley for a number of years now and wouldn’t trade it for any car. It gave her a sense of freedom she hadn’t found anywhere else and it was well suited to her job, giving her an ease of movement a car often couldn’t provide.

Even though she hadn’t heard of the bar Gian had mentioned, when Jess had looked it up before leaving the office she found it was only a few streets away and she arrived with plenty of time to spare. But when she walked into busy bar she saw that Gian was already there and by the look of the empty glasses in front of him, he’d started drinking without her.

He got to his feet as she approached the table. He wasn’t drunk, she didn’t think, but judging by his slowed movements, he wasn’t far from it. This didn’t dispel her fears any. She’d never seen Gian like this before, some of his brothers, yes, but not Gian. It was out of character for him. She’d never seen him have more than one glass of wine and she knew by looking at him, he wasn’t drinking for pleasure. “I see you started without me” she said with a smile, hoping he’d make a joke and it would all be alright.

He didn’t return her smile and as they both sat down he said “what do you want to drink?”

“I think you’ve had enough for both of us” she teased, still trying to ward off the foreboding feeling of disaster she had.

Gian’s eyes blazed, “I haven’t had nearly bloody enough.”

“Okay” Jess said with a frown, wanting to snap him out of it, “whatever the problem is, that’s not going to help and we’re not going to be able to talk if you’re drunk, so either you stop and I get us both a coffee or I’m leaving.”

Gian closed his eyes for a minute, but not before she saw the abject sadness in them. When he opened them again he looked at her and the despair reflected there broke her heart. He said “I’m sorry Jess, please don’t go. I’ll have a coffee.”

She nodded and getting to her feet went up to the bar to order. As she waited to be served she watched Gian. He was looking out the window, but she got the feeling he wasn’t seeing anything of what was going on in the street. Gian was very like his older brother in looks, tall, dark and gorgeous, with thick brown hair, dreamy brown eyes and olive skin, but he lacked the confidence that oozed from every pore of Marco’s being. Of all Marco’s brothers she was closest to Gian.

Even though Jess and Marco had only been together for a little over a year, she had known his family for about six years. Marco’s parents, Tony and Anna Santini ran a small Italian restaurant on the corner of the lane where the apartment she shared with Marco was situated. It had been her home before Marco had moved in and she had eaten in the restaurant often in the preceding five years.

 Tony and Anna who lived above the restaurant with only their youngest son TJ still at home had made her feel like one of the family and if she came in on her own would make sure one member of the family or another would keep her company while she ate. So with the other boys as frequent visitors to the restaurant, over the years she had shared dozens meals with them. Some more than others though. And while Gian was one she’d seen little of in the first few years she knew the family, since beginning a relationship with Marco she had often talked to him at family events and of the four, she found it was him she had the most in common with.

Gian was different from the majority of his brothers in temperament. He was quieter; more reserved and had already been engaged when she met him.  Nikki the second youngest was probably the most like him. Nikki had been married already when she first met the Santini’s and with his wife Stella had become parents to twin boys within the first year of their marriage. Gian was married ten months after she became acquainted with the family.

In contrast Marco; Dom, the middle son; and TJ the youngest, were all more outgoing, more sociable. The two older brothers had been major party boys when she’d first met them. Neither of them was interested in marriage or even a long term relationship. They lived for the next party and the next woman and never had any trouble finding either. And while things had changed now with both men giving up their single lifestyle, Marco to move in with her and Dom, when he met and more recently became engaged to Sarah, they still exuded an easy charm and confidence. So too did TJ, who had taken up where his older brothers had left off. Despite him being only eighteen, Jess had already witnessed him feeling the worse for wear after a big night out and he’d had more girlfriends than she could count.

As the second eldest, she couldn’t help but feel that Gian had suffered from growing up in Marco’s shadow. Even though Nikki was quiet like Gian, being fourth born he’d had more examples to emulate, including Gian himself. So for him there wouldn’t have been such a direct comparison to anyone in particular and as such it didn’t appear to have dented his confidence in the same way.

Moving back to the table with their coffee, Jess dispensed with small talk and got straight to the point. She said “okay tell me what’s going on?”

Gian reached across the table and clasped her hand. His grip was almost painful as he said “I need your help.”

“With what?” she said placing her other hand over his, trying to offer some comfort.

He was silent for a minute and then took a shuddering breath and said “it’s Kaylee.”

Jess raised her eyebrows. Kaylee was Gian’s wife. Married for over five years, they were yet to have any children. “What about her?” she said in a quiet tone, fearing the answer.

“I think she’s seeing someone.”

And there it was. Jess wanted to swear. She took a deep breath and said “okay start at the beginning. What makes you think that?”

Gian sighed, “lots of things, little things mostly.”

“Like what?” she asked.

“She’s become more and more distant. We hardly talk anymore and when we do she snaps at me and we end up arguing. She spends all her time texting, but keeps her phone locked like she has something to hide. She changed the hours she works so she has two afternoons off a week. She didn’t even tell me. I rang her at work one day and she wasn’t there. They told me her hours had changed. I felt like an idiot. I’m her husband and I didn’t even know something as basic as that. When I asked her about it, she was furious. She accused me of checking up on her and told me she didn’t have to account for what she did with her day to me. Jess I’ve never questioned her about what she does. I wouldn’t have now. I didn’t care that she worked less, I was just surprised.”

“Is that it?”

“No” he said looking away.

Jess didn’t prompt him. She could see he was struggling.

After a couple of minutes he said “we haven’t had sex for months.”

“I take it that isn’t your choice.”

He shook his head and looked at her, “I love my wife Jess. I’m as in love with her as the day I married her.”

She sighed. “Have you asked her about it?”

“I’ve tried, but it always ends in an argument and we get nowhere.”

“Do you want me to talk to her?”

“No, I don’t think she’d respond well to knowing I’d talked to you about it but I need to know for sure one way or the other. I don’t want to accuse her if there’s nothing going on, she’d never forgive me.”

“Gian if you’re asking me to investigate her, I can’t do it.”

“Please Jess” he said “I don’t know what else to do, this is killing me.”

                                                                        Chapter 3

“Do you understand the position you’re putting me in?” she said “you want me to investigate Marco’s sister in law, someone I have to sit across the dinner table from. How can I do that? She’d never forgive me, nobody in your family would.”

“Please Jess” he said getting up and moving around the table to sit next to her. “I can’t take it anymore. If it’s a bad as I fear, I need to know. This suspicion is eating away at us. Even if there is nothing going on, soon there won’t be anything left to save.”

Jess looked away. He looked like his heart was breaking and it caused her pain to witness it. But how was she going to do this and not hurt everybody? She wanted to scream. Blowing out her breath she turned back to look at Gian. “Couldn’t you do it yourself?” she said in a last ditch effort to stop the inevitable.

“Follow her you mean?” he said. “She’d spot me. I know she would. You do this for a living, she’d never know if you did it.”

Jess sighed. She knew Kaylee would probably know eventually and that’s when everything would fall apart. But how could she say no to Gian, she couldn’t just sit by and watch him suffer.  She sighed again and conceded, “okay, but I’ll only be able to do it when I can fit it in around work. I take it you don’t want me to make it an official job.”

“No” he said “and you can’t tell Marco.”

“Gian you can’t ask me that. I don’t keep things from him and not something like this. He’s going to be affected by it too. ”

“Please Jess. You can’t tell him, he’ll laugh at me” he said looking away.

“Come on Gian, he’s not going to laugh at you.”

“Why wouldn’t he” he asked as his eyes came back to meet hers. “My life’s a joke. It always has been.”

“Gian stop it. If it’s as bad as you think, if it is, it’s not your fault.”

“It must be somehow. It’s my marriage too. If she isn’t happy, it’s clear I’m doing something wrong. ”

“It’s not always that simple” Jess said “people make wrong decisions and anyway we don’t even know that something is going on yet. Don’t start assigning guilt until we know for sure there is any.”

“Okay” he said not looking at her. “But don’t tell Marco until then either. I’d rather not have to live with him knowing I made a complete fool of myself suspecting my wife of something that wasn’t even happening.”

She sighed. She didn’t like it, but for his sake, she agreed “okay, but only until we know one way or the other.”

Gian reached out and pulled her into his arms. His emotional state meant his grip was crushing. She hugged him back and as they moved apart he kissed her cheek. “Thank you.”

“No worries” she said with a reassuring smile. “It’ll work out.”

“I hope so” he said looking away.

 Jess picked up her helmet and getting to her feet she put out a hand to help him up. She said “let’s get you a taxi. You can’t drive like this.”

He put his hand in hers and getting to his feet he said “thanks, I left my car at work.”

“Good thing you did” she said and still holding his hand Jess led him outside.