“You honestly feel this is the only way?” Father asked Mark.
“I do, but I don’t like it either,” Mark admitted. “I think by now you’ve come to understand how much Mitch means to me, so I am not taking this situation lightly.”
“I do know how much you care,” my father replied to Mark.
He would have to have been blind not to see the way my relationship with Mark evolved in the past few months. With Estelle still pouting in Switzerland, Mark and I had been spending a lot of our evenings with my dad while he recuperated from his wounds. The nights were spent watching action movies and eating pizza rather than the stuffy, formal crap I had grown accustomed to in that house.
We also spent a lot of time talking about my mom and the life he had wanted to share with her. He retrieved the photos of her from his home safe and gave them to me. Tears ran unchecked down my face when I saw the photos of her: smiling, happy, and looking so much in love with my father. The smile she gave me growing up was more tired and reserved because by that time she’d seen how harsh life could be and what happened to a girl when she dared to love outside her social status.
Still, I closed my eyes and imagined her soft voice as she read to me at bedtime and how she always told me I could be whatever I wanted to be when I grew up. “Sky’s the limit,” she’d say.
“I wish I had gone after her,” my father said to me one night. “Our lives would’ve been so different, Mitch.”
My father had often seemed lost in thoughts of happier times with my mom. Maybe it was his safe place to retreat to when things were so uncertain around us. I needed him to stay focused on the present because that was what would keep him safe and alive, which is what I told him the night we unveiled our plan to him.
“You’re right, Mitch,” he said as he walked us to the front door. “Just take your time and plan for every contingency.” He turned to Mark and placed his hand on his shoulder. “I’m counting on you, Mark. I’ve already lost so much…”
“You’re not going to lose Mitch.” His words were absolute, as was the conviction he wore on his face. “You have my word.” Mark was quiet for a long time on our way back to my house. “Does your father have multiple safes?” he asked, finally breaking the silence.
“I’m not really sure because I was made to feel more like an unwanted guest and not a part of the family. I know he has a safe in his office and I would suspect he’d have a safe for jewelry upstairs since Estelle likes to load herself down in jewels like royalty every time they go someplace.”
“Does Estelle have access to your dad’s safe in his office?” Before I could ask why, he said, “I’m just curious if Estelle knew about the photos Max kept of your mom. I mean,” he paused and shrugged, “it’s not like the two of them are in love with one another so maybe she doesn’t care, but…”
“It would still be a blow to her ego, so I’m guessing she didn’t have access to his office safe or they would’ve been destroyed and not displayed all over my house now,” I told him. “Are you still convinced Estelle is behind this?” Mark had been suspicious of her from the very beginning. He felt she had the most financial gain if both my father and I died.
“It usually always comes down to money or passion,” Mark said. “It’s the only thing that makes any sense.”
Our plan to go on with our lives like normal started in earnest the following week. Plans were underway for our vacation and in the meantime, Mark and I went on several public dates. We were subjected to events we didn’t want to attend like business dinners, but there were also fun dates like treating him, Vic, and Hammer to a few Dodgers games. These weren’t just your run of the mill seats either, it was our luxury suite. My guy and our friends were catered to and treated like royalty.
There were candlelit dinners at restaurants, days spent on my yacht, but all of that failed in comparison to just being able to hold his hand in public and acknowledge the love we shared between us. I loved a lot of the luxurious perks that came with my job title and money, but none of it was worth having if I couldn’t share it with Mark.
My absolute favorite date was one that Mark picked. I knew going in to our relationship that there would be times that I would have to do things his way so that he didn’t feel he was taking advantage of my wealth. One Sunday afternoon, he took me to play miniature golf. I could drive a golf ball almost four hundred feet on a professional course, but I couldn’t manage to get my bright blue golf ball through the obstacles on a course made for kids. Mark snatched a victory kiss after he slaughtered me and then he treated me to the best Mexican food I’d ever had. I ate until I nearly made myself sick, but the happiness in his eyes made it all worth it.
