3 C.R.I.M.E.S

Chapter 2

Jacqueline POV

My mum sat across from me.

"Jacky," she began as she brought the wine flute to her lips, "tell me what's going on with you and Joseph?"

Her tone was...boujee. Her everything was boujee. It wasn't always like this. Matter of fact growing up, we had a tough life.

My mum worked three jobs and tried to take care of 4 kids alone. We always moved around or stayed with one of her friends until it resulted in us staying with her parents (my grandparents).

Their house was small but we fit, we had to make do with what little we had.

My older brother, the oldest child, Quinn, was a troublemaker for lack of better words. He would steal and sell drugs just so that we could have something to eat or a little extra money to buy new clothes.

Wendy was the second child, she was smart and no doubt destined for greatness. She worked really hard as well, she had a job as a cashier at McDonald's so she could bring in a little extra cash. Sometimes Quinn would get arrested or get himself into tricky situations and she'd have to go and bail him out or go searching for him at strange hours of the night.

Even with all the struggles, she was what you’d call the perfect student with straight A’s. She was determined to provide us all with a better life. She was offered a fully paid scholarship for medicine to go study at Stanford and to say we were all so excited would be an understatement. She was our ray of hope but in order to actually see the benefits, we had to wait just a little bit longer.

Then came me, the third child, I was never the smartest in school but I got by. I had to get a job after Wendy moved out for college so I went ahead and replaced her at McDonald's. Soon after, I too left home to go and study forensics at a local university.

The youngest, Idris, was another who was destined for greatness. I don't know where exactly he got his brains from but he was really smart, sometimes even smarter than Wendy. He got in for engineering but the finances weren't enough, we didn't have enough to pay the full fee.

It just so happened that a year later, I met Joseph. It was like my life did a complete 180° turn. Everything I was used to was thrown off its axis. Even when I kept rejecting him, he was there, relentlessly pursuing me. Doing things for me that no one ever did and it upset me to an extent, but he didn't seem care.

I guess you could say he not only changed my life, but he changed the lives of my family members as well. The minute we got engaged, he had volunteered to pay for all the expenses for Idris’ tuition.

He bought not just a house, but a mansion for my mother. She dreamt of owning one in Malibu and he gave her just that. A separate one was built for my grandparents. All of their finances, he would take care of, he paid for their everything, they even had servants, butlers, drivers, you name it!

He took Quinn under his wing, nothing major, just connected him to the big underdogs who owned everything in Atlanta. This opened new doors for Quinn, he's some gangsta now, living in the rich part of Atlanta. All this was possible because of Joseph.

Wendy, whenever she needed anything he made sure she'd gotten it without any hassles, she loved Joseph. Sometimes I think she loved him more than she loved me.

Joseph took my poor little family and turned us into a powerful, rich and highly influential family. My mum's luxurious life made the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills look poor and degraded.

I sighed, "I want a divorce, ma."

"Why?" She asked me, flipping her long curly expensive Brazilian weave.

"I don't want Natalya to grow up in this kind of life. It’s dangerous. He's always away for long periods of time. Wherever she goes she's never really free, like a real child should be, she’s always surrounded by guards and all that," I said as I leaned forward waving for the waitress to make her way to us, "about three months back I even seen Joseph showing her a gun and having her hold it."

My mum paused as the waitress came over and I ordered another drink.

I looked at my mum as she looked across the room and held the stare of a certain man sitting in the back.

Looking at her now you'd never think she struggled for a long period of life, but she did.

She used to be bald, shaved her hair because it was too much stress and her weight was a constant fluctuation due to the struggle. Her complexion was dull and drained of any life and her posture was of a frail woman that had just given up.

But now, she looked like a million dollars. Her hair was done by the most expensive and professional stylists. Stylists that were fully booked by A list celebrities. Her make up, flawless. Her nails were long but elegant and tasteful instead of tacky looking.

Her posture prim, proper and nothing short of perfect. She wore a stunning lace ensemble, which I'm sure she bought from some designer store in the streets of Paris.

"Honey," she faced me again, and I looked at her, "this all comes with the lifestyle. A price must be paid."

"Did he talk to you?" I raised a well groomed brow at her.

"Yes, he called me yesterday and told me everything," she nodded.

"Just listen to me, Jacky, this isn't any easier for him. He's losing his wife and daughter and you know you both are his world. He's doing all this for you..." She paused, "he doesn't have a choice, he can't leave this life. But look at all it's done for you. You're living life to the fullest baby, your daughter is living the best life she could have, she goes to Disney world as though it's just going to the bathroom."

I sighed, leaning back, bringing my drink to my lips, "I know, ma. It's just...I'm always worried. This life is dangerous, any minute now any one of us could get a bullet in the head and I don't want Natalya to live in constant fear."

She nodded understanding, "he doesn't want that too. That's why she's always protected and he'll even teach her to protect herself. You see, Natalya is just like her father and she loves him and you. She needs her parents together. Her life is already so complicated, so let at least one thing be normal..."

I looked down at my hands. Joseph was slick, I’d give him that, he knew if he got my mother to talk to me she'd somehow convince me.

"But that doesn't mean you make it easy for him," she pointed out, a smile on her face as she clasped her hands together, "make him beg, make him grovel and cry."

I laughed at that, "ma, there's just something about you."

"He's already willing to do so much. He even signed up for couples counselling or some s**t like that...I think you should go and wait, before you talk just listen," she held up her hand at me, "you know Joseph has a lot of pride, and that means that doing just that and admitting that 'ok, we've got a problem, let's go for counselling' is a huge step for him. He's trying, Jacky, at least just go for this. Get whatever you need to say off your chest. Clear your feelings and then when it's all done, and you still fear or there's no spark or whatever, then you're free to leave....oh, just make sure he doesn't take away my house and all."

"Ma..." I whined like a baby.

"Oh shush girl, you're lucky I didn't just say that all this dispute can be resolved by a three night straight s*x affair," she said with a pout.

I immediately blocked my ears, ew.

She laughed, "what? s*x solves everything in a marriage."

"Oh my god ma, seriously shut up."

"So, should I tell him you said yes to the counselling thing?" She asked me.

"... yeah."

"Fantastic, you won't regret it."

~~~

"So, yeah, that's that," I said looking into the faces of my two best friends on face time as I relayed to them what's happened today.

"Wow, uhm I'm real surprised that he wants to go for counselling...." Galina said softly.

Galina is Russian and yes, she's a part of the mafia as well. In fact she's my personal bodyguard. She's as dangerous as they come. I do trust her, though whenever Joseph and I fight she always tells him what I said and vice versa.

I know she does it because technically he is her boss and like everybody else in the mafia, they strongly believe that their boss needs to be happy and have a lady by his side. And when the lady is unhappy then so is the boss, therefore so is the mafia. It’s a vicious cycle.

They just want Joseph and I to be happy. Simple.

"Aww, I find that sweet," says my girl, Tasha. She and I go way back, to those college days and broke nights.

She's my go to girl. Joseph took care of her as well. He bought her a house, not even as grand as Quinn's (and he's got like the 'simplest' one from our family) but it's friggin gorgeous. If you were a well known CEO her place would be the perfect house.

I couldn't help the smile that formed on my face as we all squealed at the fact that big bad Joseph was putting his pride aside for me.

We spoke for a bit longer until we grew tired and ended the call on a peaceful note.

I made my way to the kitchen, glad that the cleaning staff cleaned the mess I made yesterday. Grabbing a bowl of cereal, I made my way back to the bedroom sitting on the bed as I switched on the TV. Going straight to one of my favorite shows, Catfish.

I heard my ringtone and saw my phone flashing on the nightstand. Groaning I went to grab it, already knowing it was Joseph I answered.

"Yes?"

"How was your day, detka?"

"It was fine, Joseph." I sighed.

"I took Natalya out today," he informed me.

"That's nice, what did you do?"

"We went shopping."

"...without me?" I fake gasped.

"She kept asking about you..." He trailed off.

"Oh...what did she say?"

"She asked where you were and when you're coming back...we need to fix this detka."

I sighed, "but Joseph..."

"But nothing. Our first appointment is tomorrow night, I set up a flight for you, you're coming back to Russia. Don't make me come get you," he abruptly cut the call.

~~~