Daughter of a Don

Betrayal

            Jenna had spent a lot of her summer watching Vinny play and taking him to the park. It had gotten so she hardly ever saw Veronica anymore. Veronica didn’t come home most days. She always had some lame excuse. Jenna assumed her father could see through it, just as Jenna could. But he didn’t seem to care nor be bothered by the fact that she was never there, and he didn’t seem to care who she was with or what she was doing. He didn’t seem to have any interest in her anymore. Jenna had noticed that her father had gotten more and more distant from Veronica over the past several months so it was no surprise to her when he told her that he would be getting divorced. He reassured Jenna that she had nothing to worry about when it came to Vinny that he would be staying right where he was, with them. That put Jenna’s mind at ease. She couldn’t imagine her life without Vinny in it and she didn’t want to. She loved her brother. Thinking back, she couldn’t believe that she had ever considered not trying to be part of his life, but she had been right about not wanting to be part of Veronica’s life, and she still didn’t want anything to do with her. Yet, she figured dealing with Veronica had been a necessary evil to have Vinny in her life, so she accepted that. Jenna saw Veronica come to the house shortly after her father had told her about the divorce. She assumed it was to get her stuff. She never even tried to see Vinny while she had been there, which didn’t surprise Jenna, instead it actually relieved her. Her father had let her leave with several items but what appeared to be her personal belongings. Jenna figured her father had chosen not to fight with her over anything because it wasn’t worth his time.

                A couple of weeks had passed since Veronica had come for her stuff and everything seemed like it was business as usual. Her father had been doing his own thing as he typically did and Jenna hers, which included Vinny. Jenna missed her weekly talks with her father given she had become accustom to making them and actually having conversations with her father, which hadn’t really happened recently, not since the divorce. It continued that way until the next week when her father came to her room late one night and told her that he needed to ask something of her, that he hated to because he knew it wasn’t her responsibility and he wanted her to know that it was for her and Vinny’s own good, and that she was not allowed to ask any questions, or know anything about the reasoning or the circumstances until later. Jenna trusted her father and agreed to comply with whatever he wanted of her. He explained that he would be sending her and Vinny away for a while, but that Ms. Kessler would be coming with them to help her and to care for Vinny as well. Jenna took comfort in knowing that Ms. Kessler would be coming along. She was the closest thing to family she had ever had besides her friends. He told her that he couldn’t tell her when but it would be soon and no one was to know about it and that the location would not disclosed until they actually boarded the plane and they would not know where they were to be going once they arrived and went to the back and got the safe deposit box that he would have set up for her, and once they got the information from the box they would get the address and information necessary for them to be safe there. He told her not to pay attention to any of the names on any of the documents and Ms. Kessler would be given the assumed name that the safe depoit box was under at the bank. Jenna didn’t fully grasp why any of this was necessary, but she didn’t ask questions as her father had asked. He told her it was best for her to know as little as possible for her safety.

                Since Jenna didn’t know when they would need to leave, she packed a bag and kept it ready. She knew that Ms. Kessler had done the same for herself and Vinny as well.  Jenna wondered where they would be going and for how long. She wondered if this meant that her college plans would need to be put on hold. She would do what she needed to, or what her father asked of her. She knew he must be asking for a good reason. He had never put her in danger before and she couldn’t imagine that he would now, but she did worry about his safety and what he would be doing. Jenna spent the next few days as she usually did. It wasn’t until the end of the week that they were told it was time to go and it had been in the middle of the night. Jenna, Ms. Kessler, and Vinny all boarded a red eye and set for whatever destination her father had set up. He never told Jenna where that was and neither did anyone else. Jenna assumed that Ms. Kessler knew but she didn’t ask because she wasn’t sure if she was supposed to know given her father’s earlier instructions. Her father had chartered a private jet. The flight had been incredibly long. And once they got off the plane, they were met by a man that said that he had been hired by her father to take them to the island. Jenna hadn’t known anything about any island that her father had ever been to, but she supposed there were probably many things that she didn’t know about her father. Ms. Kessler boarded the boat, so Jenna did as well. She figured she could trust doing so since Ms. Kessler had, and Jenna believed that Ms. Kessler was privy to their destination. They road n the boat for what seemed like quite a long time before coming upon an island that had white sand beaches and palm trees. As they walked through the sand, they soon came to a path that lead through the trees and eventually came upon a house that had been obscured by the trees. Jenna figured that anyone passing by wouldn’t see the house. She guessed this was why her father had chosen it. When they went in the house it was fully furnished and fully stocked with groceries and there was a large walk in pantry overflowing with things. And the rooms already had several things that they had in their other house, all the comforts of home. It seemed that everything had been thought of. From what Jenna had seen they could all stay there for several months without ever needing to go for more supplies. She wondered if that was the plan.

                It didn’t take long to get settled in since everything was already there. Jenna didn’t remember when she had been so relaxed. She was truly enjoying herself and Vinny and Ms. Kessler seemed to be doing well and be happy as well. That made Jenna even more happy. But then they were watching the news one night and she saw something that was unthinkable. There had been a picture of the charred remains of what used to be their home, and the caption stated that there were no survivors. In fact, it said that there was very little left of the remains, due to the explosion and the intensity of the fire. Jenna’s eyes welled up with tears and she looked to Ms. Kessler for affirmation. But Ms. Kessler returned the same blank look that she had. However, Ms. Kessler did try to comfort Jenna by explaining that they hadn’t talked to her father or received any official word so they would try to just take it one day at a time. And that was what they did.  It did cross Jenna’s mind from time to time, but she just went on as usual and tried to think that she didn’t normally see her father most days, this was no different. A few months passed and they still had no heard anything and there had been a burial service for her father and the few other men that had been at the house that night. Jenna, Vinny, and Ms. Kessler didn’t go to the services which hurt Jenna, but she knew it was for her own good. Ms. Kessler had said that her father had hidden them away for a reason and that they should stay hidden. Jenna knew that what Ms. Kessler said made sense and agreed to stay, but she did long to go. She wished she could have gone to say her good byes, but he would have to just hope that her father knew she loved him and would miss him because she could not risk their safety, then everything that her father had done to keep them safe would have been for nothing. He must have known that there was a threat. Jenna wished that she had begged her father to come when he told her about having them leave, but she hadn’t and there was nothing that could be done about that now.  

                The days drug by almost painfully for the few months after her fathers death, but before long things got more normal and they started back to their daily routines and Jenna had started classed at the University she had chosen via on line classes for now, at least until she could make sure that it would be safe to go to the university in person. The last things she wanted to do was put anyone, including herself at risk. She didn’t know what had happened with her father, who had done it, or even if she would be a target but she couldn’t take that chance. She needed to make sure that Vinny would have her around for a long time. That night Jenna and Vinny had turned in early and Ms. Kessler had set to cleaning up the kitchen from dinner. Jenna had been awoken in the middle of the night by a noise but when she looked out her window, she didn’t see anything, and the alarm had never gone off, so she assumed things were fine. It took her a long while to go back to sleep but eventually she did. She woke up the next morning and made her way to the kitchen for breakfast. She could smell bacon and what smelled like pancakes. She loved the smell, but it did remind her of her father. He had loved pancakes and even made them for her from time to time when she had been little. When she walked into the kitchen Jenna couldn’t believe what she was seeing. She had to rub her eyes and do a double take. Vinny was sitting at the table, along with Ms. Kessler, and their father! He turned to see Jenna come into the kitchen and gave her his hundred watt smile and came to her and gave her a hug. Jenna wasn’t sure what to say. She was speechless, but also overrun with emotions, that included happiness and befuddlement. Her father promised to explain everything but not until they all enjoyed their breakfast. He told her that they would have plenty of time for it.

                After breakfast Jenna joined her father and Ms. Kessler and Vinny in the living room. Jenna couldn’t remember her father ever sitting on the couch or him wearing jeans and tee shirt, but he was doing both. The thought made Jenna smile even wider. Vinny seemed to be happy to have their father there as well and their father was actually playing with him! Jenna knew that he had loved them, but he never really had interacted with them that way before. Jenna could see the adoration for Vinny practically spewing from her father, and she felt the same thing when he looked at her. She couldn’t remember the last time she had seen her father look so happy. She hoped it wouldn’t be short lived. She hoped things would stay that way, but she had never known her father to stay that way for long. Jenna hoped this time was different. Her father seemed different. He didn’t seem to be distracted by anything as he usually was. He seemed free. Jenna had only been lucky enough to see that side of him a few times when she was younger. She didn’t remember the last time she had seen it, but it had been years ago. After they had all settled into the living room her father did as he said he would. He explained everything. He had explained that he had known that something was afoot a few days before he had explained to Jenna that she would be needing to go away. But at that time, he had not known the extent of it. He later learned that there was a bounty on his head. He knew that his rival had planned to try to take him out. Jenna had known that there was turf war going on between her father and his rival, Jonas Russo. Her father went on to say that the plan had been put into place a while ago. He said that all the time that Veronica had been going out and the nights that she hadn’t come home she had been shacked up with Jonas Russo. Veronica and Jonas had tried to use it to their advantage to get intel on her father and to plot against him. But he had gotten word of it and figured out her game before it was able to be brought to light. But since they couldn’t get what they needed to do any damage they decided to just get rid of him all together. So, when he realized what they were up to he decided to use it to his advantage. He figured that if everyone thought he was dead it would be the perfect opportunity to start over, and to be the father that he had always wanted to be. He explained to Jenna there was no reason not to try to do it as they would have everything they could ever possibly need and he had already made arrangements for Jenna’s education to be paid for and he had plenty for them to not just get by on, but for them to continue with their lavish life styles. He had even figured to pay for Ms. Kessler’s salary for the rest of their lives as well. Although Ms. Kessler stated that she would have stayed even if he hadn’t figured for it. Jenna surmised as much because Ms. Kessler was family after all.