Chapter 3: Dying Thoughts

This meeting was overdue, Victoria knew it, but, she wasn't too happy to meet Gianni in public not even a year after the inquest on Daemon's death. She would have much preferred to meet him somewhere private where they could talk freely without the risk of being overheard but, Gianni had assured her there was no risk, and she trusted him enough to not question his judgment.

When she had answered the phone the night before, she had been surprised to hear Gianni's voice. They had talked last at Daemon's funeral, and it had been only a few words. He had said the past was dead, but that he would need to see her some time in the future because he had things to tell her. She had never found out what it is he wanted to talk to her about. Her family had arrived and when she'd turned back to talk to him he was gone.

Now Victoria was here, in front of the restaurant Gianni had chosen for their meeting, and she didn't know what to expect. What did Gianni want of her? Did he want to blackmail her into doing something for him? Would he remind her that she owed him her freedom? This past year had been good for her, she had regained her self-confidence and self-worth, but still, she was uneasy about meeting him without knowing beforehand what he wanted.

Oh well, here I am now. It can never be as bad as the uncertainty of not knowing what Gianni wants to talk to me about. Victoria took a deep breath, plastered a smile on her face and pushed open the restaurant's door with a veneer of confidence she hoped she could maintain. The tenebrosity surprised her, and she hoped it wasn't an indication of what Gianni wanted from her. She took a moment to allow her eyes to adjust before asking the Maitre D. to show her to her party.

He showed her to a private room in the back of the restaurant and she saw Gianni hadn't arrived yet. Victoria was glad for the reprieve, but she couldn't help but wonder if it wasn't some kind of game on Gianni's part to let her stew a while before making his 'grand entrance'. The uncertainty was taking its toll on her nerves, and she didn't like what that sick feeling in the pit of her stomach was telling her.

Gianni arrived a few minutes later and one look at Victoria told him she wasn't happy to be there. He didn't want to be there either but he knew the things he had to tell her couldn't wait any longer.

He made sure to make some noise so she wouldn't be startled when he sat in front of her, however, she was so lost in thought she didn't even notice his arrival until he put his hand on hers to draw her attention.

"Oh... Gianni. You scared me. I didn't hear you come in." Victoria put her hand over her heart. She could feel it beating a mile a minute.

"Hello, Victoria. I'm glad you agreed to meet me on such short notice." Gianni knew he'd have to tread very carefully. Victoria looked like she would crawl out of her skin any minute.

They made small talk for a while, each saying how good the other looked, how nice the weather was. They talked about their respective children; anything to try and ease the tension that had grown between them.

After their meal had been served and their wine poured, the serving staff left the room, making sure to close the door behind them. Gianni knew he couldn't postpone their talk any longer, but he made a conscious effort not to appear overeager to start it either. He didn't want to scare Victoria away before she had heard everything he had to say to her. If she never wanted to talk to him after what he had to say was another thing, but, for now he needed to stay focused and tell her the whole truth about that fateful night a year ago.

Victoria took the decision away from him when she said, "Okay, now we're alone, there aren't any witnesses. What do you want from me? Why did you summon me here today?" She couldn't believe she had said that! How could she sound so self-assured when she was so afraid inside?

For a moment, Gianni was speechless. He would have expected anything from Victoria but not this. Oh my God! She thinks I asked her to meet me here today so I can blackmail her!

Gianni sipped his wine in an attempt to cover his surprise and to allow him to recover his composure. Despite his hurt he smiled, looked into her eyes, and said, "I asked you here today, Victoria, because I have things to tell you. There are things you should know, about what happened after you left last year. I didn't have any motive in calling you other than to be able to tell you these things and I'm really sorry if my call last night has worried you."

Victoria gasped when she heard Gianni talk about last year. She thought she was over it, but it seemed the past was catching up to her. Nightmares had haunted her sleep nearly every night for a few weeks afterwards, until she reminded herself she wasn't responsible for the way Daemon had lived his life. She knew one day she and Gianni would need to talk about what had happened but it didn't make her happy to know it would be now and not later.

She lit up a cigarette to keep her hands and mind occupied for a moment, acutely aware of her surrounding; she focused on the billowing patterns the cigarette smoke was creating in the air. When she looked at Gianni, her mind was set. They would talk about it today and then bury the past for good.

"What's there to talk about, Gianni? I killed a human being that night!" Victoria was intent on not crying, even though remembering made her sick to her stomach.

"That's where you're wrong, Vickie. You didn't kill anyone." He didn't know if he should tell her everything he had heard that night, but seeing the extent of her guilt made him think that maybe it would help her get rid of it if he did.

Gianni was about to continue talking when Victoria said, "When the police showed up at my parents' place that night, they told me something had happened to Daemon, and that I should come. I didn't know what to expect, and seeing the state of the house was a shock to me. Daemon was still tied up in the chair, there was a porn movie playing on the TV and the house looked like it had been ransacked. All the electronic equipment was gone, the computers were missing, and the bedroom looked as if a tornado had gone through it, my jewellery was missing and Daemon was dead. The police said they thought Daemon had had a party turn bad and he had been killed. I didn't need to fake the breakdown I had that night. When I left, the house was in perfect condition and to come back to that was quite a shock.

Gianni knew all about the state of the house — after all, he was the one who had created such a mess - but seeing it through Victoria's recollection of the night, he could understand why she would be so upset.

Taking another sip of wine, Victoria kept on, "The police wanted to know what time I had left the house. I had to tell them I had left Daemon for good that night, citing irreconcilable difference as the reason for calling it quits. They questioned the attendant where I filled up the car that night. They questioned my parents as to my state of mind when I arrived at their place. Lucky for me, my parents had guests that night and they all confirmed that I had arrived with my suitcase filled with clothes for the kids and me and nothing else. The police said Daemon had died at or around 1:00 AM and by then time I was in bed sleeping with the kids."

Gianni was certain he knew what the next question from Victoria would be and he was prepared for it. He took a small voice recorder out of his suit pocket and put it on the table, ready to be used.

"What you're about to hear are Daemon's last moments, Victoria. I didn't know I would use my voice recorder and tape what he had to say, but I'm glad I did and when you're done listening I'm sure you will be too. It will also explain why you left the house at 11:30 and Daemon only died at 1:00. I know I should have told you sooner, but you needed time to heal and forget. When you're done listening we will destroy that tape and the subject won't ever come up again, deal?"

Victoria looked like a deer caught in headlights. She wanted to hear Daemon's last words but she was scared of how she would react. She took a deep breath, "Daemon's last night is on that? How... why... when... ?"

She didn't know what she was trying to say but Gianni seemed to understand perfectly as he said, "Everything that you should know is on this. I've edited long silences, sighs and groans. I didn't think you'd want to hear him... uh... well... so I deleted that part too."

Victoria remained silent for a few moments, she needed to be sure she'd be able to listen to the tape and not break down. While reaching for the 'play' button, she thought back to how loud the shot rang out that fateful night, and how happy and free she had suddenly felt when she had closed 'that' door. She gulped the remainder of her wine, signalling Gianni to pour some more in her glass, and then she pressed 'play'.

The first thing Victoria heard was the last thing Gianni had said to Daemon before she had heard the gunshot.

The gunshot on the tape was so loud, Victoria was sure someone would call the police, so she pressed 'pause' and waited. When nobody came after a while she resumed listening, making sure the volume wasn't too high this time.

"What the fuck!! Are you crazy, you shot me!"

"Yeah and the next one will be your spleen if you don't start talking. Why, Daemon, just explain to me why.

"Why? You wanna know why? Because I could! Why shouldn't I? I'm entitled to everything I took, women fall in my lap like flies on honey. I'd be pretty stupid to not take everything I'm owed huh?"

"Entitled to steal from my business?... Entitled to my wife?"

"Why not your wife? Why not your business? I helped get it off the ground; it was there for the taking. I simply took it that's all. Your wife has always looked down her nose at me. I never was good enough for her... or you. Well, I showed the bitch how good I was; she squealed like a pig once I loosened her inhibitions a bit by getting her drunk. I showed her that she was just another cunt for me to fuck.

I did you a service by loosening her up a bit. I'm sure she's not such a tight ass anymore, huh? You never would have found out if Victoria, the late Victoria soon, if I have any say in it, hadn't grown herself a brain and found my hiding place."

"Let me see if I have this right. You abused my wife because she didn't fall on her knees worshipping your greatness? You stole from me because you had the opportunity? Is that what you're saying?"

"You bet that's what I'm saying! Who does she think she is, not acknowledging what all other women have seen? I am God's gift to women, I can have any bitch I want and I put her in her place that's all. The money was there for the taking, you've never asked me how much I was putting in the safe."

"Fuck, listen to yourself for a minute! Do you really believe all the bullshit coming out of your mouth? I always knew you were an arrogant ass, but I never thought it ran that deep.

I don't understand Daemon, we've always been friends. I thought our business association was okay with you. What happened? I thought you were happy with your wife. "

"Who would have thought that my brain-dead wife would look through a system folder in her computer and even realize what she was looking at? Wonders never cease huh?

"What happened? You want to know what happened. I'll tell you what happened! When I met Victoria, she was a firecracker dressed as a mouse. I thought I could shape her to what I wanted, I knew it would take some time, but I was sure I could transform her into the slut I wanted. And, in the meantime, I could keep having some pussy on the side — which she also provided to me with all those gorgeous friends of hers who were just waiting for me to pluck them out -- while I was shaping her into what she was destined to be. Oh, I did transform her alright... yeah when we were alone she was a slut, the best whore I could wish for, but as soon as we were out of the bedroom, the mouse would come back.

Who would want a mouse when they can have a horny slutty whore to fuck, huh? I tried to talk her into sucking and fucking other cock. Fuck, man, I swear to you, even you would have given your soul to have her suck and fuck you if she would have agreed. The girl is a natural, she could suck the juice out of you better than a Hoover, and can she fuck!! I wasn't joking or even trying to make her feel good when I said she was too good to keep to myself. But, noooo, Miss Prim and Proper wouldn't even think about it, so I had to resort to plan B and use my stash of other pussy to play around with.

That's also the reason why I fiddled with the books. I needed the money. Keeping those girls in good standing doesn't come cheap these days, and I couldn't really come to Vickie and tell her I needed the money, could I? At first, I thought I'd be able to put it back without you ever noticing it had been gone, but you never noticed it anyway, so I thought, why not keep it? It's not like I was taking it out of your kids' mouths, huh? You have more money than you need. I simply took some for my personal pleasure. If you weren't such a tight ass you'd see it's only normal to fuck as many women as you can buy. Fuck, man, you can't take it with you so why not use it before you croak."

"It's not normal! I refuse to believe it is. I respect women; I respect and love my wife too much to go around thinking it's just sex."

"I never laid a finger on Victoria, she's my wife and I love her but I need some variation, that doesn't mean I don't love or respect her does it? She's the mother of my children, my best friend and she's so intelligent... anybody would be happy to have her as a wife... don't get me wrong... I am happy... but when you're having a six course meal every night, sometimes all you want is a big fat juicy burger, no?

Why can't she understand that my fucking other women was only to protect her? I told plenty of people how good a lay she was, I even promised some people they could fuck her, and the bitch didn't want to! What was I supposed to do then? Just say, 'sorry guys, my mistake, my wife isn't for sharing'? I couldn't do that, I have only my word and my honour to uphold, so I did the next best thing... found pussies and cunt who would agree to have fun with my friends and I... and boy did we!"