Chapter 2

The drive to the marina was a blur. Michael didn' t remember how he got there, only the single, burning thought: Jessica.

He found the yacht easily enough, the music and laughter spilling onto the dock. He saw her, standing near the railing, David by her side. They were laughing.

He didn't go aboard. He couldn't.

He just stood in the shadows, watching.

David was still talking, his voice carrying over the water. "...such generosity, Jessica. Ryan is so lucky to have you. A true mother figure."

Jessica beamed. She touched David's arm.

Michael felt sick. A business meeting.

He pulled out his phone, his fingers clumsy. He dialed her number again. He watched her look at her phone, then glance around dismissively.

She answered, her voice a low hiss. "Michael, I told you, I'm busy. This is critical. Don't call again."

She hung up.

He saw her turn back to David, saw her smile.

Critical. Yes, it was critical.

He walked away from the glittering boat, from the sound of her laughter.

The official call came as he sat in his parked car, the engine cold. A police officer, polite, formal. Leo didn't make it.

Dead. His son was dead.

The words echoed in the small, dark space.

He drove home to their modest suburban house, the one he' d fixed up room by room. The house where Leo grew up.

It was too quiet. Empty.

He sat on Leo' s bed, surrounded by his son' s life – debate trophies, books, a worn guitar.

Hours later, he heard Jessica' s car in the driveway. He didn' t move.

She came in, her footsteps light on the stairs. He heard her on the phone, her voice hushed, in her bedroom.

He wasn' t trying to listen, but the words drifted through the thin wall.

It was David.

"...so grateful, Jess. He loves the condo. Just don' t worry about Michael. What if he finds out you' ve been 'slumming it' with him all these years?"

Jessica' s reply was soft, but clear. "He and Leo have always had my love. That' s enough. I' ll make it up to them financially when Ryan is settled in college."

Slumming it.

Michael closed his eyes. His love. That was supposed to be enough.

He stayed in Leo' s room.