property, holding us captive?”
“I ask the questions,” she claimed, taking control again. Aida sat on the modern wood coffee table in front of us. I winced at her bad manners and instantly reminded myself her whole behavior was incivility at its finest.
“Brady had it all planned out. He was going to encounter you one day by chance and reconnect with you in the name of old friends reminiscing, and he was going to court you into an affair. It would be easy for him, using the memory of your time together while your mother lay ill and needing his mother’s expert care, especially when your marriage to Benny was failing.” She spun the tale.
“Then what Brady? What event made you change your mind? Did your moral compass somehow realign and you decided to go after me instead? Was it easier to get in the pants of the CEO of Parisi than a lowly director of finance to get the business you desperately wanted?” She formulated. I really wanted to know the answer, but anything I said or asked could make her angrier.
“It was a strategy, Aida. Something you wouldn’t know about seeing as the extent of your experience was a job given to you by your ‘papi’,” he retorted. I bit my lip and lowered my eyes to shield me from the wrath I anticipated. Instead I heard an immense, guttural laugh. I shivered.
“What about Liberty Inn? Did you have something to do with my getting the job because you wanted the property?” I blurted out my question. He looked at me quizzically. The look in his face made me think he had nothing to do with it.
“Oh, he can’t get credit for that,” Aida said with a veiled giggle. We both looked at her. “I did it. A little computer magic Eric helped me with. He made it happen. I don’t even know how, but it was perfect, wasn’t it?” She said. “Tell her, Eric.”
He refused to answer, but when she turned to look at him, he relented. “It was simple. Liberty placed an ad for assistance. You created an alert on your account for a job search engine. I sent you the ad as an alert. And on their end I made sure they received no other job applications but yours. Quite simple, actually,” he smiled, thinking himself clever.
It was Aida who caused everything to fall in line just to get revenge on Brady. The realization was like a slap in the face. I felt sick.
“He wanted the property. He wanted you. I thought let’s see how we can get both of these things to happen. Eric had the means to make it so,” she revealed her hand.
All the while I blamed Brady, but it was Aida, who orchestrated everything for revenge. I felt so foolish and angry with her for interfering in our lives, but I had to suppress it. It was important for me and Brady to figure out a way to get out of this mess.
*****
The silence while processing all of the information helped me realize I’d been too quick to judge Brady and the rest of the Pentagon men without knowing the complete picture. I had no idea of Aida’s wickedness.
“When did you start planning all of this, Aida?” I asked softly, needing to know.
“When I discovered he was fixated on you and you were ousted from Parisi, I hired Eric to find out more about Brady. He tapped into his electronic communication systems, both business and personal, and retrieved all the pieces of information I needed to conclude he used me, wanted you and my business, and eventually Liberty for Pentagram. I’d known for some time.”
“But you sat on the information for a year and a half?” I asked. She was bidding her time. She’d been pretending to be dead for almost a year. “Why did you wait so long to execute your plan? I mean sooner than the kidnapping you’d attempted several weeks ago.” I asked.
“Haven’t you heard the little refrain about revenge being served cold? I very well couldn’t complete this so quickly when planning requires a lot of time. It hurts more when executed,” she emphasized ‘executed.’
“When did you start
“I ask the questions,” she claimed, taking control again. Aida sat on the modern wood coffee table in front of us. I winced at her bad manners and instantly reminded myself her whole behavior was incivility at its finest.
“Brady had it all planned out. He was going to encounter you one day by chance and reconnect with you in the name of old friends reminiscing, and he was going to court you into an affair. It would be easy for him, using the memory of your time together while your mother lay ill and needing his mother’s expert care, especially when your marriage to Benny was failing.” She spun the tale.
“Then what Brady? What event made you change your mind? Did your moral compass somehow realign and you decided to go after me instead? Was it easier to get in the pants of the CEO of Parisi than a lowly director of finance to get the business you desperately wanted?” She formulated. I really wanted to know the answer, but anything I said or asked could make her angrier.
“It was a strategy, Aida. Something you wouldn’t know about seeing as the extent of your experience was a job given to you by your ‘papi’,” he retorted. I bit my lip and lowered my eyes to shield me from the wrath I anticipated. Instead I heard an immense, guttural laugh. I shivered.
“What about Liberty Inn? Did you have something to do with my getting the job because you wanted the property?” I blurted out my question. He looked at me quizzically. The look in his face made me think he had nothing to do with it.
“Oh, he can’t get credit for that,” Aida said with a veiled giggle. We both looked at her. “I did it. A little computer magic Eric helped me with. He made it happen. I don’t even know how, but it was perfect, wasn’t it?” She said. “Tell her, Eric.”
He refused to answer, but when she turned to look at him, he relented. “It was simple. Liberty placed an ad for assistance. You created an alert on your account for a job search engine. I sent you the ad as an alert. And on their end I made sure they received no other job applications but yours. Quite simple, actually,” he smiled, thinking himself clever.
It was Aida who caused everything to fall in line just to get revenge on Brady. The realization was like a slap in the face. I felt sick.
“He wanted the property. He wanted you. I thought let’s see how we can get both of these things to happen. Eric had the means to make it so,” she revealed her hand.
All the while I blamed Brady, but it was Aida, who orchestrated everything for revenge. I felt so foolish and angry with her for interfering in our lives, but I had to suppress it. It was important for me and Brady to figure out a way to get out of this mess.
*****
The silence while processing all of the information helped me realize I’d been too quick to judge Brady and the rest of the Pentagon men without knowing the complete picture. I had no idea of Aida’s wickedness.
“When did you start planning all of this, Aida?” I asked softly, needing to know.
“When I discovered he was fixated on you and you were ousted from Parisi, I hired Eric to find out more about Brady. He tapped into his electronic communication systems, both business and personal, and retrieved all the pieces of information I needed to conclude he used me, wanted you and my business, and eventually Liberty for Pentagram. I’d known for some time.”
“But you sat on the information for a year and a half?” I asked. She was bidding her time. She’d been pretending to be dead for almost a year. “Why did you wait so long to execute your plan? I mean sooner than the kidnapping you’d attempted several weeks ago.” I asked.
“Haven’t you heard the little refrain about revenge being served cold? I very well couldn’t complete this so quickly when planning requires a lot of time. It hurts more when executed,” she emphasized ‘executed.’
“When did you start
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