Capítulo 23: Chapter Twenty Two: Puppet

As Johnny spoke, Becca noticed that there was a bit of light in his eyes, a little life in them, and even though it couldn't be compared to how they were before the accident that caused him the lives of his wife and unborn child three years ago.

He was left broken and devastated by both their deaths.

Though Johnny wasn't completely over his grief, Becca saw that her brother wasn't as depressed as he was two years ago and that pleased her very much. She was glad he was making progress.

" It wasn't what I expected at all, the CEO was kinda nice-" Before Becca could even finish what she was saying, Kristina quickly cut her off.

" Leonardo Kane is everything but nice!" Kristina strongly rebuked with so much animosity that got Becca wondering; ' what did Kristina know about him to be against him so much?'

" There is absolutely nothing good about Leonardo, he is just a rich kid with an overly large ego who thinks his money can get him everything in life. He is selfish and a horrible monster who doesn't give a damn about those that he hurts." Kristina spoke angrily, hating even the air Leo Kane breathe and Becca was seriously taken aback by Kristina's hostility towards Leo Kane.

" Kristina!" Johnny called out her name in a warning tone, furiously glaring at her, and Becca felt caught up in the middle.

" It's true, isn't it? Leo is a big bully who hurts people to get what he wants. Don't you see that? Why do you even keep defending him?" She asked harshly with a very disappointed expression on her face.

She didn't get why her brother stayed friends with such a cold-hearted devil like Leo. Didn't he see how horrible Leo was?

" Enough Kristina! I don't want to hear another word." He angrily scolded and Kristina disappointedly shook her head.

' What in the name of Joe Biden is going on?' Becca asked herself. How did a peaceful family lunch turn into a clash between siblings?

" I can't believe you. It's like I don't even know you anymore. You know what, do whatever you want with your life. I don't fucking care." Kristina frustratedly said, she dragged her chair back and stood up, ready to leave the dinner table. Becca looked at both of her siblings that were currently boiling with rage and wondered at one point in their argument if they were still talking about the same Leo Kane that she met.

They spoke like they both had a history with him and she felt very lost at the moment. She then looked at her parents and saw they had neutral looks on their faces. They didn't ask questions about what was going on or even looked curious about it like she did. They looked calm and compose like all these weren't new to them. Then she asked herself; ' was she the only one in the family who knew absolutely nothing about Leonardo Kane?'

" Sit down!" Johnny harshly ordered his sister but she didn't move an inch, challenging him in the process.

" I don't take orders from people who don't have a mind of their own. You aren't my father." She angrily retorted and roughly shoved her chair aside to leave.

" I said sit!" Johnny's harsh voice ordered again while furiously glaring at her and this time he looked very unstable like he was going to pounce on her. Kristina saw how tight his grip was on his cutlery and let out a taunting laugh that was devoid of any form of emotions.

The mafia had turned her brother into something else, he wasn't like that before. He didn't easily get enraged but now he could get spite by the Littlest thing. Killing in the mafia had made Johnny violent and all this was Leo Kane's fault.

Kristina leaned on the table a little and looked her brother straight into his cold blue eyes before saying; " Go to hell, you puppet." And Johnny lost it. He harshly dropped his cutlery on the plate and was about to get up as well but Becca held his hand back.

Johnny turned to Becca when he felt her holding his hand and he saw the worried look on her face. She slowly shook her head at him, telling him not to do anything harsh and that he shouldn't hurt Kristina. He stared at Becca for a few seconds and realized that she was right, he shouldn't let his anger blind him into doing something he would regret.

" Kristina!" This time it was her father who angrily called out her name when he got tired of hearing them argue. " Is that how you speak to your older brother?" Nathaniel reprimanded his daughter.

" But dad! Why are you taking his side?" She childishly whined while pointing at her brother.

" Point at me one more time and I will break that finger of yours," Johnny warned.

" Stop it, both of you! Aren't you ashamed of yourselves? Fighting like wayward children, that too in front of your parents, how disrespectful! You all are grown adults so behave like it!" Nathaniel scolded and ran his hand frustratedly through his blonde hair that was gradually turning grey from old age.

' These children of mine would kill me one day.' Nathaniel said to himself

" I am getting too old to be constantly correcting your screwups. You both are adults who have the right to do whatever you want with your lives. You can go jump into a freaking volcano for all I care but no one is fighting in my house or I will deal with the issue in a manner I see fit. So it's either you got your shits together or get the fuck out of my house, besides you all already have your separate houses anyway." Regina scolded them like the stubborn children they were proving to be, with her blue eyes glaring daggers their way. " I raised responsible individuals not cave people." She added.

Kids these days have no form of respect for their elders, they even had the guts to argue and cuss each other in front of their parents for God's sake.

" Well isn't this a rare occurrence, it's so spectacular that it could even break the internet and make its way to the Guinness book of world records. Check this out, stone-hearted and aloof Regina Ramus acting like she gives a shit. How fascinating." Johnny taunted with a humored voice and Regina let out a dried laugh.

" Do you know what would be even more fascinating to watch? Regina Ramus publicly whipping her twenty-eight year's old son, how about that?" She asked with a challenging tone to her voice and Johnny narrowed his eyes at his mother.

" You wouldn't dare." Johnny breathed out.

" Oh, I wouldn't? Try me." She challenged head-on but the thing was that no one dared challenge Johnathan Ramus, not even his mother, not since he became a cold heartless killer.

And whether Regina was pleased or upset by her son joining the mafia was still unknown. She didn't show any emotions that could give out a hint of how she felt and acted like Johnny being a mafia didn't bother her.

Maybe it didn't, she never was the type to interfere in the lives of her adult children. Ever since they all became of age to take care of themselves, she had always allowed them to walk their paths, make their choices, and suffer the consequences of the bad decisions they took alone.

The room grew incredibly silent. Then just when Becca thought things were going to get even more intense, Johnny let out a hearty laugh and almost fell off his chair. The sound of his laughter echoed in the room and the scene of him bursting into a fit of laughter looked strange to the rest of the people in the room. It was the first time since the accident happened that Johnny had laughed like that. So willingly. So sincerely. It didn't sound forced which meant he was making progress and they were all glad.

" Would you whip me publicly though?" Johnny asked his mother in between his laughs.

" Boy, I brought you into this world and I can take you out of it," Regina responded and folded her arms on the table.

" Hmmm, touche." Johnny hummed and returned his attention to his food which was already getting cold.

Lunch was soon over and everyone left the dining table to other parts of the house. Johnny tried apologizing to his sister for his harsh behavior towards her but she was too petty like her mother to accept his apology and they both later agreed to disagree.

Becca for one chose to take a walk in along the beautiful and spacious garden of flowers that decorated the compound. She got too busy staring at the pretty roses that she didn't even realize that someone was walking behind her and got a little startled when she heard someone's voice from behind.

" They are beautiful, aren't they?" She heard Johnny's voice ask.

" Yeah, it's like they become even more beautiful to me the more I look at them," Becca responded without turning to look at him.

"Becca, I'm leaving California and it's for good this time." He said out of nowhere and she turned to look at him but saw that he had an indifferent expression on his face.

" Are you sure?" She asked and he nodded.

" There's nothing left for me there anymore." He said with a straight face but his words were heartbreaking. Becca was kinda surprised by his statement, though she was happy that he had finally decided to move on but leaving California? It was where his late wife was from and also the place she had died. Most of the memories he had with her were from there. Was he going to leave?

Becca knew he was taking steps to let go but wasn't completely leaving California too big of a step?

" Are you going to be okay?" Becca asked with her voice full of concern as she was worried that he might hurt himself even more if he pushes too hard.

" I intend to be." He said and picked up a single white rose.

" I remember you saying that those were her favorite," Becca said as she saw him staring at the flower.

" It was. She said they looked so pure and innocent, something I wasn't, at least not anymore." He said and for the first time since their conversation started his eyes flash an emotion. Sadness. Then he turned to his sister and smiled.

" I almost forgot to congratulate you on the progress your company has been making these past few months. I am proud of you." He added, completely changing the topic and patting her on the head like a child.

" I should be thanking you, you helped me haul in a big fish, I mean client. But you know...." She paused to carefully pick her words. " You never really told me how you got acquainted with Leo Kane." She knew it wasn't her business but it was like something kept compelling her to ask and after what happened at the dining table, the curiosity in her was already chewing on her internal organs.

" That rascal? We met in college. We were roommates." He answered and she giggled at her brother calling Leo Kane a rascal like he used to be a very troublesome boy.

" Oh, that possibility never crossed my mind at all. So are you guys still good friends?"

" Yes" Came his response and they started walking side by side for a while before he suddenly turned to look at her.

" Navaya didn't come with you?" He asked looking all innocent and Becca glared at him, knowing full well what he was getting at.

" You know she doesn't feel comfortable coming here anymore after what happened last time," Becca said and heard him chuckle.

" I wasn't the one who told you guys smoking weed in your room would be a good idea." He mocked.

" It was one time!" She whined like a child. " Like you haven't smoked weed in your life before."

" Yeah right, but you got caught and mom still searches your bag for cannabis till this day." He laughed at her pathetic situation and she snorted.

They were now walking back to the house when Johnny spoke again.

" How is she anyway? How long has it been since I last saw her? Like four years?" He asked and Becca tilted her head cutely to one side in confusion.

" Who? Navaya?" She asked and Johnny nodded.

" She's still the same. Sweet but daring." Becca answered with a smile.

" Is she still with that guy?" Johnny asked and Becca didn't know if it was her imagination but she could have sworn that she heard the irritation in her brother's voice when he spoke about Navaya's boyfriend.

" Yes, she is. They are very serious about each other and maybe in a year or two, we might even start hearing wedding bells." Becca cheerfully said, clapping her hands together.

She always got very excited whenever she thought of Navaya getting married and she was still busy imagining how good her bestie would look in a wedding dress that she didn't even notice that Johnny had stopped walking beside her. She turned around and saw him standing motionless with a frown covering the smile he once had on his face.

" What's wrong?" Becca couldn't help asking as she saw him thinking about something.

" Nothing, let's go inside." He said with a slight coldness to his voice and walked ahead. Becca creased her brows in confusion when she saw how fast her brother's mood had changed and just followed him inside. This time she decided not to press him with questions as he didn't even look in the mood to answer any.

Some things should be best left unknown.