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“Christ. I’m not sure if I like that plan or the look that just came over your face. I know you are pissed, and rightfully so. It’s just I came across some information that might give you a different perspective.” Emmanuel doubted there was any information Frank could have come up with which would stop him from paying Leonardo back. But he’d listen. What did he have to lose?

Chapter Twenty-One

DON’T SPEAK TO MY WIFE

“Really?” Frank asked incredulously as Manny and Ivy walked into the conference room of Lancaster Vancouver.

Normally, the couple prided themselves on being punctual. This morning was an exception. They were nearly an hour late for the meeting Emmanuel had set.

Ivy was starting to wonder if she was being a terrible wife. While she had brooched the topic of Manny seeing a therapist, she hadn’t pushed the issue. So, in the interim, he was dealing with his feelings by working out his frustrations sexually. Except for this morning, their recent couplings were fuelled with a feral intensity. Each time, Manny would push the boundaries of their joining. It had triggered his dominant sexual side.

This morning was different. Ivy could tell by the delicate laps he delivered to her nether lips as he woke her up. Manny had been achingly tender as he made loving affirmations. They’d almost made it out the door on time, but Manny had taken one look at her as she bent to put on her heels, and said, “fuck it. Frank will wait.”

It was as if Frank had heard Emmanuel’s declaration because they were currently being graced with her cousin’s fiercest stink eye.

“You know, if you two were going to be late, you could have called and let me know.”

“Yeah, sorry,” Manny uttered halfheartedly. “I’m going to order breakfast. Doc, the works?”

Ivy nodded. “Frank, did you have breakfast?”

“Of course. I was starving while I waited for you two to finish bumping uglies.”

“Nothing ugly about it,” Manny quipped. It was so uncharacteristic Frank’s jaw dropped. Ivy had to stifle a giggle.

“What the hell got into him?” Looking between them, Frank shook his head. “Never mind, I don’t want to know.”

That made Manny grin broadly.

Ivy wasn't sure how she expected her husband to behave the morning they were supposed to meet a twin he had only recently learned about. However, it wasn’t like this. Manny seemed calmer than he had been since this whole fiasco started. His smile came easily, and his body posture was relaxed, like he didn’t have a care in the world. Although it wasn’t what she expected, she would take it as a blessing.

Manny had been more introspective since reading Frank’s files on Leonardo. Frank had encouraged her husband to wait to go over the file until she was with him. Then he had contacted her to provide her with a heads up.

“I found some information about Leonardo. It’s really messed up. I think he’s going to need your help to process it.”

“Process what?”

“It’s Leonardo’s sealed medical records from when he was a child. I called in a favour and got his Children’s Aid Society (CAS) records. Both were extensive. The system failed him. Even fifty years ago, they shouldn’t have left him in that environment. He should have been taken away from his mother and put in care.”

“It’s that bad?”

“A lot of that kid’s childhood was pure hell. It makes me want to lay hands on someone. I can’t imagine growing up like that. How can anyone treat a child like that?”

When Ivy got home, they sat in Manny’s office and read the files together. Frank’s warning did little to prepare her for the amount of emergency trips Leonardo had. Her heart broke a thousand times. She knew the files affected Manny as well. It wouldn’t have been possible for him not to feel what his brother went through as a child. Manny was a father. When one of their little daredevils got hurt, as tough as her husband was, he felt it. He also gave heavily to charities that aided children. So, for him to learn about the abuse that Leonardo suffered from the time he turned seven, crushed him.

The physical abuse was extensive. There were a litany of injuries ranging from welts, contusions, burns, joint dislocations, and fractures. Additionally, malnutrition had been reported many times.

“What the hell kind of woman was my mother?” Manny asked. “How did she do this to her child?”

Although the files didn’t contain answers, they discovered as they read that Concetta also had injuries. What Ivy didn’t understand was the lack of involvement and/or action from CAS. The organisations was a government agency responsible for investigating abuse and neglect. It was clear both were present. Yet, CAS barely intervened and when they did, the investigations wouldn’t be opened for long before they were closed.

“This could have been my childhood, Doc.”

Ivy’s heart broke at the anguish she heard in his voice. She stood and hugged him, and he pulled her into his lap. While he held her, all she could think of were his words. Yeah, Larson was tough on Manny at times, but for the most part her husband’s upbringing was charmed. He certainly never went without. There was no physical abuse. Maybe Larson had gotten in his face a few times, but Grace wouldn’t let it go any further. Her mother-in-law protected her son. Why hadn’t Manny’s biological mother done the same with Leonardo?

The woman had a history of addiction, Ivy recalled. At the risk of being disloyal to Manny. Ivy thought about how she would feel if she was Leonardo and was raised in that environment, only to find out she had a twin, like Emmanuel Campbell Scott. Hell, when she first met Manny, hadn’t she considered him a golden boy? It was easy to discount his discipline and work ethic because of who his family was. Maybe if she was Leonardo and didn’t know what kind of man Manny was, she would harbour some ill will towards him, too.

Proving how much the couple was in sync, Manny said, “I guess after having this upbringing, I can see why he isn’t a fan of mine.”

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