Chapter 28

After dropping Axel off to my parents' house the next day, I decided to follow Michael around to see what he actually does during the day, when he says he's 'working'. No one worked on the weekends unless they were obsessed or not self employed. And he was definitely not obsessed with work. I hopped in my black jeep, a vehicle I almost never used and one Michael wouldn't recognize, and drove to the corner of his street.

Now, it was time to watch. Since he was just leaving his house, there was nothing interesting there. He swung his little girl around and gave her a huge kiss before leaving her with the nanny. He got into his car and drove down the road. I followed closely, but not too closely, behind him. After about an hour of riding around and watching him do seamless things, I started to think I was wrong about Michael. Maybe he was actually telling me the truth.

Just when I began to think that, I followed him to the side of the bank, where almost no one was at. I parked behind him, since he wouldn't recognize my vehicle, put on my sunglasses, and watched him. He was on his phone, arguing with somebody.

"Come on, don't make me regret doing this." I muttered to myself. Michael leaned against the brick wall as if he was waiting for someone.

I perked up and watched a man in black walk over to Michael. They shook hands and Michael looked around before handing him something. I squinted trying to see what it was, but failed. The man looked behind him, past my jeep and I gasped. It was Jeremy. But he was supposed to be in prison. I got more and more confused as I tried to wrap my head around all of this. How did they know each other?

"Look, just take this. You sure I'll be good after this?" I overheard Michael asking Jeremy. Jeremy nodded, slipping the unknown thing into his pocket.

"Yeah, you'll be alright. I'll get the guys off your back." Michael seemed relieved and I wondered what kind of business he was doing with Jeremy. Was this the 'work' he was doing everyday when he left from being with me. I frowned and decided that I'd seen enough. I drove back hope, so many questions filling my brain.

Could I still trust Michael, while knowing that he was doing business with the guy that had something to do with my kidnapping five years ago? I pushed all of that aside and decided to focus on Axel's party for the moment and deal with Michael later.

"Wow! I wish I had a party like this when I was younger." Rayna said in awe, looking at all of the decorations, clowns, and more that littered the party.

I smiled and nodded, though I had parties like these when I was younger. It seemed as if the entire school was at Axel's party. He ran around in his Flash suit that I had custom made and Natalie ran with him in her Wonder Woman costume. They were literally too cute.

"But imagine how much cleaning will have to be done after this." I commented, watching my son.

"Yuck, never mind. I'm glad I didn't because I didn't have the luxury of hiring a maid to do all my cleaning like you do." Rayna pointed out.

I tilted my head back and laughed. "That's so true. Well, you do now."

"Soooo, where's Michael?" I immediately frowned when I heard his name. The nanny had dropped off Natalie and he didn't even have the decency to come to the party with her. "Trouble in paradise? Spill!" I sighed and shook my head.

"It's dumb and I can't even explain it myself since I don't know all the details. All I know is that he's been dealing with Jeremy for what seems to be a while now." Rayna's eyes widened and she slapped my arm.

"Shut up! No way! How do you know?" I pulled my bottom lip into my mouth nervously.

"Uh, I kinda followed him around today. Without him knowing." I confessed and she gasped loudly. I shushed her and she dragged me to a corner.

"You did what?! Omg, Ari you crazy slut! You found out from following him?" She whispered fiercely and I nodded.

"He was always disappearing on me at odd times and it's been going on for weeks now. He came to my house at 4:30am!" I hissed and Rayna scoffed.

"You should've been pleased! I wish a guy would come in the middle of the night slash early morning for me." She said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"He was supposed to come at 9:30pm." I said flatly and her mouth made an 'o' shape.

"Unacceptable." she stated firmly. Suddenly, all of the kids started cheering and screaming. I looked up, alarmed. What was going on? All of them seemed to swarm to one spot in the center of the room, so I walked over to see what the big fuss was about.

"I can't believe it! Mommy, look!" Axel cried out, pointing down. I looked and saw that there was a kid sized, drivable jeep with the Flash painted all over it. I looked back up and saw Michael next to him, holding a toy key. When did he get here?

"Every boy needs their own ride. Here you go, little man." Michael handed Axel the keys to his jeep and Axel hugged his leg.

"Thank you, Michael! You're the best dad ever!" Axel said and the words hit my heart. He thought of Michael as a father? Michael smiled but then looked at me quickly. My hand flew to my mouth and I shook my head backing away. I ran out the room and into the hallway, dry sobs trying to make their way up my chest. I didn't know whether to be happy about how Axel felt, or sad that it might not last long because of what I saw today.

"Ari?" Michael looked around before spotting me and then jogged over. "Ari, look I'm sorry--"

"For what? Earlier or for doing business with Jeremy?" I said, getting straight to the point. There was no point in hiding it any longer. Michael's mouth dropped open. "Yeah, thought I wouldn't find out, huh? What were you doing with him? You know my history with him."

Michael ran a hand down his face, caught up. He obviously didn't intend for me to find out...ever. "I know how this looks, but I can explain." I crossed my arms over my chest, waiting. Just then, all of the lights went off.