Chapter 42

• Rafe sat on the couch at the helm of the yacht and watched as vessel after vessel pulled out of the harbor and sailed towards the setting sun to enjoy the night out in the open ocean. He should have been one of them, in fact, he would have already been out there if not for the sudden bout of laziness. He smiled against the rim of his brand glass as he remembered why he felt so lazy. His body was completely unwound and lax, like jelly had been fused in with his bones and muscles. When was the last time he’d felt tired and relaxed at the same time? Sadly, he couldn’t remember. He couldn’t even remember the last time his mind was so silent, without one hurried panic thought rushing through it. When had he stopped living like a human being and started existing like a robot? He ran his hand through his hair with a heavy sigh. Being a DeLuca would do that to a person. No, his younger brother Renaldo wasn’t so knotted up like he was. He lived an easy life, an envious one too. All he did was take vacations and party every single day. The boy didn’t work, never once tried to apply himself to anything that didn’t come easy to him or wasn’t fun. A lifestyle their father, and now Rafe, work hard every day to furnish. Come to think of it, Rafael began to wonder if he’s brother was just being ignored by their father because he was useless to anyone but himself. Was that a better thing? Rafe would love for their father to ignore him and let him live his life. Another intriguing thought struck him. Was Renaldo purposefully being useless so their father would ignore him and let him live his life as he pleased? If that was true, he wished his little brother had let him in on that secret long ago. But Rafe didn’t believe it would have been such an easy option for him. Senior definitely wouldn’t let Junior sully their good name. Appearances meant everything to the old man. Rafe had been trapped from birth.
• Rafe lightly touched his neck with his free hand only to realize there was no tightness there. Back and forth he rubbed his neck, touching the base of it to his clavicle and then up to his Adam's apple, over the flesh between his hyoid bone and chin. There was absolutely nothing there. Previously, to state it clearly, just yesterday the thought of home and the word trapped would have had him grabbing at the invisible force around his neck strangling him.
• “Huh? Would you look at that,” he marveled to himself, relieved at the absent anxiety.