Chapter 75: You Have to Go to School
"Jimmy… Steve…" Frank muttered the two names under his breath.
Jimmy hadn't been visiting Frank's house lately because Candice's husband had gotten into a car accident, and Jimmy had come home to take care of his mother.
But Jimmy was a real piece of work. Not only had he lied to them using the fake name "Steve," he had even deceived his own family.
According to Candice, Jimmy was supposed to be attending the University of Michigan in Detroit.
But in reality, he had never been in Detroit—he'd been living in Chicago under the alias "Steve," right in the same city as Frank's family.
What's more, Jimmy hadn't used the prestigious medical education he'd received to earn an honest living. Instead, he was out stealing cars, doing bottom-of-the-barrel, petty criminal work. Like trading gold for garbage.
Frank thought about all this but chose not to tell Candice the truth.
The two chatted until they had recovered from their earlier activity, and then they went for another intense round. By the time it ended, night had fully fallen.
Candice had offered to let Frank stay the night—she said even if her son came home and saw them, he wouldn't say anything—but Frank decided to get dressed and leave. He'd promised Kevin he'd return the car that evening.
"It's been a long time since I felt this alive," Candice said with a yawn, lounging lazily. "I remember your number. I'll call you again... to fix the pipes."
She didn't get up to walk him out. Too tired, she drifted off to sleep.
Frank buttoned up his shirt, eyeing the villa's luxurious decor—expensive paintings, silverware, and jewelry boxes glinting with gemstones. He swallowed hard. His fingers itched.
The temptation now was even stronger than when Candice had lit that medicinal M-joint earlier.
Frank's old self—the "old Frank"—would've swiped everything and walked out like it was his.
So many valuables, just sitting there…
"Fuck," Frank muttered to himself and rushed out the door, afraid he'd lose control.
He sat in the car for a few minutes to calm down, waiting for his heart rate to settle. This "infiltration" had gone far better than he'd hoped. He finally had leverage on Steve. Feeling smug, Frank lit a cigarette and stepped on the gas.
By the time he got home, dinner was long over. The kids had all retreated to their rooms. Only Fiona was curled up on the couch, studying a textbook.
"There's leftover pizza in the fridge," she said, glancing up as Frank walked in.
"Did Steve come by today?" Frank asked as he grabbed a slice and sat down.
"Huh? Yeah," Fiona nodded, not offering more.
"How much do you actually know about him?" Frank asked casually, shifting the conversation. "Have you asked about his family?"
"He's told me a few things," Fiona said, looking up from her book.
Clearly, she had been thinking about this stuff a lot. But she didn't have anyone to talk to—she couldn't share these thoughts with her younger siblings, and Veronica was the only person she could really confide in.
Now that Frank had brought it up, Fiona was glad for the chance to talk. After all, Frank was her dad.
"Steve said his family's from Detroit. His dad works at a car factory, but business hasn't been great lately. Steve said he helps out sometimes. I guess it's kind of a family operation—one builds cars, the other steals them," Fiona said with a dry chuckle.
"Is that what he told you?" Frank raised an eyebrow but nodded, hiding his thoughts.
"Honestly, what do you want out of this?" he asked suddenly. "Do you see yourself staying with Steve long-term? If I hadn't stepped in, the two of you would practically be living together already. Are you seriously thinking about marriage?"
"In the past, whenever I got this deep into a relationship, the guy would either ghost me or just show up late at night for a quick hook-up. Or they'd push me to meet their family—like Tony did."
"Whenever that kind of stuff started happening, I'd always find an excuse to bail. And that would be the end of it," Fiona explained.
"And what about this time?" Frank asked.
Fiona went quiet. She didn't answer for a long while.
Unlike all the guys she'd dated before, Steve was different. She genuinely cared for him—felt something real. Sometimes she even imagined a future together, maybe even marriage. But the harsh realities of life always pulled her back from dreaming too far.
"Don't overthink it," Frank said, breaking the silence. "You're still young. You've got college ahead of you. Even if you do want to get married one day, it's not happening until you've got your degree. I won't allow it."
"Dad, don't bring up college again. I haven't even gotten in yet!" Fiona groaned. "Just brushing up on all this high school crap is killing me. If it weren't for Lip and Ian helping me out, I would've quit already."
Whether she was dodging the topic of Steve or just genuinely overwhelmed, her attention clearly shifted to her studies.
Frank chatted with her for a bit longer before heading upstairs.
From what he could see, Fiona had real feelings for Steve—Jimmy. Far deeper than anything she'd felt for her 90+ ex-boyfriends.
As her father, Frank had to vet her partner.
He'd never liked Jimmy. The guy was clearly hiding something, had too many secrets, and came off as a smooth-talking flake.
But now, Frank had done his homework. He knew everything—Jimmy came from a good family of doctors, was a top medical student at an elite school. The real mystery was why someone with that kind of background was out stealing cars and playing at being a rebel—and why he had fallen for Fiona, the proverbial Cinderella.
Still, if Jimmy turned over a new leaf, stopped stealing, and became a respected doctor, Frank might not just tolerate their relationship—he might even support it. After all, a doctor is a far cry from a thief.
But only if Jimmy didn't treat Fiona like some passing fling. No ghosting. No messing around.
After all, both of them were still young, in their early twenties. Relationships at that age can change overnight—hot one day, cold the next.
"I'll have to sit down and talk to Jimmy," Frank thought as he lay in bed.
He hadn't expected that day would come so soon—or arrive in such an unexpected way.
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