The beginning of the week had started off mundane. She had a lot of meetings to attend as part of her city council duties. She had a few lunch 'dates' even with some of the City prosecutors. They only talked about business anyways, but she could tell by the way that those men looked at her that if she hadn't clearly flaunted her wedding ring to them and drop mentions of her 'husband' that she would be easy prey to those men. She would be seen as someone they could take advantage of or try to bribe.
The kids stayed with her in Detroit during the school year and the week had been packed with after school activities and play dates. She barely had time to catch her breath. She also helped Rio direct the printing and distribution of the laundered money throughout Detroit and parts of Canada and to oversee the management of Sweet Peas strip club.
Since Dean had been cleared of all of the charges, he joined Ruby and Stan in Nevada about a year ago. It had been his dream after all to move their and never Beth's ideal life. He enjoyed it out there. He worked at a car dealership and was dating a recent divorcee that also had children.
Annie kept her up to date about what Dean was up to because he wouldn't have told her any of the details, especially about his new girlfriend. Dean was secretive about the women he saw now even after they were divorced just as he had been secretive when they were married. Although now, Beth didn't really care about whom he saw as long as they were good around her children. He didn't have to sneak around anymore but still acted secretive. Maybe she thought that because she just didn't trust Dean to keep her secrets after he had betrayed her trust and almost turned her into the feds before she had struck a deal to protect Rio and her from being prosecuted for any crimes that Nick was convicted of.
Annie was another story completely. She was an open book. Although she was now living in a RV and traveled around the country with Kevin and Ben, she was very open about her life. Since she had gotten out of prison after she was acquitted of all murder and attempted murder charges after the fingerprints on the gun that shot Beth were thrown out and the prosecutor didn't have a leg to stand on at trial. She would talk to Beth for at least an hour every day and share her newest adventures. She mainly sold products online, which afforded her to travel continuously and Kevin homeschooled Ben.
Rio was busy as well; he handled his "legal business fronts" and then directed the transactions of the "illegal businesses". He still shared custody with Rhea for Marcus and mostly had him on the weekends but made it to most of his soccer and baseball games during the week.
They still made time for each other through. Even if they both came home to each other at her house, over exhausted, she would curl into his arms and found comfort as his warm body sunk into hers. They would make love frantically in the morning when they both would wake up energized. He'd whisper into her ear that he loved his "wifey" more then anything. Beth always liked when he called her his ' wifey' even though they weren't legally married yet.
He had proposed about a year ago and wore a wedding band. He had presented her with a matching wedding band with when he proposed with the biggest most sparkly diamond ring that she had ever seen. This was a ring that she had picked out when he surprised her with an outing at the jewelry store. He told her that she was already his "old lady" and the wedding bands were a reminder of that. He told her that he would wear his wedding band proudly.
Beth had flinched when he had said "Old Lady" given that she was at least 8 years older than he was and was sometimes sensitive about their age difference, but he reassured her that it was an endearing term and had nothing to do with her age.
He has gotten down on one knee on pizza night at her house and in front of her children and Marcus; he had asked her to be his wife. He had later told her that it was important to him that the children approved and no one else's opinions really mattered.
Every time Beth had brought it up within the past few months' Rio would abruptly change the subject and distract her with sex. Although she loved the intimacy with him, it made her frustrated and sad that he didn't want to discuss the wedding. He would just dismiss her when she'd mention any specific planning such as booking a location or caterers. "We can talk about that another time, Elizabeth", he'd say to her. He would follow up by lightly kissing her on the cheek.
He had been helping her plan the details within the first three months after he asked her to marry him but then his Grandmother passed away suddenly and he shut down emotionally around Beth after the funeral, when she brought up setting a date for the wedding. Sometimes Beth thought he was satisfied with them calling each other husband and wife and didn't want the real thing with her.
Dean had never seemed interested in planning any of the details when they had gotten married. He had left it all up to her but had at least asked her frequently the status of everything as his parents paid for most of the wedding, so he had to communicate any expenses through them.
On weekends when Rio would spend time with his son at his apartment, Beth would cry herself to sleep because she didn't have him to hold her and because she felt alone and lost without Ruby and Annie being with her. Rio had become her best friend and now he was distancing himself. She had tried to convince him to move in with her full time instead of splitting his time between her house and his apartment and he said it would be "too crowded" but "when they were married", he would move out of his apartment. However, he never gave her a date of when they would be married, so this promise seemed to be null and void.
On Friday, Beth had hired a babysitter and she had a date night with Rio. This date night consisted of meeting him at Lucky's and chatting at the bar while they sipped on bourbon and Gin respectively. Beth was sort of disappointed that he never wanted to go anywhere else with her recently beyond Lucky's and Sweet Peas.
He would bring her take out if she wanted but not actually take her out locally. She felt like he was hiding their relationship. She didn't feel like she ever hid him. If someone asked about her "other half", she would always whip out her phone and flash her screensaver, which showed the two of them, sitting by her fireplace, Him draping his arms over her, both smiling big. She would gush about "Christopher" to anyone that would listen. Sometimes people would look at her and then do a double take at him, focusing in on his tattoos and piercings but no one she came across was impolite, at least not to her face.
She didn't think he was doing the same. She had been ok about that for a while, but now it was starting to bother her. Why wouldn't he want people to know about them being together especially when they were going to be married?
Although it was a tricky balance to ensure that their relationship wasn't completely public knowledge due to her public image as well as his image as he didn't want to be seen as a "snitch" because he was dating the "enemy of the streets". Rio would oftentimes remind Beth that her office was one step down from the City Prosecutor's office. Beth's lunch outings with counselors with that office obviously drove him insane for both professional and personal reasons.
As Beth rose her glass to toast with Rio, she asked "Do you not want to get married anymore, Rio?"
He paused his toast, glass in his hand midair. His eyes studied her face and he gave her a puzzled look back. "Why the fuck would you ask me such a stupid question, Elizabeth?"
Beth took a deep breath before she answered. She had thought about the reasons why he wouldn't want to marry her every night in her dreams for the past 2 weeks. "Every time I bring up the wedding, you seem to shut down any further discussion and just start talking about something else. I don't doubt that you love me Rio, what I think is that you aren't taking the whole wedding planning and idea of marrying me very seriously" she answered him.
Rio looked at her inquisitively, like he was trying to figure her out but couldn't. "I don't know what you want me to say, I want to marry you. I wouldn't have asked you if I didn't want to. I will be a better husband to you then your asshole Ex ever was. I just need more time to smooth things over on my end It's not like the wedding ain't happening darling.", Rio explained.
Beth felt her frustration building up inside of her, her face was red, and she could feel tears threatening to erupt from her eyes. She didn't think he was giving her a straight answer. "You keep telling me you need more time. I understand that but we're not getting any younger, Rio. I know that things would need to change when we are married. I am willing to accept that. My term is almost up, and you have started turning the businesses more legit. I just sometimes think that you are getting cold feet. That you don't want to be married." she said as tears started to roll down her cheeks freely.
Rio took a deep breath, looked forlornly at Beth and looked at his empty gin that he pushed aside. "It's just not a good time right now. There's a lot going on right now on my end. Some behind the scenes shit, you ain't gotta worry about getting yourself involved in", he explained.
Beth knew that a lot of her anger was hyped up by the bourbon that was coursing through her system, and she wasn't completely thinking straight as she dumped on him about the wedding. "It's never going to be the right time, Rio. Getting married was important to me. It's one thing to flash a ring and say we are married but it's a completely different beast to actually take that plunge and get married", she stated.
Rio looked frustrated and there was a tinge of anger mixed with sadness that before saying, "I realize it's important to you, it's important to me too. You are the first woman that I could ever see myself married to. Although it didn't feel like it at the time, seeing you on the Fine and Frugal security cameras being a bad ass mama and robbing the place and being able to track you down was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. I don't know what I would do without you in my life".
"Are you in trouble, Rio? Better yet, are we in trouble? Do I have to worry about whatever is going on 'behind the scenes' bleeding into our life together?" Beth questioned him.
Beth rarely worried about trouble coming to her anymore unless she screwed up and typically Rio would be the one reigning down the terror about how she can't screw up like that again. He doesn't threaten her or yell but he's stern and he speaks to her like he's speaking to a child, like he's disappointed in her. She's made a few small messes in the last 2 years but nothing that had roused suspicion with the feds again.
"Nah, you don't gotta worry about any of that. We are going to be fine. You just need to be patient sweetheart. Can you be patient?", Rio asks her.
Beth thinks about it, no she thinks. I've been patient with him. He's not opening to me about what's going on, he shuts down every time I mention the wedding. He needs to just let me know what's going on.
Beth hesitates in saying anything to Rio at that moment as she is too exhausted to get in this argument with him right now. She just wants to finish up their night and head off to bed.
Mick strolls into the bar at that moment, his face marred with worry. "Boss, I've been calling you. There's something urgent you need to be filled in about right now". He waves his hand trying to draw Rio away from Beth.
Rio looks from Mick to Beth and then his gaze settles on Mick. "Can't it wait, we are having an important conversation?", he asks.
"No, not this time. You really need to know about this", Mick insisted.
Beth grabbed her phone. "Its ok, I'll order an Uber. We can continue our conversation later", she reassures him.
Beth grabs her purse from the floor and shimmies off the bar stool. Rio leans in and kisses her softly on the lips and she turns and walks out of the bar. She doesn't think she wants to hear anything else that Rio has to say. His work always comes first and he made it pretty clear that any plans for a wedding would be put on an indefinite hold.
Beth decided that she needed some space from Rio so put her phone on mute for most of Saturday . When Saturday evening came along and he texted her that they needed to talk and he was coming over after 10 pm, she told him she was taking the kids out to eat dinner and wasn't sure what time she'd be back taking them out to Red Robin to eat dinner.
When she walked into the house with the kids in tow at 9:30 pm she walked into a nightmare. Her door lock had been broken, her house had been ransacked, with furniture flipped over, drawers pulled out, mattresses ripped from the beds. She immediately called 911.
She took the kids to a neighbor's house to sleep for the night while she waited for the police officers to come. They took a report and asked her if anything had been missing. "No", she responded. "Not that I noticed". She didn't store anything at her house that could incriminate her. She really didn't own many items of great value besides the diamond that was securely on her ring finger. She hadn't noticed anything else missing, including her gun safe that sat in her bedroom closet.
As she watched the police officer's vehicle pull off she noticed Rio pull up and he waited until they pulled completely out of the neighborhood before approaching Beth.
"Elizabeth, what the fuck, why were the pigs at the house?, he asked angrily as he stood on her porch.
"Why don't you come in and see for yourself", she responded.
She gestured him into the house and as she opened the front door he sucked in a deep breath before loudly screaming, "Shit, it had to be Antonio and his boys".
Beth put her hands on her hip and whipped around to face him, anger slowly building up because Rio had never mentioned Antonio before to her or any danger she would be in because of this person.
"Who the hell is Antonio and why would he be at my house", she asked her voice unsteady.
Rio closed the door behind them. "Where are the kids?" he asked , not answering her question.
"With the Duckett's next door. I thought it best that they stayed there for the night. I didn't need them to be around this.", she told him waving her arms around her house at the chaos around her. There were drawers pulled out, chairs tipped over, papers scattered everywhere. It would take her hours to clean everything up.
Rio bit his lip hard and stepped closer to Beth. "I'm sorry that I got you involved in this shit", he told her. " Antonio may have followed me here and assumed since it's the weekend that we would be together here. He knows we are together. Like together, together and not just business partners".
Beth sucked in a deep breath as she looked at him. She tried to keep from screaming at him. She wanted to remain calm but just couldn't.'
"Rio, my kids and I could have been here when they came. You still haven't answered my question about who Antonio is and what he was looking for". Beth started yelling, her voice raised an octave as she continued. "I want to feel safe in my own home Rio. I knew that being with you involves a certain level of paranoia about watching my back, but this is next level".
Beth thought about what he said about this Antonio person knowing they were together and wondered how much information Rio disclosed to his 'business associates'. Did he mention her or were they followed around? Then she thought back to the band he wore on his ring finger. On his left hand. Stupid..so stupid she thinks. The ring kind of gives it away that he's in a relationship. Wouldn't be surprising that people asked questions about who he was in a relationship or married to.
Rio chewed on his top lip, sucking it in and out as he just stared at her as she screamed and waved her hands frantically in the air. "Antonio runs an operation across the border moving pills and cash. My guys screwed up and weren't able to get a shipment to him as quickly as he wanted last week. I did get it to him 2 days late. He told me the delay cost him 50 thousand dollars and that I needed to pay up. I was getting the money together but he must have been doing recon on me and known you are involved in that side of the business. That's what Mick was filling me in on last night".
Beth stood looking aghast. "You're staying her tonight to protect me and the kid's right?" she asked. "I don't feel safe sleeping alone until you take care of the situation".
"I can't stay here tonight, he may come looking for me and that would be even more dangerous for you. I'll send Mr. Cisco over to watch the house overnight", he explained.
Beth felt terrified at the prospect of someone breaking into the house again and didn't feel safe sleeping by herself. "Please, I need you to be here tonight", she begged.
"I'm sorry baby, I just can't", he said as he kissed her on her forehead and walked out the door leaving Beth alone.
Beth made sure that all of the doors and windows were locked and kept peeking out the windows to ensure Mr. Cisco's car was still out in front on her house after he showed up 30 minutes after Rio left.
She didn't sleep much, nightmares plagued her. A sinking feeling that Rio and she could never have a normal life. They weren't going to get married because no time was going to be the "right time" in Rio's book because there was always going to be an element of danger interwoven into their personal lives that bleeds over from their professional lives. Plus, he knew there was a potential for something to happen involving her because Mick had filled Rio in on the situation. He hadn't bothered to warn Beth that she could be in danger.
The next morning after she came back to the house after picking up the kids at the neighbors and waving at Mr. Cisco as he left , Beth walked in the house and started to scream at what she saw as soon as she closed the door.
A tall, muscular, bald man wearing a jean jacket held a gun towards her and the kids. "Everyone get down on your knees now", he screamed as another, skinnier, shorter man zip tied their hands behind them.
The kids started crying and saying they were scared or wanted to leave as the man with the gun pointed it at Beth's head.
"Where is he?", the man asked.
"Who?" . Beth asked, knowing full well who he was referring to.
"Fucking bitch, I don't have time for this. Just tell me where Rio is and no one gets hurt. He's not at his apartment or his bar. He's gotta be on the run and left his bitch alone to suffer the consequences."
Beth pleads with him, "Please let the kids go to the neighbor's house, I will call him. Please just don't hurt us". She feels hot tears rolling down her face.
The taller man turns to the shorter one and says in Spanish "Cunt piensa que somos estúpidos. Si ella o uno de los niños se muda, la voy a desperdiciar. (translation: Cunt thinks we are stupid. If she or one of the kids moves, I am going to waste her.).
Beth had picked up some Spanish being around Rio and his family for the last two years. She knew enough to understand that the man just threatened to shoot her if someone moved.
"Nah , we ain't stupid. Those kids will leave and call the cops on us. They stay here and you call him.", the taller man grumbled.
Beth dialed Rios's number and he picked up right away. "Rio, there are two men holding the kids and me at gunpoint and..", she was cut off as
the shorter man grabbed the phone.
"We need out money by tomorrow Rio, Antonio is still up in Windsor and that's where it needs to be delivered. We need your word or your white bread puta girlfriend and her kids will pay the price for your actions", the shorter man said.
He took the phone off speaker so Beth couldn't hear exactly what was said on Rio's end but she could hear yelling and a ping of desperation in his tone.
The shorter man ended the call and handed her back the phone. "It's your lucky day, Bitch. Your man must really love you, he's now on the hook an additional 2,000 for each of your lives.
The taller man lowered his gun and tucked it into his waistband. The shorter man grabbed Beth by her hair and pistol-whipped her hard on her left cheek. As he headed for the door, he spit in her face and said scowling, "Now you look a little less pretty, fucking bitch"
They excited the door and the kids all started crying hysterically. Beth made them all promise that they wouldn't say anything about the incident to their Dad or Grandmother. She promised that she'd keep them safe and that the 'bad men' would never come back.
Beth ran to the freezer to put ice onto her cheek and tried her best not to break down crying hysterically in front of the kids. She felt broken inside. Her face was in searing pain and her pride was hurt because she couldn't protect her kids. Something much worse could have happened, she believes if they hadn't just left after speaking to Rio.
Rio called her a few hours after they left and explained that he would be in Windsor for the next 2 days but come back Wednesday morning. He assured her that she had nothing to worry about, that he was taking care of everything.
Despite Rio's assurances about no longer facing danger, Beth made a decision, she needed to leave right now and not look back. That was the only way she could protect her children. They were her first priority. So on Monday she called a real estate agent to discuss putting the house on the market after she vacated it. She went to Walmart and bought packing materials and she and the kids spend 2 days packing up all of their belongings. She put into a storage unit what she couldn't take with her and rented a large U-Haul. She arranged with Dean and his mother for a place for the kids to stay temporarily and arranged to stay with Ruby.
She explained to the kids that they'd be living away from Rio and Marcus in another state far away from Detroit. The kids were upset about this news. They had grown accustomed to having Rio and Marcus around the house.
Jane asked. "Mommy, don't you love Mr. Rio anymore, why would we go far away from where he is".
"I love Mr. Rio very much, but he can't come with us", Beth explained to her.
Ruby hadn't taken the news about the home invasion very well.
"Bitch, Annie and I warned you that getting involved with the Gangbanger that sat there and ordered a gun be held to your head was not a good idea. Look where it's gotten you, with someone else holding a gun to your head. That's a nope for me, I don' t blame you for packing up and leaving him without letting him know".
"Ruby, I don't have a choice. I know you warned me, but I can't help who I fall in love with. It's just this strong connection with us that I will feel lost without him", Beth explained.
"We don't have an extra room, but you are welcome to sleep on the couch until you can rent a place of your own.", Ruby offered,
"I love him Ruby, and he makes me happy, I don't make this decision lightly, but I got to put the kids first, I can't stay here knowing we could be in danger again.", Beth rationalized.
Beth saw off Danny, Emma and Kenny at the airport with Judith on Tuesday afternoon.
Beth knew Rio was scheduled to come back on Wednesday morning. He even texted her at 7 in the morning, telling her he was on his way back. She hired a few guys to help her load up the furniture in the back of the U-Haul and the boxes and she was on the road with Jane by 8:30 am. She put her phone on silent as she drove. She didn't want to hear Rio's voice as she knew the moment she did, she would change her mind about leaving.