Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 73880 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 369(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73880 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 369(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
He turns away and stares at the wall before he closes his eyes.
I open my mouth to respond but can’t remember what I was going to say. My belly clenches in anger at his betrayal, and I have to remind myself that he isn’t himself.
He only just came home.
He’s still injured.
And I of all people should know that in an abusive situation, the physical effects of abuse are only what people can see with the naked eye.
What did they do to him?
When a knock comes at the door, I open it to find the team of medics Sergio referenced. They carry a black bag filled with medical supplies.
“Good timing,” I say, my voice tight and high because I’m angry. So damn angry. “I have to go now.” I wave a hand over my shoulder even though it kills me. “He’s all yours.”
My damn phone buzzes and buzzes and buzzes. I ignore it, even though every ping triggers me.
The team that came in stares at me in turn. “Where are you going, Miss Soul?” one of them asks.
“Home,” I say with a sigh.
“Oh,” she says, bewildered. “I’m so sorry, ma’am, but you can’t go home.”
I stare at her, uncomprehending. “What do you mean I can’t go home?” I toss a hand in Timeo’s general direction. “He obviously doesn’t want me here. He needs real medical attention. And? We’re in a fucking sex club owned by my brother-in-law. It would be great to get the hell out of here.”
I don’t even want to go back home to my apartment. I want to go back to The Castle. My “woe is me” feelings will be well sorted with some of Nonna’s pastry and Tosca’s strong liqueur.
“Ma’am, there’s a blizzard out there.”
I turn back and look at Timeo, curious if he heard her, but he’s fast asleep.
Sergio appears out of thin air, likely hovering like a mother hen the whole time.
“You’re staying the night here, Starla. We all are. No one’s allowed on the roads in these conditions.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Starla
“Yeah, I don’t think so.”
I brush past Sergio, pretending I’m not trying to get the hell out of here so I can go cry in peace.
“Starla—”
“Sergio.” I turn and look at him. I grab the jacket I wore and tossed on a chair when I came down into this dungeon or whatever it is supposed to be.
Sergio snaps. “Those roads will be shut down. Don’t do something stupid.”
I walk past him and head up the stairs, aware of the fact that he can stop me, but I don’t want him to. Not now. I have a lot of respect for Sergio, but he’s not my guardian anymore.
I make it to the top of the stairs where Eden’s blocking my path. “Starla,” she begins, in a softer tone than Sergio’s, but she can really put her foot down when she wants to.
“So, you guys are telling me you’re not going home to your kids? You’re going to hole up at the club instead of going home to them?”
Eden sighs. “We’ll try, but we might not be able to. Their nanny is staying with them. They’re fine. Starla, if you go out in this—”
“I don’t care, Eden. I’m not the one that needs a nanny anymore. You guys have your own kids to take care of now, and I can take care of myself.”
I brush past her into the biting cold. A few snowflakes fall, but the ground is still bare. I wonder if we’re even going to get any snow, or if everyone’s way overreacting over nothing.
I pull out my phone and book an Uber, then make a call as one of the security guys exits the club.
“Starla—”
“You guys need to leave me alone. I made a call.”
I glance at the app and note a black sedan heading my way . Rides abound on the streets of Boston and come like magic when I call. “Gotta go.”
Sergio stands in the doorway as the car marked “Uber” pulls up beside me. “Let her go,” he says in a stern, yet very unpleased, voice.
Halfway to The Castle, I call Tosca, the only woman I’d call my second mother. The Rossi family matriarch and blood relative to the Montavios, she’s Timeo’s blood relative and a woman who took me in when I was rescued. I clear my throat a few times.
“Starla! Of course you can come, but isn’t it terrible out there?”
I look at the snow accumulating on the ground in tiny flakes. “Not much yet, no, but maybe soon.”
“Come, sweetheart. I’ll ready your room for you.” My throat gets all tight. Just when I think I’ve finally reached adulthood… Just when I think I’ve put the demons of my past to rest…
I’ve never really had a place I wanted to call home, but The Castle is close.
When we arrive in Gloucester, there’s hardly any snow on the ground. The Castle, nestled deep on the shore of Cape Anne, doesn’t get as much snow because of the ocean effect.