Total pages in book: 35
Estimated words: 32879 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 164(@200wpm)___ 132(@250wpm)___ 110(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32879 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 164(@200wpm)___ 132(@250wpm)___ 110(@300wpm)
Handing in her notice felt like the first door of her cage being locked. Enzo was pushing her into a place she had no part of, and it was scaring her. Still, she forced a smile as she handed in her notice, introduced Bishop to Enzo, as well as Arnold, and a couple of others. She was closest to Bishop and Arnold.
After that, Enzo made her collect some of her belongings from the house. This turned out to be even harder than handing in her notice. Her mother’s home had been hers since she was a baby. This house was where she was raised, where she was loved.
While Enzo went to make a call, Adele snuck upstairs to her mother’s bedroom. She sat down on the bed that hadn’t been made in two years. As part of her mother’s instructions, which she had followed completely, her mother wanted her not to create a shrine. She was to go in, strip the bed, and make the room a spare one.
The bed was stripped and ready, and she’d gone through her wardrobe, but she only removed what she felt was necessary. Adele had taken several items of her mother’s clothing for her own. She never wore them, she just took care of them.
Her mother had loved to sew, and she would not throw out anything her mother made. All the clothes they had purchased from the shop were gone, but Adele kept everything handmade. Some of them were even in a box up in the loft.
“What the hell am I doing, Mom?” she asked. “Hank wanted nothing to do with me when you were alive, and now that you’re gone, he’s … meddling.”
She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. There was no calm. Nor comfort.
She felt tears fill her eyes. It had been a long time since she had last cried. Adele couldn’t remember a time she had felt so alone—maybe those first few days after the funeral, when she woke up and knew there was no denying that her mother was gone. Placing her hands on her knees, she breathed in and out.
“Adele?” Enzo’s voice traveled up the stairs.
Getting to her feet, she stepped out of her mother’s room and closed the door as he came upstairs.
“What?” she asked.
“Are you ready to leave?”
“No.”
She walked back into her own bedroom. A single case sat on the bed. Enzo had said more of her stuff would be taken at a later date. For now, she needed a few of her things. Her life was changing fast, and she struggled to keep up with it. She gritted her teeth, walked to her wardrobe, and took out several items.
“I’ve got business to take care of. I need you to hurry up,” Enzo said.
“Then go,” she said. “I’ll still be here when you get back.” She blew out a breath. “I’ve got nowhere else to be.”
“I’m not leaving you here.”
“Enzo, I’ve lived here for the past twenty-three years.”
“You’re going to be my wife. The announcement has already been made.”
“What?” This made her spin around toward him.
“Adele, you know who I am. My marriage is a big event. There will be a party tomorrow night. We have many guests expected. Your life…”
“Is now at risk. I know the deal,” she said.
“How do you know the deal?” Enzo asked. “Your mother was never part of this life, how did she know what it entailed?”
“I’m guessing she asked Hank.” She shrugged. “I can imagine after getting a beating, nearly losing me and her own life, it would help a woman to make certain demands of the man she thought she was in love with.” An engagement party. “Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why a party? We’re getting married in less than two weeks. Doesn’t that all seem a little suspicious to you?” she asked.
This time he shrugged, and she had a sudden desire to throw something at him. Instead, she walked back into her small closet.
“Will he be there?” she asked, not needing to name her father.
“No, I don’t think he will make it.”
She felt a huge relief.
“That’s good.” Stepping out of the bedroom, she pushed the lid down on the suitcase and slid the zipper into place. “I’m ready.”
It was a big fat, horrible lie. She was nowhere near ready to leave. This was her home. Her sanctuary. The place that gave her peace.
She wasn’t taking anything else with her. No pictures, or tokens. Not even anything from her sewing room. Enzo had promised he’d find space for her things, but she didn’t know if she believed him.
He took the suitcase from her, and they walked out of her home. She locked her home and pocketed the keys. Each step she took away from the house broke her heart a little more.
Enzo placed her case in the trunk, and his men were already in the front of the car. He held the door open for her in the back, and she slid in to the opposite side of the car. From this side, she didn’t get to see her home as she drove away. Once again, due to her father’s meddling, she was driving away from the only place that had brought her peace.