Page 74 of Bound By Her

Her voice was rising, and she found the anger bubbling within her.

She hit the box.

“We get back up. We keep going,” she screamed, her voice choking on tears.

Footsteps thundered behind her, and she heard her father’s voice.

She continued to yell.

Hands wrapped around her middle, and she was pulled away.

Her hands reached out, desperately trying to stay. She was angry, but she didn’t want to be away from her.

She should stay, keep her mother company.

“You said tomorrow would be better.”

Her mother moved further and further away.

“You promised.”

The doors swung shut.

Adria screamed into her empty bedroom. The knife on her nightstand was in her hand before she registered where she was. Sweat saturated her bedsheets.

A light in the hall came on.

“Adria.”

Eric’s concerned face stood in the doorway.

“I’m fine, just a dream.” She turned her tear-soaked face away, not wanting to meet his eyes.

“You don’t have to come in here every time,” she said.

She had always struggled with nightmares, but since Jonathan’s return to the manor, they had gotten worse.

Eric’s Southern voice was warm. “I want you to know you are not alone.”

She laughed. Wasn’t she? That day, Adria’s family died. After those funeral doors shut, she was no longer just Adria; from that day forward, she was the Federov heir. And no matter how many people were around her, she was alone.

“Tea is at Loretta’s today, right?” Eric asked, and Adria was grateful for the change in the subject.

“Yes, after lunch,” she said.

“I think we are ready to start phase three,” he said.

She ran her fingers through her hair. Phase three marked their pointed attempts at disunity within the group.

Adria had been putting it off.

At first, she reasoned she needed extra time to prepare, but as the days moved by, she was less sure whatstopped her. Eric moved into her room, opening her closet. After rifling through it, he threw some articles on the corner of her bed, saying, “The only simple days are yesterday.”

She stared at the clothes; he was right, of course.

CHAPTER 19

NORTH CAROLINA

---