Page 67 of A Wife's Duty

Three days. That was all that kept ringing in her head. Three days. Three fucking days. Not that she cussed all that much, but three days didn’t seem like a long enough time to get over someone.

They walked back inside, and Boone went to the dog food and started to serve Betty. Lucia went to the fridge and looked inside.

“French toast?” she asked. She had been working on that recipe back at Boone’s apartment.

“Yeah, so long as the eggs are good and the bread isn’t moldy. Today, we’re going to head to the supermarket. Get you stocked up on the groceries you’re going to need. I can’t rely on Frank.”

“And his return in three days,” Lucia said.

“Yeah. Last night he trashed a lot of food by forgetting it.” Boone chuckled. “Also, I have arranged for Betty to go to the vet.”

“The vet? Why?”

“I don’t know if you noticed, but her stomach is somewhat swollen.”

“It is?”

“Yeah, and I have a feeling she might be pregnant.”

Lucia gasped. “Betty might be having puppies?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, wow, talk about going in deep. Puppies. Are you sure?” Lucia looked down at Betty who had finished her food. She had already gone and found a spot in the sun, and now that she looked at her, her stomach did seem a little swollen.

“Yeah, I’m sure. I figured get the vet to check her over, find out what we can do. Make sure that piece of shit didn’t hurt her.”

Lucia hated that. That man had kicked her more than once.

“You don’t think he’s ... hurt her?”

“I don’t know. But we will find out.”

Lucia got the egg mixture ready for the French toast. The hot plate was already heated, and she added some butter. She made sure not to get it too hot. The first pieces she had ever done of French toast, Frank had been polite about, but after one bite, he tossed it into the trash. It hadn’t been cooked properly, and she had somehow flooded the bread with egg. On the outside there had been a lot of burnt edges, and the inside was still wet with uncooked egg. She hadn’t stopped learning, though. Eventually, after several loaves of bread and multiple cartons of eggs, she got it just right. This was a breakfast she could cook.

But it didn’t stop her from thinking about three days.

“What is going to happen in three days?” Lucia asked. The moment she blurted out the question, she wished she could take it back.

“I’ve got to take care of some business,” Boone said.

“And you’ll be back after three days?”

“It will take me a little longer to get back, but once I’m done, I’ll be back.”

Would he divorce her when he was done? If her father and Bonaldi were gone, that meant their marriage was no longer needed. He could divorce her. She had no idea what his intention was, but she did feel like a coward, because right then she didn’t want to find out. She would rather stay in her bubble of illusion which seemed to be the safest option for her.

It was the only option she had.

****

They went to the supermarket and stocked up on groceries. Lucia was incorrigible as she went down the pet aisle, and any toy Betty didn’t have, she made sure she bought. There was no way he could say no to her.

She had been a little distant since she found out in three days he was leaving. Frank would return, and then Boone had business to tend to. Three days would be enough time for Leandro to weaken as well. The man was not making it out of the apartment.

So far, Valdez hadn’t even sent out a search party to hunt for his youngest child, but he had also been dragged into the local police station for questioning. It would seem Valdez’s past had come back to haunt him as the body of the serving girl Lucia had told him about, had been uncovered.

There were multiple ways to dispose of a body. When it came to women who meant nothing, they were just collateral damage, Valdez didn’t dispose of them through the proper channels. Boone figured this was because every dead body went through the Bonaldi channels. Killing women as they served no purpose would alert Bonaldi to the waste of resources and further cause Valdez a headache.

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