Page 65 of Taking Adalisa

I suck in a deep breath and pull away from Matthias. My head is one big mess right now, and I don’t know what to think or believe. Everything is overwhelming, and I don’t know how to get help. Margery isn’t here to listen to me. I don’t know if she is the best person to go to right now. I don’t know how she is doing mentally, and I don’t want to burden her with something like this.

Matthias grabs my hand before I can walk off without him. “I’ve got a basket and you can put whatever you need in here. Nala has already moved some stuff in the fridge, so you have space. No one is going to touch it.”

I haven’t been worried about anyone touching the food in the fridge until now. How many people are in the house that could interfere with it?

“We aren’t going to think like that.” Matthias starts walking to the produce. “No one is allowed in the fridge unless it isEthan, Margery, Nala, you, and me. Nala is in the kitchen most of the time, so you won’t have to worry about much.”

I don’t know Nala that well, but I feel like I can trust her. She wasn’t trying to hurt me today and actually spoke about Matthias and what he has already done for me. What he is still doing and will continue to do.

How did I get so lucky?

No. Stop thinking about it.

It doesn’t take me long to start filling up the basket as we walk up and down the aisles. Meal ideas are popping into my head with every step, and I want to make all of them, but I’ve settled for three for now.

“Do you have everything you need?” Matthias asks.

I turn to him and stop dead in my tracks, my eyes automatically finding the ones I haven’t seen since I was a kid. How did he get here?

“Adalisa?” Matthias calls out my name, but he sounds so far away.

Gerard shouldn’t be here. He was still supposed to be in prison. How did he get out? He cocks his head to the side and smiles.

“Adalisa?” Matthias takes a step closer to me, but I don’t answer him.

I need to keep my eye on him the whole time. What if he was in the store before me?

My breathing comes out in short gasps as we continue to stare at each other. He can’t hurt me, yet he totally can. I thought I would never see him again, but here he is, standing twenty feet away from me in a grocery store when he should be in prison.

“Baby.” Matthias touches my arm. “What’s wrong?”

“Gerard’s here,” I whisper, my voice shaking as fear courses through my body.

I shouldn’t be afraid of him. I’m an adult who can take care of herself, but I can’t seem to shake this fear. How did he get out? What did I ever do to him to deserve this?

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Matthias turn around and follow my gaze, but my brother isn’t there anymore. No. He was right there. How did he disappear in a couple of seconds? That shouldn’t have been possible.

“He was right there, I promise,” I barely get out. “He was right there the whole time. I promise I’m not going crazy.”

“You’re okay, I believe you. Let’s pay for this food, and then we can talk to the manager to get the security tapes to see where he came from,” Matthias tries to calm me, taking my hand.

“I don’t want it.” I shake my head. “I don’t want the food. What if he sprinkled something on them or what if he injected it with something? I’m not going to take that risk.”

I look at Matthias, tears pooling in my eyes. I can’t do this again. I was getting so much better at buying food from the store. I can’t do this again. I am tired of Gerard winning all the time. There isn’t anything I can do about it. He has instilled this fear in me that I can’t shake no matter what I do.

“Adalisa, we’ll fix this. We can wash everything when we get home,” Matthias gently says.

I shake my head once again. “No, I can’t. I won’t be able to eat any of it. I really can’t. Please don’t make me.”

Matthias pulls me into his chest, my face presses into him as I take a deep breath. I feel the vibrations of him talking, but I can’t make much out.

“Go… store… buy… compound,” is all I catch.

What is Matthias doing? He doesn’t give me much time to think about it as he pulls me up in his arms, and I wrap my legs around his waist.

“You’re okay,” he whispers into my ear. “Diego is going to go to another store several hours away for us. Your brother won’t be able to have put anything on them there.”

Here he is again doing something really sweet for me. Wait, did he say brother? He knows the person who was poisoning me was my brother?

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