Page 27 of Where Quiet Hearts Scream
Serafina
The kitchen workers are nowhere to be seen, so I crawl under one of the metal prep counters, pull my knees up to my chest and wrap my arms around them. Silent tears stream down my cheeks, each one taking another ounce of fight from my soul. My tear-drenched bridesmaid dress pools around my ankles, mocking me.
My heart has broken down the middle. The pain radiates across my breastbone and down my arms to quivering fingers. It has hollowed my stomach and made my legs feel like dead weights. More tears stream from my eyes as I think of Mama and wish just as hard as I did when I was fourteen years old, that she were here.
The sound of soft voices in the distance, getting closer, makes my heart race. I don’t want to be found.I’m not ready to face anyone yet. Nevertheless, my chest pops with relief when I recognize Tess’s shoes. Behind her is Trilby. I know this because her shoes are stained red with a dead man’s blood.
“Sera? Are you there?” Tess calls.
“I told you,” Trilby says. “She knows this hotel like the back of her hand. She’s probably gone up to one of the suites.”
I hold my breath, afraid of drawing their attention.
“Or maybe the beach?” Tess suggests.
“It’s too dark,” Trilby replies. “And Cristiano has more men outside—they’d have seen her.”
My eyes fill with more tears and my vision blurs. When I lift a hand to wipe them away, I accidentally knock the leg of the counter and both Tess and Trilby spin around to face in my direction.
“Sera? Is that you?” Tess bends at the knees and searches beneath the countertops until her gaze lands on me.
“She’s over there,” she whispers, rising to her feet again.
Within seconds, Tess and Trilby are kneeling beside me, taking it in turns to rub my shoulder, clasp my hand and reassure me that everything is going to be okay.
With an anguished look on her face, Trilby hands me a tissue that isn’t going to scratch the surface with all the tears I’ve shed.
“I’m so sorry this is happening to you,” she whispers, dabbing at my cheeks.
“I’m so sorry your wedding went to shit,” I reply.
Trilby pauses. “Don’t. People have lost their lives, and someone has just walked in here and claimed my sister.” She takes a sobering breath. “Who is Andreas, Sera? And how does he know you?”
I purse my lips bitterly. “I don’t know anyone called Andreas. He introduced himself to me as Andrew Stone.”
“When was that?” Tess asks.
My sigh is heavy with regret. “A few weeks ago.”
“Why did he introduce himself as someone else?” Trilby says, flicking her gaze to Tess as though her close proximity to Benito might give her the answers.
“Don’t look at me,” Tess says. “I only found out Benito had a brother two days ago. He hasn’t seen him in years. Thought he was dead!”
“What did Cristiano say to you?” Trilby asks, her attention back on me.
“I’m to marry him.”
“What?” Tess clasps a hand over her mouth and murmurs from behind it. “He’s got to be joking, right?”
Trilby’s brow furrows. “Cristiano doesn’t joke. Not about things like this.”
The hand slides from Tess’s mouth and rests in her lap. “How do you feel about that, Sera? Do you like Andreas? Do you want to marry him?”
I can’t believe she’s genuinely asking me, as though my desire in the matter carries any weight at all. My blood heats.
“You really think I’d want to marry someone I’ve just discovered has been lying to me from the minute wemet? Who has clearly used me to get into your husband’s inner circle? Who carries a gun around like it’s a part of his arm? A man I don’t know? A liar and a cheat? Acriminal?” My voice has pitched higher and higher until I’m almost screaming. Tess and Trilby stare back at me in alarm.
I shake my head in despair. “I’m not like you and I don’t want to be. I’m sorry, but it’s true. I don’t see the appeal in these men. They’re nothing but thieves and murderers dressed in tailored suits. And after what happened to Mama,nothingwould make me want to marry into this heinous life. Nothing at all.”
