Page 14 of Alessia
Do I need to make sure Miss Davis gets home safely?
Yes, please do. But make sure she doesn’t know she’s being followed.
Of course, boss!
And get me a new phone, this one’s cracked!
Do I even want to know?
I’ll tell you later… Maybe.
With that I put the broken phone back on the counter. I turn around and my legs give out and I sink to the kitchen floor. Broken glass and flowers all around me. Tears sting in my eyes and I let go. I sob and howl. The pain in my chest is unbearable. Not because of my father’s death but because of what my future will hold.
My life just changed. This morning, I was hoping to find a girl I could connect with and maybe even love one day. Now I need to make arrangements to become a mafia queen and bury myfather. Still, I’m glad he’s dead but fucking hell my life will never be my own now. The target on my back just got bigger. I gasp for air between my sobs, my hands trembling as I rake them through the shattered petals and shards of glass. The Madonna Lillies are ruined, much like the remnants of the life I had hoped to live.
I sit there for what feels like hours when a ding from the elevator makes my spine stiffen. Instinct takes over. The grief for life I once knew shoves itself into a dark corner, making room for the only thing that will keep me alive now, control. I swipe at my tears and push myself up, my palm slicing open on a jagged piece of glass.
“Boss?”
I lift my chin at the sound of Elio’s voice. He doesn’t falter, doesn’t so much as flinch at the mess in front of him. His tailored black suit is pristine, his hands clasped in front of him like he’s standing in a church instead of my blood-stained kitchen.
“She’s home safe.” he says, his voice low.
My throat is raw, but I swallow down the remnants of my breakdown and step forward. My feet crunch over glass as I approach him.
“Good,” I say, though it doesn’t feel good. It feels like chains wrapping around my wrists. Like a weight pressing down on my spine. “Get this cleaned up. I have to tell Lorenzo and Bella.”
Elio nods once, but before he turns, his dark eyes sweep over me. There’s something there… Pity? Concern? I don’t care. I can’t afford to.
I followhim out of the kitchen, grabbing my phone off the counter and step over broken past and into the future.
A future drenched in blood.
I walk over to the windows that overlook the ocean and I unlock the screen and there it is. Her name. She has sent me a message.
Harper:
I thought you would be different.
Have a nice life. Don’t bother to
come and find me at the hospital.
We’re done before we even started.
Like hell we are! She will be mine if she wants to or not. My blood starts to boil with anger. Then I remember why I got my phone in the first place. I open up the video chat with my siblings. Even before I dial them, I can see that my camera is cracked as well. Fuck my luck today! I look around the room for my tablet and spot it over on the coffee table by the couch, next to the dripping molten ice cream on to my burgundy rug. Olivia, my cleaner, is going to have a field day cleaning up that stain. I pick up my tablet and take a seat on one of the chairs. I push the button to dial the group video chat.
Lorenzo picks up after a few rings.
“Hey, big sis. What’s up?”
“Let’s wait for Bella to join us.”
A few rings later Bella joins the call. Her dark eyes and curly hair fill the screen.
“Hi, sis! I miss you!”
“We live in the same building. If you were ever home you wouldn’t have this problem.” I say, taking no shit from her today.
