“You need to stand up.” Her tone is harsh. I stand up from the cot, dusting off my pajama pants. I haven’t had a real shower since I took one with Devious. Normally, the maid bathes me with cheap soap which makes my skin itchy and rinses me with icy water. Marla snatches the dirty gray sheets from the cot, tossing it to the floor then she unfolds the clean bed sheet, stretching across the mattress. “I’m assuming you’re here because you betrayed him.”
I don’t respond, twirling the end of my dry hair.
“You should have taken my advice.” She says, stepping away from the bed. “If you don’t get your shit together with my cousin, he will kill you, Roselyn. But, if you obey him and get on his good side, then he’ll be good to you. He’ll treat you like a queen.”
She pats me on the back. Anger boils in my chest and I dig my chipped nails into my palm.
“Why are you telling me this? It’s not like you give a fuck about me.”
She rests her hands on her hips, blowing out fine strands of hair out of her face. “Honestly, I’m trying to help because I want Devious to move on from Shelby. I want the old Devious back where he was happy, but ever since the bitch died, he’s been walking around like an empty shell.”
Devious being good and nice. That’s hard to believe.
“Did he force Shelby to marry him as well?”
She grabs the dirty grey sheets from the concrete, smiling sadly at me. “No. The wedding was arranged by their parents, but they went to high school together. They were high school sweethearts,” she pauses. “It’s time for you to shower.”
I follow her out to the elevator, and we stop by the laundry room and she stuffs the dirty linen in the hamper then we stroll to the small bathroom.
“Can I have some privacy?”
“No. Devious gave me instructions on not letting you out of my sight.”
Rolling my eyes, I yank down my cotton panties and sit on the toilet. The sound of urine hits the water as she turns the chrome knob on the shower. After I do my business, I undress and stare at my reflection as my eyes water. I don’t recognize myself. My skin is pale and broken by the welts with specks of blood on my ass. My lips are crack, and I appear as if I haven’t eaten in weeks. Sometimes, it hurts when I move or walk or sit.
Marla shakes her head.
“Do you think Devious is going to kill me?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. Sometimes his behavior is unpredictable.”
Devious ripped away a piece of me in so many ways. Making me watch Tommy die, choking me, beating me with the belt, leaving me in complete darkness and making me live off bread and water.
“Obviously, he has some kind of plan if he told me to bring you up here to shower.”
The sound of the water taps the gray pebbled floor.
I don’t recognize the girl who is staring back at me in the mirror. I used to be the girl who had a lot of fire inside of her, the girl thought about traveling the world and being a famous painter, who wanted to live life to the fullest, but Devious stomp the fire inside of her. Whatever he has planned for me, I hope he hurries with it, so I can be put out of misery.
I want to be free. The only way out of this is to earn his trust and if I earn his trust, he’ll give me freedom and if he gives me freedom, then I can come up with a plan to escape him. I know it’s stupid to try escape him and I’m digging a grave for myself. But, it’s the only way I can be set free from this hellhole.
Devious
My Father was cruel to me and treated his famiglia like shit. He didn’t beat my momma, but he sure ass hell beat the fuck out of Aiden and I as if we ruined his life. Whatever object he can find at the present moment, he would beat us with.
Momma neglected us to the point where she would forget to feed us and bathe us, because she was too busy fucking her bodyguard. I wasn’t sad when she died in a car accident six months ago. The tire popped and the car spun out of control, she ended up hitting a tree.
Enzo was like a father to me and I glance up to him. It was Enzo who used to help me clean my wounds. It was Enzo who tried to make my life a lot better. He counseled me through my nightmares. Every so often, I don’t sleep because of the vivid dreams of Draco torturing us. If I decide not to kill Roselyn and if she has my child, I’m going to make sure they won’t grow up in an abusive home.
I may be cruel, cold, and ruthless like Draco was. But I’m capable of love. I’m capable of loving Aiden. I love philosophy and Greek mythology. I love the rain on a summer day, art, and history. I love saving the environment.
But I’m not going to love Roselyn. I can’t afford it either. The last time I fell in love, I ended up killing Shelby. I end up losing the very few things I hold dear to my black heart.
I sit in my Black Bugatti waiting for Cashel to show to pick up the coke. Several minutes later, one of his underbosses gets out of the
