“Marrying someone who looks exactly like her, isn’t going to bring her back, bro.” He blows smoke from the corner of his mouth. My brother has always expressed his opinions on shit even when you don’t ask, but he means well.
“I didn’t know she looked like her. I don’t want to talk about my dead fiancé,” I snap, leaning my elbow onto the table. Charlotte’s cleaning crew wipes the blood from the walls and table.
“It wasn’t your fault.”
I know Aiden is trying to be a good brother, but his words don’t stop my guilty conscience. My throat is dry and my hands tremble. The way the bullet pierced her tiny chest and I tried to perform CPR to revive her burn in my mind. I shake my head, trying to wipe away the memory from my brain.
“She got what she deserved,” Aiden responds, rubbing his index finger on his chin.
Aiden and Shelby never got along. He thought of her as beneath me and she was controlling and tore us apart. Aiden and I have always been close. I tried to protect him from the sexual abuse mom has put him through.
“Instead of worrying about what I’m doing, don’t you need to be delivering guns?” I snap, tension rolling on the back of my shoulders.
He gets up from the table and throws his hand in the air, before leaving the room. I sit in complete silence, listening to the air conditioner blow out air. I shouldn’t have fallen in love with a whore. I shouldn’t have tried to save her from her trailer park life. I wouldn’t have to walk around with the hole in my heart. Pain is something I’ve known all my life. From dealing with abuse from Draco to having my heart broken. So, I will not fall in love with Roselyn. I don’t need the heart ache.
Roselyn
EXHALING, I TUCK THE BUTCHER knife under the soft mattress in our bedroom. I swiped it when the maid was busy cleaning the table. Devious has another thing coming if he thinks I’m going to roll over and allow him to take my virginity. If I want any freedom, I need to escape this lavish hellhole. So, killing Devious is my only option. I’m going to contact my friend, Tommy, to make fake IDs and passports, then I’m going to book a trip to Frankfurt, Germany. I have enough cash in my bank account to rent out an apartment and buy necessities. I’m going to do what I always wanted to do, be a street artist.
I stand in front of the gigantic mirror, brush my straight white teeth, then I grab a thick cotton towel, which probably cost a fortune and scrub my face. Once I’m finished, I toss the towel in the hamper then I pad to the living room. Slowly, I sit on the black leather couch and the lace fabric of my panties rubs against my skin I hiss like a snake.
The doorbell rings and a soldier, wearing all black, opens the door. His chestnut hair is in a neat bun and his muscles are lean as if he’s built like a runner. Is this Max? The soldier who is supposed to be my bodyguard.
I stand up from the luxury couch, wiping my palms on my baggy pants. Marla strolls in, with her head high as if she owns the place. Her hazel eyes drink me in from my hair all the way down to my fire red colored toenails.
“Oh, dear. No wonder Devious told me you needed a new wardrobe. You look like you raided Freddy Kruger’s closet and got lost in it.” She leans down, unzipping her Louis Vuitton bag. “I’m going to take your measurements then I’ll order your wedding dress and a new wardrobe.”
“Do I get to pick out what I want to wear?”
“No. Devious gave me strict orders not to. Congratulations on the wedding by the way. I didn’t expect him to marry someone so young but then again, I think about what kind of man he is, and I shouldn’t be surprised. Now, hold out your arms.”
“What kind of man is he?” I hold out my arms. I’ve heard what kind of man he was. When I used to listen to Papa’s conversations with the other men who would come over for meetings, he would say Devious is known for his brutal killing and is blood thirsty for anyone who is doing him wrong. He’s the devil who haunts your nightmares.
She uses her tape measure and extends it to my upper arm all the way down to my hand. “He likes young women so he can manipulate and control them. And he has a type.” She wraps the tape around my waist, then my chest. “Blonde hair, blue eyes and petite.” Her eyes meet mine. “I’m assuming you have a smart mouth.”
I shrug, but don’t respond. Papa told me my mouth will get me in a great deal of trouble.
“You look like his fiancée. She died two years ago.”
“How did she die?”
“I’m not supposed to say. Devious would be furious if I told you.”
“Was he in love with her?”
“Yes, he loved the hell out of Shelby. After her death, Devious was so broken up inside he went on a killing spree.”
I never thought in a million years Devious could fall love with someone or he had ever been in love.
“Have you ever slept with Devious?”
As she pulls out her iPad, she taps the screen, she laughs lightly. “Oh no. I’m his cousin on his mother’s side.” She pauses. “Before he put me in charge of running his household. I used to bring women to his bed when he didn’t have time to find one.”
“Since you know him so well, do you know he forced me into marrying him?”
“Again, his behavior doesn’t surprise me. Whatever Devious wants, he gets.” She half shrugs then
