AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Well, she’s not eating,” Anna starts. “And she’s got this look in her eyes. I’ve seen that look before sir—Adrian. It’s not a good one to have.”
“And what am I supposed to do about that?”Khristos, this is too much work. Maybe I should just get rid of her and be done with it.
“Give her some reading material,” Anna advises. “Let her go for walks out in the garden. She isn’t unsupervised here. Maybe even let her see her family.”
“They’re dead,” I deadpan.
Anna rolls her eyes. “Their graves. Let her get some closure. Maybe even take her back home for some of her own things.”
“Why?” I ask. “She won’t be my problem in a week.”
My housekeeper shrugs a shoulder but gives me a knowing look. “If you say so,” she says, making her way back into the kitchen. She stops and turns back to me once more. “Just think about what I said. Don’t be like the person who took her family from her. I don’t think she’s the enemy you think she is.”
I snort derisively as she leaves the room.
Not the enemy I think she is? Vanya is exactly that.
Still, I think about Anna’s words as I head toward my office. Maybe she is right. A little effort might go a long way in making Vanya more malleable. Less annoying.
Maybe then she’ll tell me the secret she’s been keeping all these years.
The secret as to why my wife truly killed herself.
Eleven
Can a person die of boredom?
I am starting to think it is a possibility.
It’s been three days since Adrian stormed out of his own room after leaving me bent over his king-size bed, his sweats around my ankles, my body thrumming from the near orgasm that was never completed. I wanted him to bring me pleasure. Still do, if I’m honest, but that doesn’t stop the shame from coursing through my body.
He is my best friend’s husband.
Even if she is long gone.
He also betrayed her and my family.
What does it say about me that I want nothing more than for him to rush in here and finish what he started the other morning? My family would be ashamed of me.
And Ada? She would be disgusted.
Sighing, I lean back in the cozy patterned wing-back chair and watch the flowers in the garden gently blow in the breeze. Occasionally, a guard will pass through on an hourly inspection, but otherwise, this is what my life has been reduced to.
Sitting with anxiety and waiting for the axe to drop wondering if today is the day he sells me off to the highest bidder. Another tray lies uneaten on the small table in front of me. Nausea worries my gut, and the thought of eating makes it worse. I’ve always been like this. Whenever I’m nervous or stressed I can never seem to hold down food. Even when I’m starving.
Like now.
My stomach rumbles and begs for nutrients but even the thought of eating has me retching in the toilet. Food is just unpalatable. It doesn’t help that I can’t open a window or go for a walk. There is nothing but the stilted and stifling walls that are slowly encroaching on my sanity.
I tense at the sound of the door unlocking. Adrian hasn’t come to torture me in a few days, but my luck seems to be rather empty at the moment. The door opens and I turn slightly to see who it is, letting out a relieved breath when all I see is Anna, the head of the house.
“Good morning, Miss Castellanos.” She smiles at me as she brushes into the room carrying a stack of books. There are a few maids following behind her, their arms full of bags.
Eyeing Anna cautiously, I ask, “What is all this?”
The housekeeper shoos out the other girls as she carefully arranges the stack of books on one of the end tables. Adrian doesn’t have bookshelves to place them on. A waste really. Books are the key to our imagination.
“Master Volkov has approved some reading materials for you.” She grins as she starts unloading the bags on the bed. Jesus, what the hell did he buy? I sneak a peek at the labels. Alexander McQueen? Oscar de la Renta? Louboutin?
