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My mind is going a thousand miles an hour.
One way or another, I’m going to get to the bottom of whatever the fuck is going on in my city.
15
HADLEY
I take a deep breath as I stand outside Jovan’s office door, still trying to get a hold of myself. After I left last night, I went home only to find some of my things gone. If he thinks that he can force me to move in with him, he’s messing with the wrong woman.
As soon as I’m sure I can talk to him without imploding, I knock on his door. There is no sound on the other side, so I open the door a crack and peer in.
Jovan is shrouded in darkness, the only light in the room coming from the small slit between the curtains and a dim lamp in the corner.
“What is this?” I ask as I step inside and close the door behind me. “Some sort of brooding cave?”
“Something like that.”
“Why did you want to see me?” I ask, keeping my tone light and professional as I take a seat in one of the chairs on the opposite side of the desk.
He looks up at me and shrugs. “I thought that there were some things you and I should talk about. Yet again, you ran away before I had the chance. I know you were a damaged child, but running away at every turn isn’t going to benefit you.”
I grip the arms of the chair, trying to keep my temper in check. “Unfortunately, I had somewhere else I needed to be. Kennedy was expecting me and I couldn’t keep her waiting. Besides, I quit, so it’s not like you are my boss anymore.”
Jovan steeples his fingers together beneath his chin. The expression on his face makes it clear that he doesn’t believe my lie.
Even though I think I can trust him with the truth, there is something that keeps holding me back. If there is anyone who isn’t going to judge me for my past, I know it’s Jovan.
The scared little girl in me doesn’t think that, though. She thinks that it is better to keep my secrets to myself for now. She doesn’t want me to spill everything to him in case he turns his back on me like everyone else in my life has done.
I just want to hold onto this one good thing for a little longer.
“Kennedy would have waited for you for hours. And I don’t accept your resignation. Now that that’s settled, what else are you hiding from me, Hadley?”
“So, it’s Hadley when you’re pissed at me and kitten when you want to fuck me senseless?”
He chuckles darkly and leans forward, resting his arms on the desk. “I’m not in the mood to play games with you, kitten, even if it is one of my favorite pastimes.”
“What can I help you with?”
"I want to know more about your parents.”
“Why? My parents are dead. I saw their bodies.”
“And you have no reason to believe that they could still be alive?”
I’m speechless. “What? No!”
“Okay, how did you find out? Did someone come to your school and tell you?”
“I found them. They were lying on the floor when I got home from work after school one day. I tried to get them to wake up, but they wouldn’t. They weren’t breathing, so I called Carlos and he called nine-one-one. They were declared dead on site.”
I was free. A bittersweet feeling. No more abuse, on one hand. On the other, I could now only count on myself, since I was all alone in the world. So, a few days later, in a fit of anger after a particularly nasty nightmare, that was more of a memory, I set fire to the house to make sure there were no reminders of them. Maybe like the phoenix, I could rise from the ashes of my childhood home.
Though I know I should tell him that, I can’t say the words. I’m terrified that he’s going to hear what I’ve done and think that I’m a monster.
Who tries to burn their dead parents’ house down to try to hide away years of abuse? Or maybe I was trying to burn the abuse itself away. No luck there, though.
“Alright, so they’re dead and Alessio was given bad intel.”
