AllFreeNovel
Share Us
After showering and getting dressed, I find this place rather boring. I try to leave to take a look around but find the door locked from the outside, which makes me wonder what would happen in the case of a fire. I don’t like being confined. Lexa keeps telling me he probably doesn’t trust us, but it doesn’t make the nervousness go away or stop the walls from feeling like they are drawing closer.
I even try the house phone to see if I can ring my mother, or maybe Alisha’s parents, to get the funeral arrangements. Yet as I pick it up, I find he’s cut the cord that goes into the wall. Sighing, I set it down. We can’t even call for help. We have no pack link and are once again trapped. Lexa tries to remind me it is better than being at Jake’s, yet the confinement is much the same.
We spend most of the day cleaning and cooking. After, we notice his dinner is gone from the microwave. We count it as a win as we rifle through the cupboards for what to make for him tonight. We decide to cook a roast and even make a cheesecake for dessert. Setting the table, I hear the door open and his laugh as he walks in, taking his jacket off. A feminine laugh reaches my ears, and I stand up from setting the table and look over at him.
“Mhmm, something smells nice in here,” the woman says, stepping in.
Axton stiffens, turning his head toward the dining area and looking at me, as a woman with long caramel-colored hair steps in, looking around. She startles, and so do I. Lexa comes forward to see what has startled me.
“Oh, sorry,” she murmurs, dipping her head to me when Axton drops his hand on her lower back.
“Pay her no mind. She is just the help,” he says, and I stare at him before looking down at the table I am setting.
“Did he just—” Lexa can’t bring herself to say it, but I know what she means. Her words aren’t needed as I watch him walk the woman down the back of the apartment where his room is.
Fighting back tears, I continue setting the table, yet they don’t emerge from the room even after I finish eating. I wait and even make an extra plate, not wanting to be rude and eat in front of her, while Lexa snaps and snarls at me about encouraging him to have a mistress. I try to remind her we are basically a surrogate at this point and a live-in maid because he’s rejected us back. She doesn’t want to hear it, once again leaving me alone to deal with our new reality.
It’s becoming quite lonely. I leave the table, only cling wrapping their food as I clean up my dishes and the mess I’ve made in the kitchen. Once finished, I make my way back to my room. I am kind of hoping he isn’t in there, yet as I walk past, I can hear her bubbly laughter as they speak, which really makes it hit home as to who she is to him.
My stomach sinks as I push the door open before closing it gently. I suddenly feel homesick. I want to go home, yet I am not sure where that is anymore. It certainly isn’t here or with my parents, but I long for what home is meant to represent because it is meant to feel safe, whole, and loved. Yet now, thinking about it, the last three places I’ve called home are none of those, which leaves me with nothing and no one, and being here, I'm beginning to realize it is something I never had to begin with.
I long for something more, something that is mine, and now I know I will never have that; the only thing I can say is mine at this point are my babies, and I know that is only going to be for as long as I carry them. If he is this controlling now, how much worse will it get once they are here?
Chapter
Thirty-Eight
The next month passes by in a blur. Every evening, a new woman would show up on his arm, and every night Khan would sneak into my room. Yet after the first woman, I’ve never spoken to Khan and ignored his presence completely after finding out that Axton blocks him out when he is with them. Which confirms my thoughts about what they are doing in that room. Why else would they go to his bedroom?
For a month, I have been locked in this house, so I miss Alisha’s funeral. I have tried to ask Axton about it, but he never seems to be alone when he returns home, and Khan refuses to ask because he doesn’t want Axton to know he is taking control of his body at night. He said something about Axton sedating him. Apparently, he has done that in the past, though he refused to tell me why.
However, he’s allowed me to speak to my mother, who called his phone on the sly without my father finding out. She has been pestering me about getting a phone because Axton never lets me use his for long. She confirmed I’d missed Alisha’s funeral, but told me Alisha’s parents didn’t blame me for what happened and that I should have been there. Yet I doubt I am getting out of this house before my sons are born.
I have just finished getting dressed, wondering why I bother at all. It’s not like I ever leave the apartment. But this morning, I am trying to catch Axton before he leaves for work, knowing I will have no chance to speak to him when he comes home. Slipping my socks on, I open the door hearing the kettle in the kitchen whistling, and I bounce on my heels, knowing I haven’t missed him. Padding down the hallway, I find Axton leaning against the counter, phone in hand, as he types away. He is wearing his usual blue suit and a black button-up shirt. I move to make his coffee, hoping he is in a good mood.
He lifts his head as I move past him.
“What, did you shit the fucking bed? Why are you up?” he growls at me.
Ignoring his comment, I grab the kettle and an extra cup. What else does he expect me to do? Besides cleaning this place and cooking, there is nothing else to do but sleep and watch TV.
I make his coffee, handing it to him, and he turns to walk over to the dining room table. I wait for him to pick up his newspaper, making myself a cup of tea before leaning on the counter. I know better than to get too close to him because his nasty comments or growls always end with me crying in my room later.
“Axton?” I murmur, looking down at the mug between my fingers, and he sighs, setting his newspaper down to look at me.
“What, Elena?” he asks, not even trying to hide how much he hates me.
I chew my lip, already regretting getting up early to ask. I have a sinking feeling I know the answer: no. Which is his go-to answer every time I ask him anything.
“Well, are you going to speak or stand there like a fucking moron?”
Lexa growls in my head, and I hate that I even have to ask. It is embarrassing. My lip quivers as I try to find a way to ask without upsetting him.
“I was wondering if maybe you could get me a phone?”
He raises an eyebrow at me, and I scramble for words.
“Or maybe fix the house phone. It would save me from having to borrow yours when I want to call my mother.”
