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“Do you feel seduced yet, baby? Because you sure look like you do.”
Taking a deep breath she licked her lips. “What do you want, Declan?”
“A lot of things. I want to make you scream. I want fuck you so hard this bed breaks, and then I want to make love to you so thoroughly, so passionately, that my scent is imprinted on you for days.”
“That’s not what I meant,” she gasped, as her eyes glazed over…her payback would be as sinful as it was beautiful.
But now, I wanted our previous conversation completely over.
“I’ll talk to Liam, but you have to promise me even though you’re on her side, you’ll make her see it from Liam’s perspective. Melody doesn’t need a cheerleader, she needs a reality check. Got it?”
She frowned and nodded. “Fine. But do you need a cheerleader? It would be a shame to let such a good costume go to waste.”
God bless her.
SEVEN
“You’ll tell yourself anything you have to,
to pretend that you’re still the one in control.”
—Jodi Picoult
MELODY
This morning, true to form, Ethan woke up at three, screaming as if his head was on fire…and it was the greatest sound in the world. Liam and I jumped up off the floor and ran to him, but he didn’t want us, he wanted his music. Liam was confused when I told him, but pressed play anyway. With seconds, Ethan began to calm down and I fed him his applesauce until he fell back to sleep.
Liam and I didn’t speak other than that. Once Ethan went down, he looked like he wanted to go to bed but thought better of it and sat back against the opposite wall. He looked tired, but because he was an egotistical asshole, he wouldn’t close his eyes until he thought I was asleep. And because I was stupid, I allowed him to think so. I hated him and I hated that he made me feel so vulnerable.
I needed a moment to clear my head and to shower. Evelyn had kept our room untouched like a time capsule. My shoes, makeup, clothing, everything was in the same place, including a note left to me by Adriana. I knew if our room hadn’t been touched then neither had hers and I’d been correct. I thought I would feel better after being in her room, but all I wanted to do was to get back to Ethan. Her glasses were still on the bedside table, her bed was still unmade, and the bat Antonio had given her after they’d gone to see the Chicago Cubs, rested by the dresser. Antonio had come to me privately and asked for the weekend off. Adriana was pissed, hating the fact that he’d spoken to me behind her back. However, I told her to go. I didn’t know how it turned out, I really didn’t care to ask. She looked happy enough. Now Antonio was dead, and so was she. But at least he’d died with honor and loyalty. At least he hadn’t betrayed me.
Walking over to the dresser, I grabbed the bat, and the first thing I swung at was her mirror. Swinging it with as much force as possible, I watched it shattered before I moved on to the lamp. I swung at it so hard it flew off the table before it splintered into a million pieces. It sparked once before going dark.
I unleashed my anger at Adriana on her belongings. After that, I didn’t care what it was, I just wanted it in pieces; the chairs, glass table. I swung at it all. Everything in this room was Adriana, it was all a lie…the Adrianna I’d known was a lie.
“Ma’am?” I heard someone call out.
I glanced back to see Fedel standing in the doorway. Stopping mid-swing, I threw the bat onto the ground before fully turning to the door. Fedel, Monte, and Liam all stood there, staring at me and the destruction that I’d caused.
Maybe they thought I’d lost it…Maybe I had.
“I want to talk to everyone close to the family in the basement,” I spoke directly to Liam. This wasn’t up for debate.
He said nothing to me, but he addressed Fedel and Monte. “You heard her,” he said to them, and within seconds, they were gone. Calling over a maid, he pointed into the room. “Have everything in here cleared out. I don’t want to see any of it ever again.”
“Yes, sir.” She nodded before turning.
“My father is with Ethan.”
“He came in as I left and told me to wash up,” I told him.
“And you listened?”
“I’d planned on taking a shower anyway.”
With a nod, he turned away and part of me wanted to reach out and punch him square across the face…or kiss him. I felt as if he was continually pulling at parts of me.
“I’ll meet you down there.”
“Fine.”
We went our separate ways and I was fine with that. I was fine. I had to be fine.
The walk back to Ethan’s room felt too long, I wanted to run to him. The fact that he had been away from me for so long had left me nervous. It was like I needed him near me all the time.
“Olivia, maybe…” Sedric stopped whatever he was about to say once I came in.
She turned to me with Ethan in her arms. He was holding on to her hair, laughing in her arms, babbling away completely oblivious as to what was going on around him.
“He likes his back rubbed in the mornings,” she told me before returning her attention to him.
“I’ll go check in on Liam. But I hope you and I can speak later, Mel,” Sedric said to me, but I wasn’t paying attention to him. All I could do was nod in response to whatever he’d said. When Olivia kissed Ethan’s forehead, I tried not to snatch him from her. Instead I reached out for him and she backed away.
“Mel, it’s fine. You can’t smother him,” she snapped at me.
“Olivia, give me my son or I swear to God I will torch you alive.” Holding on to Ethan, I lifted him from her. He cried, trying to reach for her again.
“You’re so fucking selfish! You can’t just take him. He doesn’t know you!”
“That’s the thing, he’s mine to take, Olivia, he is my son! My blood! Not yours. So I won’t tell you again, Olivia. Leave. Get out of my face before I bash yours in.”
Ethan was still reaching for her. However, I walked him to the window out of her reach. I knew that if she reached for him again, I’d have to repaint the nursery after I got through with her.
She sighed deeply as I rocked Ethan in my arms. He calmed down but still didn’t look pleased.
“Look, Mel, I’m not trying to replace you. I know I can’t. I’m just trying to appeal to your better nature—”
“That’s just it…my nature doesn’t get any better. So why are you still in front of me?”
The door opened and Coraline walked in holding on to a pair of small earmuffs. “Am I interrupting something?”
“No,” Olivia sneered before she stomped out of the room.
How could she even dream of taking care of a child if she was still behaving like one?
“What was that about?” Coraline asked, eyes wide.
“What is it, Coraline?” I ignored her question opting instead to kiss the side of Ethan’s head.
“I wanted to talk to you.”
Of course she did.
Everyone wanted to talk or yell at me, but I was done listening.
“Mel, you know you can trust me right? I would never do anything to hurt you…”
“Coraline, please just spit it out.”
She sighed, walked up to Ethan and placed the earmuffs over his ears before looking me straight in the eyes.
