I return home to find Emma listening to one of my albums on my record player. It’s an older band. The song if soft and wistful. Almost melancholy.
And to my surprise, I find her… crying. Just sitting on the couch, crying.
“Emma?” I ask.
She startles when she hears me, wiping at her tears. “You’re home. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have touched your albums.” She stands up but I motion for her to sit back down.
“It’s all right. You live here now. You can listen to my albums.” Gabriel’s words come back to me – if a daughter was raised by a man like Alessandro and Giovanni, there has to be a darkness in her.
I just can’t seem to find it anywhere, no matter how hard I look.
“Thank you.”
“Why were you crying?”
“No reason,” she squeaks. I know she’s still hiding something from me. It’s a deception. Is Emma truly as innocent as sheappears? All of this could be an act to get me to trust her. Even saving that girl could have been an act. No one is that selfless.
“You can tell me,” I urge.
She sighs. “It’s just a song that reminds me of home. My life on the farm. It just made me sad. That’s all.”
“Was your life a bad one, where you came from?” Surely she was spoiled rotten having been raised by Alessandro.
“I’m tired,” she says instead, getting up. “I’m going to bed. Thank you once again, Leo, for your generosity in letting me stay here.” She walks away before I can get more out of her.
If Emma doesn’t share everything with me in time, I’m going to have to torture it out of her.
And I’m not sure if I’ll be able to do that.
Chapter Four
Emma
I’m in the middle of sweeping the floors when a knock on the door makes me stop. Leo is gone for work, leaving me all alone in his large house. For a moment, my stomach turns to knots. What if it’s my mother come to take me back? But surely not. She doesn’t know where I am.
Taking a deep breath, I look through the peephole to see a young woman on the other side. Maybe just a little bit older than me. Pretty with long brown hair and an expensive looking shirt and dress covering her body.
I glance down at my own clothes. I didn’t want to wear the nice outfits Leo bought me when I cleaned the home so I’m back towearing my old, manure smelling clothes. Despite washing them many times now, I just can’t get the smell out.
After steeling myself, I open the front door. “Hello?”
Her smile dims when she sees me. “Oh. Is Alice not here?”
“Who’s Alice?”
“Leo’s maid. She would always let me in while I wait for Leo to come home.”
Leo never mentioned he had a maid before me. “No. It’s me. I’m the maid.”
“Oh. Well…” Her eyes sweep over me in a way that feels very judgmental. “You can let me in.”
“I don’t know who you are.”
“I’m Isabella. Leo’s friend.”
“Um… ok. Sure.” Leo never mentioned having any friends and I can’t deny that the sight of this beautiful woman makes me feel insecure knowing she’s close with Leo, probably in a way I’ll never be.
Isabella gives me a smile that doesn’t reach her eyes as she walks past me and settles on the couch. I still have more cleaning to do so I focus on that but I can feel Isabella’s eyes on me the entire time.
