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“Fine.”
She grabs a hold of the door and rips it open, unlocking her car from the driveway.
“Listen, if things get dicey, we’re leaving immediately.”
I wipe my face.
“Deal.”
* * *
When we arrive at the manor, I’m surprised to see it’s entirely clear of service cars or any of my father’s men.
Usually, it is crawling with people coming and going, the weekdays full of busy activities that I could never wrap my mind around. Now, it’s like a ghost town.
Where are the staff?
Ava parks her car away from the house, instructing me to follow after her while she sneaks us around to the back of the property. She tells me in passing that she took this exact route on the day of my wedding, successfully infiltrating the affair without anyone noticing her.
Honestly, it amazes me. Had I known how vulnerable my family was to outsiders, I would’ve probably been a lot more scared growing up. But my father had brainwashed me so much. I thought my family was invincible.
Now my eyes have been opened.
“This way,” Ava whispers at me, waving her hand while opening a small latch on the basement window.
I crawl through it slowly, feeling the cobwebs tickling against my skin. I hold back my coughing, finally making my way to the end of the small opening and dropping down into the basement.
I look around, noticing that this had at one point been a wine cellar. Now it was used as some kind of storage room. Something I’ve never seen before.
Ava drops down next to me, dusting herself off before nodding for me to follow her again. I stick closely behind her, pressing myself against the wall when we head out into the hallway. Thankfully, our basement never knows much activity. My father keeps most of his business deals upstairs to give the illusion that he is an open and honest type of Don.
Thinking about that now, it’s kind of laughable at how transparent he is. Everything he ever did was to create a false illusion.
How have I been so blind to it?
Ava leads us to a stairwell that my family barely ever used. I wonder how often we had people sneaking around without anyone knowing any better. Clearly, both AvaandKillian had done so successfully a number of times to be this comfortable with the layout. So, what’s to say others hadn’t been doing the same right under our noses?
“Where’s your mother’s room?” Ava whispers at me while we climb the stairs.
I point when we reach the top of it, hoping like hell that she’s in her lounge room reading a book or keeping herself entertained somehow—free from people looming over her and threatening her.
I grab Ava’s arm, pulling her back so that I can be the one to open the door first. I slip into the room, careful not to make any sudden sounds so that I don’t startle her. My mother has always been easy to spook. We don’t need her screaming and alerting everyone to our presence.
When I get inside, I spot her over by the large bay window. She’s looking out over the lawn that sprawls over the gardens. The gardens had been a gift from my father when they moved in and renovated the place. I had always thought of it as a beautiful, grand gesture declaring their love. Now I can see it for what it was.
A trick.
I look at her. She’s holding a small embroidery circle.
“Mom?”
She jumps, whipping around and putting a hand to her heart. I notice immediately that one of her fingers is bandaged… and missing a few inches.
My heart sinks. It really was hers.
“Hi.”
“Antonella…” she mumbles, looking me over in disbelief. “You actually came…”
