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Then Theresa pulled up, looking like she had a job to do. And I was that job. The volcano erupted, making me ignore Yuri’s attempt to say goodbye to me properly. It didn’t matter at the moment that I had no idea where he was going or what he was up to. It might have been dangerous—I knew well enough people went out and never returned. Maybe a tax lawyer’s wife could risk sending her husband off without a proper goodbye, but I knew as well as Yuri that I was no mere tax lawyer’s wife.
I shouldn’t have been anyone’s wife and seeing Theresa stepping in as a babysitter, no, more like a warden, got my blood fully boiling again. The fact that I didn’t trust him should have told me he felt the same, but it hurt. Once again, it was easier to be angry than lapse back into heartache and regret.
I stormed into the house, ignoring Theresa’s friendly greeting, ignoring the stunning, bright entrance hall and the fragrance of magnolias and jasmine. The place was so open and airy I might have walked into a marble clad jungle, with a crystal chandelier in place of the sun. But there was still plenty of sun shining down since the ceiling in the entrance hall, which seemed a mile high, was mostly glass. Since I had no idea where to go, I begrudgingly turned to my new sister-in-law.
“I’m sorry, once again,” I told her.
Her smile was genuine, if not a bit tired, and guilt warred with my anger. Didn’t she have young twins at home? And now she had to come here and watch over me? Well, that certainly wasn’t my fault or my choice, so I pushed aside any remorse.
“I’m happy to be here and show you around,” she said.
I sniffed. “What’s the going rate for babysitting these days? I hope you’re getting a fair wage at least.”
Her smile stiffened but she valiantly kept trying. “I’d like for you to think of me as a friend instead of a babysitter. Don’t take it personally, but Ivan was told you have a history of running so you might not be left alone for a while. Might as well make the best of it.”
My outrage came out in a huff. “Did my father rat me out? Yeah, I tried to run one time. My cousin bashed me over the head and I woke up zip tied and about to be sold to a stranger. You wouldn’t make a break for it?”
She grumbled. “I didn’t know it was like that.” She wiped her eyes and stifled a yawn. “I can be kind of fun, really. Let’s just pretend we’re hanging out for the afternoon, okay?”
I could see she was too tired to fight with me and I didn’t really have anything in particular against her, so I nodded. “I’ve been doing a lot of pretending lately.”
I expected her to laugh but she only looked sorrowful about that and I couldn’t stand even a whiff of pity from anyone. When I was little and still went to school with other children, the teachers sometimes noticed the bruises my father was too careless to keep in spots that were covered by clothes. The looks in their eyes still haunted me and filled me with impotent anger, even though now I knew they only wished they could have changed my sorry state. Of course they couldn’t, since my father owned most of the politicians and law enforcement in our town.
“I can help you unpack,” she offered.
“Yeah, Yuri mentioned that. But I didn’t have anything with me but a few spare shirts and…” I trailed off, thinking about my laptop, which made me think about the class I was days away from getting kicked out of, which threatened my tenuous mood. “I don’t have anything to unpack,” I finished.
Her smile lit up her whole face. “Oh, sure you do. Come on.”
I followed her up a wide, curving staircase and down a long, open hallway. Most of the doors were closed, but one was open to an office with a closed laptop on it. My fingers twitched, wishing I had a shot at it. Just to send an email to my old boss and try to explain my absence. The chances of being able to continue working were slim but I did want to apologize so there wouldn’t be any burnt bridges, since I still held out hope I could escape this… paradise.
Theresa swung open wooden double doors and held out her hand for me to go into the bedroom first. We were at the back of the house and I could quickly see the back had balconies as well as the front, only this side showed a view of the water that made my breath catch in my throat. I hurried past the huge canopied bed, all swathed in breezy sheer fabric and loaded with pillows, to get to the glass door and slide it open. The entire wall was some kind of ingenious sliding door and soon the room was completely open to the sea breeze and scent of all the flowers down below. This view was much better than my yellowing patch of grass and broken bottles. Sailboats dotted the horizon and puffy white clouds gusted across the sky, all framed by fronds of emerald green palm leaves.
“It’s a nice view, isn’t it?” she asked.
“That’s an understatement. I think I could stand here all day.” I looked out at the balcony to see wicker chairs with comfy cushions. “Or sit out here.” I was already picturing drinking my morning juice out here and actual tears were rising. If only I could get my hands on a computer, I might really learn to be happy.
She cleared her throat and motioned to the dresser, which was laden with shopping bags and boxes. “Time to unpack.”
“Who did this?” I asked, pulling blouses, pants, shorts, underwear and socks from the bags. There were simple, practical things like I was used to, though the tags told me they were far better quality, and also some fancy dresses and sky high heels, along with gold and gemstone necklaces and bracelets. “Where would I ever wear these things?”
She laughed. “You really don’t know what you’re in for, do you? Yuri goes to so many society functions you’re probably going to have to go shopping again in a week to keep up. These aren’t the kind of functions where you can rewear things.”
“He’ll take me with him?”
She pulled her phone out of her pocket and scrolled, handing it over to me. There were dozens of pictures of our wedding, some of Yuri alone, and shockingly, some of me alone. I looked pretty good and zoomed in on an article picking apart my wedding jewelry, saying they couldn’t wait to see what the former most eligible bachelor’s new bride would wear to the next big thing.
“Yuri was most eligible bachelor?” That was something I didn’t recall when I worked for him. He got plenty of attention, but I didn’t think he embraced it so much.
“Just last year. It’s good for us that he’s so popular and well liked. Makes the rest of the guys seem less scary, I guess.”
“But they are scary,” I muttered, befuddled by all the pictures and opinions about me from people I didn’t know or care about. I had to remember that I was married to the mob, not just a lawyer’s wife like those articles seemed to believe. “Just like my father.”
“No, not just like him,” she said with a sour look.
I handed her back her phone, then suddenly remembered the most important reason I agreed to all this madness. I cursed and begged to call my father. “You can watch me and listen the whole time, but it’s important, I swear.” Oh God, how could I have forgotten this?
As soon as he answered in the gruff voice that still made me recoil, I asked if he had upheld his end of the bargain. He was silent for so long I nearly shrieked in terror, but that was just his little way of torturing me when he couldn’t use his fists.
