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“I need and I will. It’s gonna be okay, cause I got you! Ok?”
“Will disagreeing make any difference?” she accepts.
“No. Wish me luck?” I ask, only then allowing some of the vulnerability I feel to transpire.
“Luck? I’ll be there next weekend!We have a wedding to organize!Antonella Machado Rodrigues will make her great return to the damned Brazilian elite and I would not miss youryou don’t know how great it feels to be backfor nothing in this world!” she declares without any excitement, but with a lot of determination in her voice.
“I love you!” My eyes burn, wanting to shed tears and stain my poor makeup.
“And I love you!”
?
Everything seems different today.
From the light floors to the wood-covered walls, through the furniture that would probably be enough to pay a number of years similar to my age in rents and reaching the beautiful crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling.I don’t know if it’s the fact that I’m walking through the front door instead of the backdoor, the certainty that I won’t be wearing that hideous uniform, or the way I feel.
I can’t say that coming back to the life I knew it before Bella is going to be a sacrifice.I’d be a hypocrite if I said it would, it won’t.Although I don’t care much about appearances as my parents always did, luxury and comfort are things I wouldn’t have given up if I had been given a choice. I wasn’t given any.
I didn’t talk to Marcos after I left his house two days ago.He’s not sure I’m coming, and as I walk to the concierge, I worry that the tall, thin, man with perfectly trimmed hair and mustache, who wears a neatly aligned suit, might tell me to turn around and walk through the backdoor.That would be unpleasant.But surprisingly, before I even get a chance to say who I am or what I’m doing here, he talks to me.
“Mrs. Valente...” I frown, and my first thought is to look back just to confirm that he is not talking to someone else.But that’s only until I realize the last name used.
Valente, Asshole Marcos’ surname. The son of a bitch is arrogant, isn’t he? I laugh, unable to help myself.
Marcos was not only sure that I would come, he was sure that I would accept.And to my immense frustration, he was right.I hate it more than the fact that I’m going to have to live with him for the next two years.Maybe we can divide the house into wing "A" and "B" and each of us gets one?I shake my head, agreeing with myself that this is a good idea.One more point to discuss.
“Ma’am?” the doorman calls me again, pulling me out of my thoughts.
“I’m sorry, I got distracted,” I reply.
“Mr. Valente asked me to guide you on using the elevator...” I laugh once again, so arrogant.Did he really forget that I spent the last eight months using the fucking elevator?Or does he think I walked up twenty-three flights of stairs?
“That’s not necessary, Benício...” I read the name on the gold plaque, attached to his jacket like a brooch.He nods and gives me passage.I cross the short space that separated me from the elevator and, as the concierge does not accompany me, I suppose my fingerprint is already in the system.I test it by placing my finger over the small panel reader, and it works.The indicator lights show the advance of the machine and in a few seconds the doors open for me.
I get into the elevator with much safer steps than I actually feel.It’s not the first time I’ve faced a situation like this, and given my new assignments, I’m sure it won’t be the last.The doors close and, along with them, my eyes.Mentally, I count the thirteen seconds I know it takes to get to the penthouse.
One. Antonella, breath.
Two. It’s for Bella, you will be fine.
Three. Consider this a deal and you will be fine.
Four. Don’t kill your future husband, this is essential to make everything work.
Five. Breath.
Six. Two years in exchange of an entire life of safety for your daughter.
Seven. No more heavy cleanings or losing sleep.
Eight. You can do this.
Nine. Sweet and submissive won’t be easy, but it can’t be that hard, you have seen your parents do it for much of your life.
Ten. Just keeping appearances, Antonella.
Eleven. Never counting coins again to give Bella a birthday present.
