All these weeks I’ve been at this house, he hasn’t come by once. What brings him here today?
“Relax, princess, I just came to say hello to my newsister-in-law.” He smiles.
What do I say?
I don’t have the fire I possessed last night, and that warning voice in my head tells me not to mess with this man.
Or underestimate him.
I remember how he looked at me at the wedding, and I can’t forget what he said to me back at his father’s house. Both occasions told me I needed to be very careful of him.
“Hello,” I say.
“How is married life treating you?”
I’m sure he can tell married life is not treating me very well.
I’m also sure there’s more to his question than what he’s really asking.
Something more along the lines of when my expiry date might come up and my husband decides to sell me or give me away.
“I’m fine, thank you.”
“Enjoying the fresh air?”
“Yes.”
He steps closer and I wish he wouldn’t.
The air in my lungs freezes, and my spine tingles with uneasiness. I wish he would leave me alone. It’s clear, though, he has an agenda, and I am it.
“You know what? I remembered why you look familiar to me.”
God, not this again.
Notthisagain. What is he going to say to me this time?
I keep my gaze trained on him. “Why?”
“There was a woman who worked for Raul. Very, very beautiful. You reminded me of her.” His smile widens, and I feel myself shrinking away. “You have the same look of fear in your eyes.”
Something hits me when he says that—a memory of something I shouldn’t have heard.
It was my mother telling my father she’d been attacked by one of Raul’s business associates.
Raped.
She said he’d raped her. My father wanted to do something, but she begged him not to. She knew what would happen if he did anything. It meant death.
My parents kept it from me.
Mymotherkept it from me, and I know it happened at least two more times while my father was away working. He didn’t know about those times. I heard her crying in the bathroom and saw the bruises on her legs.
My mother would have been so hurt if she knew I knew, so I pretended I was none the wiser.
When Raul tried it with her, she’d had enough. That’s why it was so bad and probably why it was the last time for anybody.
A deep cold seeps into me, working its way into my soul. Why is my gut instinct telling me this devil in front of me did something to my mother?
