I sighed as she stared up at the large derelict building. This was definitely not the turn of events I was searching for.
“We open in two weeks,” she stated as she walked away from me.
“Two weeks! Are you not seeing what I’m seeing?”
“Micah, darling. Two weeks.” She put up two fingers and then gave me that damn smile. I shook my head and frowned.
“You must be out of your goddamn mind!”
“That shouldn’t be a surprise, darling. Now get in, we’ve got work to do.”
I stood there for a moment, wondering what had brought her back to this shit town. Was it Landon, her newest slave. Or was it something else, something she needed to avenge in herself. As I slid back into the car and we took to the road, I knew, that this was beyond my control. Alexis had a clear vision of what she wanted, and I think she brought it back home as a slap in the face to all of those who said she wouldn’t make it. She was preparing for war, while I simply wanted to finally find a place to call our own.
1
Sarai
The sobs echoed through the dark halls. People who said they’d been friends for years came and stood by his side, yet I’d never seen them once in my life. I wandered through the dim funeral home, the smell of incense filled the air, and I felt like I was suffocating as I avoided people at all costs. Not one tear dropped, not one moment of sorrow, just relief and this quiet that filled my heart. All I wanted was to find a way out, to breathe fresh air, to finally be free. I was almost there. I could see the double doors ahead. Just a few more steps.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
My father’s booming voice stopped me dead in my tracks. I’d almost made it. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath, knowing exactly what he wanted. I may have been free of my husband, but I would never be free of the man who had made me a prisoner from the start.
Turning, I stared into a pair of brown eyes, identical to mine, a grim look in their depth. “I need some fresh air.”
“And you think this is the time for that? We have guests who came to see the widow, don’t you think you should be in there, by your husband’s side?”
“That man you call my husband is now dead. I no longer have any obligation to be here.”
Grabbing my arm, he yanked at it forcing me back into the parlor. “I really don’t give a shit! You do as I say!”
I tried pulling away, digging my feet into the old rug, but he was stronger. Tears filled my eyes as my father dragged me back to death’s door. He had an excruciating grip on my arm and I swore that if he pulled just right, he’d break it. He paused as one of the steward’s approached him, tightening his grip while he spoke. He pasted a fake smile on his face and continued his conversation as if nothing were amiss. Putting on his mask of the upstanding leader in this community. Raymond Rothshire, a pillar in this godforsaken town filled with hypocrites and brownnosers. My dear father was one of the few businessmen who ran this town. He had a stake in every business and every business owner who landed in Crescent Springs. On the outside, he showed himself as an endearing man who cared about the people, but inside he was rotten and a master manipulator. A man who liked to bypass the legal systems and when money talks, it gets away with murder. He was also the man who had sold his daughter to his closest friend as payment for a what he had called, a lucrative business deal.
I was eighteen years old when in a heartbeat, all my dreams had been crushed. One minute I’d been making plans to go to college, the next, I was being forced to choose a wedding dress.
Silvestre Dugan was just like my father, just a little more repugnant. He was vile and perverted. He’d used me as he saw fit, a fuck toy for half our marriage, neglected for the other half. I preferred the latter, at least I was left alone, but there never lacked the verbal abuse. I was always the stupid, ignorant bitch who was only good for one thing. I almost believed him too, but he never saw me coming. By the time he realized I had taken the money, he was already on his death bed. I like to think it was my own personal vendetta fulfilled.
Sixty thousand dollars that I had taken under my maiden name. Part of it had been taken to pay for my online courses which I had secretly completed while he was out whoring around. Not that I cared. Little by little I’d gradually taken it out, slowly paying for my college degree and setting some aside for an emergency, or for when I finally decided to leave. But luck had been on my side this time, and he’d been diagnosed with stage four Pancreatic Cancer. It was only a matter of weeks after that.
But the motherfucker had made sure to leave me completely bare, with not one penny to my name. He’d signed everything over to my father, who’d thrown it in my face as soon as they announced time of death. But those thousands sat safely hidden away for when I needed them. And at this rate, it wouldn’t take long.
My father’s grip on me was brutal as he dragged me towards the front pew. I received nasty glances all around, and several women looked down at me. Slamming me down into the wooden bench, he pasted another fake smile as someone passed by offering their condolences.
“He left us so fast,” the woman sobbed, and I stared up at her, now knowing who the hell she was.
“It was shocking, Margaret, for all of us. Especially for Sarai.” He patted my head and I gritted my teeth, abhorring his touch.
“Oh yes, the widow.”
I looked up at her and a look of disdain crossed her features as her beady eyes stared down at me. Most of the older women in town looked at me in this way so it wasn’t new for me, but this one in particular, looked at me with hate. As if Silvestre were God’s gift and I had been the reason for his demise. I felt like screaming out that he wasn’t what he seemed. That he’d stolen the last ten years of my life and had destroyed any little bit of happiness that was left in me. But instead, I simply sat there, staring down at my trembling hands while numbness took over.
“Say something, sweetheart. Don’t be so rude to the lady.”
I clenched my jaw and swallowed back the curses that threatened to escape. “Thank you for coming.”
“Of course, I could never not be here for my dear, Silvestre. He’s had such a hard life these last few years.”
I glared up at her, narrowing my eyes. I was about to give her a piece of my mind when my father placed a hand on my shoulder. “I’m sure if he’s watching he knows how you felt for him, Margaret.”
“I loved him, Raymond. You know I did and I will never forgive you for what you did. You took him away from me.”
I watched their interaction and realized her disdain was not only for me, it was for my father. “I swear to God I will ruin you. You forced him into this. You forced him to marry her.”
She pointed her finger at me and hissed. Raising a brow, I was amazed at this turn of events. I looked at my father who seemed calm, but I knew him better than any one else. That tick in his jaw alerting me of his wrath, and although he had control, I doubted he’d let this go. Instead, I grabbed the woman’s arm and led her down the aisle.
“I will ruin you,” she whispered harshly as I dragged her towards the back of the church. “Let me go!” She yelled, and a few people turned to look at us. Gossipmongers the lot of them. I removed my hands from her when I felt she was safely away from my father.