Page 26 of Exile and Embrace

Ava’s intake of breath is sharp as I park the car in front of our new house. She turns to me, her eyes as wide as saucers. “There is no way that this is our house. You have to be fucking with me.”

No, but I’d like to fuck you again.

“It’s our house.” I get out of the car and head to the lockbox. As I punch in the code to retrieve the keys, Ava starts taking her bags out of the car.

I understand why she would think that the sleek black house wouldn’t be ours. We had to drive through a gate to get here. Gates mean living in the lap of luxury, even if the house is smaller than all the others surrounding it.

Or, to a recently released convict, those gates mean some sick joke at the hands of his father.

“Those windows are massive.” She raises her sunglasses to get a better look and brings the suitcases to the door. “And those red-toned woods with the black stone? It’s like your father knew what my dream house was and brought it to life.”

When I look at the house, I don’t see the same thing she does. I can’t.

All I see when I look at the house is my father’s clutches wrapped around my neck. I’m a puppet, and he continues to pull the strings.

And there’s nothing that I’m going to do about it. Nothing I can do.

At least, if this is her idea of a perfect home, she’s not going to be miserable living here.

Maybe I could even convince Dad to let her buy the house when our arrangement is over.

“This is really your dream house?” I unlock the towering double doors and shove them open. “This is my nightmare. We’re too close to other people. I wish that we were out in the woods. I don’t want to be able to see my neighbors.”

She gives an unladylike snort as I take the suitcases from her. “I’m not surprised by that at all. Assassin wants to live in the woods so nobody knows who his next target is going to be? Sounds very much up your alley.”

“You make it sound awful.”

She shrugs and leads the way into the house. “I don’t know that I could spend my life isolated away from other people. A life in the woods could be nice, but not if it means never seeing anybody again.”

I set our bags down in the massive entryway, taking in the gleaming white oak floors and cream walls. Black trim and doors accent the house, making it look like a place I would never live in.

It’s too polished and airy. Especially after the cement floors and cinderblock walls. The bars over the windows and lack of sunlight.

This house is too uncomfortable. Too different from the place I called home for the last three years. I never thought I would miss prison.

Ava wanders into the kitchen as I trail behind her. She runs her fingers along the butcher block countertops and opens several of the black cabinets. “Looks like this place is fully stocked with everything we could need. Not really my style, though. How long are we going to be here?”

“Until I finish the job.” I glance around the kitchen, spying a little black dot in the top corner of the room.

That fucker.

I move through the rooms, dodging around suede couches and leather chairs. I pull paintings off the wall, looking behind them for more of the tiny cameras. Each room I tear apart has at least two.

Most of the rooms are covered in them.

Dad can see us from every angle. He can watch whatever he wants. There will be endless hours of footage to use against me if I don’t take every single camera out of here.

In all the years that he’s controlled my life, I don’t know that I’ve felt more violated than I do right now.

As I make my way into the primary bedroom, I pull out my phone. My thumb stabs against the screen as I dial a number I hoped I could avoid.

The phone rings several times before it connects. The sound of soft breathing comes down the line, but the person on the other end says nothing.

Of course he wouldn’t. Yet another fucking mind game from the book of psychotic fathers.

“Hello, Dad.” I stand at the foot of the king-sized bed and stare across the room at the dresser. A mirror hangs above it, dried flowers draping along the top rim. “Are you enjoying the show?”

His bitter chuckle has the hair on the back of my neck standing up. “I was. You look insane going around and checking for cameras.”

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