Page 32 of The Hitman's Secret Love Child

Chapter 13

Robyn

“He’s got so much games, Mommy,” Austin exclaimed, motioning to the array of games Constantine had.

“So many,” I corrected. Even though I laughed at Austin’s excitement, the stack of games had me shaking my head and wondering how he ever found the time to leave the house if he indeed played all of those. There was so much I wanted and needed to know about this new and improved – although improved was yet to be determined – Constantine.

“Many.” He plunked himself down in front of the television, controller in hand. “Wanna play, Mommy?”

I looked at the game on the screen, some shooting game, and declined. “No thanks. I’m going to go get settled in.” I don’t think he even heard the last part of my sentence; the game had started and his eyes were glued to the screen. I’d give him a half hour.

Exiting the room, I was about to go back downstairs, but curiosity was getting the best of me. Constantine hadn’t said I couldn’t explore. Perhaps me not poking into his personal effects didn’t necessarily need to be said, but I was putting my life and the life of my child in his hands. A little exploration wouldn’t be too unreasonable.

As I had the mental debate on the morality of snooping around, I found his bedroom, opened the door and entered. It wasn’t a flashy room, neat and organized with a king-sized bed in the center and a long dresser with mirror against the wall. The big feature of the room was a large floor-to-ceiling picture window that allowed the bright sunlight to lighten the room. Walking into the room, I looked out and smiled. The view was incredible, the room overlooking a large lake. On the other side of the lake was a three-story house.

Leaning against the window I looked left and right, wondering if I could see any other neighbours – I couldn’t. All I saw was trees. Not overgrown, natural growth, but the forest, if you could call it that, was manmade. We were in the suburbs somewhere. Hmmm.

Turning away from the window, I surveyed the room a bit more. There was a double door to one side of me and an archway that led to an ensuite bathroom.

A pang of guilt hit me. I shouldn’t be in here. This was his space. Personally, I’d be pissed if I were helping someone and when I left them alone they snooped all through my home. But then again, it wasn’t just me that I had to be concerned about. This was about self-preservation and the safety of my child. I needed to know the man I was putting my life in the hands of. I used to know him, but that felt like a lifetime ago.

Decision made, I crossed the room to what I presumed to be the closet. Pulling open the double doors, I discovered I was correct. It was a large-assed closet with a line of suits and shoes on one side and an array of cabinets and drawers on the other. Man, I think he had more clothes than I did when I was living with Gabriel.

I let my fingertips caress the soft fabric of his suit jackets as I inspected the room. Nothing too out of place but then again, it wasn’t like he’d just put something questionable or incriminating right out in the open. I began with the drawers. Socks. Jeans. T-shirts. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Opening the last drawer, I stopped and stared down into it. It looked different somehow. I opened the one next to it and pushed the clothing aside. One wasn’t as deep? Hmm. I placed my fingertips at the bottom of each drawer and compared. Yes, I was right; the second was several inches shallower.

I started to gather the t-shirts in my arms from the shallow drawer when a shot of guilt rushed through me. This was wrong. I was about to put them back and scamper from the room with my head hung in shame when my eyes caught the little pinhole that I assumed you needed to use to open the secret compartment.

Changing my mind yet again, I placed the t-shirts in the other drawer and after a little prying pulled up, taking care not to break it, until the false bottom came free. Placing the bottom on the floor next to me, I gasped as I looked in at the contents of the drawer, a hand going to my mouth and stifling the sound.

Money, my God so much money. Reaching into the drawer I picked up a strap of one hundred dollar bills and flipped through it. Ten thousand dollars. There were twenty straps of hundreds in the drawer. Placing the money back into the drawer my eyes caught sight of a little plain wooden box about six inches wide by six inches long, three inches deep.

With my hands trembling slightly, I picked up the box and flipped open the lid. If I felt surprised a moment ago, I was in complete and utter shock now. The box contained mementos from his time with me. Tears came to my eyes when I looked down at the photos of us. Life had seemed so simple back then. We had all the answers, or at least we thought we did.

I picked up a picture of us in our prom attire. It was the very last picture ever taken of us. He had his arm around me and I was looking up at him as if the world began and ended with him. In that moment, it had. Thinking back, reliving the memory in my mind, it was one of the happiest nights of my life.

But then the truth had come out and my world had been shattered.

Placing the photos back into the box, I looked at a tiny velvet box. A ring box. I knew I shouldn’t, but I couldn’t help myself. Picking up the box, I opened it up to reveal a tiny diamond ring. Trembling fingers pulled it out of the box and before I even knew what I was doing, I slipped it onto my ring finger. It fit perfectly.

“Wow.” I had my suspicions that he was going to propose after prom, but he’d never straight out told me. Was getting me the ring part of the reason he’d robbed that store? With the ring still on my finger, I began looking at some of the other items in the box. The movie ticket stubs to the movie we went to on our very first date. A business card to the hotel we stayed at during prom. So many mementos of our time together...

The sound of a thump downstairs made my entire body freeze. Oh shit! Was that Constantine? Oh my god! Frantically, I put everything together the way it was and rushed from the closet. Exiting the bedroom, I took one last look; everything looked to be in the right place. I quickly made my way downstairs to see that it was indeed Constantine coming home.

He looked different than when he left, a little dishevelled. Or maybe it was just my imagination.

“Hey, Constantine.” I started to wave when my eye caught sight of a little sparkly gleam on my hand.

Holy shit, the ring!!! Grabbing at the ring, I attempted to pull it off. It wouldn’t go over my knuckle. How in the fuck did it go on so easily if it won’t come off now!

Constantine looked up at me and smiled. “Are you two settling in okay?”

“Ummm.” I placed my hands behind my back, attempting to act casual. What in the hell would happen if he found out I was snooping? Would he boot our asses out of here? Dammit, it was a stupid idea to go poking into his personal stuff.

His smile faded a smidge and he gave me an intense look, as if he were attempting to read my mind. Did I look that guilty? I forced myself not to cringe under his scrutiny and instead flashed him a wide smile.

“We’re doing pretty good, all things considered. Austin is loving your collection of games and I’m just getting acquainted with the house.”

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