Page 30 of Obsession

“Not a big deal?” she scoffs. “You gotmarried.That’s a pretty big deal.” Flipping her braids over her shoulder, she rounds the counter, meeting me on the other side to help unpack.

“It’s not…” I don’t even know what to tell her. It’s notreal?I have a feeling Adrian would be pissed if he found me tellingthe city that my marriage to him was nothing but a hoax. A fraudulent agreement to get him into my family.

“What is it?” Jada’s voice softens, and her green eyes assess me.

“It’s just a thing.” I try to shrug my shoulders, act nonchalantly, as if this is a common occurrence.

“I’m going to need you to use more words here, Madi. What do you mean,it’s just a thing?” Jada sets down the piece of pottery she was unwrapping, instead pressing her palms onto the countertop and focusing her full attention on me.

“It’s fake,” I finally tell her. My hands fling up and back down dramatically.

“You’re not married?”

“No, I’m married.”

“That doesn’t sound very fake, then.” Jada purses her lips.

"I don’t love him.” It feels like a dam of water breaks as the words leave my lips. I didn’t realize how much pain I was holding in by not admitting the truth.

“Ahh,” Jada coos, her eyes softening as she extends her hands over the counter, gesturing for me to put my palms in hers. “Your family, I assume?”

“Yeah.” I let her squeeze my hands and the simple gesture has tears brimming in my eyes. It’s not as if I’ve been starved of physical touch, but something about the gentle motion lets the floodgates loose. I feel seen for the first time in weeks. Months, maybe.

Before Lily died, Lana had been my go-to person. But after her sister committed suicide, it was too hard for her to get out of bed, let alone listen to my problems. And then she was gone, out of her arranged marriage and in New York with Naz.

And I was alone.

The tears fall, streaming down my cheeks one by one.

“Let it go,” Jada tells me. “I can’t tell you it’s going to be okay, or even encourage you to go against your family’s wishes, because we both know they own this city. But you’re strong, Madi. I’ve known that since the minute I met you. I don’t know this Russo guy, but I know you. You’ll get through this.”

“How?” I mutter.

“With your strength,” Jada states, as if it was never even a question. “You have it inside you, even if you don’t feel it right now. I promise you, it’s there. And it will guide you through this.”

“What if I can’t?”

“You can,” she reassures me. “Everything is temporary, Madi. The good, the beautiful. And most of all, the bad. Painful things always come to an end, and this will too.”

SEVENTEEN

Adrian

There’s an ache in my head as I enter my home, probably from the hour I spent staring at a blank legal pad, trying to come up with ideas on how to get Sam Costello out of the picture without dirtying my hands.

“Evening, boss.” David, the head of my security team, nods at me.

I scrub a hand over my head. I’m exhausted, and the idea of needing tohandleSam Costello, whatever that means, is weighing on me. I didn’t get into this family so I could murder, I came here for revenge. I feel like I’m losing the target.

On cue, my phone buzzes with a phone call from my brother, probably wanting to know where I’m at with coming up with a plan. I silence it, not wanting to explain how I’m getting more wrapped up in the Costello family. More wrapped up in my wife.

“Where is she?” I ask David.

“Kitchen. And one thing.” He stops me before I can stomp off to the kitchen to see my bride. “Your grandmother is here.”

That pauses me. “Why? Did you tell her I was out?”

David shakes his head. “She came for the girl.”

---