Page 16 of Sweet Retribution

CHAPTER FOUR

Classic eighties rockplays in the background while Maria and I work in the kitchen. I take the cinnamon rolls out of the oven and breathe in the buttery cinnamon goodness. “This smell never gets old.” I place them on a rack to cool.

I got up early to help her prepare breakfast with the intent on going for another run as soon as Stone comes down to eat. I planned it so it wouldn’t look obvious, like I was running away from him.

I may have mentioned three or four times already to Maria that I would be running and doing some resistance training before eating my breakfast. It was nearing ten o’clock and Stone hadn’t come into the kitchen yet or asked for food to be delivered to his office.

That was normalbefore. Before he started taking his meals with me on the patio, and sometimes at the counter. Needing a little fuel before I ran, I peel an orange and tear it into sections.

I pop the last one in my mouth whensheappears in the archway to the kitchen. Stone steps up behind her.

“I don’t know why we couldn’t be served breakfast in bed,” she whined.

The orange threatens to make its way up my throat. I rinse out my coffee cup and set it in the sink.

“Make sure to have a roll for me.” I brush a kiss across Maria’s cheek. “Morning,” I say politely to the lovebirds in the doorway before slipping out the back door and pumping my legs as fast as they can go.

I don’t cry. I force a smile on my face for the guards and for Stone in case he watches the security footage later. Instead of going to the gym as planned, I do another loop of the grounds.

Stone and his men aren’t much for lingering around the table, and I can’t imagine Sebastiana is either, so I hope they’d be gone by the time I come back into view of the house again.

The coast is clear, so I make a plate of a roll, some fruit salad, and another cup of coffee, and bring it up to my room. I eat in peace on my balcony before showering and dressing for the day.

Not that my day consists of anything. The sun is out and not a cloud in the sky, making it a beautiful day to read by the pool. I change into my suit and put my clothes back on over it, then grab the book on my nightstand I haven’t read in two weeks.

I wish I had headphones I could plug into the tablet I used to video call my mother. It would help drown out the noise of Stone and his side piece. I grab one of the floppy hats in the back of the closet Stone had filled for me when he brought me here, and stick it on my head. I find a pair of sunglasses and put them on, hoping they’ll cover any lingering signs of my crying.

If only I could visually block everyone out for the next two years. I hold my head high and head down the hall praying I won’t run into anyone. I make it to the kitchen and fill up a water bottle before going to the pool.

It’s blissfully quiet outside. I spread a towel on a lounger in the sun and get comfortable. Sunblock. That’s what I forgot. I haven’t looked for any before, but I’m pretty sure there must be some tucked away in the mansion.

I figure I’ll read a few chapters then go inside and ask Maria if she knows where I can find some. I only make it through one chapter when I hearher.I don’t look up from my book and pretend I don’t notice her, which os nearly impossible to do.

Clad in the tiniest scrap of material that barely contains her boobs, and a triangle of material on the bottom that doesn’t even pretend to contain her butt, Sebastiana saunters in front of me and stops.

Her tall frame–and mostly her enormous chest–blocks the sun. I ignore her until she clears her throat and snaps at me.

“What are you doing here?”

I keep my attention on my book, pretending to be engrossed in the story, and say, “Reading.”

“Stone doesn’t pay you to read on the job. Shouldn’t you be scrubbing toilets or something?”

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