Page 16 of Bittersweet Endings
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Before I knew it, the day had come to an end and I was standing in my fully-furnished penthouse. Not a soul entered my space unless they’d been cleared by me and Rocco.
Sitting down on the sofa, a glass of wine in hand, I sighed. Finally. Content.
Rocco nodded at me. “Peaceful. It looks good on you.” Before I could comment, he walked towards the door.
“Have a goodnight, Rocco.” I tossed the blanket over my legs. “Thank you. For everything.”
He paused at the threshold. Glancing back with his mouth open before he thought better of it and left. There was something deeply damaged inside that man, and I couldn’t help him. I couldn’t even help myself.
“Away, above the world, sitting on her shelf.” I finished my glass of wine. “The little doll sat pretty… and content.”
I must’ve fallen asleep, because at some point, the sun rose and filtered in through my living room. But it wasn’t the lightthat woke me. My phone stopped ringing and started all over again.
I picked up the empty glass from the table, placed it in the sink, and grabbed the blaring electronic plugged into the wall. Three missed calls from Sienna. My breath hitched and my heart beat faster.
“What the fuck?” she answered. “Do I have to crawl on my hands and knees to apologize for all the shit I’ve done just to get you to answer?” She heaved. “Salvatore! Put that down right now. Jesus Christ, fake Halloween knives… He’s his father’s son.”
“What do you want, Sienna?” I tried to sound annoyed, but even now, I couldn’t stop loving her.
“Rude. What a tone to use with your favorite sister!”
“Only sister,” I muttered.
“Semantics.” A door slammed and the background noise died off. “Am I allowed to know where you live or should we just meet somewhere for lunch to catch up?”
The pause was pregnant. The old me would’ve felt guilted into inviting her over, but not the new me. I was sure Rocco had already reported on where I was. But I wasn’t ready to burst my little bubble of freedom yet.
“I’m kidding. I can practically hear the gears turning.” She sighed. “I need real food and adult conversation. Away from this screaming child and his overbearing father. Want to come?”
“Um.”What did I have to do today?“Okay. I need to do a few things first.” I paused, wondering how I was going to get there. “Can you send me the?—”
“Rocco will pick you up when you’re ready.”
We exchanged goodbyes, and I got up and headed to the bathroom.
After I’d showered, I left my hair to its wild curls—something so unlike the girl I used to be—and gave myself a winged liner. Tugging on tight designer jeans with a killer heel and my off-the-shoulder tee, I felt… sexy.
Little doll made pretty in her dresses, all to please daddy…
“Agh!” Slamming my perfume down, the bottle shattered into pieces across the sink.
His gorgeous face and toned body wandered into my mind. The teasing smirk and the hot sex…
My arm swiped all the contents off the counter. Things shattered and splattered around the room as I screamed into the mirror.
“Fuck. You!” I slammed my bloodied hand into my reflection. “You’re so stupid! Fuck! Him!” I screamed through my pain, blood smearing across the wall and sink.
Movement behind me caught my attention. Rocco stood strong at my back, just watching me through the shattered reflection. He didn’t speak. He didn’t move. His presence was just calming.
“Sorry,” I muttered, dropping my head.
He glanced at all the shit on the floor. Broken pieces of mirror, my blood smeared across the glass.
“Here.” Rocco dropped the lid to the toilet, motioning for me to sit.
Then he squatted in front of me and removed the broken perfume bottle from my flesh. He cleaned me up and wrapped a light bandage around my palm.
