Page 24 of Devious
“I’ll give you a call soon.”
Roselyn
Ilie on the bed and stare at the ceiling as the fan moves slowly. I hate it here. I hate that I’m confined to this mansion, and I don’t have any freedom. I hate the only interaction I have with other people are the staff, and they barely speak to me. One older maid makes snide comments under her breath, and I suspect it was her who snitched on me to Devious about taking a knife back to the bedroom.
I’ve explored most of the mansion. Devious has two movie theaters, two kitchens, and a gun room which is in the library. It’s locked, and a guard stands next to it. Fifty guards surround the property, and I know because I counted every last one of them.
I get bored easily, so I sit by the pool or paint or sit in the garden. It’s peaceful here, a homey vibe, but this place will never be my home. I’m constantly anxious from when I witnessed Devious killing Tommy. That’s what pissed me off the most about him, that he was so cruel and he threw away Tommy’s life like it was nothing. I guess when you’re a murderer, life is meaningless.
Most of the time, all I think about is Tommy, my mother, and Nonno. I wonder if he’s getting his medication on time and if the nurses are taking care of him. I used to help pay for his medical bills and medication, but now that everything has been taken away from me, I don’t know if he’s getting the help he needs. And Papa doesn’t want to have anything to do with his father, so I know he’s not looking out for him.
Pain bubbles in my chest. Usually, I start my day with tears, but not today. I don’t think I have enough tears in me to cry.
I never thought I’d say this, but I don’t miss living with Papa. I don’t miss the outbursts he’d have out of the blue or him letting me know how much I was a mistake. I don’t miss walking on eggshells around him either. It was like living with a ticking bomb.
It’s quiet and Devious doesn’t speak to me as much, and I don’t have to walk on eggshells around him. But I have so much resentment against him for locking me in here, so much anger for forcing me to marry him. The more and more I think about it, the more I squeeze the sheets in my hand.
I sit up with my hands wrapped around my legs, and my chin resting on my knees, while I watch a trashy reality TV show, then I get mad at all the people on the TV screen because they have what I want—freedom.
There is a knock on my bedroom door, and Marla pokes her head in, smiling. She wears a sundress and sandals today, and her hair is in a high ponytail.
“I have a gift for you.”
“A gift?” I question.
She doesn’t know me well enough to give me a gift. When people are too nice, they want something in return. People don’t do anything for free.
She bends down and picks up a white kitten covered in brown spots. My heart thumps in my chest, and a smile tugs at the corner of my mouth. I love cats, and I always had this weird dream of me dying of old age surrounded by them. I get on my knees and watch the kitten look around, confused, his fur spiked up, and his green eyes beaming at me.
The kitten strolls toward me, and I scoop him up in my arms as I pet his head.
“What are you going to name him?”
“Binx. FromHocus Pocus.”
She sits on the fluffy bed, rocking her legs back and forth. “I like it.”
Did Devious send her to spy on me? I don’t trust her, not now, anyway. She lies on the bed, looking up at the ceiling. She’s the only one who has been kind to me since I married Devious.
I watch Binx run around the room, looking lost.
“Why are you being nice? People just don’t do things for people without a price.”
I would ask her if she’s spying on me, but if I do, she’ll deny it, tell Devious, and he’ll work harder to keep me trapped in this luxury cage.
She removes strands of hair out of her face. “Honestly, I’m trying to help because I want Devious to move on from Shelby. I want the old Devious back where he was happy, but ever since the bitch died, he’s been walking around like an empty shell.”
Devious being good and nice. That’s hard to believe. His heart is cold as pitch-black night, and if he does do nice things it comes with a price. I’m pretty sure he gifted me an art room in hopes I’ll fuck him, but I know if I don’t have sex with him, he’s going to take my virginity anyway. I’m not stupid, I’m well aware that the mafia men rape their wives. My father did it to my mother multiple times.
“Did he force Shelby to marry him as well?”
Smiling sadly at me, she sits up and glances around the room. “No. They were high school sweethearts.”
“This shit isn’t fucking normal,” I lash out at her. “How he’s treating me isn’t normal, Marla.”
“There is nothing you can do about it. You can’t run from him. Suck it up and put your big-girl panties on. Now you’re married to a don. Start acting like it,” she snaps.
She’s brainwashed. Every woman in the mob is. I shake my head. I have an idea, but if I run it by her, she may tell Devious I’m trying to escape.
