Page 22 of Entangled
And there was no way I could go back home and request a better chef, or you know, better meal choices.
If I kept eating like this while I was here, when I went home, Jude would probably tell me that I had gotten too fat in my time away. He probably would actually starve me out until I lost the weight.
It’s times like these when I truly realize how fucked I am and how much I miss my dad: when the grief screams at me, causing the biggest pain to my heart. Grief was a fickle bitch. Sometimes I didn’t feel it at all, and sometimes it hit me out of nowhere like a truck. I never knew what triggered it, or how to make it ache besides time.
But the grief had become more frequent the bigger the shit storm became, because I knew he would never let my life be this. I may have been a Mafia “princess”, but I at least had free will. At least I knew love.
I don’t even know who I am anymore.
“Soren?” I heard Kade’s voice followed by a knock at the door, bringing me out of my pity party. I hadn’t even realized he was still standing out there, waiting for something. Didn’t he have Mafia business to attend to? I didn’t need a fucking babysitter.
Bitter Betty I am.
I rolled my eyes and ignored him, continuing to scarf down the chicken until the plate was empty and I could have literally licked it clean. It was then I realized that I had managed to grab the plate from Kade’s hand but not the glass of water he had in the other. And I was freaking thirsty. All of the salt used in the food was now causing my tongue to scream for hydration.
I rolled my eyes again, thoroughly pissed off because now I was going to have to face him. I decided after the first night I didn’t want to be vulnerable around him anymore. I didn’t want him to see that side of me. I wanted to save that part of me for myself. I just had to get through my time here, and then go back to Jude’s house where I knew what I had to do, and I was used to the routine of misery.
I wasn’t used to someone actually taking care of me, even in Kade’s own twisted way. I slowly walked over to the door, knowing he still stood on the other side waiting patiently. I undid the lock and opened it slowly and revealed a dashingly and devastatingly handsome Kade leaning against the door, glass of water in hand, tapping the side, before looking up at me with those grey eyes filled with fire behind them.
“Need this?” He said, holding the glass towards me. I took it slowly, my fingers brushing against his in the process, feeling a tingle go through my arm, like I had just touched a live wire.
I wasn’t used to the million emotions this man put me through. At least most of them were positive or neutral. He didn’t make me feel anything negatively just yet. But I knew there was still time.
“Thank you,” I said, taking a sip of the water and holding my groan inside this time. I handed him the empty plate and turned back towards the door to my room to make my way back inside.
“Before you go back into hiding, I have something to show you,” he said, gesturing towards the stairs.
I felt hesitant to follow him, but also, why the fuck not? What did I have to lose at this point? I’d given so much of myself, what else did I have to give?
I shut my door, and followed behind Kade, and down the stairs and into the front hallway. He walked towards the back of the house and into another hallway, one with high ceilings and what felt like hundreds of doors on either side. At the end of this particular hallway sat two, large oak doors that looked as if they hadn’t been touched in years.
I watched as he placed both hands on the handles and pushed, the door opening with a loud creak, confirming my theory that the doors hadn’t been opened in a long while.
I walked in slowly behind Kade, and I could have pinched myself. What I was seeing in front of me did not feel real in any way shape or form.
There were hundreds if not thousands of books on shelves that went from the ceiling all the way to the floor. Rolling ladders, stairs leading to multiple levels and balconies, and large windows letting in a beautiful stream of sunlight.
From what I’d seen of Kade’s house, it surprised me that there was a library straight out of theBeauty and the Beastmovie inside. Everything else looked fairly new, if not updated. But this was the son of a Mafia boss we were talking about, and you can make anything look different if you pour enough money into it.
Granted, I hadn’t seen the entire house, or the outside yet. So I suppose I couldn’t pass my judgment on its age just yet.
I didn’t know what to say, or where to look. I couldn’t read all of these books in my lifetime, but regardless I wanted to jump in as soon as possible. There were several couches and chairs scattered throughout, beautiful threadbare carpets, and a big stone fireplace begging for a fire to be started in the hearth.
“These books have been in my family for generations, but my brothers and father don’t appreciate literature like I do. They would have probably thrown them out if I hadn’t saved them,” Kade explained, a small crack visible in his usual icy facade. But as soon as I saw it, it was gone, and I knew I probably wouldn’t see it again.
As much as he probably didn’t want to admit it, I could see a man behind the monster that Kade Luchetti portrayed himself to be.
This was the second time he’d shown me a hint of kindness, and the true man that lived behind the wall he’d built to be so heavily guarded around himself.
I desperately wanted to break it down brick by brick and see why lie behind it all when everything was said and done.
“You’re welcome to come down here whenever you want,” Kade said. “I’m sure you’ll find favorites just as I have.”
He turned to leave, but I couldn’t help myself from sharing a part of myself.
“Romance,” I blurted.
“What?” He asked, halting his retreat out of the room.
