Broken and Powerful

Chapter 8

JEDA

Jeda quickly let go of Stefano, realizing what she was doing. She wiped the tears from her eyes and avoided eye contact. She could tell from his body posture as he continued to kneel in front of her that he was in shock from her action.

It was no wonder he was. Jeda just hugged a mafia boss!

Stefano was deep in thought while scanning her face. He couldn't remember the last time he was embraced in a hug. He despised affection his whole life, seeing it as a sign of weakness. But the way her body heat warmed him made his breath hitch in his throat.

Jeda started awkwardly playing with the newspaper in her hands while looking at her lap.

"Well," Stefano says then clears his throat and stands up. "You are free to roam the house. I will send someone to come find you for dinner."

Instead of answering she nods her head and scrambles out of the room, the newspaper still in hand. She keeps her head down as she goes into her room and locks the door behind her. She leans her back against the door and closes her eyes tightly.

Jerad was dead.

She looked down at the paper to see a picture of their house surrounded by police and two stretchers leaving the house with two black body bags on them. She slid down the door until she crashed onto the floor and pulled her knees to her chest, ignoring the pain in her ribs, and put her chin on her knee.

Tears were falling down her face before she even felt them come forward.

Two years trapped in that house with that monster and he was finally dead.

She wished she was the one to do it but a part of her knew she wouldn't be able to do it. She thought about it before and got close a few times, but he was always watching and a step ahead.

Deep in her thoughts, she must have sat there for an hour before lifting her head off her knees.

Her eyes moved around the room, tears dried on her face making her face feel tight. She looked over at the doors connected to Stefano's room and quickly got up, locking both of them, and pulling the door to make sure it was locked.

She knew he probably had a key, but at least she would be able to hear him coming in then.

Standing in the middle of the room, she looked around. At first, she wasn't sure what she was looking for but then she realized she was trying to find cameras, a force of habit she guessed.

Not finding any, her eyes landed on the mirror still covered in the white sheet Stefano threw over it. Her feet slowly moved towards it until she was right in front of it.

It had been roughly a year since she had looked in a mirror or any reflection of herself. Jerad always reminded her she was ugly and pointed out every flaw, so she never had a reason to look when he was a mirror enough for her. She was too scared to see the ugly reflection look back at her.

Plus after a while, she hadn't even recognized herself anymore. He used to punch her face until she was unrecognizable so she stopped looking. At first, it was because she felt stronger and more empowered when she couldn't see the control he had over her.

But then it turned into not wanting to see herself in her frail, weak form.

Maybe it was time she looked.

Jerad was dead and no longer around to tell her what she looked like in his eyes.

Her hand reached out and touched the white sheet. It was soft cotton that felt cool on her skin. She started pulling on the fabric but stopped when a knock echoed through the room next to hers. Her body stiffened and she didn't move a muscle.