8
Adeline woke up to a light sunbeam enlightening the beige-themed room. She softly grunted and raised up on her arm as she rubbed her left eye. Unloading knots in her shoulder muscles, she blinked recurrently and looked around. Her eyes instinctively jumped on the figure laying beside her as she turned that way. Rebecca. She closed her eyes and sighed vexedly under her breath. Her eyes opened again on her parted mouth that was lining a drool down her chin. She tossed the duvet and jumped out of the bed.
She went to the washroom, did her business, had her morning shower and came out after drying her hair and wearing her clothes. By the time she came out, Trenton was inside her room. Her breath staggered the second she registered his presence.
"Trent...h..hey" Shock and apprehension were vividly glistening in her greenish-brown orbs. She gulped. No matter how much she tried to prepare herself for this moment in the shower, she couldn't help but feel cold shivers down her spine.
Trenton turned around and saw her hand grabbing the knob a little too tightly. He dragged his eyes on her and passed a nonchalant smile. "Good morning," He greeted coolly, too casual to race her heart even more. Shouldn't he be glaring at me?
"Good morning," She loosened her hold on the knob and meekly stepped ahead, pretending to be calm and composed.
She was getting really confused seeing him relaxed. Did he not tell him about the incident yet? "You woke up early, it's not even eight," He stated generally. Adeline shrugged.
"I couldn't sleep so thought of taking a shower," She replied before nibbling on her upper-lip. "You are here, is...everything good?" She finally asked the bother.
Trenton blankly gazed at her for a second before nodding. "Yeah, everything's cool, just came to check up on you both. I know she can be hard to handle," The fact that he was donning formals told her he either met someone or was going to meet. Adele's throat dried immediately. He didn't tell her as of yet but that didn't mean he wouldn't. But only if she'd apologise to him and convince him not to tell this about her brother and father. Maybe he would listen.
"Everything's okay, bubbles?" Trenton asked all of a sudden, ripping her from her thoughts. She blinked and placidly nodded.
"Yeah, everything's good,"
Trenton pursued his lips and pondered upon her answer for a moment until he felt the urge to ask something. "You met him, right?" He probed while sliding his hands into his pocket.
"Huh?" She blinked, unable to catch the meaning.
"You met him," He asked with his head sliding to his right. She swallowed and wondered who exactly he was asking about.
"Who?"
"Enrique, of course," Her tensed muscles unknotted for a second, only to get impacted again by her gloomy heart. If only that man knew how many years she had waited for that event to happen, only to get disappointed this way.
Adele shook her head and averted her gaze to somewhere other than Trenton. Trenton frowned. "What do you mean? Dad didn't introduce you to him?" His voice got crisper, he sounded working up. Trenton was late to enter the hall, he had missed their entrance deliberately, he didn't have the heart to see his sister getting acquainted with her bidders. Shame was killing him. Too much that he had to rush to the restroom and weep his heart out. His sister was going to be punished for his sins.
"No, he said he couldn't make it...you know, work calls that can't be ignored," There was a tinge of taunt in her tone, and why not, everyone had brainwashed to believe their first encounter was going to be magical, that he was equally desperate to see her as she was but the elders of the family had their own rules—which wouldn't be bent for anyone, so they'd have to wait. And now, when the night came, her aspirations were easily tattered. He refused to meet her despite being there.
Trenton sighed softly and ambled toward her. She was gazing behind his legs when his arms came around her shoulder. He hugged her. She closed her eyes against his upper-chest and put her fists on either side of her head. Tears burned her eyes again. Even after crying all night, she couldn't stop feeling being played.
"Wh...why didn't he come?" She asked in an accusatory tone. Her words were laced with hurt and sorrow.
Raising her glossy eyes, she looked up into Trenton's eyes and simply said. "Dad is forcing him to marry me? He is...right? Maybe he likes someone else that's why he...he didn't," she let out a shaky breath and buried her face in her palms while trying to force her tears back, but they gushed out. The pain of rejection needled her heart. Her mind was laughing at her naivety, how much it told her to not fall for the idea of having someone. Even if he was her fiance. Engagements could be called off easily.
Trenton was feeling stabbed in the heart. He tightened his hold on her and rubbed her back. Her quivering chest against his body was squeezing his intestines in discomfort. She was crying so soon, she was too weak to withstand their hatred. What have you done to her? His heart screamed at him.
"No...no, bubbles. Dad didn't force anyone. It was Mr. Devine who came up with an alliance," She heard him, he felt her body relaxing as he spoke, "And about Enrique, I am sure he wanted to be at the party. He saw you yesterday roaming in the garden. We have spoken and he told he very much likes you and very soon, he'd meet you so don't let bad thoughts get to your mind and secondly, do not cry again please, your tears are too precious for me," He lied, even when his mouth cursed him for being the shittest brother, he still lied to keep her believing the facade. He just didn't have the balls to see her weeping and whenever he'd think about the future, he always wanted to escape it.
She looked at him, blinking in mild disbelief. "He saw me?" Her heart curiously waited for his response which he gave as a nod. She breathed out in relief. "Oh my God," her heart found a new reason to race upon.
"Can I see him too?" She implored, Trenton grunted and zoned into his mind. "Please, Trent...please," Adeline acted edgy as she always did but for years. As it was a mafia tradition for keeping their made men low-profile, she never managed to find him on the internet. Whenever she asked Trenton for his picture, he would come up with this excuse, which somehow unwillingly convinced her to wait to meet him in person. But now.
"Please, Trenton, can you do this for me?" Trenton resistantly met her eyes, only to be feel burdened by that bright hope illuminating her greenish eyes. He wanted to make a lie again but these damn green eyes were not sparing room for lies. She gripped his collar sleeves and was about to implore again when he cut her short.
"Alright," It took almost everything in him to deliver this word. "Alright, I will broach this topic in today's meeting," He gave her the hope she wanted to grab. Her eyes shone brighter than any star or even the sun.
"Really? You will?' Her tear-stained cloudy face dramatically morphed into a hue of a colourful rainbow. Trenton's heart skipped a beat. How desperate she was to meet him without knowing what kind of a maniac he'd be to her.
"You are the best, Trent. Thank you for being my big brother," She hugged him this time.
He couldn't bring the courage to wrap his arms around her.
"What's going on?" Out of the blue, a thick, groggy voice erupted behind Trenton. They both turned to her and saw her yawning while stretching. Her black mascara was smudged everywhere around her eyes and some lip stains were still all over her lips.
She grunted peacefully and opened her eyes to them. "Rise and shine, homies," she chirped.
"Morning Becca," Trenton greeted. "Seems like had a good night,"
"Not really, bruh," He brushed her hand past her shoulder. "But I still wanna sleep more though can't risk my breakfast over it, I'm dead-starving," She blurted out, rendering Trenton raise his wrist to read it nearly eight.
"Oh yeah, breakfast at the table, go and freshen up, I'll be waiting for you two downstairs," He murmured and quickly kissed Adele's hair before nodding at Becca.
Becca raised her hand and gestured an I-got-you finger at him. Trenton quirked his brow and smiled while walking away.
He left and Adele started doing side braids of her hair. Becca watched her as she yawned again. "You didn't greet me," Becca groused, Adele still didn't heed much and continued to focus on her braid.
"Hello, babygirl, can you hear me?" Becca mouthed off exaggeratedly. When Adele didn't even lay ear to her high pitch, Becca grabbed a pillow and threw it at her.
Adele hissed when the pillow clapped with her back. She spun around and levelled her with an annoyed stare, which Becca totally refused to acknowledge. "I'm talking to you..." She was waving her hand when suddenly she hissed and massaged her temple, "Ah, my head's a bitch," she growled.
Adele's stare hardened into a glare as she folded her arms across her chest. "Can you check if I am running a fever," Becca asked her, hissing again. Adeline's insides were bursting with rage and irritation.
"You really disgusted me last night, Rebecca," she couldn't hold her tongue back. Becca threw her a what-are-you-talking-about look, as if Adele wasn't aware about her little venture.
"The windows don't get open on their own," It was then Becca recalled she met with closed windows. She thought she closed them.
"Oh, so you were up," Becca leapt out of the covers. "It was safe, nobody saw me, trust me," She said while coming close to her. Just as she halted before Adele, a thick odour of alcohol wafted out of her breath, Adeline's nose scrunched in distaste.
"Trust you? You were drunk enough to know nothing and I should trust you with this?" Adele couldn't comprehend how was she so cool about it. Even if she wasn't caught by that man, she wouldn't have trusted her words. There were many times when she was caught red-handed and she had a habit of dealing with calamity as tribal matters.
But this. This was big and problematic. They weren't in America or Spain. It was Sicily. It was the noble mansion.
"Do you know what these people can do to you if they find out about your little trips to abandon wings?" Adele spat out without a filter. Becca was inwardly stunned by her the depth of details about her secret activity. It wasn't that much of a secret apparently.
"Don't worry, I will get it covered," Becca brushed off just to get her calm as she walked to the washroom.
"Don't you dare to. I will do something myself," Adele chided.
Becca spun and shot her an amusing look with one hand on the white door. "Really, Micky?"
"You won't breathe a word about it," Adele said, lowering her tone.
Becca shrugged and shut the door after saying. "Sure,"
*******
Adele was strolling in the garden with a coffee mug in her hands. It was afternoon and surprisingly sunny wintry afternoon. Sun was generously casting its glow on the icy snow. The gardeners were shovelling and de-icing the snow from the porch and garden. Her eyes were following their actions but she was lost in her mind. Somewhere in the conversation she had this morning.
He saw you yesterday roaming in the garden
She couldn't stop thinking about what Trenton had told her earlier. Her happiness knew no bounds. Was he really happy to see her? How did he find her? She asked Trenton if he ever saw her picture, to which he never gave a satisfactory answer. But now he revealed this to her. She was chirping like a bird from the inside. Everything felt a little more beautiful than ever. Those butterflies momentarily visited her stomach whenever she imagined him. She imagined him to be many things but one of them was to be hopelessly in love with her, just as she was with him...or with the idea of having him as her.
Her mind stepped down from the pedestal when she saw a bunch of men wearing black suits heading in her direction, she was in the garden so she wasn't technically in her way, they were crossing the main mansion. Adele wondered where were they exactly headed but her eyes stumbled on the man leading the men. A man who was none other than him. The soulless grey-eyed ghost.
That's what he looked like. Because every time she'd looked at him, she found him as lost as the wind. His eyes never spoke their intent to her. His face always greeted her with a hard, unwelcoming look. As if he was trying to belittle her with his detested gaze, as if his mind questioned why did people like her ever exist. There was really a dislike shining in his eyes.
And last night, when she saw him. She thought he'd kill her. His eyes unsparingly narrowed and his mouth twitched in suspicion. He'd be thinking she was sneaking at them, enjoying their obscene voices.
And just as she openly gaped at him, her eyes drifted to his shirt that looked...soaked, not completely but it was soaked from his abdomen and right shoulder. The shirt's colour was also black so she couldn't decipher if it was water or something else. A frown spoiled her forehead. How did he even get his shirt proportionally drenched? Was he trying to catch a fish or something?
She shook her head as it sounded ridiculous to her own brain.
Watching them walk a few wings away, the guards scattered around the wing that looked distant from other wings. The man was unfolding his sleeves as he was entering the wing and just as he was about to disappear from Adeline's sight, a loud animalistic howl erupted in the open air. Adeline's mug jolted in her hand and she turned into the direction from where it came. Her feet apprehensively took her there. The howling kept increasing until it vanished completely and by the time she reached there, the mug dropped from her hand and she clamped them on her mouth to squeeze her heart-wrenching scream.
Tears floated in her eyes as she dashed ahead and yelled.
"Help, somebody, please!"
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