“Yes, sir.”
Annabella stared in the mirror.Tilting her head, she first removed one earring and then the next, rubbing her lobes a bit after. As beautiful as they were, the pair were on the heavy side. It was interesting how such beautiful things could be so painful. But wasn’t that just the nature of beauty itself? Beauty was the perfect mask to hide how dangerous one was.
“Emiliano… I want that man to suffer. Make it slow and painful.”
Her husband came up behind her. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he pulled her to his chest. “Do you want him dead, my sweet? Ask and his heart will be delivered to you on a platter.”
She chuckled, her heart fluttering at the thought. It wasn’t necessarily a bad idea. Not bad at all, but maybe, not yet. “Not necessary… Not yet, at least. Start financially…then perhaps something more physical.”
“And by the time he is finally set to be released?”
“Make that day his last. I won’t have members of my family living in fear of retaliation. Whether Seri stays with our son or not, I want him and Skya safe.”
“AGAIN?!” Preston roared, slamming his hands on the table.
His lawyer flinched. He couldn’t remember the man’s name, but at the price he was paying, he shouldn’t have to. “The judge was removed, and a new one put into place. Your bail was denied. As was your request for delaying the upcoming trial.”
“BULLSHIT! I don’t care what they are saying, keep trying! Go to a new judge, or find a way to remove the current prosecutor. DO SOMETHING!”
The injustices he had suffered! When he got out of here…Seri… Preston ground his teeth together.
“I am trying…” The insufferable idiots faced pinched as if he was sucking on a lemon. “There is, however, another issue developing…”
“What now?” he growled.
“A few of your bank accounts have been…frozen. With them citing their unlawful activities clause in response to their actions.”
“Those bastards… With the money I’ve siphoned to them over the years, they DARE?!”
“I also got an urgent message from Rodney Sava, the man you left in control of your business and assets. He plans to come up here tomorrow.”
Preston rolled his eyes. “What does that moron want?”
“He was brief, but from the little he told me, some of your larger investors have suddenly pulled out of multiple projects at once. A few of your subsidiaries have collapsed in response. It’s affecting the overall stock price of your company, which has plunged.”
“WHAT?!”
Seri lookedaround the Rain Burrow Merryville University campus, and found it…nice. Pretty even. And in the style he loved—all the buildings having that grown from a tree look.
Despite it being January, meaning all the trees were still bare, there was a ton of actual nature around. He could also see where flowers would bloom in the spring, and could just imagine how beautiful it would look then.
The place was nowhere near as fancy as his last campus though. Not that he preferred those geometric and orb-like buildings to these ones.
Eyeing the bare tree nearby, he was struggling to understand why he was currently there. Or why he had visited any of the other colleges and universities he had that day. Seri was in no way ready to come back. He figured he wouldn’t be ready until he could be in darkness without freaking out.
Seri was, he thought, making progress. Progress, as in, he could now stand in the doorway of a dark room without his heart racing like crazy. He couldn’t actually enter yet, but it was progress. Slow progress, but still progress.
It had been three months since Preston’s arrest. And knowing the man wasn’t out free in the world was helping.
The scars on his leg were fully healed up, no longer raw. Severo had offered to help him get them removed, if that was what he wanted, but Seri had declined. He knew most would do it…but they made him real. He was not a doll, meant to be perfect. Seeing them reminded him that he was a living, breathing person. So, stay they would.
The biggest change so far was that the reporters had stopped harassing them. He would assume that may change anytime a big decision was made in Preston’s various trials, but for now, he’d just enjoy his time being in the outside world without being stalked… People did stare sometimes when they recognized him…which was not good for his social anxiety… Oh well…
Severo had started the classes he needed for his new job. Only a few months more and the Dweller would take up his new position.
While Severo seemed excited to train and teach…the man was definitely more excited for the birthday party he was planning for Skya.
They’d planned on having the party at Hidden Places. Bellamy may have been just as excited as Severo was. Between the two of them, Seri partly feared what he would be walking into on the twenty-fourth of that month.
