Serenity thought the monster she knew was better than the one she didn’t. It was time she got well-acquainted with that unfamiliar beast.
Chapter 12
Serenity
“WHY DID YOU CALL OUT of work today?”
“I wasn’t feeling well,” I answered honestly, clutching the phone as I leaned the side of my head against my chair.
I’d curled back up in my reading chair after Dante stormed out, and I still sat there, though I couldn’t pay much attention to the book I had been reading. I was still too shaken from my talk with Dante.
“Are you actually sick?”
The suspicious stretch at the end of his question told me what Dad was thinking. What he really wanted to ask was if I called out of work to be “lazy,” an accusation that had been made by Scarlett, his wife and my step-mother, many times since I’d started working for my dad.
“I’m not lazy, Dad,” I replied calmly. There was no point in pretending that I didn’t know what he was actually implying. The exchange with Dante had drained me of my ability to pretend. Now, I was empty, my insides carved out by the truth I wanted but failed to hide. “I didn’t feel good.”
“You know I love you, sweetie, but I don’t want you pawning off your responsibilities on other people,” Dad continued with unease.
“Don’t burden the others at the company,” Scarlett suddenly chimed in. I wasn’t surprised to know she’d been listening inon the conversation, monitoring what was said between me and Dad. “It’s embarrassing to have the daughter of the company not taking charge and doing more. What kind of look do you think that paints for your father as the owner?”
Scarlett’s irritation was crystal clear, and my dad’s silent approval of her reprimands was deafening. Despite the cold resolve that had settled in my body, that one word broke through my defenses to claw at my mind.
Burden.
I was a burden.
I closed my eyes and addressed the only person I cared about on the other end of the phone. “I’ll do better, Dad.” A knock sounded at my door. I opened my eyes and sat up. “I think Bradley’s here. I’ve gotta go.”
He sighed, and I could just picture him pinching the bridge of his nose in exhausted disappointment. “Okay. We’ll talk about this later, honey.”
The call ended, and I robotically walked to my door to open it for my boyfriend.
“Surprise!”
My eyes widened as I took the large bouquet of roses from Bradley. He leaned in and kissed me on the cheek, careful to avoid my injured lip, which had a decent gash across the bottom.
My gaze bounced between the roses and Bradley. “These are beautiful. I can’t remember the last time you got me flowers.”
“Which is a shame,” he said, following me to my kitchen where I searched for a vase to put them in. He leaned his forearms on the counter and watched me with a smile. “I should be giving you flowers all the time, which is exactly what I plan on doing from now on.”
I waited for the warmth to unfurl within my chest. I waited to feel the spark that accompanied any kind gesture Bradleymade me. I waited to feel the same brightness that came when a certain man remembered and brought me my coffee.
It never came.
The seconds alone with Bradley stretched. The numbness that I’d managed to suppress the previous evening in an act of denial returned.
“I brought something else, too,” Bradley revealed excitedly.
He held up a finger for me to wait and dipped back out into the hallway. I glanced at the flowers again when a metal click sounded, followed by Bradley’s confused call from the other side of the door. “Uh, Serenity? Why’d you lock the door?”
Frowning, I went to the door, and sure enough, it had relocked behind him. The lock wasn’t automatic. It had to be manually turned, so how had it locked behind him?
“That’s weird.” I opened it for him and studied the handle on the door. “I’m not sure what happened. I didn’t lock it.”
He shrugged, the oddity in the door’s lock forgotten. He held out a box of Mateo’s Pizza. “Ta-da!” he beamed. “I grabbed us a pizza from Mateo’s on my way over.”
I stared at the cardboard box. My faint grin was at odds with my lifeless voice. “Our first date.”
