I got another letter today. From him. It smelled like bleach and prison sweat. Daddy said that I should be grateful to be given to a man like Kosta Orlov. Said his loyalty to our family earned him the right to take me as his wife.
The happiest day of my life was when I found out he went to jail.
He said he’s working on getting out. Something about a parole hearing.
Feeling a spiral coming on, I ran outside to get air and slipped into my favorite tea shop. The one that smells like steeped black tea and warm cinnamon the second you step inside. I ordered a calming blend I don’t keep at home, something floral with citrus that forces my lungs to expand.
The line was slow, the shop crowded, and a man behind me kept snapping at me to move. I couldn’t. My legs were syrupy.
Thenhewas there. Black coat, long hair, and lethal beauty with his usual harsh expression.
My neighbor, who I’ve figured out is an assassin for the Irish Mob.
He didn’t say a word to me. He just shoved the man yelling at me back so hard he fell to the sticky tiled floor.
“She’s mine,” he growled.
That was all I could make out over the ringing in my ears.
“Are you okay?” he asked me, his Irish accent strong and rich.
I just gave a nod, unable to speak.
“You knock on my door any time you need me, do you understand?” he said, grabbing his bag of loose-leaf tea that he purchases once a month.
I just shook my head in agreement.
That’s when it clicked.
She’s mine.I’m his.
Somewhere I agreed to be his girlfriend. Meds in the past caused spotty memory.
I woke up with a basil plant. Then an ivy appeared. Next, I planted a whole garden. I ditched the meds but kept the plants.
But that’s why he talks to me. I am this breathtaking man’sgirlfriend. But it’s clear we have to keep it quiet.
He’s an assassin.
And Kosta will kill him.
“No one is fucking killing me,” I mutter.
Christ, I remember that day. But I don’t remember calling her mine. I think I told the idiot who pushed her that she was my neighbor.
Mine.
My neighbor.
And she was spiraling. Ears ringing.
She has fucking blackouts from these pills?
God…
All this time, she thought she was my girlfriend. It wasn’t something she conjured in her head. Not a delusion. It was something I said.
And then I went on to ignore her for nearly two years.
