Velvet Lullabies

Another foot to her shoulder, this time breaking the skin there.

He lowered his body until he was hovering over her.

A punch to her face.

And then it repeated.

And repeated.

Then the knife came out.

Oh, how Theo loved that knife.

The men around him knew he was angry when the knife came out. Adelina had one heard a story about how he killed a man slowly with 100 cuts.

One slice under her left breast made her eyes cloud with water and the searing paid made her scream out.

This was it, she thought.

Until finally, she heard a gunshot, and then there was blood everywhere.

Now, there was only darkness.

???

It had officially been one week since Lucian sent Adelina to New York.

She was going crazy.

Lucian’s parents were great, and they doted over her every need. Annette bought new clothes, made her comfort food, and watched shitty t.v. Dramas with her. Adelina was sure the woman had never watched an episode of Dance Mom’s before this week, but for her, Annette whipped up some popcorn and they binged it.

Still, Adelina felt helpless.

Lucian had promised to never make her feel like the princess in a gilded cage, but somehow, that’s exactly how she felt.

He hadn’t called her at all. And she was sick with worry. The last thing she wanted was to add one more name to the list of deaths that were her fault.

“Hey,” Carlo’s soft voice intruded her thoughts.

Adelina was currently in an oversized t-shirt she found in Lucian’s childhood bedroom, shorts, and bare feet. Carlo didn’t say a word, but she knew she looked like a mess. She hadn’t brushed her hair and she couldn’t remember if she showered that day. She was pacing around the Luchese library which had quickly become her favorite room.

“Did you hear from him?” she pestered.

“He’s okay, dear.”

Adelina sighed with relief. “Why won’t he call me then?” She asked in a whisper.

Carlo stepped closer to where Adelina was in the library. He rested a hand softly on her shoulder. “He’s working on getting back to you, dear.”

She nodded solemnly.

“Come with me,” Carlo told her, “I have something I want to show you.”

Adelina followed Carlo from the library upstairs to his office, the one room in the estate she had yet to explore.

His office was decorated differently than the rest of the house. The light and airy feel quickly morphed into deep reds and dark wood.

“Sit,” Carlo told her.