Bella
I roll over to my side and feel the crumple of paper under my cheek. My eyes blink open, and I realize I’m alone. Pulling the paper out from under me, I read it.
Last night was amazing and I look forward to many more nights with you. Breakfast is waiting in your room. When I return, we will talk, as promised. It’s time to live! -Cal
A smile grows on my face as I clutch the paper to my chest. Last night was amazing. It felt like the first day of the rest of my life. I have no idea what’s in store for me, but that’s the beauty of it. I’ve always planned everything out perfectly and end up disappointed when things don’t go my way. When Cal and I talk, he needs to know my family will still be a big part of my life. This marriage of convenience needs to benefit us both. Is that what it is? A convenience? I said yes to Cal because I want to help him. In some ways, I think I owe it to him. But I also said yes because I cannot imagine my life without him. I love Cal. I really do. This thing we have going on is unconventional at best, but it works for us and that’s all that matters.
After lying in Cal’s bed, thinking about the future for a good twenty minutes, I have no regrets as I get up and leave to go shower and have breakfast in my room.
Sometime today, I plan on apologizing to Peter for last night. I feel so bad for manipulating such a sweet person. He seems like the forgiving kind, so hopefully it won’t change things between us. Peter has been good to me while I’ve been here, and I don’t want that to change now.
As soon as I open the door to my room, I’m grinning from ear to ear. I walk to my bed where a tray is placed on top and run my finger over the stem of a single peony in a crystal vase.
I planned to take a shower first but the rumble in my stomach has me lifting the lid of the platter and diving into a stack of pancakes, bacon, and fresh fruit.
All I need is some Netflix and this would be heaven. I make a mental note to tell Cal today that I want a television and the Wi-Fi password. If I’m going to be his wife, I’m not going to be treated as a prisoner.
One more bite and I move the tray to the side and get up to take a shower. A knock at the door has me turning around. I pull the door open and Peter is standing there.
The disturbed look on his face tells me he’s upset about last night. I never put his key back and he has to know I stole it.
“Hi, Peter.”
“Ms. Jenkins,” he acknowledges me with a nod. “Mr. Ellis has given me strict instructions to escort you off the island immediately. You’ll need to pack your things and meet me at the dock in ten minutes.”
“Wha…what? Cal didn’t say that.” I’m so confused that I’m not even able to form a coherent sentence.
“Something has come up and I’ll explain on the way. Please, hurry, Ms. Jenkins.”
“Peter, if this is about last night, I’m sorry.”
“Last night?”
“Tea in the sitting room? Your—”
“If anyone should apologize, it’s me. I was more tired than I thought and it was rude of me to fall asleep in your company.”
Huh? He doesn’t know about the key or any of the events of last night? Peter thinks he fell asleep because he was tired.
Now I feel even more guilty, but if this isn’t about last night, then why am I being forced off the island?
“No time to waste. I’ll see you at the dock in ten minutes.” He turns and heads down the hall.
I step out the door and holler behind him, “But, Peter. I don’t want to leave.”
He doesn’t respond, just continues walking at a steady pace until he reaches the elevator.
“What the hell?” I grumble under my breath. Is Cal really letting me leave? Not just letting me, but making me?
I begged for this for weeks but now that it’s happening, I don’t want to go. I want to stay and be with him. Something isn’t right. There has to be an explanation.
Peter disappears into the elevator, so I go back to my room, wondering if I should do as I’m told and pack up my things or if I should just stay here and wait for Cal to return. Unless…unless Peter is taking me to meet Cal somewhere. That has to be it. He wants us both to leave the island.
After carefully deciding to pack my bag and follow instructions, I’m standing in the doorway of my room, staring into it. I hope we get to come back someday. This place has begun to feel like a home away from home. The thought of leaving and not returning has me fighting back tears.
One last look, and I’m closing the door behind me, dragging my suitcase down the hall to the elevator.
I make it to the ground level and see Peter waiting for me.
“Peter, please tell me what’s going on,” I say as I hurriedly drag my suitcase to where he stands.
He takes my suitcase and drags it behind him but doesn’t say a word as I follow. There’s a small boat waiting for us and I see it’s Jeffrey, the same guy who brought me here.
“Take care, Ms. Jenkins. I hope to see you again soon, for Mr. Ellis’s sake. He needs someone like you in his life.” He presses a chaste kiss to my cheek and walks past me.
“You’re not leaving with me? But where am I going? What happens next?” I chase after him, refusing to leave without knowing why I have to.
Peter stops, turns slowly, and places two hands on my shoulders. “You’re in danger, Bella. Don’t ask questions. Just go.”
My eyes widen, chills cascading down my body. “Danger?”
He nods. “Mr. Ellis will keep you safe if you let him. So, please, go.”
Peter disappears and I’m left as confused as ever while Jeffery lifts my suitcase on the boat. “Do you know what’s going on?” I ask him.
He shakes his head. “I just do drop-offs and pickups, dear.”
I feel like I just got here and now I’m leaving. I want to stay. I want to stay here with Cal. There’s a pinch at my heart, a nagging and painful pinch that stays with me the entire ride to the main island. My fear of water doesn’t even touch what I’m feeling inside. I’d swim back if I knew he’d be there waiting for me.
If I’m in danger, that must mean someone wants to hurt me. Or, what if someone wants to hurt Cal? Oh my God! And I just left without doing anything to help him. I have no way to contact him. No way to find him. All I have is his name, an island, and the number to the assistant who set me up with the job. That’s all I know about the man I’m falling in love with.
After Jeffery docked and I was handed a ticket for the ferry, I ended up back where it all began. The parking lot of Falcon Ferry. I didn’t go home to Hickory Knoll. There was nothing I could do from there. Instead, I took the first flight to New York and I’m walking up to Mark’s apartment door, ready to find at least one of the answers I need.
With no call letting him know I was on my way, I came completely unannounced, I knock a few times before the door flies open.
“Bella? What’s wrong?” he asks, likely noticing my red, puffy eyes from hours of crying.
“Can I come in?”
He steps to the side. “Of course.”
Sheer exhaustion has me wanting to plop down on that white leather couch in the middle of the living room, but Mark and I aren’t close. We don’t invade each other’s space. There’s never been a solid friendship, hangouts with friends, or even small talk. Everything we did together was as a family and we sort of just existed together. He’s not cruel, by any means. In fact, he’s always been kind to me. Don’t get me wrong, I love my brother, but he’s always been a very standoffish person. I suppose we all deal with our past lives in our own ways.
“How’s law school going?” I ask as I look around the small apartment.
Mark closes the door and enters the room, standing next to me. “Look, if you’re here because you heard, let me start off by saying I planned to tell them.”
I’ve got no idea what he’s talking about and I’m sure the expression on my face says so.
“It’s only been three months and I was just giving it some time until I got my fitness club up and running. Things are going slow—”
“Did you quit law school, Mark?”
“Yeah. Isn’t that why… Why are you here, Bella?”
My hand falls from the handle of my suitcase and I’m unable to hold it together anymore. Tears start falling and I sniffle. “I found Callum.”
His eyes perk up. “Callum, Callum?”
I nod. Saving time, I get straight to the point. “We reconnected and things have been…well, weird, but that’s beside the point. I need you to tell me what happened before we left between you, him, and Trent.”
“Wait a minute. Does Trent know about this?”
I nod again. “He came to see me. I’m sure you’ll hear all about it.” And of course, he’ll go and tell our parents and they’ll sit me down for a talk about self-respect and making good choices. “Did you know Cal got in trouble that day?”
Mark runs his fingers through his hair and blows air. “Damn, Bella. This all happened ages ago. I don’t even remember.” He walks over to a coffee pot on the counter and fills a mug in front of it. “Want some?”
“Yes, please.” I’m not a big coffee drinker, but I could use some caffeine right about now.
Mark gets me a cup and we sit down at a small, round table. “So where’d you find him?”
“Ever heard of Ellis Empire?”
He shakes his no, and I’m not surprised.
“He owns a ritzy hotel chain. Inherited the company and billions from his late father.”
“Damn, he made out well.” Mark looks around his tiny living space. “If only we could all have that luck.”
I don’t tell him what Cal had to go through to get where he’s at in life, but I don’t need to. None of it matters. “I accepted a job and he ended up being my boss. Talk about a surprise.”
“No kidding. That couldn’t have been a coincidence.”
“It wasn’t.” I take a sip of my coffee, burning the tip of my tongue. “While I was with him, he mentioned a couple different times how you and Trent were the reason for some things that happened. Obviously, you left Mrs. Webster’s when I did, so I know it wasn’t after the fact.”
Mark is silent for a minute. He takes a few drinks of his coffee, taps his fingers to the mug, then finally says, “Trent would be pissed if he knew we were talking about this.”
“Fuck Trent.”
It seems I’ve caught him by surprise. “Aren’t you two getting engaged?”
“No. I never told him yes and I was never going to. Trent and I are done.”
“Wow,” he nods, trying to read my expression, “so are you and Callum like a thing now?”
Ignoring his question, I get to the point. “Tell me what happened before we were adopted, Mark.”
“Come on, Bella. You’re putting me in a really shitty spot.”
I don’t want to play hardball, but I will. Pulling my phone out of the pocket of my hoodie, I hold it up. “Tell me now or I’ll call Mom and Dad and tell them you quit law school.”
Mark pushes his chair back and gets up, pacing the small space of the kitchen. He fidgets with his fingers, then stops at the chair he was in and rests his arms on the back of it. “It was all Trent’s idea. We were out back following deer tracks late at night and saw Callum sneaking through the living room window into Trent’s house. I made some snide remark about how I wouldn’t have to deal with the asshole much longer because you and him would probably get picked and go off to live your best lives while I was stuck for another four years.”
When he stops talking and begins fidgeting with his hands, I push for more. “Okay. What happened next?”
He looks up and continues, “We confronted him and he told us some bizarre story about how he was doing it for you. Trent knew Callum was always getting into trouble, so he had the grand idea to tell Mrs. Webster he broke into his house and stole a wad of cash from Mr. Beckham’s safe. It was supposed to be a joke, but we also thought maybe it’d help my chance. Which it did.”
My jaw drops. “So you lied?” I should have known someone stirred the pot and intentionally ratted him out.
“Yeah. Sort of. I mean, he did break in, but he didn’t really take money. Trent went to his parents with the money he actually took and convinced them to go to Mrs. Webster. Sure enough, she punished him to his room for three days, making him miss out on the meeting.”
I take a deep breath, trying to process all this. My heart hurts so bad for Cal. He didn’t do anything wrong.
“Wait. What was the bizarre story? How was he doing it for me?”
His shoulders rise and he throws his hands out. “No idea. He said he needed to get something for you to impress ‘your new parents.’” Mark laughs. “Even though they were never his parents and never will be. We didn’t see anything in his hands, so he must’ve been hiding it.”
“He never told me about that.”
“Probably never got the chance. Two hours later, we were on our way to new and better things. Come on, Bella,” his voice rises a few octaves, “don’t sweat it. We have a good life—good parents. Leave the past where it belongs. Leave that loser where he belongs. Trent is your future. Go make things right with him.”
I shake my head, getting angrier and angrier with each passing second. “First of all, I never want to see Trent again, let alone make things right with him. Second, Cal is the furthest thing from a loser. He is a man who is honest and loyal. Unlike you and Trent,” I snarl, curling my lip before grabbing my bag and storming out.
I end up in a hotel about a block from Mark’s apartment in Upper East Side NYC. I’m physically and emotionally drained and right now, I’m not sure I even have the strength to take a shower. I’ve cried, I’ve screamed, and I’ve dropped to my knees and begged for a sign of what I should do next.
Everyone in my life has been lying to me. Mark, Trent, Cal. The three men I thought I could trust. I have no close girlfriends, I have no cousins I grew up with, or grandparents I talk to. I have my mom and dad and those three guys, and that’s it. But now, all I have is my parents.
Somehow, I manage to stay on my feet as I clean this horrendous day off me. I’ve been on a boat, a plane, and walked down the streets of the city, carrying my damn suitcase. I haven’t eaten, I haven’t slept, and I’m on the verge of throwing up from coughing through the tears so much.
My mind has gone over so many scenarios of what I should do and it’s come down to the final two: go home or go back.
I finish cleaning up and crawl into bed, lying there for hours with my eyes wide open.
The next thing I know, I wake up and the sun is peeking through the blinds. My body jolts up when something outside the window catches my eye.
“No way,” I mutter. My feet hit the floor and I walk over to the window. Pressing my hands to the ledge, I look at the sign directly in front of me. Snake Pit Lounge and Bar. It’s not the name or the sign, it’s the snake head looking back at me. With emerald green eyes and a challenging stare. Its tongue is out in a hiss and I realize, this is my sign.
I’m not giving up.
