Page 25 of Taking Adalisa (Montgomery Syndicate #2)

ADALISA

I look right and left, making sure the hallway is clear before I take a step out of the room.

Earlier today, I ran into the maid, Nala, and scared myself.

I immediately ran, and she yelled to say who she was, but I didn’t stop.

I was just orienting myself with the house when I ran into her.

Ever since then, I’ve been in the room Matthias and I slept in last night.

“It’s okay,” I whisper to myself. “No one is going to pop out this time.”

Matthias hasn’t been home all morning. He left a note saying I needed to eat breakfast and to drink water, but I didn’t pay attention to any of that. Did he really think I was going to eat something that Nala prepared for me?

No.

I may have done something unusual yesterday, but I am not going to do that today. Once was enough for me.

Now I am trying to find ways to escape. I first need to figure out how to get out of the house, and then I’ll figure out how to get out of the compound. One step at a time. I need to rush this.

Margery is coming at the end of the week, and I so desperately want to see her again, but I don’t want to meet Ethan. I don’t want to see Margery and have her try to convince me to stay with Matthias. Maybe Margery will be able to help me get out of here if I stay.

I can’t risk it.

I look out the window, trying to see if any guards are walking by, and when none do, I smile to myself. This could definitely be a window I crawl out of. It’s close to the ground.

“I wouldn’t go out of that window if I were you,” Nala announces.

Screaming, I bang my head against the wall as I turn toward her. I hold my head as tears pool in my eyes.

“Ouch. Ouchie,” I whimper, sitting on the ground as I lean forward with my hand still on my head where I hit it.

A sharp ache radiates across my head. I don’t want to let go, but I need to get away from Nala before she tells someone what I was doing. I can’t get caught. Not again.

“Oh, sweetie. Let me look at it,” Nala soothingly says.

I shake my head, keeping my hand on the hurt spot and not looking at her. I don’t want to let go and have Nala look at it. What if she pokes and prods at it?

No.

Not happening.

“Come on, sweetie. I’m not going to do anything. Everything is going to be all right. Just let me take a little look so I can see if it’s bleeding,” she soothes.

I shake my head once again and look at her. “Not bleeding.”

I would know since I am currently holding my head.

“Let me take a look at it to make sure. I don’t want anything happening or getting infected,” Nala insists.

My eyes go wide. Infected? Does she really think my head was going to get infected by something? I shake my head once again and wince. It has stopped hurting by now, but I don’t know Nala, and I don’t want her to do anything to me.

Nope. That is definitely not going to happen. I am not going to let her anywhere near my head.

“I don’t think I want to know what just went through your head,” she mutters and sits in front of me.

“I’m not going to hurt you. I promise, Adalisa.

You mean something to Matthias, and I love him like he is my own son.

The fact that he came into the kitchen this morning, knowing it is my domain and no one else cooks in it, to ask if you could and explain a little bit about why…

You mean a lot to him. I’ve never seen him act like that with someone before.

I’ve never seen him be so interested in the person’s well-being and making sure they are eating. ”

My mouth falls open as I stare at her. I knew Matthias was going to talk to her this morning, but I didn’t think it would mean that much. I thought it was something simple, but I was wrong… again.

Matthias really cares about me. I thought he was just obsessed with me for some weird reason and didn’t want to let me go until he got bored with me. But to think that he actually cares and other people are saying he does… that is something completely different.

No.

I close my eyes. I cannot think about this. I can’t have them try to make me change my mind about staying here. “What are you two doing on the floor?” Matthias asks from the end of the hallway.

I take a deep breath in. He cares about me, and I can see it more as he looks up and down my body, a light worry in his eyes.

“Why is Adalisa holding her head?” he asks, walking toward us. “Adalisa, what’s happened? Are you okay?”

“I scared her, and she hit her head on the wall.” Nala winks at me.

What is she doing? I don’t need Matthias coming to check on me. My head is fine now, I just forgot to take my hand off it.

“Oh, baby.” Matthias rushes to me. “Are you okay? Do you need me to look at it and see if you need anything? Why don’t you move your hand so Daddy can see where you hit your head and make it all better?”

Matthias bends down in front of me, and I gaze at him with my mouth open. I was not expecting him to care so much about a simple bump on the head.

“Come on, Little one.” Matthias places his hand on my arm that is still touching my head.

“It’s fine,” I rush, scooting back. But I don’t get far with Matthias kneeling in front of me. “I really am okay. It happened a few minutes ago. It doesn’t hurt anymore.”

I look past Matthias to see Nala giving me a knowing look before disappearing around the corner. She knew he would fuss over me.

“Baby, let me see your head,” Matthias firmly says. “Hitting your head is a very serious thing, no matter how light or hard you hit it. I need to look at it to make sure you are okay.”

Sighing, I drop my hand and let Matthias check it out. He pokes and prods, I don’t make any sound as it doesn’t hurt, and before I know it, Matthias is leaning back and looking at me seriously.

“I have some good news and some bad news. Which do you want first?” Matthias asks.

Good news and bad news? What is he talking about?

“Good?” I sound so unsure. “No, wait. I want the bad first. Wait. Actually, can you tell me the good news first?”

“Put her out of her misery, Matthias,” Nala shouts from the corridor.

Matthias chuckles. “Good news is your head is perfectly fine. Bad news is, it’s fine, and now you have to come grocery shopping with me.”

That was the bad news? I thought he was going to say something about part of my head needed to be chopped off or that I was going to need brain surgery.

I don’t see leaving the house as bad news.

“Do you think you can manage that? I know you don’t like going out too much anymore, but I do want you eating. If that means going to the grocery store so you can pick out your own food, so be it,” Matthias stands up and holds his hand out.

I stare at it. Is Nala right? Does he really care for me that much that he is willing to take me grocery shopping?

“Let’s go,” I say, taking his hand for him to help me up.

“Don’t try anything in the store; no one will help you. They all know who I am,” Matthias warns as we walk into the store.

Right. Of course he would take me somewhere that he knows everyone so no one would help me. Smart of him. I know it might take a while, but I’m still hoping that he’ll mess up and I’ll be able to run away.

Even if that means leaving a place I feel safe in.

It shocks me every single time I think about it.

I feel safe with Matthias around me. I can’t deny that I have feelings for him, how would I not?

He has mostly treated me amazingly. Even when he gets all possessive and growly at me, it turns me on and makes me want to stay with him.

I do want to stay with him, so badly but I can’t.

I stop walking and look at him with wide eyes.

Am I okay?

No, something must be wrong with me. I need to sit in my room and think about everything and get back on track. I can’t be thinking like this.

“Adalisa?” Matthias gently asks, taking a step closer to me. “You’re okay. Everything is going to be okay.”

How does he know that? My whole world is going up in flames right now, and I don’t know what to do to put it out.

“Everything is going to be fine.” He wraps his arms around me, holding me tightly.

I suck in a deep breath and grip his shirt, not wanting him to let go of me anytime soon. Are we in the middle of the grocery store? Yes, but I don’t really care right now.

“Such a good girl,” he whispers. “I’m so proud of you. You keep taking what’s thrown at you.”

Everything that has been thrown at me has been from him. He has given me everything, and it is exhausting trying to continue to move forward and have faith that one day I am going to get away.

But what if I don’t want to get away anymore?

I suck in a deep breath and pull away from Matthias.

My head is one big mess right now, and I don’t know what to think or believe.

Everything is overwhelming, and I don’t know how to get help.

Margery isn’t here to listen to me. I don’t know if she is the best person to go to right now.

I don’t know how she is doing mentally, and I don’t want to burden her with something like this.

Matthias grabs my hand before I can walk off without him. “I’ve got a basket and you can put whatever you need in here. Nala has already moved some stuff in the fridge, so you have space. No one is going to touch it.”

I haven’t been worried about anyone touching the food in the fridge until now. How many people are in the house that could interfere with it?

“We aren’t going to think like that.” Matthias starts walking to the produce. “No one is allowed in the fridge unless it is Ethan, Margery, Nala, you, and me. Nala is in the kitchen most of the time, so you won’t have to worry about much.”

I don’t know Nala that well, but I feel like I can trust her. She wasn’t trying to hurt me today and actually spoke about Matthias and what he has already done for me. What he is still doing and will continue to do.

How did I get so lucky?

No. Stop thinking about it.

It doesn’t take me long to start filling up the basket as we walk up and down the aisles. Meal ideas are popping into my head with every step, and I want to make all of them, but I’ve settled for three for now.

“Do you have everything you need?” Matthias asks.

I turn to him and stop dead in my tracks, my eyes automatically finding the ones I haven’t seen since I was a kid. How did he get here?

“Adalisa?” Matthias calls out my name, but he sounds so far away.

Gerard shouldn’t be here. He was still supposed to be in prison. How did he get out? He cocks his head to the side and smiles.

“Adalisa?” Matthias takes a step closer to me, but I don’t answer him.

I need to keep my eye on him the whole time. What if he was in the store before me?

My breathing comes out in short gasps as we continue to stare at each other. He can’t hurt me, yet he totally can. I thought I would never see him again, but here he is, standing twenty feet away from me in a grocery store when he should be in prison.

“Baby.” Matthias touches my arm. “What’s wrong?”

“Gerard’s here,” I whisper, my voice shaking as fear courses through my body.

I shouldn’t be afraid of him. I’m an adult who can take care of herself, but I can’t seem to shake this fear. How did he get out? What did I ever do to him to deserve this?

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Matthias turn around and follow my gaze, but my brother isn’t there anymore. No. He was right there. How did he disappear in a couple of seconds? That shouldn’t have been possible.

“He was right there, I promise,” I barely get out. “He was right there the whole time. I promise I’m not going crazy.”

“You’re okay, I believe you. Let’s pay for this food, and then we can talk to the manager to get the security tapes to see where he came from,” Matthias tries to calm me, taking my hand.

“I don’t want it.” I shake my head. “I don’t want the food. What if he sprinkled something on them or what if he injected it with something? I’m not going to take that risk.”

I look at Matthias, tears pooling in my eyes.

I can’t do this again. I was getting so much better at buying food from the store.

I can’t do this again. I am tired of Gerard winning all the time.

There isn’t anything I can do about it. He has instilled this fear in me that I can’t shake no matter what I do.

“Adalisa, we’ll fix this. We can wash everything when we get home,” Matthias gently says.

I shake my head once again. “No, I can’t. I won’t be able to eat any of it. I really can’t. Please don’t make me.”

Matthias pulls me into his chest, my face presses into him as I take a deep breath. I feel the vibrations of him talking, but I can’t make much out.

“Go… store… buy… compound,” is all I catch.

What is Matthias doing? He doesn’t give me much time to think about it as he pulls me up in his arms, and I wrap my legs around his waist.

“You’re okay,” he whispers into my ear. “Diego is going to go to another store several hours away for us. Your brother won’t be able to have put anything on them there.”

Here he is again doing something really sweet for me. Wait, did he say brother? He knows the person who was poisoning me was my brother?

“I know, baby. I knew a couple hours after you told me,” Matthias explains as he starts to walk. “We’re going to talk to the manager really quickly before we go home and just relax and rest.”

For once, I’m thankful we are staying at the compound.

Somewhere I didn’t think I would ever be grateful for.

After seeing my brother again, it brings me some type of peace knowing that I will be safe in there.

Nothing is going to happen to me there. I can’t wait to get back.

Just being in Matthias’ arms brings me comfort and security.

“Just relax while I deal with things and then we’ll go home.” He places a hand on my neck, keeping me in place.

And I do just that.