Page 111 of Wanted

“It’s not confidence. It’s obsession,” she corrected me. She inhaled skeptically. “This bed doesn’t feel like it has been used by my husband at all. It’s devoid of his scent.”

“It’s been years,” I reminded her.

“I can feel his essence. It’s not here.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” I asked her.

“Whoever the boy was that lived in this room, he’s not my husband.”

Valentina stood up, heading to the closet. I watched her scan each item warily. The things were part of our past, back when mom and grandma washed and folded our clothes. She picked a grey fleece jacket that Aris used to wear at home in his teens. He didn’t wear it too often because Katantia’s winters were short, but Valentina took the clothing item off its hanger, pressing it to her chest.

It was overdramatic, to say the least.

“I can’t imagine Aris ever wearing this,” she blurted out, wiping away a getaway tear from her rosy cheek.

“Believe it or not, he used to be tiny.”

“Like me?” The sob she let out fucked me up.

“No, you’re tinier than tiny,” I replied with a smirk, trying to lighten the mood.

“Oh, fuck off,” she snorted, but there was a flicker of amusement in her face. “Why does half of his closet look like a valedictorian took a shit in here? Aris has better style than this.”

“Mom bought him these clothes,” I warned her, and she rolled her eyes. “She wanted us to look a certain way. She paid close attention to our grades, and she saw something in all of our achievements. Sometimes, she bought into the good grades too much. I bet we only did well in school because the teachers were afraid of the palace.”

“Don’t undermine your achievements,” she responded. She removed a white shirt with one of the Star Wars characters on it, the little green guy that everyone liked to share on the internet. “You can go now. I want to be alone in this room for a while. Let me know when dinner’s here.”

“I’m not sure I appreciate your assertiveness but will do,” I said, backing away from her.

“You better get used to it. The cockroach is dead.”

♥♠♥

Tonight, Valentina had asked Mandy to sleep in a separate room. They were testing what worked best for the pregnant woman.

Mandy had grabbed her pillow, joining me in my room. With her next to me, the silence wasn’t as numbing.

“I won’t apologize for what I did but rather how I did it. I just wanted to take care of you,” I blurted out. “You can hate me all you want. I did what I had to do. I wanted to make sure you’d survive.”

“And here I thought Kamila was a drama queen,” Mandy responded, her breathy sigh content and tranquil. “I don’t understand why you dragged me all the way to Katantia when I had a ready hospital waiting to treat me over there.”

“I don’t want Winters or that freak to be responsible for you.” When Kamila left, I suffered a loss, but deep down, I knew that she made mom proud with her actions. Leaving and ruining one of Katantia’s biggest moments? I could feel mom’s pleased smile in my soul. I took a deep breath, and I went on, “When you left, all the color you brought with you disappeared.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” she asked, shifting on the bed to face me. I stared at the ceiling. My siblings filled their rooms with life. There was nothing of value in here for me. I didn’t own anything that I would want to rescue if there was a fire. My Wraith was as good as it got, and after my brother’s car accident slash murder attempt, I didn’t feel safe inside of her.

My brother had been right.

I was a ghost.

Kamila had been raised by our mom. She would conquer the world one day. With her husband, she was one step closer. I heard the rumors. I saw how much money her husband’s colleagues spent on our island. They never brought their wives, though, and I didn’t want Kamila to be hurt by Winters. She deserved to be happy, to be owned and loved. She didn’t deserve to sit alone in a foreign country, waiting for her husband to come back from his exotic adventures.

Kamila’s husband was on TV all the time. People idolized these types of men, rooting for them to win as if it meant that they’d get a piece of it. For my family, this was a familiar concept. But I had never found my footing here.

“I have nothing.”

She chuckled, and I turned to face her. Her cheeks turned into a shade of pink that I needed more of. “Don’t be silly. Your family, all these properties... You’re a prince. This country worships the ground you walk on. If I had a penny for every time somebody bowed for you, I’d be richer than my father.”

“I have nothing,” I repeated. “All of this means nothing. I could leave tomorrow, and it wouldn’t matter. What am I doing here? After you left, things weren’t the same. I had it all figured out. I had my girls, my job at the palace. One day, I’d end up king because Aris and Valentina surely wouldn’t get the throne from under us. I went out, and if I wanted to, I could fuck ten girls in a night. They offered. I didn’t even have to ask.”