Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
T he next morning, I woke up with vengeance in my heart. My main mission was to figure out where the fuck my car was and how I could get back to Isles. The second goal was to email my professors and let them know I was going virtual for the second semester. The third goal was to figure out what the annulment laws were, because there had to be something written about being drunk and getting married. That seemed very...illegal.
Yes, Walsh confessed his family was part of the Mafia, but that didn’t mean I was since I was married to him. There still had to be rules for him to abide by, and he couldn’t keep me here forever. Plus, I hated feeling trapped. It was one of my worst fears, a remnant from my childhood.
But if I had a car, I had my escape, and I needed to keep that. My car had been with me through all my hard times when I’d had to sleep at parks and in Walmart parking lots between summers.
It was a comfort item for me and gave me a way to leave. It was the one thing that gave me freedom. After what happened with my parents, when I learned to drive, it healed a little part of me. Without my car, I was stuck.
God, no. I’d never choose to sleep inside a fucking barn, regardless of him making an effort to clean it up and personalize it.
Plus, I noticed one box was missing and figured he left them all in my guesthouse in Isles, and I wanted my sex toys back. If I wasn’t going to be getting it here anytime soon, I wanted to at least have the company of my toys.
I sighed as I went into the bathroom to brush my teeth, feeling tempted by the hot tub. Part of me wondered what he did after he tried to come into my place last night. I wasn’t naive enough to think he didn’t have an extra key, but a part of me appreciated that he respected my boundaries.
A very small part of me.
Staring at the pool, about to spit the excess toothpaste from my mouth, I couldn’t help but glance toward the front yard. There was a car coming up the gravel driveway.
"Hmmm…" I cocked my head to the side, and an older man I’d recognized from a while ago parked the car and made his way to the front of the house.
Walsh, dressed in all black again, ran from the front door, his hands raised, and from here, it looked like he was screaming.
The window didn’t open, otherwise I would have tried to listen to what they were saying, but Walsh looked pissed. This was who Walsh must have been hiding me from.
Then it dawned on me. I recognized that man from the day Ember moved into our apartment. Her father.
I was too far away from them to see the resemblance right away, but how Walsh was upset and not shoving the man was a clue they were related. Plus, they shared the same tired stance, their shoulders slumping forward.
Walsh’s arms flailed, then he glanced up toward my window.
He didn’t want his father to know I was here. Mr. Solis couldn’t see in from where he was standing, but I flipped him the bird anyway, then walked over to the sink, spat out my toothpaste, and looked at myself in the mirror.
"Game on." Fuck all the plans I had for the day. I was about to crush my sweet husband. If he wanted to hide me away, he should’ve thought harder about it.
I went into my closet, trying to find my swimsuits, but found only the one-pieces I would wear when teaching water aerobics at the gym.
"Motherfucker." That little piece of shit purposefully left all my two-pieces behind.
Fine, two could play that game. Guess I’d have to find a simple black thong to slip into. It would be very annoying when it was wet, but whatever, I’d deal with it later.
I added a black plunge bra with small floral details on the side. If he wanted to hide me in his house, then I wouldn’t make it easy on him.
I slipped over an oversized University of Isles hoodie I’d gotten from one of my ex-fuck-buddies.
I unclipped my hair letting my soft curls cascade down my shoulders, then I added a little highlighter and lip gloss. How I was dressed wasn’t how I’d normally dress to meet my father-in-law for the first time, but it was perfect for Walsh and his stupidity.
I walked out the door feeling so satisfied and headed down the stairs, then opened the creaky wooden door to the barn.
"Enzo?" I asked. He stood guard at the door, wearing all black, with a gun tucked into his waistband.
"Hey, Madison." He winked. What the fuck?
"You were my favorite returning client at yoga…" Oh my god. He’d been watching me all these years. I thought he’d come randomly into my life, but nothing about this was random.
"Surprise." He smiled.
"I hate you." I flipped him the bird, but he shrugged it off. "I hate him, too."
I pushed out of the doorway and headed toward the pool, but Enzo grabbed my elbow.
"No can do," he said, pulling me back into the shadows of the barn.
The lack of windows sent a wave of anxiety through me. My chest tightened, making it harder to draw breath, and my heart raced as if trying to escape its confines.
The world around me blurred, and I felt disconnected, as if observing my own turmoil from a distance. Thoughts collided in my mind, a chaotic symphony of fears and doubts. The sense of being trapped intensified, and I couldn't shake the feeling that the walls were closing in, threatening to crush me. I was taken back to that time in my life where I’d felt so wrecked.
The air in the barn felt thin, my breaths shallow and insufficient. I tried to steady myself, to ground my racing thoughts, but it was like trying to catch smoke with my hands. The anxiety attack had taken hold, and I was caught in its relentless grip.
Enzo’s mouth was moving, but no words were registering. I couldn’t focus on the sounds, just the chaos that surrounded me. Enzo's presence, once a familiar face, now felt like an additional layer of confinement. His casual demeanor clashed with the turmoil within me. I needed to break free, to find space to breathe, or the anxiety would consume me.
"Madison," someone called out, and my knees gave out, and I fell to the ground. My head landed in someone’s arms, and I wished I had found my voice to thank them, but the world turned dark around me.
"Madison," a voice crooned as I blinked open my eyes, hoping somehow I’d be whisked away by Prince Charming, but I was lying on a pile of old hay in the middle of a stall.
Every part of me wanted to escape, so I closed my eyes. I didn’t want to die, but I often thought about what would happen if I just stopped living. Most days, I was drained from life, too fatigued even for death
"I’m here," I grumbled as I blinked a few times, lifting myself into a sitting position. I closed my eyes as the hay needles poked my fingers, leaving indentations on my scars.
"I’m leaving." I tried to hoist myself up, but Enzo, sitting behind me, gave my back some support.
"You…can’t." The way he trailed off made it seem like he almost felt bad for me. "What happened?"
"I had an anxiety attack. It happens sometimes when I feel like the room is closing in on me." I shrugged. I’d never spoken this aloud, and saying it to Enzo who worked for my husband seemed weird, but I was hurt. Really fucking hurt.
And having someone finally witness the pain that coursed through me was nice…even though until ten minutes ago he was a client who came to some of my yoga classes.
"A-are you going to tell him?" I asked.
I turned to Enzo. To an outsider, our position might have seemed wrong—me seated between his legs—but he was merely steadying me, concerned that I might stumble again.
"I don't think it's beneficial for either of us if I do," Enzo remarked.
I glanced down and realized I was in a hoodie that had ridden up to expose my bra, and my underwear was on full display.
I knew how to manage my panic attacks…usually, but first things first. I needed to focus on the leaves, not the tree.
"Good. I won't tell him that you were fondling me in a horse stall, but that means I'm heading to the hot tub," I declared.
Enzo swiftly distanced himself from me, understanding the implications of my words. Walsh, no matter how friendly, would not take kindly to such a sight.
"I didn't do anything. I was just trying to help you?—"
I shrugged. "Sounds like an excuse to me." Glancing at my scant attire, I added, "And who knows what happened when I was passed out. All I remember is waking up with my sweatshirt hiked up and my ass exposed."
Being intentionally provocative, I put him in a corner. "Fuck, Madison!" he exclaimed, running a hand through his long hair.
"That's what karma is," I retorted, sauntering out of the barn. "Shouldn’t have lied to me about yoga."
"At least avoid the house…please. He will kill both of us if you get caught." Heading toward the hot tub, I relished the sense of victory.
I would finally get the revenge I’d always wanted on Walsh Solis.