Chapter 4 #2
“Okay,” she replied, but I could tell she was far from okay. She avoided my gaze, continuing to pick at her food.
“I don’t have time for this shit,” I muttered under my breath as I walked toward the coffee maker. I didn’t have the patience for a bratty teen who was barely an adult.
Who decided eighteen was the legal age for an adult?
After pouring my coffee, I took a sip, closing my eyes and inhaling deeply.
Keep your cool and don’t let her get under your skin.
I went back to the table, pretending like nothing was wrong.
“After breakfast, I’m going to finish setting up a security system around the house, starting with your room.”
“Okay,” she replied dejectedly.
“Once I’m done, you can get unpacked and set the room up the way you want.”
She still wouldn’t look at me. “Sounds good.”
I hoped she got out of the mood she was in quickly. Even though this was a job, I wanted things to be friendly between us. Having to live together for a few weeks, possibly longer, would be better if we got along and were comfortable with each other.
Once I finished eating, I took my plate to the sink, then went to grab my tools and equipment from the basement.
As I gathered everything I would need, I took a few minutes to plan.
One story, plus the basement. Seven windows, not counting the inaccessible ones down here.
Two exterior doors: front and back. Wood-frame, aging but solid.
Securing the house wouldn’t be difficult; I was more concerned about the perimeter, given the thick forest surrounding us could easily hide intruders.
But that also meant I could hide traps easily, as well.
When I came back upstairs, Gianina was on the couch reading a book.
At least she’ll be out of my hair.
Entering my former bedroom, I set up alarms on the window and door, as well as a camera that captured the whole room. The process took me about half an hour, and when I exited the room, I announced, “She’s all yours.”
“Thanks,” she replied, rising from the couch before disappearing into the room and shutting the door behind her.
I rolled my eyes. Women.
I went to my room and got ready for the day. Once I was dressed, I went outside to check the weather. It was cold, but wasn’t snowing. There was thick snow on the ground from the last snowfall, which was common at that time of year in the mountains.
I wanted to get everything set up before the storm came in, which was supposed to be in two days, but weather could be unpredictable. I could get everything done by the end of the day if I didn’t have any distractions or hiccups.
I also needed to chop firewood, make sure both generators were charged, and clean out the chimney.
I decided to plug in the generators before anything else and let them get completely charged.
Then, I moved on to perimeter security and set up proximity alarms, cameras, and motion detectors all around the property.
I planned to connect everything to my computer and display all the camera feeds across four monitors in my room.
As I worked, Gianina kept crossing my mind. I wondered if she was upset, and the thought that she was bothered me. I hadn’t meant to hurt her feelings when I said that her being cooperative made my job easier.
Women could be so sensitive. I was just stating the facts.
I was being paid to do a job, whether I enjoyed her company or not.
We’d just met the night before, and under less than ideal circumstances.
It’s not like we were friends that met in a normal social setting and built a relationship over time.
So why did she care? And why did it bother me that she cared?
Trying to shake the thoughts from my mind, I refocused on completing my tasks. I didn’t need to be distracted by things that I didn’t understand or couldn’t control.
If I let feelings cloud my judgement, both of us could end up dead.
And nothing was worth risking that, not even Gianina’s feelings.
After I’d finished setting up the security on the west side of my property, I saw Gianina coming toward me.
My brows furrowed in confusion. What was she doing out here?
“Everything okay?” I called out as I climbed down from the tree I’d been putting a camera in.
“What are you doing up there, Tarzan?”
I chuckled. “Setting up a camera. How about you?”
She held up a sandwich bag. “I felt bad about how I acted earlier. I brought a peace offering.”
A smile curved my lips as I took the sandwich from her. “Thanks. I was getting hungry.”
Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, Gianina shifted nervously. “Well, I better get back to my book.”
I nodded as I took a bite of the sandwich. “Have fun.”
After finishing security on all four sides of the property, I went to chop wood.
As I carried the first bundle of what I’d chopped to the house, I assessed the outside to decide what security I needed to add.
I had a camera on each end of the porch, which was covered but open, no railing.
I took the wood inside to the fireplace, then came back out.
I decided to string a trip line between the two main support beams—ankle height, invisible in the dark.
If someone came at night, they’d hit it hard and it would slow them down and make plenty of noise.
After bringing in the rest of the firewood, I went around the house setting up the same security measures I’d done in Gianina’s room: window alarms, door sensors, cameras; the whole nine yards. I probably set up at least twenty cameras inside and outside.
Normally, I would link all the surveillance to my phone, but the burner Domenic had given me was just a simple flip phone.
Luckily, my dad had left his tablet over the summer, so I synced everything to that.
I planned to keep it with me at all times; no one would get in or out without me knowing about it.
After securing the house, the last step was hiding weapons around so that I could easily access them from various vantage points.
I used velcro to secure a holster with a glock inside on the underside of the coffee table, along with an extra magazine. Then, I placed a shotgun under the couch, and a pistol in a drawer in the kitchen.
“Isn’t that a little excessive?” Gianina asked as I hid another under some towels in the linen closet.
I scoffed. “Nothing is excessive when you’re involved with the mob.”
She chuckled from her spot on the couch. “I guess you’re right.”
“Have you used a gun before?” I asked.
She stilled, her eyes going wide for a split second before her throat bobbed. “No.”
“Hopefully you won’t have to.”
Gianina didn’t respond for a few seconds. “Have you ever killed someone?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
A lump formed in my throat, and I nodded. “Yes.”
A tear trickled down her cheek as our eyes met. “How do you live with it?”
My chest tightened. Sitting next to her on the couch, I rubbed the back of my neck. “One day at a time.”
She swiped the tears from her face, sniffling. “Every time I close my eyes, I relive it all over again.”
I realized she didn’t really have a chance to process what had happened. Her father basically had me clean up her mess then whisk her away. “Do you want to talk about it? Sometimes that helps.”
Her body tensed again as she brought her gaze to mine. The sight of her tears made my stomach twist, and I wasn’t sure why. “Not really, but I need to. I briefly talked to my dad, but not in detail. Maybe getting it out will make me feel better.”
I shrugged. “Sometimes it does. I’m not great at talking but I’m a good listener.”
Closing her eyes, she inhaled deeply and nodded. “I don’t even know where to start.”
Our eyes met. Having the time to really look at them, I noticed there were so many different colors; amber, brown, and green. They were mesmerizing. “Start with when things went wrong.”
She exhaled, nervously tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “Okay, well when we got to our suite, he opened a bottle of champagne and poured us both a glass. The way he was looking at me made me uncomfortable.” She shifted in her seat. “Like he was a hunter and I was his prey.”
I rubbed my hands together as I took in the information, letting her get her thoughts out. “He was already wasted from the wedding so he chugged his, then undid his tie and urged me to drink my glass. As soon as I finished, he was trying to get me out of my dress.”
Brow furrowing, I wondered why that was upsetting to her. Sex was expected on a wedding night. They were newlyweds and should’ve been all over each other.
She was wringing her hands, and I could tell by how she was scrunching her face that she was trying not to cry. “I told him I wasn’t ready, but he just laughed in my face.”
Wasn’t ready? Things started to click into place and I tensed. “Wait, are you a virgin?” I blurted out, interrupting her before she could continue.
She blinked rapidly, darting her eyes down to her hands in her lap. “Yes.”
My jaw clenched and I balled my fists. That asshole tried to force himself on her.
Gianina wiped the tears from her cheeks again. “I knew that I was supposed to have sex with him; he was my husband and it was our wedding night. But when the time came, I just … I just wasn’t ready. We barely knew each other and he didn’t even take the time to get to know me.”
I was so angry. If he wasn’t dead already, I would kill him myself. What kind of man tries to force himself on a woman who isn’t ready? Wife or not, that wasn’t right.
She sniffled. “I pushed him away, then ran into the other room, but he chased me and I couldn’t get the door closed before he reached me. The force of him ramming into the door threw me backwards and he used that momentum to tackle me on to the bed.”
I wanted to punch something. My palms were starting to hurt from my nails digging into them.