Everyone was charmed by Leo's bright smile but behind it all, he could barely keep it together inside. From taking care of his sick mother to suffering mental and physical abuse from his father to keeping up his perfect grades in school.
King was th...
I hated having to check out of our little world and head back home, but as soon as we walked into the door, nothing could beat the feeling of home, something that felt so foreign to me. I feared going home when I lived with my dad for so long that I couldn't remember how comforting it felt to walk in the front door and feel the warmth surrounding you, relaxing you, and letting out a sign of happiness.
Winter rubbed between my legs, mowing nonstop until I gave her at least five minutes of love. We unpacked the truck with Kiki's help, and as soon as we walked into our small cramped room, I collapsed on the bed, missing the fluffy comforter and the way the pillows smelled like King as I pressed my face into them.
I heard a thud of something hitting the floor before King nearly plopped on top of me, making me finally turn a little so we could embrace one another, but someone knocked on the door frame, shattering our last moment of silence, reminding us of the real world.
"We have a meeting in an hour," Kiki said, making me look over my shoulder to see her face grim, almost apologetic. "At the warehouse," she mumbles before leaving us alone again.
King let out a loud, long sigh, tucking me nearly fully underneath him. "What's the warehouse?" I asked before I could think. I knew his work was something he wasn't going to answer in detail, and frankly, I never asked, no matter how much I wanted to sometimes.
"Not a place you want to be or know the answer to, babe." He kissed my forehead, gently stroking my cheek with his thumb.
I couldn't stop my thoughts from roaming over what it could be but didn't voice them. King told me as much as he could about what they did, and I knew it was smarter to keep myself blind to the details. We stayed like that for a while before King got up and changed his clothes into all black. He was slow about it, something in his face told me he didn't want to leave after we only just got back, but this was his job. He couldn't just ignore it.
I walked out of the room with him, noticing Uncle Ben also putting in his shoes and a bat-ball cap. My head tilted to the side. "Leo," he said, nodding his head my way. "Sorry for stealing King so soon, but we will return in a few hours. I have a delivery coming in about an hour. Could you keep a lookout for me?"
"Of course," I answered before he headed out. Just seeing him walk out the front door was odd, but I guess this meeting was important if he was needed there too.
"I'm sorry I have to go so soon. I really don't want to, but we can cuddle when I get back." King smiled as he took my cheeks in his hands. "I'll be back as soon as I can. I love you," King said, kissing my forehead.
"I love you too," was all the time I had to say before Kiki walked past us, giving us an 'Awe', so I pulled away from him, giving a shy smile as my face heated. I felt a little better about showing my affection for him in front of others after holding his hand a few times while we were in Casper, but in front of his family still felt a little weird.
I watched them leave, giving them a wave out the door before I shut it and locked the deadbolt. Winter purred against my leg, meowing loudly for more attention, so I picked her up, carrying the white ball into our room, and lay on the bed. It didn't take long for her to get comfortable on my stomach, still purring like she was on top of the world. It made me smile.
Holding my phone above my face, I couldn't resist looking up houses in the area. I didn't mind living here, but when King first mentioned it in front of his dad, my mind went straight to my mom and dad for reasons I could never explain. Panic took over for a split second, and I knew King saw it. It pained me to know.
Scrolling through the listings, I found a few nice-looking ones. They needed some work from what I could tell, but it made me realize how much I didn't know about this, and the prices looked a little intimidating. How could we afford payments on this? How much of a loan could we even get? Maybe I should get a job to help pay for everything. But I didn't even have a high school diploma. Who would hire me?
My finger swept up to see more houses, but when the next house came into view, the phone dropped from my hands, smacking my nose. I groaned holding my nose, and shot up, knocking Winter off me as she meowed in protest, but I grabbed my phone to look again.
A picture of the front of my house, my childhood home, was staring back at me as my mind went blank. He was selling our house? Mom's house? Why? I couldn't believe what I was seeing. The tips of my fingers moved on their own, clicking the house and looking through each picture in a daze. Every last one of them didn't seem familiar. All our memories were stripped from the walls, leaving the space they once occupied looking off-colored, the paint brighter after years of hanging there. All the things we shared were gone, leaving an empty shell of a house behind.
Tears pricked the corner of my eyes as I looked at the room upstairs that was once hers, filled with her bed, medicines, and oxygen tanks. The chair I slept on was nowhere in sight, making my heart twist. I couldn't even remember what I was looking for before this as I slammed my phone on the mattress. Winter retreated off the bed, making me feel guilty for my outburst. But how could I not be upset?
I walked out of the room to find Winter, needing her comfort, and to tell her I was sorry, but as I looked for her in the living room, I heard something thump into the front door, making my heart leap into my throat. Taking a step to the window, I peeked out to find a large blue delivery truck, remembering Uncle Ben said he was waiting on a package.
Feeling weird about opening the door right away, I waited until the man got back into his truck and drove off before I brought the two large boxes inside. Locking the door again behind me, I started moving them next to the computer when my heart jumped as there was a loud knock on the door.
"I forgot I needed a signature," I heard someone yell from the other side.
My feet wouldn't move to answer it. Something didn't feel right. Uncle Ben would have said if it needed to be signed for, and I watched the truck leave. Before I had time to think more of this, something slammed into the door, making me stumble back, tripping over one of the boxes. Grunts and something that sounded like a struggle came from the other side of the door before a thud, followed by silences. My body finally moved when I heard the door handle and a jingle of what sounded like keys. Inside the kitchen, I grabbed a knife holding it in front of me, my hands shaking so badly I thought I would drop it as I made my way back to the hallway to find somewhere to hide. The door slammed open, making me freeze as a tall man with a wide build and a shaved head walked inside. Dom. I dropped the knife, feeling like I could breathe again until I looked past him on the ground. Behind him was a body, blood pooling around their head.
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