The house sounded too quiet when I woke up. Not the peaceful kind of quiet, but the kind that felt wrong, heavy and oppressive. I woke up to that silence, the sunlight pouring through the curtains and landing across the empty side of the bed.
Alex wasn't here.
I sat up, rubbing my eyes, trying to get the sleep out of my head. My chest hurt in that slow, deep way it does when you're too tired to cry anymore. There was a tray on the nightstand….tea, toast, all perfectly laid out neatly like I was some sort of doll in a perfect house. Must have been the house keeper.
I didn't touch it even though it smelled so deliciously good.
Straining my ears to get what was happening downstairs...the sound of footsteps came and went. Getting up from the bed and put on something decent I walked into the dining room, Mrs. Kline was there, rearranging flowers that clearly didn't need rearranging.
"Good morning, Miss Reyes," she said, smiling that polite her polite kind smile that never reached her eyes.
"Where's Alex?" I asked. My voice came out rough.
She hesitated for a split second, then said, "He left early, ma'am. Had business in the city."
Business in the city. Hmmmmmm that was good, very good that meant meant he was far away.
I nodded pretending to care, then walked out before she could ask me anything. I didn't go back to my room. Not yet. I went the other way, toward his office. My bare feet were silent against the marble floor.
The door creaked a little when I pushed it open, surprised that the door wasn't locked but then again, I don't think he'd think anyone would come snooping around in his office.
His study smelled like him, dark cologne, smoke and cedarwood. The scent crawled under my skin and made me feel something I didn't want to put a name to yet, I walked straight to the desk.
Every drawer I opened made me feel guiltier, but I didn't stop. I didn't even know what I was looking for, just that I had to look. Maybe it was hope. I don't know just anything, I just wanted something.
And when I pulled at a drawer and it didn't budge my pulse jumped.
I searched the room fast, my fingers shaking when I found a small key sitting on top of a glass cabinet. And when I tried it on the drawer It fit perfectly.
And the drawer opened with a soft click.
Inside were papers, photos, folders. Old ones. I pushed through until my hand stopped on something that made my stomach drop.
MARIA REYES.
My mother's name.
I froze. Completely bewildered, I didn't understand why there was a whole folder for my mom in his a drawer in his office.
I opened the folder slowly. There were different photos of her her smiling, younger, laughing and next to her, Alex. His arm around her waist.
My vision blurred. I flipped through more pages. Receipts. Letters. Notes in what I think is Alex's handwriting.
She'll come to me eventually.
I didn't realize I was shaking until I dropped one of the papers. It floated to the floor, landing by my bare foot.
That's when I felt it. That shift in the air the kind that makes every hair on your arm stand.
"Looking for something princess?"
My body went cold.
I turned slowly. Alex was standing in the doorway, no tie, shirt sleeves rolled up. He looked calm, too calm, which somehow made it even worse.
"I....uhmmmmm" my voice cracked. "I was just..."
He walked in, slow and deliberate, shutting the door behind him. "Going through my private documents?"
"I wasn't..."
"Or," he cut in softly, "were you searching for something.? Princess. "
The folder was still clutched in my hands. I held it tighter, even though I was shaking. "Why do you have all the information about my mom?."
He didn't answer rigt away. He stopped in front of the desk, eyes locked on mine, dark and unreadable. "Because some debts aren't financial," he said quietly. "Some are... personal."
My heart pounded in my ears.
"What are you talking about Alex?"
He smiled, just a little, that half-smile that wasn't really a smile at all. "You'll figure it out,eventually "he said. "You always do."
Then he stepped closer, close enough that I could smell the faint hint of smoke on his shirt. His hand came up, his thumb brushing against my chin. I flinched, but he didn't move away.
"Curiosity's dangerous, Isabella," he said softly. "Don't make me remind you how dangerous."
He turned, walked to the door, and left without another word.
The silence that followed was heavier than before. I looked down at the papers in my hand, at my mother's face smiling back at me, and I knew one thing for sure….. something in this house was far darker than I ever imagined. And I'll be damned if I don't find out what.