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In response, she simply smiles, but it’s not an actual smile. Just a small widening of her lips.
I leave Adelaide and head toward the door to let Anna out. She’s pulling on a jacket.
“How is she?” I asked.
“Sad, mostly. She’s having a hard time, I think.”
“She will warm up to you.”
Anna put her hand on my arm. “She might not. Some wives don’t like it when men bring in other women to care for them. There’s a competition and jealousy, even when there’s no need to be.”
I stare at Anna and wonder if that’s how she sees herself, as competition. Her mask is in place, and I have to wonder if she still enjoys her job.
“Anna, do you have a problem?” I asked.
“Not at all. I’ll be back tomorrow.” She gives me a smile and I watch her leave.
Heading back into the main sitting room, Adelaide is sitting with her back to the main windows, and this is another reason I’m searching for a house. She hates heights.
“You’re being very rude to Anna,” I said. I came into the room and sat down beside her.
“I don’t need a babysitter.”
“I need someone to take care of you so I know you’re not overdoing it.”
“So, you pick someone from your casino, or is it really a brothel? Yeah, I know who she is.” She shook her head and shoved the blanket off her lap. “I can take care of myself.”
“You’re more than capable of taking care of yourself. I like having someone here when I’m not, and I can assure you, Anna doesn’t work in any of our brothels. She does work in the casino, and saves us quite a bit of money, I might add.”
“Then what about Leo?”
“No, not happening.”
“Why? What did he do?”
Her memory of the day still hadn’t returned, and for that, I was glad.
“Anna will continue to take care of you.”
“Are you fucking her?”
This made me pause. “What?”
“You’re determined to have her take care of me. You’re both clearly close and I see the way she smiles at you. With her working in one of your casinos, I guess she’s close to you all the time. Knows what you like … intimately, huh?”
Her face was red and I saw the tears glinting in her eyes. I don’t know what caused this, but I had no attraction to Anna.
“I’m not having sex with Anna.”
“I don’t care if you are or aren’t. It’s none of my business.” She stood up and I noticed the small action made her wince.
The doctor had said her recovery would be based on her ability to rest and, well, Adelaide was proving to be a very difficult patient.
“You’re jealous,” I said.
“I’m not jealous at all.”
She tried to brush past me, but I capture her arms and stop her. I have no idea why I’m so happy, but I have a feeling it’s because Adelaide is feeling jealous, and that makes me very fucking glad.
“I need to use the bathroom.”
There’s more to be said, but for now, I simply drop a kiss onto her nose. There would be time later.
Chapter Fourteen
Adelaide
Anna is a very beautiful woman. She is very sweet, kind, chatty. She’s the kind of woman I would have loved to have a conversation with, a rapport, but I can’t help but wonder if she’s sleeping with my husband.
Andrei is distant, not that it’s any surprise. He won’t touch me because of my wounds, which are healing nicely, or so the doctor says. I’m trying to play the perfect patient, because the truth is I hate being in hospitals. I hate not being able to do anything. It’s awful.
I like moving around. I love being active. Sitting on the sofa for most of the day with a blanket, only leaving for bathroom breaks, is so freaking boring. I hate it.
What I also don’t like is how vague Andrei is being. I can’t remember that day. I’ll sit for hours thinking about it, trying to understand where I was, why I got shot. Andrei won’t allow me to see Leo, and if he comes to the penthouse, Andrei makes sure he’s not close. The constant questions I had were driving me crazy.
“Here we go, a coffee and a cinnamon bun. Please be gentle, I baked these last night. My son, Luke, absolutely adores them. I had to sneak these two past him.”
This is news to me. “You have a son?”
“Yep, two sons and a daughter. Luke is my youngest. I also have Ricky and Patricia.”
Anna has her phone in front of me and starts to show me pictures of her kids. I see one picture of them as young children, and then the other as they were older.
“Beautiful,” I said.
“Tell me about it. Little terrors the lot of them, but they bring me so much joy.”
I frowned. “Do they know you work for Andrei?”
