LOGINTHEO Bella’s voice was small, tiny, barely audible, then there was his voice, rough and pleasantly amused filtering to my ears through the door.The door was locked from inside. White hot flashes covered my vision thinking of what he was doing to my wife or how scared she was, I jerked on the knob but it didn’t budge.“Bella are you in there?” my voice boomed throughout the hallway.“Theodore…” she responded from inside.Anger congealed blood in my veins, my pulse pounded. I pushed her clutch into Sergei’s chest.I drew back and lunged at the bathroom door bursting it right open. My eyes frantically searched through the small space for wherever Bella stood. “Theodore.” Bella’s small voice. My eyes moved to the floor.Nothing prepared me for the sight before me.Keith was over my wife, now staring at me with a less than terrified look, his buckle hung loose, the bathroom was in disarray, tap was still runni
BELLA:Of all days to fret because of a mad man, it just had to be right in public with a hundred and something judgmental eyes watching me.Keith was here.I pressed my palms into the edge of the bathroom sink, I needed something to anchor me. My lungs were frozen cold, so cold that oxygen froze before it registered.I turned on the tap and tried to focus on the rushing sound of the water.Think Mirabella. Think.He wouldn’t be bold enough to follow me here right? My eyes flicked to the door through the mirror. He wouldn't but Keith, he was bold and mindless. He was a monster and something worse than a monster is a monster who has no record of being alive. Keith’s marked as dead in the state system and if he did anything then there was nobody to take the fall for it.Then it hit me. My phone. I could call Theo and he would come in a flash. My body fidgeted too much it made my teeth hurt.I crouched down, looked to both sides then cussed out into the air.The memory of where I’d le
Theo Sergei slid up to me out of nowhere. “I see you dressed dapper for your wife,” he said, pressing a glass into my hand. His voice stunned me after I’d just dismissed the fifty-second guest with whom I’d exchanged pleasantries. My pockets were filled with at least thirty something business cards. My ears could bleed. “Where the hell have you been, Sergei?” I shot back at him before drinking from the glass. “Important work.” He did his best to clamp down a smile, but I caught it, the look he always had when he was out doing something mysterious. Then it occurred to me, a light bulb switching on over my head. I took a step back to take him in. He was without a tie, no jacket, wearing just a black dress shirt and his roughened-up hair. I gasped at the realization. “No,” I said. “absolutely not.” He cocked his head. “What?” I rubbed my lips, stunned
Bella Theo held up his glass and brought the mic closer to his mouth, his eyes locked on me the entire time. “This would have never been possible without you, my darling wife.” My first sip of champagne turned to stone as it shot down my throat and into my chest. One of the bright spotlights swiveled and landed directly on me. Thank heavens I didn't splutter or choke right then while the entire room's attention shifted to my face. The initial shock gave way to a sudden, blooming warmth that spread over my skin and down to my toes. “You are an impeccable work of art, Cherie, and your creations are nothing less,” he continued, his voice steady and echoing through the speakers. A hot sting prickled behind my eyes as emotion surged into my chest, threatening to overflow and drive me straight up onto that stage to kiss him. God. The way he was looking at me right now. The way he's looked at me throu
BellaThe museum hall was relatively warmer than the storage room we’d just left, the air laced with a dozen varieties of expensive, overbearing perfumes.Jazz music filtered into the atmosphere from the far corner, where a woman stood belting a melodious harmony while her accompanists played along. Lulled chatter and polite laughter hummed through the space as people clustered together, making acquaintances and catching up on social talk they’d willfully forgotten about since the last high-society function.It wasn't my first time attending one of these. My father used to make it compulsory for me to accompany him to settings like this, so I’d long since gotten used to the rhythm of high society. My armor was well seasoned.Everyone moved with practiced, lethargic grace, their laughter echoing softly against the soaring gallery walls where private art collections hung like silent judges. Composure was the unspoken dress code.I snapped straight, rolling my shoulders back to attain p
Theo As soon as we stepped into the dimly illuminated hall, my mom's face was the first image I saw. She was leaned over the backrest of a wooden chair, her legs draped over it, a slash of yellow pigment altered her cheek. She was smiling, genuinely smiling because her dimples were out in full display.My heart dropped, my sight blurred out again.How could I not have this portrait of my mother?I'd thought all of had been destroyed years ago but here she was, vibrant and happy. Down where Bella held my hand, I felt a light squeeze.I was overcome with so much gratitude that she was here with me, that she'd been so adamant on getting me here, my heart hung heavy, out weighed by many memories I thought I'd forgotten.Losing a loved one was only a part of the grieving but the next part came when memories you thought you could never forget begin to fade, including how they looked. I had grieved so hard
I wasn't one to be jittery.My palms were sweaty, my nerves were getting the better of me but all that ceased as the large hall door opened and the bride stepped in with her father.I watched closely as she walked further.I made the call, but the only way to know if it worked was to see the bride,
I was supposed to accompany my sister, walk her down the aisle, and be her bridesmaid.What I was not supposed to be doing was wearing her dress and walking down the aisle perched on my father's arm to be wedded to the same man my sister was supposed to marry.“Keep smiling Mirabella.” My father hi
Theo Father’s glass didn't quite make it to his lips, his eyes traced my gaze to where Harper stood with my wife. Her arms are folded in front of her. “You'll bore a hole.” I glared at my father. “I'll burn down everything if need be.” He cleared his throat. “You better keep that jealousy of yo
TheoI must have lost my mind to have let her out of my sight after almost losing control with her in that dressing room.Couples usually stuck together during their wedding reception but she fluttered like the most vibrant butterfly in the room. I loved to see her in her element, though she barely







