Absolution (Mr. Black Series) Read Free Page B

bread.
    “I’d like you to leave,” I said matter-of-factly.
    She stopped what she was doing and looked at me. “You want me to what?”
    “I want your ungrateful ass to pack your shit up and leave.”
    “I’m not going anywhere,” she said as she continued to pile meat on her sandwich.
    “It wasn’t a request.”
    “I don’t give a fuck what it was. This is my house too.”
    “One, this is not your house, it’s mine, and why do you wanna stay? You constantly remind me how much you would love to leave. So why don’t you just do us both a favor, and get the fuck out?”
    She took a bite of her sandwich and smiled. “You aren’t thinking with your right mind. You shouldn’t make big decisions like this when you’re upset.”
    “That’s the thing. I’m not upset about this decision. I think it has been a long time coming. But today really showed me who you really are.”
    “Why? Because I was worried about Adeline more than you?”
    “No. Adeline needed that, and that makes you a great friend. That has nothing to do with what kind of wife you will make…which, in my honest opinion, would be a shitty one.”
    She stopped chewing, her eyes turning red with anger as she flung her sandwich at my face. I stood up, kicking the dining room chair with my heel toward the wall.
    “What the fuck is wrong with you?” I yelled, trying to pull pieces of meat and bread off my shirt.
    The yelling had drawn Adeline, who was wrapped in a towel, from the bathroom. “What’s going on?” she asked, her long brown hair dripping water all over the floor.
    “This asshole is breaking up with me,” Catherine said, pointing at me.
    Adeline looked at me, the hurt apparent in her big blue eyes as she clutched tightly onto the white terry material that covered her wet body. I looked at her, defeated. I couldn’t win. I shook my head, brushing by her as I walked toward the hallway and up to my room.
     
    ADELINE
     
    “What happened?” I asked, sitting at table.
    “That asshole thinks I’m going to be a shitty wife,” she said, her face flushed from yelling.
    “Well, what does he know?” I asked timidly, my elbows resting on the table.
    “He doesn’t know shit,” she yelled, pieces of bread and meat still flying out of her mouth.
    I covered my mouth as she walked over to me and sat down. “Maybe you can talk to him, Adeline. Tell him what a mistake he’s making. Would you do that for me?”
    My mind raced. I didn’t want to talk to Cole. I didn’t even want to be in the same room with him. He reminded me too much of Ezra…but as I looked into Catherine’s sad eyes, and as I thought back to all the kindness she had shown me in the last few weeks, I knew I owed her to at least try.
    I nodded as I stood and walked down the hall. I glanced over my shoulder to see her still sitting at the table, shooing me with her hands. I stopped at the bottom of the stairs and stared up the twenty or so steps which led to Cole’s bedroom. I took a deep breath and trudged up them intently. Once I reached the top, I knocked on the door wildly. If I were going to do this, I was going to give it my best shot.
    The door flung open. “What!” he yelled before he realized it was me.
    His blue eyes softened. “Adeline…” he said, backing away.
    I walked in, clutching onto my towel, panning the room. I had never been in their room. It was clean and simple; it didn’t look like he shared this room with a woman at all. The uniform he had worn to the funeral was lying on the bed, which caused a lump to form in my throat. I turned away from it. I think he realized the uniform caused me some distress, because he promptly picked it up and threw it into the closet and closed the door.
    “What can I do for you, Adeline?”
    I stuttered for a moment, trying to gather my thoughts. “Why…”
    He interjected. “Why am I breaking up with Catherine?”
    I nodded as I looked around the room, anywhere but right at him.
    “She’s not the