The Deal Changer (Book IV)

Chapter Twelve - Wonderland

                                                                                Chapter Twelve

                                                                                   Wonderland

I COULDN'T STOP STARING IN THE MIRROR.

It was like staring into a portal into the past and seeing someone I actually respected. My outfit was one I had found in a drawer at my house, a drawer filled with clothes from my past I kept from Matthew so he wouldn't burn them. They weren't expensive and they were pretty worn out, but they were mine.

The faded skinny jeans with holes were ones I bought with the first paycheck Matthew had given me years ago. There was a slight bloodstain on the knees from when I went flying one time during a fight and cut up my leg a bit. My black tank top was one I always wore because it was the one shirt that actually made me look like I had boobs, and it was also great at not showing bloodstains during fights. It amazed me how comfortable combat boots were, especially since I've been wearing expensive heels and flats that ultimately cause blisters. I even put in the many earrings I used to wear up and down my ears.

It was almost an emotional experience to see the girl I used to be standing before me with heavy eyeliner and the resting bitch face I hadn't seen in forever. This girl, the one that took no one's bullshit and didn't allow emotions to cloud her mind. This was the girl I needed to be again.

I slid on the leather jacket Matthew had bought me, only because I didn't have much else to wear, and gave one final glance at myself. I was no longer Joanna Foster.

I was Joanna Garth.

I am the girl who spent years on the street constantly getting herself into trouble and fighting her way out of it. I am the girl who killed vampires without mercy, and I am the girl who refused to give up on life when it turned to complete hell.

My fingers wrapped around the wedding band on my ring finger and I pulled it off. The ring was heavy in the palm of my hand and make a loud clinking sound when I dropped it onto the nightstand. My finger felt so light, yet almost cold from being bare. I stepped away from it and didn't look back at it.

Matthew was going to be away for a few days only, which meant I needed to act now. Thankfully Matthew was completely fine with me going to my house in the country while he was away, making it much easier to leave without people checking on me. Matthew would never suspect I left my house because my ring was still here, thus he would still feel me here.

Possibly the riskiest part of all of this was the motorcycle.

This motorcycle has seen some stuff situations. I had stolen it from one of Matthew's guards years ago after Matthew had hired them to watch me without consulting me first, which unfortunately led to me staking one or two of them out of panic. This motorcycle has been with me ever since, even when I faced Cedric the first time and had to escape to save my sister after they slashed the tires of my old truck. Matthew and I fought about this bike, especially after we got married and he thought buying me a car meant I gave up my bike. He allowed me to keep it, but only if I rode it with him on it. As in Matthew drove while I clung onto him.

It had been a long time since I had driven it. It has been in the back of my garage with a tarp over it for a year. I wasn't just driving it to feel like my old self, but rather because my expensive car with JFOSTER printed on the license plate seemed like a dead giveaway. I know Wonderland, and the people there swarm money like bugs to a light. The chances are, my car would be stolen before I even got a hundred feet from it, and that would be impossible to explain to Matthew.