Gideon. His name is Gideon. Uncle Gideon to the two women sitting next to me. But try as I might, thinking of him by his given name just feels too weird. Maybe because a real name makes him feel more human, and I’m much more comfortable continuing to think of him as a monster rather than a man.
“How did you two get here?” I ask instead, turning the question around on them. Maybe if their stories are similar to mine, I’ll feel better about confiding in them.
On the other hand, if they’re here willingly, if they actuallywantedthis, then I’ll know they can’t be trusted with the truth.
The pair share a look, and Juliet shrugs. “Okay, I’ll go first. Jasper is my stepbrother. I got into some legal trouble a while back so I called him to help me, and well… here I am. Playing Daddy’s Little girl on some island in the middle of nowhere.”
Holy crap. Her stepbrother? That’s fucked-up for sure, but I’m not sure it’s more fucked-up than being drugged and abducted in the middle of the night. “So are you like, stuck here? You can’t go back home?”
“No. And believe me, I tried, but it was not worth the consequences.” Color creeps up into Juliet’s cheeks. “Zero out of ten, would not recommend.”
Which means she’s unlikely to help me escape, but at least I know she wanted to at some point. Points for Juliet. Shifting my attention to Tori, who is now staring at the doll on her lap, her cheeks blazing bright red, I cock my head to the side, studying her. “What about you?”
“Um, well. I sort of stole from Daddy’s company.”
Interesting. I wouldn’t have guessed sweet, bubbly Tori had it in her. “Really? Is that why he calls you little thief?”
Still blushing furiously, she nods without looking up. “Uh-huh.”
“How much did you steal?”
“A million dollars.”
My mouth falls open. Yeah, Tori is full of surprises.
“A million fucking dollars? Are you serious? I would have disappeared into the wind with that kind of money.”
Now she does glance up, a smile tugging at her lips. “I figured if I disappeared like that, they’d know it was me who stole the money and they’d come looking for me. So I tried going to work and playing it cool.”
“I’m guessing that didn’t work out too well.”
“It didn’t. Turns out, Daddy set me up and he knew the moment I stole the money. He called me up to his office and made me sign a contract agreeing to spend a month here on the island with him while he punished me for embezzling.”
“How long ago was that?”
“I dunno.” Lifting a shoulder in a careless shrug, she picks up the doll and runs a hand over her hair. “A couple months ago, at least. Apparently, he never intended to let me go after the thirty days, which is fine with me if I’m being honest.”
“Really? You’re okay being a prisoner here?”
“I mean, it’s better than what I had back in New York. Working to pay off my mom’s medical debts, constantly falling behind. Here, I just get to play all day and Daddy takes care of everything else.”
On some weird level, I can almost understand that. Honestly, if it weren’t for the ballet, I’d probably feel much the same. Busting your ass day in and day out just to barely scrape by is exhausting.
But Idohave the ballet. A career I’ve been working toward my entire life. And the thought of giving up that dream just to play dolls and dress up in pretty dresses all day sits like a lead balloon in my stomach.
“All right, your turn.” Juliet grins, looking as though she’s actually enjoying our story time. “How’d Uncle Gideon get you here?”
Well, there doesn't seem to be any point in hiding the truth in light of their tales. “He kidnapped me.” My voice catches slightly, and the last thing I want is to cry in front of these strangers, so I swallow hard before continuing. “I’m pretty sure he’s been watching me for months. Last night I passed out in my apartment and I woke up in a crib this morning with him standing over me, calling himself Daddy. I don’t really know what happened, but I’m pretty sure he drugged me because I had like two shots of whiskey and blacked out, whichneverhappens.”
Both of my new “friends” are staring at me now, their mouths hanging wide open in shock.
“Hedruggedyou?” Tori asks, her voice rising to a squeak.
“I’m pretty sure he did, yeah.”
“Wow.” Shaking her head, Juliet lets out a low whistle. “That takes some serious balls. I actually kinda figured you wanted to be here, the way you were clinging to Uncle Gideon.”
“Not at all. But I figured fighting it would just make things worse, right? Better to pretend I’m okay with everything while I figure out how to get the hell out of here.” Off this island, according to Juliet.
