Lilly’s eyes glitter. “He says he will. That if I follow the rules, I can leave whenever I’m ready and go back to Waterford, no questions asked. But I don’t believe him, not for a second. Emma, hekidnappedyou!”
Kidnapped.The word is blunter, uglier than I can reconcile with my ever-changing perception of Malcom. “Lilly. It’s more complicated than that.”
A furrow appears between her brows. “What are you talking about, Emma?”
“Here. Sit. It’s a long story.” I pull her onto the sofa with me, holding her hands. I have a thought, and offer her my untouched whiskey. She considers it, then seeing my face, downs it in one gulp. “I know Malcom.”
Lilly whitens. “You do?”
“We dated. Well—we were together. A long time ago, when I was still in college.”
“Jesus,” Lilly whispers, eyes wide. “That’s terrifying.”
“No! I mean, he wasn’t like he is now. Or, I didn’t know.” I avert my eyes, embarrassed. “He was sweet, then. He was always kind, and he took care of me.”
“And then he broke up with you?”
It’s still painful to think about, but the context of our separation makes so much more sense now. “He said he wasn’t good enough for me. And then he left. I didn’t hear from him again until the night we went out to the pub. I was in the alley—and he took me.”
Lilly looks me up and down. “OK. Right. So we need to get you out of here.”
I bite my lip, and her eyes widen further.
“You don’twantto get out of here,” she says, her voice wondering. “Are you…oh, my God, Emma. Are you sleeping with him?”
“It’s not like that,” I say, but she pulls away from me and stands up, pacing, fraught.
“I thought the worst. I thought you were dead! Oh, my God, Emma. Do you have any idea what it’s been like since you left? No one believes me. Everyone thinks you’re fine, and—fuck! You are! Look at you!”
I’m suddenly conscious of my fine clothing, my shining hair, the comforts and surprising freedom that surrounds me. If Malcom wants me gone, why did he bring Lilly here?
Did he do all of this…to make me happy?
“I wasn’t,” I say. “Fine, I mean. I fought at first. I didn’t eat or shower. And once—I tried to run away.”
Fear crosses Lilly’s face, and she returns to my side. “What happened?”
“I almost got really hurt. And he saved me.”
“Em. He can’t save you if he’s the one putting you in danger.”
That might have been true, before. But it’s not now. “He never hurt me. He never threatened me, not really. And when…thingsstarted between us, I started them.”
“No. No, you’re not thinking straight. You’re under duress. This is, like, Stockholm syndrome.” She jumps back up and paces away. “We have to get you out of here.”
“I…I don’t think I’m leaving, Lilly. I don’t think I want to.”
“Do you evenhearyourself? Emma, this is insane!”
“I know it is. Of course I know that. Do you think I want to feel this way?” I look away, guilt tensing my already unsettled stomach. “I had no way of knowing it would happen like this. But it did.”
“You can change it! You and I can figure out a way to set you free, get you home, get you back to your life—”
“Mylife?” I pin her with a tearful stare, speaking before I even realize the truth of my own words. “Was that alife? I was alone, and miserable, and terrified to even set foot outside of the house. Lilly—Trevor changed me.”
She shakes her head, looking close to tears herself. “No, Emma. He didn’t.”
“He did. It’s OK. He did.”
