He grinds his molars, closing his eyes before reopening and focusing his identical gaze on mine. “It was the only way to make sure they couldn’t use you against me. If they thought you were nothing to me, then you’d be useless to be used against me.”
My father stands, moving around his desk, and before I can blink, has me wrapped in an embrace I never knew I needed. The shock wears off long enough for me to return his affection with a hug of my own.
“I’ve always loved you, son. I’m sorry I could never let you know just how much,” he mutters, planting a kiss on the top of my head.
As he pulls away and our arms fall to our sides, something in my chest shifts and the pressure on my shoulders lifts. It’s strange to know how much the lack of a parent’s love can weigh on you. Our relationship is not magically fixed, but at least now I understand.
He pats my back, “Go update the guys. Let’s bring Ariah home.”
9
ARIAH
Lifeless. That’s how Sam’s eyes looked.
After some woman came in and cleaned up a catatonic Sam, I knew she didn’t want to speak. She doesn’t eat, talk, or move, and I don’t blame her.
I haven’t attempted to talk to her since my promise two days ago. I know it’s been at least two days because we’ve gotten six meals.
It’s been six meals since Samantha’s world was irrevocably changed. Six meals since I discovered whoever took us is merciless.
There’s a different level of ruthlessness someone has to have to not only rape someone but also make someone watch the gruesome violation and meticulous destruction of one’s core self.
I haven’t been able to close my eyes for more than fifteen, maybe twenty, minutes tops. Watching what happened to her keeps playing on a loop in my mind, refusing to give me a moment’s peace.
I peer down at the charcoal gray sweats. I’ve had them on for days, refusing to let anyone touch me for fear of what could happen if I allow myself to be vulnerable in any capacity. Especially not after what that disgusting man tried to do to me.No, don’t go there.
I shake off my intrusive thoughts when I hear the door creak. Not wanting to be obvious that I’m watching, I lift my eyes, but not my head, at the sudden burst of light chasing away the dark of our prison.
It’s not time to eat, so whoever walks through that door isn’t here to feed us.
My body tenses, every nerve ending instantly turns on high alert, ready to spring into whatever limited action I can take.
Two large bodies appear, blocking the sliver of light to whatever lays outside the door.
It’s two men, not the same ones from days ago, both burly, their clothes looking like they’re fighting for their lives, stretched to the full ability of the fabric.
They both approach the table Sam is strapped to, unbuckling the straps at her feet and arms. The minute she’s free, Sam’s arms soar into the air, her nails raking down the face of the man closest to her hands.
“You sick twisted bastards,” she screams, clawing at the man’s neck before the other one moves to restrain her.
“For fuck’s sake, Murray, you can’t control one puny girl?” the other guy asks, squeezing Sam’s throat with the crook of his elbow, putting her into a chokehold, and yanking her hair back with the other.
Jumping from my seated position on the floor, I shout, “Leave her alone. Haven’t you assholes done enough?”
They don’t even acknowledge my existence. Instead, the other guy, not Murray, flexes his tricep and bicep muscles until Sam’s face falls forward from lack of oxygen.
Murray leans forward, scooping Sam’s prone form over his shoulders, and both men exit the room without a backward glance.
I don’t have enough time to wonder what will happen to her or what’s coming next as I hear the distinct sound of heels clicking against concrete.
“Hello, Ariah,” a voice so familiar I think I’m hallucinating says, because there’s no way what I’m hearing can be true.
Closing my eyes, I try to bask in the last moment my life was normal. When my father wasn’t missing, and our family was whole, but most importantly, when my fucking mother was soothing my worries and not the one part of my entrapment.
My eyelids pop open—my pupils dilate at least five times their size.
Standing five feet into my cage stands Seline Bishop, my mother.
