I allow myself a slow inhale, the kind that fills the chest with a steady certainty rather than anticipation. The light outside the window deepens into early night, and the room settles into that calm I have always valued, the kind that arrives only when every piece of my world is arranged exactly as I intended.
Wren’s return has already begun to shift the balance inside this house, pulling attention the way she always has, though now it happens within boundaries I designed and not ones she inherited by accident.
Everything is tilting back toward its proper center. The world beyond these walls moves forward unaware, but here, within the structure I built, order is finally settling into place again, and I have no intention of letting it slip from my hands ever again.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
WREN
After a couple of hours, Robert comes back into the room. I sit up immediately, wondering what he wants now. He glances at us both before he beckons me toward him. “Come with me.”
I open my mouth to argue, but he speaks again before I get the chance. “Be careful, Wren. Disobeying me will only cause pain for your friend.”
I snap my mouth shut and stand. Elias watches me with concern and frustration evident in his gaze, but wisely doesn’t comment as he watches Robert escort me from the room.
“Where are we going?” I ask when he starts climbing the stairs. There are two guards following me closely, reminding me I can’t attack Robert. It bothers me that he gives me his back, like he doesn’t see me as a threat.
“If you don’t want Elias harmed, you need to follow the rules. Rule number one: don’t ask questions. If there is something you need to know, you will be told.”
Well, that doesn’t sound good at all.
He leads me into the room I spent the night in, and my chest constricts with fear as I eye the closet.Is he going to put me back in there?
He points to the bed, and I notice a dress laid out, not too dissimilar from the ones he used to dress me in; however, this one looks like it will fall to my ankles. A pair of white ballet flats accompanies it.
“Get changed. I don’t want to see you walking around in whatever this is,” he says, motioning to my outfit. “Then come down to the kitchen to make dinner. The guards will be right outside your room to escort you.”
He steps out the door, and just before he shuts it, he feels the need to give me one last warning. “If I catch wind of you not cooperating or trying to escape, Elias will pay the price.”
And with that, he shuts the door firmly, the solid thump of the wood resonating in the room as I try to calm my breathing. I turn my back on the closet, not wanting to risk a panic attack, and quickly change my clothes. The good thing about this new dress is that it would hide the knife I have strapped to my ankle.
I don’t dawdle, as I don’t want to give Robert any reason to hurt Elias. I take note of everything along the way. How many guards are there, and where are they stationed? I see no exterior doors, so that makes planning an exit strategy harder.
I’m led to the kitchen and find a note from Robert on the counter that says "lamb chops."I guess I know what he wants me to make for dinner, then.
It unsettles me how easily I start moving around, making a delicious dinner for Robert as if the past month hadn’t happened.
I bet Dex would love my lamb chops. Actually, I thinkthey’d all love any food I make. Maybe I wouldn’t hate cooking so much if I made it for people who truly appreciated it and I was allowed to eat it as well.
I wonder what my brother will let Elias and I eat. So far, all I’ve had are carrot sticks, and I have a feeling Elias may be the same.
As I’m prepping Robert’s meal, I decide to cook something for myself and Elias that I was allowed to eat before: a salad with cooked salmon. I make sure to cook an extra salmon fillet for Elias, knowing he needs the extra protein.
I just hope that Robert doesn’t get upset at me for doing this, but he also told me not to ask questions, not that I’ve seen him since he told me to change.
It takes me an hour and a half, but as I’m plating the meal, and I still haven’t seen Robert, I turn to one of the guards and ask, “I’m just plating, is there somewhere I’m supposed to bring this?”
“You can bring everything you made into the dining room,” he says, obviously noticing the two extra plates I made, and gesturing to a doorway at the far side of the kitchen.
He touches an earpiece and says something too quiet for me to hear, probably letting Robert know I’ve finished.
I finish plating the food, then pick up the three plates and follow him through the doorway, with the other guard bringing up the rear. There’s a large wooden table in the center of the room with about a dozen chairs surrounding it. There’s no one else here, so I place Robert’s food at the head of the table, where I expect him to sit, then place the salads beside each other, a few seats away. Then I move behind one of the chairs and wait.
Only a few moments pass before Robert enterswith five other men. I recognize only Carlos and Theo. The latter smirks at me in amusement, but Carlos’s smile is so off-putting I can literally feel the bile rising in my throat.
When Robert gets the table, he stops mid-step, his confused eyes scanning it.
“What is this?”
