HOURS AFTER BREAKFAST with Jax, my fingers grip the pen tightly as I scrawl down every book I can think of. I've filled out almost a hundred post-it notes, and I force myself to stop. Moving my cramped hand to the mouse, I begin to click and order, click and order and click and order until I've spent thousands upon thousands of dollars on a shipment of solely books.
I realize I'm trying to appease Adeline, trying to make her comfortable here…even though she doesn't want to stay. A part of me likes to think that she would stay on her own; but I think given the opportunity, she would run at first chance.
And I won't let that happen.
I can't let her go back to a fiancé who would rather sell her than wed her. Back to her father, who would rather keep her under lock and key than give her an ounce of freedom. Back to a life that's infested with so much darkness that it will surely smother her light. Back to a world…without me to protect her.
Shaking my head, I finish up ordering, paying extra for expedited shipping and setting up all the details with my trusted man on the mainland who will fly the shipment in tomorrow morning.
And then I set to work on creating something that will allow Adeline more freedom…even if the thought of her being free scares the living shit out of me.
CHAPTER 27
ADELINE
I'VE ALWAYS TRIED to be a silver lining kind of girl, even when my life seemed rather dull and meaningless. Even when my father kept me locked away in an ivory tower, leaving me with only two options --- isolation and reading. I read to keep myself occupied, but I also read to escape. Books allowed me to leave my prison and venture into new worlds, discover new places and make new friends.
Being the youngest of seven girls, my father wanted to protect and shelter me from everything. When you live in a mafia world, someone is always trying to take what's yours. My sisters were easy targets, and they suffered profoundly for my father's life of crime and power.
I'd heard a lot of stories over the years. They keep me awake at night sometimes, thinking about how my sisters were tortured, body parts sent to my father piece by piece until there was nothing left.
Out of seven of us, only three remain living, including me. The four oldest had been kidnapped over the years, held for ransom or simply killed for retribution. My father never caved, never gave into the kidnapper's demands. Not even once.
He allowed them all to die horrible deaths, and he justified it by saying that he wouldn't appear weak to his enemies…even if it meant that all of us would have to die someday in the same manner our oldest sisters did.
And that's why I have given up hope of getting saved from this island. No one is coming for me. No one is going to save me. I have to leave on my own.
If Lucien thinks locking me in this room is going to break me, he's sadly mistaken. I've been locked up my entire life. So being kept in one room for an extended period of time is nothing new. I just wish I had a book or two to read to help me mentally escape from this monotonous hell. The complete and utter boredom is the only difference from thisnewprison and myoldprison.
I'm simply…biding my time, waiting for the right opportunity to strike. And I have to believe that it will.
My empty stomach grumbles ferociously, and I grimace. I have been starving myself in the hopes that an opportunity will come quickly. If I understand my captor as well as I think I do, he won't let me starve.
The door opens, pulling me from my thoughts. Lucien steps into the room, looking handsome in his usual attire, a dark, tailored three-piece suit.
I stare at him, warily. It feels like all the air has just been sucked out of the room. He emits this dark and powerful presence that takes my breath away.
He must notice my uneasiness, because his brows furrow as he stares at me. "I…I want to show you something," he says softly, and I can almost hear something in his tone that sounds like excitement.
I'm not buying it. Just when I think I have Lucien figured out, he always surprises me. "W-what is it?" I stammer, feeling the unease creep into my bones.
"You'll like it," he says, flashing me a grin.
I think it's the first time I've ever seen him smile. The expression transforms his face to make him even more impossibly handsome.
I don't want to think of my captor as attractive, because I know what lies under that handsome exterior ---a monster.
He opens the door wider and steps out into the hall, looking back at me. "Come," he mutters.
Having no choice but to do as he says, I slowly stand and go to him.
I'm hesitant at first, cautiously stepping over the threshold, afraid of what awaits me on the other side. When I see nothing but an empty hallway, I blow out a soft sigh of relief. He hasn't let me out of my room since Jax made me return after that dramatic blowup I had at dinner when I realized he wasn't releasing me like he had promised.
We go to the end of the hall and down the steps. Then he takes me into a wing of the house I didn't even know existed. I feel my steps faltering as he leads me towards two giant hand-carved doors.
He stops and turns to me then, the rare smile prominent on his face once again. "What's in that room?" I ask, my voice tremulous.
"Nothing bad," he tells me after no doubt hearing the fear in my tone. And then he says, "I promise."
