Chapter Three
Maeve
I wanted to hate my life.
Being sold to some random stranger was not my idea of a good time.I’m not an idiot, I know I’ve landed on the jackpot.There is absolutely no expectation of me.
I must have been here a month and a half at this point, and there was nothing I couldn’t do, apart from leave the walls of the estate.I’d gotten to the edge of the estate many times, and I’d looked at the wall, wondering if I could climb it.I’m not one for heights, so it always looked too high for me.Certainly not something I would ever want to attempt.
I’d also gotten close to the main gates.Again, freedom had been within distance, yet I didn’t push.In the back of my mind, I kept asking myself why I would do that.Why would I risk dying, when the truth was, I had a pretty sweet deal here?
The people that worked for my mystery captor were so nice.Even the chef, Louis, was lovely.There was nothing he wouldn’t cook for me—extra chocolate, chocolate chip cookies, fudgy brownies with ice cream, it was all delicious and all mine.Meatballs and spaghetti, which happened to be my favorite, and of course his spicy pizza, which was just heavenly.He was an amazing chef.My captor was lucky.
Again, there was nothing to say who my captor was.He was driving me crazy.It wasn’t like he was doing anything wrong.Randomly, he would appear, or I would see him across the room.Sometimes, he would be typing away on his cell phone without a care in the world.Other times, our eyes would lock, and I wondered if my little dream world would collapse.
So far, nothing.It was driving me insane.
Making my way through the house, I smile at several of the soldiers on my way out.They nod in my direction but never question what I am doing.I have no doubt they are watching me.I made my way across the lawn, going toward the back to another part of the house, where the swimming pool was.It wasn’t connected to the main house, but you only had to walk across the garden to get to it.
There were guards here as well.The moment I entered, they were gone.I’m not sure if it was my presence that sent them away, or if they were simply given another order.Either way, I was once again alone.
Back home, after learning of my impending doom, I hadn’t wanted any attention.I wanted to be alone.It was the only place I knew I could be myself.Also, it provided me the freedom I needed to live my life.No one to stop me from getting the tattoos that now decorated my body.They did fucking hurt, but I stayed in that chair until they were done.I was determined to see it through.This is who I am.I make it fucking work.
I went to parties and danced until I couldn’t think. I did everything to escape the reality in my mind, or should I say, the nightmare.
Staring at the pool, the stark blue of the water made me think of the ocean.It was clean.The air felt still.This is what I liked.
I wore a one-piece swimsuit that I had slid on instead of underwear.I stripped out of my clothes, moved toward the edge of the pool, and lowered myself into the water.I enjoyed swimming.Moving myself away from the edge of the pool, I faced forward and started to swim the length of the pool, hoping it would loosen up my mind, or do something to ease whatever was going on inside my head.
This was a good life.Food at the click of my fingers, or by friendly request being left alone, allowed to do whatever I wanted.I spent the other day in his theater, watching movies.I can’t remember the number of movies I watched, there were so many, but I had a lot of fun, and it was something I would do again.
I went to his library and read.I explored the whole house and the grounds, and yes, I was able to relax.At the same time, that terrified me.I shouldn’t be able to relax.None of this should be real.
In that moment, as I went from one end of the pool to another, I thought about the other people on the stage that day.Were they happy?Did they get a sweet deal like me?
I’m not sure how long I had been swimming, but I suddenly became aware of something else in the pool.I spun around, and at first, I swear there was a shark heading toward me, and my initial instinct was to scream.I scrambled across the water, grabbed the edge of the pool, and hauled myself up.
Once that crazy notion had slipped past me, I turned to see my captor, and what I thought was a shark was in fact a dog—a gorgeous golden labrador—with a big, goofy face, and he was still heading toward me.
“I will not even guess what you thought I must be keeping here,” my captor said.
“You could have warned me.”
“Burt wants to go for a swim.The moment I let him in here, there is no stopping him.”
