Fleeting Moments(62)

He kneels down beside me. “I might like control, but I’m not a monster like him.”

Yes, you are. “He’s just hurting and-”

“He is going to hurt you. I know he will. He’ll make you suffer for defending me.”

“I wasn’t defending you,” I spit, then let my face fall with realization, as rehearsed. “I wasn’t . . .”

“It’s okay,” he says, soothingly. “It’s okay to accept that maybe your feelings towards me are different to what you first thought.”

“I hate you,” I try again, this time a little weaker.

“But you don’t, because you know what I said about him is true, don’t you, Lucy?”

Cue the tears again. “I love him,” I sob, brokenly.

“But he doesn’t love you. You’re just a toy in his game.”

“But maybe . . .” I protest lamely.

“You know I’m right. Come with me; stay for a few days. I can answer any questions you have about him.”

I look at him. Don’t give in too easily. He’ll know you’re lying.

“I don’t trust you,” I say, my voice hard.

“That’ll come with time. Come, stay the evening. I’ll feed you and we can talk. If you wish to go in the morning, you can.”

“I don’t believe you. You kidnapped me,” I assert, shifting backwards.

“For your own good, which you’ll see if you come with me.”

I look past him, hoping my features show confusion and concern. “I don’t . . . I don’t know.”

“Trust me, Lucy. I won’t hurt you.”

Lying pig. I look back to him. “I . . .”

“Come, you’re cold and upset.”

“But . . .”

“Come.”

He takes my hand, and I let him help me out of the car to my feet. He quickly shuts the door behind me. I hesitate some more, walking slowly, making him tug me along to the van. When we reach the door, I stop and wearily say, “I don’t know . . .”

“I won’t hurt you,” he says, and if I didn’t know better, I’d believe him. He’s that good.

“Okay,” I whisper, climbing into the van, but not before I catch the triumphant look he shoots the man next to him.

I’ve gotten him hook, line, and sinker.

He believes me.

Let the fun begin.





CHAPTER 28


Nobody speaks the entire drive.

I make sure I stare out the window with a tight expression, ensuring I look confused and a little lost. I don’t want to give in too easily. The brothers are right; Josh isn’t stupid and will figure me out if I put one foot wrong.

We arrive and the three men get out before me, opening the door and staring expectantly in my direction. I hesitantly climb out, wrapping one arm around myself and staring at the group of men who have stopped to study me. They’re showing a mixture of shock, anger and surprisingly, compassion.

“I have to ask, do you have a phone on you?” Josh asks, falling in step next to me as we move towards the big shed.

“No, I didn’t bring it when I ran out. I just grabbed my keys.”

“That’s okay. I just wanted to let you know this is a phone-free place, and we all value that very much.”

I say nothing, just nod stiffly.

“You don’t need to be afraid,” he continues. “I won’t lock the door. It’s just one night, remember? Nobody is going to hold you here against your will.”

He’s a filthy liar, but if that’s what it takes to get me where I need to go, I’ll play along.

I nod stiffly.

“Come, freshen up and then join us for supper,” he says, leading me into the room he kept me in before.

I stare at my hands as he explains there are fresh clothes in the cupboard and the shower is just down the hall. A much nicer welcome than I received last time. I don’t say anything; I just sit on the end of the bed, waiting for him to leave.

“I know it feels strange right now, but I can assure you that once you’ve wrapped your head around the kind of man my brother is, it won’t hurt anymore. If you’ll trust us to take care of you, you’ll come to see that.”

Take care of me.

“Thanks,” I mutter to my hands.

“I’ll return in an hour to collect you for supper. Don’t let him into your thoughts; the first part of overcoming what he’s done to you is to stop the thought process in its tracks.”

I don’t say anything.

He finally leaves.

Now it’s time to put the plan into action.

***

The first thing I do is check the room for cameras. Sheldon is trained in the art of hiding them and told me all the locations they might be in. I subtly walk around the room as if I’m just looking, picking up books and reading, things like that. I find two cameras. I don’t look directly at them, but I do ensure I act confused and generally upset when I’m in front of them.

When I go to the showers, I see one right before I go in, but there don’t seem to be any inside the shower block. Still, I don’t trust that there isn’t. They can’t know I have a camera squashed between my legs, so instead of showering, I act nervous and even manage to shed a tear before rushing back to the room. It’s somewhat of a test, because I know if he’s watching me he’ll come to see what’s wrong.