Wife Number Seven (The Compound, #1)(83)

She was the only wife who wore makeup in the bedroom without question, without making Lehi feel guilty about his needs. Furthermore, her movements in the bedroom lately were turning him on. She was coming into her own, becoming more sexual, and that aroused Lehi to no end. When he came with Brinley, he came hard. He looked forward to nights with her more than any of his other seven wives. He couldn’t lose that time. He wouldn’t.

Each wife played a role. Leandra managed the home. Brenda assisted with managing the finances. Aspen had the memory of an elephant and could always assist Lehi in remembering important dates and events for the family. Brinley—well, Brinley was his release. He’d fight to keep her in that role.

No matter what.



Chapter 31

The screech of Leandra’s voice broke the silence in the room, but did nothing for the tension. Although she was a tiny woman in stature, her booming voice could alert the entire compound. And part of me wondered if it would.

“You filthy little whore,” she screamed, dangling my purse accusingly between us. “How dare you?”

I said nothing in response. There was nothing left to say, and so I listened. I took the abuse in the hopes that they’d say their piece and leave me be. Leave me to abandon this place where I never quite fit in.

“Did you honestly think you could get away with this, you foul, wicked girl?”

Her shrill voice assaulted my ears. I glanced at Lehi, and although no words came from his mouth, he was visibly shaken, obviously enraged. His chest continued to heave in and out. His cheeks were a deep tone of scarlet and his nostrils flared wide.

As I continued to watch him, memories flashed through my brain, causing my fear to build. Memories of Lehi slapping the children, and Lehi shouting at Leandra behind closed doors. Unlike Leandra, Lehi was not tiny, dainty, or small in stature. He was large, muscular, and dangerous. I watched him carefully from the corner of my eye as I attempted to turn my attention back to Leandra.

While my attention had been on Lehi, Leandra had been digging through my purse, invading my privacy. My pulse quickened as she removed an item from the bag. The cell phone.

“These contraptions are not allowed in this house!” She crossed the room and shoved the phone in my face, so close it almost touched the tip of my nose.

The door creaked open and Aspen entered. My heart raced.

Did Aspen have something to do with this ambush? The idea of her betraying me was more than I could handle.

“I’m sorry to disturb you,” Aspen said, “but is everything all right?”

“It seems Brinley has been keeping secrets from the family,” Leandra spat out. “Lots of secrets.” She then waved the phone in Aspen’s face.

Aspen looked at the phone, then looked searchingly at me. Did she want a reason, an answer?

“Did you know about this?” Leandra narrowed her eyes at Aspen. “Do you have one too?”

“What? No, of course not! Brinley, doesn’t have a phone!” She turned her attention to me. “Tell them that’s not yours!”

I stayed silent, unsure of what to say. No matter which words I chose, they’d all lead back to deception. My deception.

“It most certainly is hers!” Leandra shrieked. “She has messages on this thing. Hundreds of them! With someone named Porter.”

“Porter?” Aspen’s voice was shaken. “Brinley, who in the world is Porter?”

I swallowed hard. Then the tears came, brimming from the corners of my eyes.

The color drained from Aspen’s face. “Who . . . is . . . Porter?” she demanded once again.

“I wanted to tell you,” I said, my voice cracking.

Aspen looked away, looked to Leandra. And just as I had dreaded, I lost her. Lost her support, her love, and her trust.

Leandra lifted her chin. “Apparently, he’s a man living outside the compound. Someone who knows all about us.”

“He used to be one of us,” Lehi growled. “His name is Porter Hammond, yes?”

I nodded, shocked that Lehi would remember Porter.

Leandra turned her attention to Lehi. “How do you know him?”

“He worked for me, on one of my construction sites. His parents removed him years ago. He was a bad seed.”

“Sounds familiar,” Leandra said with a sneer.

I didn’t care what they thought of me; I didn’t. But I couldn’t handle Lehi reducing Porter to such a foul name. “He is not!”

“Brinley, stop!” Aspen linked her arm with mine, pulling me close to her and farther away from our seething husband. She was obviously worried about my safety. Lehi’s anger was building and she probably feared that soon he’d express it.

“There’s more to her lies,” Leandra yelled, tossing the phone on the bed and reaching back into the purse. “How did you get this money?”

Leandra clutched the eighty-five dollars that I’d been saving for months, money from Porter. It all started in the drugstore, and since then he’d given me money whenever I’d accept it. For a moment, I was thankful that I’d chosen to hide the money from Jorjina. If Leandra found that, I had no idea what would happen.

“Are you stealing from us?”

“Of course not!”

“Then, what? Where did you get this?”

“Porter,” I answered, unashamed.