Wife Number Seven (The Compound, #1)(84)

“And what do you need it for?” Leandra demanded, but she obviously already knew the answer.

“I’m not going to answer that. It’s not your business.” I stood tall in defiance, my bravado hiding the fear that consumed my brain, my heart.

Apparently my defiance was the last straw.

“Our business?” Lehi roared, stepping past Leandra. He towered over me, and his rage made him a giant. His eyes bulged from their sockets. His fists balled up so hard his knuckles turned white. “You are my business. You’re my wife! The mother of my child!”

“Not so fast,” Leandra said, her voice wicked, mischievous. “My dear, there’s one more thing in this bag. Something I neglected to show you earlier.”

“What is it?” Lehi asked, annoyed.

And I knew right then, right there, that I was finished. I was done. I would never see Porter again. Or Tiffany. Or the light of day.

“Care to tell us what these are, Brinley?” Leandra held the small plastic disk in her hand, opening the lid to reveal ten pills remaining in the pack.

Her smug grin enraged me, but there was nothing I could do. My anger was moot. I was caught in their web, and there was no escape.

“Medication?” Lehi asked, confused. “You’re on medication?”

“Lehi, dear, this is not medication. Brinley is perfectly healthy.” Leandra strolled past Lehi, planting her feet right in front of me. “No, these tiny little pills prevent pregnancy.”

“What?” Lehi roared.

Leandra pursed her lips and said, “Our little Brinley is on the birth control pill.”

“Birth control pill?”

Lehi snatched the disk from Leandra’s hand. After inspecting the half-empty case, he stormed toward me, pushing Aspen out the way and pressing me up against the wall. Hard. So hard, I thought my muscles might bruise on contact from his thick fingertips digging into my skin. The case dropped to the floor.

“How did you get these?” he demanded. “Why are you taking them?”

“Lehi, please,” Aspen begged, pulling on his forearm. “Let her go. She’ll explain. I’m sure she’ll explain everything. Don’t hurt her, she’s pregnant!”

“You silly girl,” Leandra said to Aspen, pulling her away from Lehi. “You do realize what this means, Lehi, dear.” Leandra crossed her arms in front of her chest.

Lehi snarled, loosened his grip on my shoulders, and glared at his first wife. “What?”

“Our dear Brinley isn’t pregnant. She never was.”

And then it happened. Before I could react, the back of Lehi’s hand smashed against my cheek, sending me flying against the nightstand. The corner of the furniture tore into my side and I screamed, then fell into the lamp, which tumbled to the floor, its light bulb shattering into tiny pieces. I stumbled to fall facedown on the quilt of my bed, until Lehi pulled me back into a standing position.

He slapped me again, catching my other cheek this time, and I fell onto the bed. Both sides of my face burned in searing agony. My ribs ached from the nightstand, my head spun, and I couldn’t focus my eyes.

Again and again, Lehi yanked me up, pulling me to my feet before striking me again. My face, my belly, my ribs. Again and again, he punched me, yelling obscenities and cursing my name as Aspen pleaded with him to stop. A few sister wives tentatively entered the room, glancing at each other in horror while others gathered in the hallway, watching with wide eyes as the drama unfolded in the small room.

“You pretended to carry my child!” Lehi boomed. Another slap, and this time his wedding band cut the skin just above my eye. “You’re going to burn. Do you hear me? You’ll burn in hell for this!”

“Leandra,” Rebecca said softly, “you promised! You promised she wouldn’t be hurt.”

“I promised nothing,” Lehi said, throwing me to the floor. “No one deceives me like this! No one makes a damn fool of me and gets away with it!”

I couldn’t see Leandra’s expression, but even in my haze I knew she was feeling vindicated. Somehow she’d convinced Rebecca to spill my secrets, and made empty promises to get what she wanted. She wanted this. She wanted Lehi to be enraged. She wanted me on this floor, bent over in pain, blood pouring from my face.

She wanted all of this.

“You did this?” Aspen screeched.

“I-I didn’t—” Rebecca sputtered as she tried to explain, but was interrupted.

“She did what she needed to do. This girl is wicked. And she needs to be purged from this family.” Leandra’s words sent a chill down my spine. Purged? I was going to be purged?

Lehi’s foot collided with my stomach, a violent blow that knocked the air from my lungs. My knees jerked up in response. Instinctively I curled into the fetal position, a belated attempt at self-preservation. But I knew it was futile. Lehi would continue to beat me until I was within an inch of my life.

Of that I was certain.

“Stop him!” Aspen screamed, and I assumed she was yelling at my sister wives who had congregated in the room, watching Lehi abuse me. They stood there helplessly as I clung to my throbbing muscles, watching as blood pooled on the floor beneath me.

“No!” Aspen yelled. “You can’t do this! I won’t let you hurt her anymore!”