Page 14 of Wife Number One

She was an embarrassment to them, as much as she was to Josiah. She was a daily reminder of their failures as parents and a burden nobody wanted.

Nobody except me, and these disgusting excuses for men who had entered into some sort of sick bidding war, three of them arguing now over which could pay the most money for the privilege of owning the child.

Josiah’s grin of amusement told me he had probably planned this. Or at least had an inkling it might happen. Eventually, as the bidding war grew louder, he waved his free hand, his beer bottle touching his upturned lips. “Settle down, settle down. My contact will outbid you all. This is pointless. By this time tomorrow, she’ll be his property.”

Alice turned big eyes on me. “What are we going to do?”

I’d been brave once. I’d left, found my own way out of here, and crossed the country, searching for more.

I’d found it.

But I wasn’t that woman anymore. The outside world had beaten it out of me as much as Josiah had.

Listening to these men threaten my daughter terrified me in more ways than just the obvious. I didn’t want to leave the commune. At least here, I knew my place. I had food and somewhere to sleep.

Outside, I had nothing.

But if I stayed and Josiah sold my goddamn daughter to some sick excuse for a human being, I knew I couldn’t live with myself. My fingers shook in terror at the words I knew I had to say, knowing if it went wrong, we’d all be dead.

But there was no other choice. “Escape.”

5

HAYDEN

“There are so many people here.”

Liam looked over at me and shrugged. “This is Providence. Home of the rubberneckers. Most of these people are probably just here because their private chefs called in sick or their tennis coaches said it was too cold to practice tonight. They aren’t here to buy. They’re here to socialize and get the gossip on who the new owner might be.”

I cringed at the thought of these people judging me. “They’re gonna be real fucking disappointed when they realize it’s a piece of shit loser from Saint View.”

Liam thumped me on the back. “That’s the spirit!”

I raised an eyebrow.

He grinned with the same snigger I remembered from when we were kids. “The spirit of you being the new owner, I mean. Not you being a piece of shit loser.” He squinted at me. “Do you need Mae to give you one of her kindergarten teacher pep talks? She’s been working at the prison for so long those pep talks are pretty much the only thing she has left from her time in grade school.”

“No,” I scoffed. But the thumping of my heart and my clammy palms said otherwise. “Actually, maybe yes? I’m shitting myself here.”

Liam slung his arm around my shoulders. “Look around. You have nothing to worry about. This place was always supposed to be yours.”

When he said it, his voice so full of confidence, I believed it. The space was even better in person than it was in photos. It was twice as big as I’d thought from the online listing, which had my brain ticking overtime with what I could do with the extra space. Maybe a cocktail bar. More seating. A larger kitchen area. I swallowed down my excitement. “What if we bid on this today and the bank says no?”

“They won’t. My guy says with me as your silent partner, we’ll get approved for a mil, no sweat.”

I wiped my palms on my jeans. This was all happening so fast. Just last night I’d been resigned to at least five more years of working in Simon’s kitchen, stashing every penny away until I had enough money for the deposit. And then in one day, my brother had changed everything.

I didn’t let myself think past the auction. Or the fact getting a mortgage for this place was just one part of the problem. Liam’s good credit rating might seal the deal with the bank, but it was me and the restaurant I’d create inside these four walls that would have to make the payments each month.

Those sorts of thoughts clearly weren’t plaguing my brother though. And why would they? He’d never lived paycheck to paycheck. Not since his grandfather had plucked him from our shitty little house in Saint View and raised him like a son anyway.

“When this auctioneer opens things, go in hard and confident. Fuck all the Providence snobs. Let them know you’re here, and you mean business.” Liam leaned over and tapped a woman on the shoulder.

When she turned, he flashed his phone at her. “My brother is buying this place. This is his Instagram, @ChaosKitchenSaintView, and the food you and your friends will soon be eating. Spread the word.”

The woman looked confused, and I couldn’t blame her. I grabbed my brother’s arm and towed him across the room where the real estate agent was taking registrations.

“You gotta stop that,” I mumbled at Liam as we waited in line. “I can’t use that Instagram if I’m opening a restaurant in Providence, and besides that, you’re embarrassing me.”

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