Page 108 of These Family Ties

"Eat your sandwich. I'm going to check on things outside."

"Okay, Eitan," I say quietly, and I turn to reach for my sandwich as he leaves. I need to keep up my strength if I'm going to survive this. I don't know exactly what he's capable of. How far is he willing to go to live this little fantasy that he has? I need to be ready for anything at any possible time.

I hear his footsteps outside, judging by the sound of leaves crunching. A little stream of light escapes through the curtains on the window. I wish I could have some light in the room. I feel ill without it. Being deliberately kept in the dark is soul-destroying. Maybe if I flirt with him enough, he'll agree to open the curtains and let some sunlight in.

Maybe he'll even let me walk around outside.

I just need to play my cards right.

The sandwich is okay; it's one of my favorites, but that's one thing I can't fault him on. He feeds me well, and a lot of the time, it's food I have always enjoyed.

He seems to think he is taking care of me, that I need taking care of. Maybe if I lean into that, I can find a way out of here sooner rather than later. I just need to figure out which way the main road is. That way, when I get away, I can high tail it and make my way back to town and have Eitan arrested for being a completely sick fuck.

My mother will be heartbroken, but I don't care. She raised him. He's probably like this because of her. Or because of something our father did before he left. All I know is he's messed up, and I need to survive.

Chapter Five

Eitan

We're running low on supplies, and I know I need to take a trip to town. I hate going into town. I hate leaving Brodie here alone.

When I wake up, I see she's still sleeping, so I go into the room and sit on the edge of the bed. I stroke her arm gently. "Good morning, gorgeous," I murmur.

"Eitan. It's so dark in here. Can you let in some fresh air?"

I glance at the window that has a curtain closed over it. I turn and stroke her hair. “It's too cold to let the fresh air in, but I'll open the curtain for some light."

I get up and go over to the window, opening the curtain. Brodie sits up and looks out of the window. All she can see is the forest, which is all I want her to see. I don't want her to get any sense of where we are.

I look over at her and smile. "You look beautiful in the sunlight."

She looks away, letting her hair fall over her face.

"Hey now, don't hide." I walk across to sit on the bed and stroke her hair out of her face. "I have to go to town. Do you want anything special?"

She looks up at me sharply, and then her features soften. "A chocolate, maybe?"

"I know your favorite milk chocolate bar is on special." I smile and stand. "I'll be back soon. Rest. We can have some fun later on, just the two of us."

She nods, but she doesn't look happy, which makes me unhappy.

Although I ponder as I leave, perhaps she is unhappy because she has to spend time away from me. Maybe she's coming around after all. That would be something, wouldn't it?

I get into my beat-up truck and drive through the forest along the old, forgotten road. If you don't know it's there, you wouldn't know to take it. I have to drive through a section of forest to reach the road to begin with, and once I reach that section, I drive for twenty minutes before I get to the main road and start my journey to town.

The entire drive, I think about how sweet Brodie tastes. How much I want to kiss her. How much I want to make love to her.

The time will come that she is starting to realize how special she is and that I am the only one who can treat her with that kind of reverence—that kind of dedication. No one could ever dedicate themselves to Brodie the way I have. Years have gone into planning this, years of looking for the right location and fixing it up. Of following Brodie to make sure that nobody hurts her.

It isn't easy being a big brother to her, but someone has to do it.

I knew from a young age that Brodie and I were meant to be together. Like the men of old who laid with their wives, I know that Brodie was brought to me through divine intervention.

Call it fate, destiny, God...call it whatever you will. She's mine, and I intend to keep her that way.

I turn the radio up and listen to the old rock 'n roll that's playing on the tape. This hunk of junk may be old, but it runs well.

It takes me an hour to reach town and I pull into the parking lot of the grocery store. It's pretty empty, being a Monday morning, and I take my time walking to the entrance.

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