Page 47 of Through the Water

I just glanced toward the window, imagining I was small enough to disappear and never be found. My body quivered with dread, but I would not let Brad break me.

“Now, this was supposed to have happened when you turned eighteen, but that whole Ashlynn debacle really threw a wrench in things.”

I kept my face blank and continued staring through the glass. It wasn’t real. As long as I didn’t look at him, I was safe.

Brad pushed the skirt of my dress up, his fingers trailing lightly across my bare thigh as he whispered, “I didn’t mind waiting, though. It gave you a chance to get all that rebellion out and me a chance to make myself a little more indispensable to the church. I sold off two of my companies—the deals were finalized this morning. Do you know what that means?”

My breaths quickened, but I held perfectly still, refusing to acknowledge any part of it. With a muttered curse, Brad jerked my face up toward his, the muscle in his jaw twitching.

“You’re looking at a billionaire, sweetheart,” he growled, digging his fingers into my flesh. “And with that kind of money, I can suddenly get anything I want.”

Me.

He wanted me.

It only hurts if you let it…

My stomach was in upheaval, the contents caught in a roiling sea of nausea. There must have been something in my expression because he had a small trashcan in front of me within seconds.

I retched until there was nothing but saliva. Uncontrollable tremors wracked my body, making my teeth chatter together noisily. Stupidly, I’d believed with Tristan reaping the benefits of my injury, he’d forget his talk of sacrifice.

Morgan had been wrong.

He wasn’t going to kill me—that would have been too easy. No, my punishment was being auctioned off to the highest bidder. A man who was thirty years older than me and now the church’s largest donor.

Brad let the trashcan fall to the tile with a dull thud before pulling my left hand into his, forcing the ring onto my finger. His lip curled in disgust. “I think that was a bit of an overreaction. Do you know how many women would kill to be in your position right now?”

The diamond caught the light from the windows, scattering a multitude of sparkles throughout the room. It would have been magical had it been coming from anywhere but the brilliant cage around my finger.

Just another reminder, my life would always belong to someone else.

His eyes searched mine once more before he leaned closer. I turned my face away at the last second, and his lips connected with the flesh beside my ear. I couldn’t stomach the thought of that man’s mouth ever touching mine.

“‘And by the law, almost all things are purged with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no remission,’” he whispered, walking his fingers up my thigh.

If I closed my eyes, I was back in my dark bedroom, feeling the heat of his breath against the back of my neck as he slowly recited the very verse I’d come to hate as an adult.

He was practically panting as he reached the junction between my thighs. “You’ve always been mine, sweetheart. And I think I’m going to enjoy every second of breaking you.”

There was no misinterpreting the words, leaving me to wonder how much of my blood it was going to take to satisfy his lust.

It only hurts if you let it…

I thought back to Morgan’s confession a week ago, seeing it in an entirely new light. Upon discovering she’d been promised to a man twenty-five years her senior, Morgan admitted she’d reacted as any sixteen-year-old would have and cried for an entire night. Then, she’d decided to lose her virginity on her own terms—with the college-aged boy who lived next door. To her, it wasn’t an act of defiance, as much as a way of taking back her power.

At the time, I’d believed our situations were nothing alike. Killian wasn’t some neighbor I’d secretly been in love with for years, and I hadn’t been sold to the man who’d made my childhood a living hell.

Things were different now, and I had to make a decision—give up and follow a path that would only lead to more misery, or venture out into the unknown, without a safety net to break my fall. Killian was an uncertainty, but one I’d gradually found myself looking forward to. Brad, however, was a sadist.

Both were chaos, but if it was between giving myself to a stranger or living out my days as Brad’s abused hostage, I’d choose Killian.

Now, I just needed to figure out how.

* * *

“So, I said to Georgia, ‘No, you cannot join us for cards.’ She seemed pretty upset, but she knew that Margaret was sweet on Arthur.” The older woman stuffed a spoon full of food into her mouth before starting up again.

When Helen had initially asked to sit with me at lunch, I’d accepted, grateful for the company. I’d imagined we’d enjoy a quiet meal before retiring to our rooms for the requisite afternoon nap.

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