Page 103 of Gilded Locks
Marigold’s blood turned to ice.
“I’m sorry, did you say shared?” Ash cocked his head, his gaze drifting to Stone’s
“At times, yes. They confuse pain with pleasure,” Dr. Morrison continued as Marigold’s breathing turned shallow. “Submission can be very pathological, which feeds the cravings. They seek out dangerous situations that strip away accountability. When reality and delusion blurs, sudden, unsafe outbursts can occur. Symptoms often spiral into increasingly risky sexual behavior—seeking validation through degradation, mistaking possession for love. It can be very dangerous if left untreated.”
“Dangerous how?” Stone asked, the concern in his voice sharpening Marigold’s doubts into razor sharp fear.
“Some patients have taken to self-harm and even suicide. They become addicted to taboo situations, interpret obsessions and compulsions as romance. In a sense, they’re trying to rewrite their own trauma.”
She closed her eyes, once more questioning her own sanity. Was that what she’d done? Was this entire experience one long delusion? Compulsions, manifesting in sexual aggression and captivity?
Everything is your choice… Their words came back to her and acid burned in her stomach. She chose this. Them. The bondage, the brutality. She couldn’t breathe.
“Marigold can be very persuasive,” Jordan warned. “When something threatens her objective, she’ll do anything. Violence, deceit, she has no limit when it comes to getting what she wants.”
“I see,” Stone said, and Marigold’s heart plummeted.
Did he see? Did he actually believe Jordan? He had to know this wasn’t a game to her. She was the victim, here! He was the evil one! Her hands balled into fists tight enough to make her knuckles pop.
“Which is why,” Jordan continued, “when she escaped from Whitmore, I knew I had to act quickly. Before she hurt someone. Before she hurt herself.”
“How thoughtful of you,” Ash murmured.
Ash… Marigold’s gaze jumped to the screen. “Can you zoom in?”
Cole pressed a few keys and Ash’s face expanded to full view, his expression unreadable.
She swallowed, throat dry as she tried to catch her breath. “Big breath in. Blow it out small. Just right, baby. Just right.” Her mother’s voice echoed as if from some distant corner of her mind.
You like visiting the library, don’t you, Calder. Those sorts of privileges come with a price… She could smell the sweat on Willum’s skin.
Hold her down, she’s getting hostile! Her skin crawled with the fantom weight of the nurses and doctors strapping her to the table.
Blinking rapidly, she tried to stay present, but she was losing ground. Possibly losing them.
Jordan’s smile was self-deprecating. “People often ask me how I stay so positive despite everything Marigold has put our family through. And I tell them, you can’t wait for opportunities to present themselves. You have to create them. As soon as she went missing, I hired the best detectives, who then tracked her down here. Funny thing, though. I find myself wondering why she’s still here and why authorities weren’t contacted the minute she showed up uninvited.”
Hunter’s eyes narrowed on him. “Guess it doesn’t matter, since you came to collect.”
Her heart raced, hammering so erratically her shoulders seemed to vibrate. Did they change their minds? They were so convincing, so agreeable. In that moment, she knew, without a doubt, that she wanted to stay. Leaving, after all they’d been through, would devastate her to a point that they might as well put her in a padded cell and throw away the key.
“Please…” she muttered, bouncing her knee nervously.
“Did you say something?” Cole’s question startled her, shattering whatever flimsy wall of fear was distorting her view of reality.
“Can you go to Hunter?”
He moved the lens and Hunter’s face filled the screen. His eyes were pools of black, masking his ever-vibrating rage. When his jaw ticked, she knew he was boiling. He still hated him, which meant he still was on her side.
The image switched back to Jordan, naturally tracking the movement and sound within the conference room. He leaned back, folding his arms behind his head and stretching out his legs.
“See, I take action instead of waiting around for someone else to solve my problems. Marigold’s my burden to bear.”
There it was, the narcissistic core beneath the concerned brother facade. Jordan couldn’t help himself. Even while discussing her supposed mental illness, he had to position himself as the superior being who understood how the world really worked, victimized by those who created challenges along the way, but never thrown off course.
Marigold closed her eyes and breathed through her irritation. He was such a performer, he even had himself fooled. Almost had her fooled. But Hunter, Stone, and Ash were smart enough to see through his lies.
“Wise words,” Stone said with zero inflection. “Perhaps you could share more of your philosophies on success while our staff locates your sister?”
