Page 75 of Montana Silence

He settled his hand around my hip. “I haven’t been with anyone else in years.”

I smirked and kissed him. “I think I have you beat.”

Liam chuckled and pulled me closer. This was exactly where I wanted to be.

Before I fell asleep, I tapped Liam’s skin three times. He tapped back the same pattern—the meaning clear to both of us. Words weren’t necessary.

Chapter23

Mara

Malcolm staredat me from across the room. I felt it where I sat next to Liam. But as we planned, I didn’t look at or acknowledge him at all. He didn’t deserve my time or attention. The only reason I was here was because of things he’d done.

He didn’t hold power over me anymore.

“Miss Greene,” one of the panel members said. “Are you prepared to speak?”

My stomach swam with sickness and nerves, but I nodded. Liam leaned over and kissed my cheek. “You have this,” he said softly. “If you need me, I’m right here.”

I squeezed his hand twice.

Claire smiled tightly as I made my way to the front of the courtroom where I’d been last time. She was nervous and had a right to be. But despite the nausea in my gut, I was calm.

“Miss Greene, it’s nice to see you again,” a man on the panel said. “If you would, please tell us your experience with Mr. Novic in your own words.”

Here we go.I took a breath and looked at Liam. Malcolm was there, but only in the background. He didn’t exist. He was nothing.

“I don’t remember joining The Family,” I said. “I was six. My earliest memories are of the compound. In general, we lived a simple life. I was with the children and my mother. Sometimes, I saw my brother. But he left the compound when I was ten, and I never saw him again.”

Claire stood, looking relieved. “Do you know what happened to your brother?”

I shook my head. “No.”

She gestured. “Please, continue.”

Slowly, I did, outlining the things she’d asked me about the daily life of The Family as I grew older. The chores, the beatings, the forced silence.

Liam nodded in encouragement. “My mother was paired off with a man—I don’t remember his name, but she was planning to leave. She told me once, very quietly, and made me promise not to tell anyone. We were going to leave together and have a better life. Three days later, she disappeared. No one even acted like she was gone. She simply…evaporated.”

“And you never saw her again?” Claire asked.

“No.”

“And how do you know your mother didn’t run away and simply leave you behind?” she asked.

I blinked. It wasn’t a question I’d prepared for. “I don’t,” I said honestly. “But she wasn’t the only woman to disappear.”

“But you have no proof she didn’t run?”

My voice shook. “No. However, given what I know of Mr. Novic and what he planned for me, I have no doubt he and the other men in The Family are responsible for her disappearance.”

I kept going. “Two years after my mother disappeared, Malcolm called me into his office and informed me I had been chosen as a bride of honor. There were others. Girls my age who married Malcolm, but not only him. Brides of honor were married to The Family itself. So, every man was her husband and had husband’s rights. The other girls who tried to fight came back with bruises and broken bones.

“After that, no one fought.”

Claire stood once again. “But you weren’t forced to become one?”

“No,” I said. “The process involved the women and girls of The Family embroidering a dress and veil. It took a long time. Luckily for me, the compound was raided before mine were complete. But it’s the same veil that arrived at my home.”

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