Page 56 of Among the Sins of my Father

I give him a weak smile. “Sure. Whatever you want.” It looks too elegant for a family dinner, but what does it matter? If he wants me to wear it, I’ll wear it. He could ask for worse.

“Come,” Michael calls out. “Try it on.”

I stare at myself one last time before walking out of the bathroom. Michael holds out the dress, a smile covering his face. Whether he knows the torment within me, or whether he’s oblivious, it doesn’t matter. He’s made one thing clear. He doesn’t care. As long as I behave, he’s happy. Whether I am or not is of little consequence.

I step through the dress and Michael pulls it up my body. He turns me so I’m facing the full-length mirror on his bedroom wall and smiles over my shoulder. “Beautiful,” he whispers reverently and pecks a kiss to my cheek.

Michael hasn’t touched me since that night. Not sexually anyway. He’s affectionate, but not like I feared he would be. He lies with his arms wrapped around me each night but never takes it any further. He sits with his arm draped over my shoulder. He comes up behind me and pulls me close, hands possessively clinging to my waist. He walks holding my hand. He presses kisses to the top of my head.

“What do you think?” he asks, stepping away to face me.

“It’s nice,” I reply.

“Nice? It cost a fucking fortune.”

“I never asked for it.”

“No, you didn’t. And you’ll never have to ask for anything again, Everly. I’m going to give you the world.”

It’s as though he truly believes his words. He truly believes that one day I will love him. One day I will choose him. He’s unconcerned about the deadness in my eyes, or the way I drag myself through the day. He chooses to ignore my hesitation, my repulsion, and lives in a world unconnected to reality. A world where we are a couple. A happy couple. Where I am on his side.

“Keep your hair down like that for dinner. I love the way your hair looks when it’s out, but you so often tie it back. It’s a shame.” He runs his fingers through the dark strands. They get caught on a knot and my hair snaps when he tugs them out.

Walking over to the bed, he pats the space beside him. “Sit.”

I do.

“You can smile, you know. I’m not asking you to do anything you don’t want to.”

I want to tell him I don’t want to be here. I don’t want to be with him. And I don’t want to smile. I want Jericho. But I don’t say any of those things, because the memory of lying frozen, vulnerable and unable to move, is too present in my mind. I may have shown strength on the boat, telling him I would never be his, but that strength has faded. The defiant girl is gone.

“I want to tell you my plans,” he starts. “Well, our plans. My father wants me to step up, take a more active role within the business. He’s been wanting it for months now, but it wasn’t something I was interested in. I was too busy partying. I liked my life. But now…” He takes my hands in his. “Now, I’ve got you and I want it all. I want to give you everything, Everly. The life you’ve always wanted. Can’t you just picture it? Us dripping in money, traveling the world. You always wanted to travel, didn’t you?”

I merely nod.

“Name a place. Any place and I’ll take you there. It will be my gift to you. You know,” he adds, “once everything has died down a little.” When I don’t say anything, he pats my hand softly. “I’m getting ahead of myself. I was thinking of bringing a few suggestions to my father, you know, to prove to him that I’m serious, I’m ready, but I wanted to run them by you first.” He clears his throat. “I was thinking about the idea you brought to me, the business you pretended you and Mr Priest were interested in running. The more boutique shopping experience. One where people put in the orders of what they want, and we provide them with the closest match we could. It would be different from how things are run now. Of course, we’d still run the auctions, still offer the ‘off the rack’ options, so to speak, but this merchandise would attract a more specific clientele. One that would be willing to part with a premium rate in order to have their requests fulfilled. What do you think?”

“It’s wonderful,” I lie. “It’s almost as though I thought of it myself.”

Michael sighs with relief. It’s as though he believes the words coming from my mouth. Surely, he can detect the sarcasm in my tone. Surely, he must feel the waves of hatred pulsating from me.

“Okay.” He shuffles closer to me excitedly, as though he’s fuelled by my lack of enthusiasm. “Here’s my other idea. I’m not sure how my father will react to this one, but in this day and age we need to move with the times.” He takes a deep breath and says, “Males.”

I wait for more, but he just sits there, looking at me expectedly.

“Males, what?” I ask.

“Males in the auctions. We’ve always concentrated on females as they’ve always been in the highest demand. But the world is changing, and we’ve got to change along with it. It’s a good idea, don’t you think? Obviously, it’s been done before, for many, many years, but there’s limited competition. I’ve done my research and I believe the demand is there if we just offered the supply.”

“What sort of research did you use to come to that conclusion?”

He laughs. “You don’t want to know. But it’s a good idea, isn’t it? Modern. Equality and all that.”

I can barely believe the words coming from his mouth. It is like he lives in some alternate reality. One where he cannot fathom that what he’s proposing is wrong and evil. To him it is merely a business proposal. He doesn’t consider it toying with people’s lives.

He’s still looking at me, waiting for my answer.

“No,” I say finally. “I think it’s a terrible idea.”

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