Page 42 of Among the Sins of my Father

“Aren’t you going to give me some privacy?”

A smirk of a smile twists his mouth. “I’ve seen it all before.”

“Michael,” I warn.

He laughs and turns around. “Happy now?”

Pulling off the t-shirt, I quickly shove on the dress. Michael turns and offers me a smile. “That’s better. Now you look more like the Everly I know.”

“This is wrong,” I say.

“What’s wrong?” He looks genuinely confused.

“This.” I gesture between us. “Us. Everything that’s going on. The fact that you’ve just taken me out of a cell where there were so many women—”

“I thought we’d talked about this. You need to stop obsessing about things you can’t control. It’s business. Nothing else. It has nothing to do with my personal tastes. I’m not like that. I like my women keen, eager even.” He leans over and grasps the sides of my face in his hand, placing a quick peck of a kiss on the tip of my nose. “I’ll win you over. You’ll see.”

“You really are unbelievable, aren’t you?”

He ignores me and flops himself down onto the bed, hands interlocking behind his head.

“Where’s Ette?” I ask, cautiously sitting on the edge of the mattress.

“You don’t need to worry about her. She’s fine. She’s with her family now. Don’t worry, we won’t go to the police.”

“The police? Why would you go to the police?”

Michael frowns. “To get Jericho Priest charged with kidnapping.” He shakes his head as though he can’t quite believe my naivety.

“Jericho didn’t kidnap her.”

Michael just raises his brows. “I doubt the police would see it that way. But seriously, you don’t need to worry about her. She’s safe. She’s happy. She’s with people who care about her and will love and provide for her, rather than lock her away in a castle like some sick freak from a fairy tale.”

“That’s not—”

Michael holds up his hand. “This is boring me. You’ve obviously been brainwashed by this Priest fellow. While you’re here with me, you won’t talk about him, okay?”

“No.”

He lifts his brows again and then props himself up on his elbows. “No?”

“No. I’ll talk about whoever I want to talk about. I’ll say whatever I want to say. I mean, I am a free woman, aren’t I?”

Michael twists his face into contemplation. “You’re free in a sense, but because of your—shall we say—‘innocence,’ there are certain restrictions on that freedom. Like you can’t leave the house unless I’m with you. Things like that. But don’t worry.” He scoots along the bed and sits beside me. “I’ve got your best interests at heart. And it’s only for a short period of time, you know, until you gain our trust again.” He winks. “That might take a while but I’m willing to give you the benefit of the doubt here.”

“So generous.”

“Look, Everly, there are two ways of looking at this. One, you fight it. You fight me. You complain and you moan, and you sit here sulking. This will change nothing. Or, you can choose to make the most of this. We were happy together once. We could be again if you’d just give me a chance.”

I fold my arms over my chest and look away from him. “Not going to happen.”

Michael kisses my cheek. “That’s okay. I like a challenge.”

He has this swagger when he walks away. It’s confidence. It’s the knowledge that everything will work out in his favor because it always has.

“He will come for me, you know,” I say to his back.

Michael opens the door and turns. “Don’t count on it, Ev. He has his wife back now. He has no use for you.”

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