Page 43 of Among the Sins of my Father

“He will come.”

Michael cocks his head to the side. “Maybe. Maybe not. He doesn’t actually know where you are, does he? And after that disaster of a rescue where he left two bodies in his wake…” He draws in a whistle of air. “Well, I don’t think he’ll be rushing in anytime soon, so don’t hold your breath.”

He flashes me one of his smiles before the door shuts. I hear the slide of a lock moments later.

“Don’t worry,” he calls through the closed door. “It’s just for tonight. You’ll be able to earn privileges and gain my trust again. But for the moment, Everly Atterton, you’ve been a very naughty girl.”

His chuckle fades as he walks away.

chapter sixteen

BERKLEY

Even though I’m exhausted, I lie awake. Michael sleeps soundly on the other side of the mattress. He sleeps as though he doesn’t have a care in the world. He sleeps as though he’s innocent.

It’s my racing thoughts that keep me awake. Wondering what Jericho is thinking, what he’s planning, if he even has any idea who took me. Wondering if Ette is safe, if she’s scared, if she’s lying awake in bed like me, praying for rescue. Wondering what’s going to happen to me.

When Michael left me alone, I searched every inch of his bedroom, searching for some way of escape. But the windows wouldn’t open, the door is locked and there is no way of communication with the world other than through a gaming consul.

And even if I did manage to escape, where would I go? How would I get there? I can’t call my mother; it would be too dangerous. The Gormans have already let me know they’d be willing to use her. I could land her right back where she started. In the arms of the monster. Just like my father, unspoken threats are their greatest form of control.

I can’t call the police because what Michael said is true. Jericho did technically kidnap Ette. He’s kept her secret from the world for years, shielding her away at the Sanctuary.

I’d forgotten that Dominic and Michael were related. If I’d remembered that fact earlier, maybe all this could have been avoided. I could have warned Jericho of their family connection.

Michael rolls over. His eyes gleam in the dim light. “What are you thinking about?” he asks sleepily.

“How to get away from you.”

He chuckles and moves across the large expanse of the bed to be closer to me. Reaching out, his fingers intertwine with mine and I jerk them away.

“Don’t touch me.”

All he does is chuckle again. It’s infuriating. He makes me feel as though I’m being overly dramatic, that I’m exaggerating the situation, even as I’m literally locked in his room.

“What time is it?” Michael yawns and stretches. He glances at his watch. “It’s early, what are you doing awake?”

“I couldn’t sleep.”

“Do you need something? I’ve got some sort of pills in the bathroom.”

He talks as though there’s nothing more than the normal stresses on my mind. As though I wasn’t torn from my bed and basically delivered to him. As though it’s my choice to be lying in bed next to him.

He scoots closer again and I push myself to the edge of the mattress. “I wish I’d known you were in the city earlier. I feel like we’ve wasted so much time. It wasn’t until Dominic mentioned this girl who’d been outed as the daughter of the monster at his dance company that things clicked into place. He didn’t know of our connection. I still don’t think he does.”

“I heard he’s missing. Have you heard from him at all?”

Michael shakes his head and yawns again. “Nothing. And Dad is fucked off about it. But Dominic’s always been a strange one. A real mummy’s boy. It’s not like him to leave her alone for this long.”

I swallow the knot of guilt that wants to spill the truth that I know and change the subject. “Why didn’t you come find me if you knew I was at the dance company?”

“I wanted to, but you went to work forhim.” He spits out the word as though it’s bitter. “It wasn’t until Dad told me you were back in the city that I stumbled into you. Stumbled.” He chuckles. “Truth was I knew you were going to be there that night. I needed to see you. I thought if I just happened to run into you, you’d remember everything we used to share and—”

“You purposely ran into me that night?”

“It worked, didn’t it? You called me the very next day. I can’t tell you what that meant to me. I thought you’d forgotten all about me. But it turned out you were just using me, anyway.”

“I didn’t use—” I cut myself short. That’s exactly what I did. I contacted Michael in the hope of using him for information, as a way in. It worked. Rolling over, I turn and face him. “Your Dad knew I was going to be there?”

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