Page 82 of Resistant

“Clean up your fucking mess, Knox.” I say over my shoulder.

This entire ride has been uncomfortable but now we’ve headed into brand new territory. The tension in the car is beyond palpable and I’m sweating.

Shit is about to get more real than I ever thought possible, and I have no idea how I’m going to get Brynn out of this.

She hasn’t spoken a word since breakfast and while I love to watch my princess go off on Knox, I’m terrified of her silence. I don’t know what that means. The terrain outside begins to change, and I notice we are headed into the foothills. The road curves and winds and I hope no one gets car sick, mostly me. I don’t want to get car sick.

Knox slows the car, and we drive through vast iron gates with guards inside. The guard salutes and we head down an expanse of the driveway that keeps going. Guards are everywhere walking the grounds. I don’t see any other gates. The mansion ahead is a three-story gothic monstrosity that looms over the grounds. This is not a safe house. This is a compound, and I’m betting it’s owned by motherfucker number one. This plan keeps getting better.

Several people exit the house and begin to unload our belongings from the trunk. A broad woman with curly gray hair swept up in a bun smiles down at Brynn.

“Good afternoon. I’m Mrs. Winkle, the housekeeper. I’ll show you each to your rooms.”

Knox disappears through the front door without a word.

Prisoners of Swann Chateau

Brynn

I’ve already lost my way. I have no idea how to get back to the front door from where we stand. I know we climbed an immense curved staircase and turned right and left. I lost track after that. Mrs. Winkle opens a door and ushers me inside.

“This is your room Ms. Evans. I hope it’s suited for you.”

Brynn looks around at the small space with a canopy bed and chest of drawers.

“Thank you, Mrs. Winkle. This is lovely.”

I drop my bag on the bed and follow Declan on the way to his room. And after a few minutes, I realize there’s no way I’m going to be able to find my way back to my room. We’ve ascended two staircases and turned several times. Declan’s room is situated in the former servants’ quarters of the mansion and his room is tiny, with a twin bed and a small chest of drawers.

“Thank you, Mrs. Winkle.” He smiles at her like she brought him an ice cream cone. He’s so much better at faking shit than I am. I watch as a blush steals over her face, and she turns away.

“Mr. Swann holds dinner at 6:00pm sharp in the formal dining room. Please don’t be late. You’ll be able to go to the kitchen for breakfast and lunch. Please let me know if you need anything, I’ll pick it up in town when we shop every three weeks.”

She leaves us and I turn to Declan.

“A few weeks? Did we trade one prison for another?”

“Pretty sure we did Angel. It’s almost 5:00 now, we need to shower and find our way to the dining room. Do you remember the way back?’

“Nope.”

Declan grabs a change of clothes.

“I’ll walk with you princess. We can shower and get lost in this fucking gothic monstrosity together.”

“What happens if we show up late to dinner?”

Declan smiles down at me.

“Bad things, Brynn, pretty sure it’s bad things. Who is Knox? This place is unreal.”

It takes us twenty minutes to find our way back to the dining room. My hair is wet, and it’s clinging to the back of my neck and leaving wet spots on the neck of my t-shirt. A large table commands the space in the entire room and Knox sits at the head like a king on his throne. A place setting is set to his left and another setting is across from him on the long end of the table.

“Brynn, please come have a seat next to me.”

Declan smirks and picks up his place setting and scoots down the length of the table until he’s right next to my place setting.

“We have much to discuss, and I can see that I’m going to need to start with the rules in my house.”

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