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“This is good information. Definitely something I can work with. Many thanks, Mrs. Breckenridge.”
Torrence and his men are barely out the door when Lainie releases a heavy sigh. “Quite the tangled web you’ve spun. But I think he walked face first into it.”
“It sounded good?”
“Hell yes. I know the truth and I almost fell for it. You’re very convincing.”
“Good.” I have to be. I have a lot to lose.
* * *
Two days have passed and nothing. No Torrence. No men from The Order checking in. Most importantly, no Sin. What is happening with my husband? He hasn't come for me yet. Something is wrong.
I’ve tried everything I know to find a way out of this place but Lainie is right. It’s locked down. There’s no way out until someone opens that door from the outside.
So I wait. I have no other choice. But sitting on my hands is killing me. I’m accustomed to a proactive course. This pussyfooting around doesn’t cut it.
“We’re running out of food. Do you expect your brother’s friend to come today?”
“Aye.”
I’ve been thinking about this. I believe it’s time to make a move. “We should make a break for it when he comes.”
“No. Torrence will kill Deacon if he allows us to escape.”
Does she forget that the alternative is killing us? “Your brother’s friend won’t be allowing anything. We’ll take him by force. Torrence won’t kill him if he’s overpowered.”
“You’re wrong. It isn’t possible for Torrence to be rational about anything.”
“That’s exactly right. He is irrational. He killed his other wife because she couldn’t give him an heir. If you don’t become pregnant soon, he will do the same to you. You’d better wise up and think about that.”
She says nothing.
“That monster will come for you tomorrow night. Would you prefer to be raped again or be gone when he arrives? Your choice.”
She still doesn’t answer. Maybe her priorities aren’t in order but mine are. “I don’t plan on being here tomorrow night.”
“I can’t put Deacon in that kind of danger. I love him.”
“You love Deacon because he’s your brother’s friend, or you love love him?”
“I love love him.”
Things are beginning to make a little more sense. “Is he in love with you?”
“I think he was before my parents traded me to Torrence.” She covers her face with her hands and her voice cracks when she continues. “It’s like he looks right through me when he comes.”
I’d bet money Torrence knows Lainie loves Deacon. It’s another cruel way to torture his wife for trying to run away. And the bonus is tempting poor Deacon with the accessibility of helping her escape. But every time he doesn’t, he proves to Lainie how little he feels for her.
I need to be brutally honest with Lainie so there’s no mistake. “It boils down to two options: stay to protect Deacon, or make a move to get out of here. Regardless of what you choose for yourself, this is happening when he comes.”
“How do I condemn the man I love to death so I can go free?”
“You do it because staying could leave you with one choice. Death. He has the option to make a run with us if he’s so inclined.”
“But he won’t.”
“If he doesn’t, that’s his choice.”
There’s a sound at the door. Someone’s coming in. “Stay out of the way if you aren’t going to help.”
Torrence and two of his men enter. Shit. He’s either come early for Lainie or something has happened with Sin.
“Good afternoon, Mrs. Breckenridge.”
He ignores Lainie sitting next to me. “Evening, Mr. Grieve. To what do we owe this pleasure?”
“I’m guessing you’re hoping I’m here to say your husband has been released from jail and has come forward to trade for you. But that isn’t the case.”
“I thought I was clear about my feelings regarding Sinclair Breckenridge.”
“You were. Except everything you told me was a lie.”
I have fucked up.
I knew Torrence would eventually disprove my story but I thought I’d be out of here before that happened. Now it’s come back to bite me in the ass.
I must remain convincing. “I don’t know why you’d think that.”
“It began when I learned Carrick Abban doesn’t have a daughter. At least not one who still lives and breathes.”
Cassidy is dead? That must have happened recently.
“I don’t know who told you that but they’re lying.”
“I think we know who the liar is.”
“I may have glossed over the truth a little. I’m his other daughter. The illegitimate one by his mistress. I’m sorry I lied but he’s still very much my father and will be upset should anything happen to me.”
“Lies. All of it. There’s no chance of a falling out with Little Abbot. I can do whatever I like with you.”
“That would be a huge mistake.”
“I think not.”
Torrence slithers to stand behind me where I sit at the kitchen table. He fists my hair and pulls me back so hard, I’m balancing on the two back legs of the chair. “You’ll pay for the lies you fed me.”
He drags me from my seat and down the hallway toward the bedroom. “Since she can’t seem to give me an heir, maybe you can.”
Broden and Reuben don’t follow. He has done this to Lainie enough, they’re probably confident he doesn’t require their assistance. Wrong.
I wait until we’re inside the bedroom to escape his grasp since I don’t want to alert Broden or Reuben. I surprise Torrence with a punch to his throat—always unexpected, and temporarily debilitating.
He grabs for his throat because my assault causes him to feel like he can’t breathe. It’s the perfect time to strike a second time so I can wrestle him to the ground and put him in a chokehold, the same one I used on Malcolm when I killed him.
I loop my arms around Torrence’s neck and lock them into a death grip. This is kill or be killed, and I have no intention of being the one to go down.
We scuffle for a moment before landing on the floor. We’re a tangled mess when we crash into the rails of the bed, shoving it across the rotted wood planks beneath it. He struggles against me but his upper body strength is weak.
I count so I’ll know how long he’s been without oxygen. Sixty seconds. One hundred and twenty. I need a full three minutes to accomplish my goal.
This needs to sound like he’s the one winning.
“No!” I yell at the top of my lungs. “Stop. Don’t. Please don’t!”
I’m at two and a half minutes when Broden taps on the door. “Everything all right in there?”
I scream at the top of my lungs to discourage him from investigating further. But the bastard opens the door. Dammit.
He rushes me, gun pulled and aimed at my forehead. “Release him or the wall will be newly decorated.”
Thirty seconds more. That’s all I need and Torrence Grieve will be no one’s problem ever again. But my time is up.
I release his throat and show my hands. He sputters, gasping for air as Reuben grabs him beneath his arms and drags him away.
“Who are you?” Broden asks.
I shrug while continuing to hold my hands out.
Torrence lies on his side catching his breath. His cold eyes stare at me. He grabs Reuben by the shirt and pulls him down so they’re face to face. His voice is scratchy and hoarse. “Beat her until she can no longer move.”
Broden grins. “Gladly.”
“Shoot her if she resists,” Torrence adds.
My children and I are dead if I fight. No question about it. I have the responsibility of protecting the two tiny lives growing inside me so I do the only thing I can. I curl into a tight ball around my precious babies to protect them the only way I know how.
Chapter Four
Sinclair Breckenridge
