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And now I’m standing in a conference room on the second floor of the building with five men staring at me. Six, counting the guard.
Gabriel’s expression is completely neutral, but I can see the horror in his eyes. It’s not shock. Not really. He knew that this was going to be outside the realm of what a decent person would agree to.
Iknew that it would be outside that realm. And still, I can’t square in my head that my father had me kidnapped.
It’s not the worst he could do, but I expected…I don’t know. A meeting at his office. Another ultimatum. I was already thinking about coming back to him so I could protect my sisters.
Oh, God. It could have been one of my sisters. Gabriel and Jacob are both here. I badly want to look over my shoulder to be sure Catherine and Lydia aren’t being brought in for this sick ritual, but I don’t.
The door doesn’t open again. Every second that it stays shut is another second they’re not here.
What are they going to do to me?
My heart pounds.
Violent and sexual.That’s what Jacob told Gabriel. It was thirdhand knowledge. I have firsthand knowledge that my dad is willing to kill people, so there’s not much doubt in my mind that he’d kill me. And my father doesn’t have to tell me himself that he’s willing to make the sons of his friends disappear if they don’t go through with whatever is about to happen.
Okay. It’s me. I’m the one it’s going to happen to.
I try to take deep, calming breaths. The gag makes that pretty much impossible. It’s also difficult to be calm when the guard still has a grip on my arm. It’s overkill. My wrists are tied. There’s at least one more guard outside the door. I’m not getting out of this.
Jacob cuts a glance at Gabriel, as if he’s the one who decides whether this all goes down or not.
It’s going to happen. That’s all I’m sure.
My father raises his hands, encompassing the room.
“When we started the consortium, we were more lax. We trusted in the loyalty of others without requiring proof. Then some of our members moved against us.” He looks at Gabriel, who looks back at him just in time. A twitch at the corner of Gabriel’s mouth gives him away. He hates that my father is talking about his dad this way. “Some people cared more aboutlaws and policies than they did about us. So now we have a new rule. Jacob. Gabriel. We don’t just ask for your loyalty. We require it.”
A shiver moves through me. I want my wrists untied, but that’s not going to happen. Not until one of these men decides to set me free. And I don’t like the sound of Gabriel’s name in my father’s mouth.
“To demonstrate your loyalty, you’ll commit a crime. You’ll do it here. Now. Tonight. Then you’ll entrust that evidence to the consortium.”
“Entrust?” Gabriel’s voice could be the beginning of a song. His tone is as light as my dress. Is this a role he’s playing for my father, or for me?
“Yes.” My father narrows his eyes. “The consortium holds the evidence in case you ever waver in your loyalty. Should you change your mind later, we’ll have what we need to bring you back to the fold. That’s what trust means.”
My father’s pointed glare turns on Newhouse. The whispers I heard when I was a girl said that he resisted the murders. He’s the reason for initiations like this one. Newhouse, my father would say, forced his hand. He couldn’t be trusted.
I was complicit in so much more than murder. What I set in motion changed things for everyone in the consortium. Newhouse had to prove his loyalty with a crime. The alternative was death.
The speech goes on. “A man in a suit, around your height and coloring, was recorded earlier today kidnapping Elise from her bakery. And now you and Jacob are going to rape her. That’s how you’ll secure your loyalty.”
Gabriel freezes. I freeze.
Nobody else moves.
My heart, though? It races. If my escape was determined by how hard it’s pounding, I’d be gone by now. Far away.
I can’t believe it, and I can.
I can’t believe that my father would order a man to force me in front of him.Twomen. And I can, because it happened. Now it’s more than my mind on the line.
It’s my body.
Gabriel’s watching my father. “To be clear. You want us to rape Elise, and you’re going to keep the video evidence.”
“Yes,” my father says.
