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“But she doesn’t know that,” Jay continued as if his brother hadn’t spoken. “So, if you decide to fight us, scream, escape, reveal the truth in any way, we will kill you. It’s not a threat but an actuality.” He paused, allowing the time for his words to sink in.
“Refuse what? What are you offering?” I pulled up my knees to my chest, the first time I had moved since they entered the woodshed.
“As Rye mentioned, you are dead. Dead to all who once cared about you. But we are offering a rebirth.” Jay stood as if his legs must have ached from being in a squat for so long.
“I’m not fucking dead!” I snapped. “You are both sick! Sick!” My chest tightened, and the panic was being replaced with fury. “You can’t do this!”
Rye took Jay’s place in the squat before me. His eyes locked with mine. “We already have. The sooner you accept that, the better. My brothers and I were born into a lineage that marches to our own orders. We aren’t good. We aren’t decent. And we don’t follow the rules of your ‘proper’ society. So yes, wecan, andwill, do whatever the fuck we want.”
“But we do love our sister. We want her happiness more than we want anything else. We also want her safe and protected, which is why we picked up and moved back to our land. It’s a secret cabin that has always been hidden away in the depths of the trees. We can’t risk her being killed like our father and mother were. We have a lot of fucking enemies, and our enemies are Kit’s as well, no matter how innocent she is in all this. So my brothers and I decided enough was enough and we were going to give it all up. The crime. The killing. The bloodshed in the name of vengeance. This is our mountain and plenty of space to live off of in seclusion. A perfect place to start new. Our own rebirth.” Rye’s eyes scan my face as if looking for an understanding. “We grew up here. This used to be our home, and it will be again.”
“When our parents were murdered, we left the mountain to begin our revenge closer to our enemies. Now that our mission has been achieved, we’re ready to return,” Jay said. “Barrett’s Mountain is going to home again. It’s safer here.”
“Safer from what?” I asked.
“Our enemies,” Rye answered. “They’ll try to hunt us down.”
“And will fail,” Jay said. “Only a few know this mountain and can navigate it without getting lost—or killed for trespassing.”
“No way can we be found here. Blackstone has tried and has failed. His only hope is us leaving the mountain like when my parents did. He can’t touch us here,” Rye added.
I tried to wiggle my fingers but couldn’t feel them. It was just the reminder I needed that I was held captive by these men who, for a split second, didn’t seem so bad. “I don’t see why I’m here. I have nothing to do with that life. I own a shop. I just want to be left alone.”
“Kit will need help. She is a broken bird without the ability to fly. So, we are bringing you here to help her. We know she can’t do all that is required here on her own,” Rye answered.
“Required?” I asked.
“This land is a piece of shit,” Rye said with a slight chuckle as he stood. “But it’s our piece of shit, so we need to fix it up. It once was a mighty mountain before our family allowed the poppy to take over.”
“Exactly,” Jay said with a nod. “And it’s going to be a lot of work. The three of us are going to try to work and live off the land like our family once did. Which will leave Kit alone a lot, and though the cabin isn’t anywhere near as bad as the rest of the place as it was built to stand the test of time, we don’t see her being able to keep the home up on her own.”
“So you fuckers kidnapped me to be a housekeeper? A cook? You kidnapped your sister a friend? Are you fucking kidding me?” I shouted.
My voice was absorbed by the thick earthen walls, and somehow I seemed to be the only crazy person in the room. The brothers were both so calm and acted as if what they were thinking was absolutely sane.
“Call it what you want, but yes,” Rye said evenly. “Like a mail-order bride.”
“She seems to be more like a foul-mouthed sailor than a sweet-hearted bride,” Jay said to his brother with a laugh.
Rye rolled his eyes and punched his brother’s arm. “Shut up.” He then returned his stare toward me. “You may not like this situation, but it is your situation whether you like it or not. We aren’t asking. We aren’t suggesting in any way. You will either live here with us under one roof, functioning as part of the family, never revealing to Kit how or why you are here other than the fact that youwantto be here, or we will kill you.”
“To act as your wife?” I asked, shooting daggers with my eyes at Jay. “Is that some sick way of saying you’re going to be… what? Demanding your husbandly rights?”
“Actually,” Jay said, with his face growing serious, the smile he’d maintained since the beginning of this conversation slipping away. “No. If you agree to our terms, you will get your own room, and we will leave you alone. We won’t expect anything from you”—he paused and took a long hungry stare at my body—“sexually.” His lips slowly turned up, his smile returning as he lifted his gaze to mine. “Unless you want it, that is.” And then came the laugh I was growing to detest.
“We won’t lay a finger on you as long as you keep our sister happy,” Rye added.
“Then why the fuck am I tied and half naked on this bed?” I snapped.
“Because if you say no,” Jay said, leaning in. “We will have all the fun with you we want until we discard your used and abused body where it will never be found.”
I swallowed back the scream ready to be unleashed and cursed the tear that fell.
Jay placed his fingertip on the single tear and swiped it from my face. “Save your tears, Goldie. Save them for if you decide to say no.”
“And if I say yes?”
“Then you live. And hopefully, you’ll be happy,” Rye said. “My brothers and I are men of our words. No harm will ever come to you as long as you care for our sister as we do. We plan to make this family estate a place to call home. You won’t be our captive. You won’t be our victim. That much we promise you.”
