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“I don’t want to be here!” I snapped at Dahlia, disgusted by her gullibility. “Don’t you get how dangerous this is for both of us?”
“Any more dangerous than being eaten by rats?”
I wasn’t going to win this argument and allowed my twin her pleasure, if only for a moment.
Has she already given up hope? Is she just succumbing to our destiny?
I refused to believe that was what this was. We had not managed to evade our father for all those years, only to be bought and sold and end up concubines for Jesse. I wouldn’t ever lie down and let that be the way, even if Dahlia seemed to lose hope.
Mom’s death wasn’t in vain. We’re going to get out of here, even if I have to drag her out unwillingly.
If Dahlia got a taste of the freedom we had once enjoyed, she would keep running with me. But as her breathing slowed, a small smile of contentment on her face made my stomach turn. My sister needed to fight, and I needed to move faster.
I waited until my sister’s eyes were fully closed, her chest rising and falling in even, unhurried breaths before rising from my own bed to test the door. Unsurprisingly, it was locked, but when I pressed my ear to the wood, I heard nothing beyond. There had been noise in the corridor earlier—when Jesse had brought us. The walls were thin enough that I could hear comings and goings. If someone was keeping watch over us, he was awfully quiet.
Could he be overpowered or seduced?
I made a mental note to check for a guard’s chair or station if we were allowed out again, and my opportunity came at breakfast.
“You’ll join me for meals,” Jesse announced when one of his exhausted house servants led us to a massive table that was better set for a boardroom than a meal. “When we have fulfilled the terms of our contract, I will expect one of you on either side of me constantly.”
“That sounds awful,” I muttered.
Jesse glowered at me, and suddenly, a fist met my jaw. Wheezing, I pressed a hand to my face as Dahlia yelped, jumping up to confront my attacker, her complexion opaque.
“You’ll show the master of the house some respect,” my father snarled, raising his fist again as I moved to retaliate.
Instantly, I recoiled to see him, cowering in fright and shock.
“Enough, Eugene!” Jesse thundered. For half a second, I thought Jesse was coming to my defense, but his next words quickly alleviated me of the misconception. “I have hundreds coming to the wedding! How will I explain her blackened jaw?”
“She needs to learn some respect. Gods know that her mother never taught her any all the years she kept the twins from me.”
“Next time, hit her where people can’t see!”
Tears flooded my eyes, and like a trapped rabbit, I darted my gaze toward the doorway, wondering how far I might make it if I ran. Then I caught Dahlia’s frozen stare and realized I still had no choice but to endure their abuse. Neither of us had seen our father since we’d been sold. I had honestly thought he’d taken the money and scampered off to gamble or drink it all away. Seeing him at the compound was humiliating and sickening.
And it gave me one more good reason to get out.
“Sit down, Bianca,” my father barked, his hand still curled into a fist. “I won’t tell you again.”
“Listen to him, Bee,” Dahlia begged.
Dad grinned at her. “She always had more sense of the two, even when they were babies,” he cooed, sliding into a chair across from Dahlia. “You might be better off cutting Bianca loose altogether and sticking only with sweet Dahlia.”
“If only they weren’t twins,” Jesse chortled. “I’d be tempted to take your advice, Eugene. But this pretty girlie just needs a bit of taming, don’t you, Bianca?”
He looked at me as if I were going to answer him, and I scoffed, turning my eyes toward my full plate. The smell of food wafted into my nostrils, and I should have been starving enough to devour it whole, but the two disturbing males in my purview were enough to quash my appetite entirely.
I pushed the plate away from me and sat back, ignoring the eggs and crisp bacon calling out to me. How long had it been since I’d eaten any protein?
It made me think of the mouth-watering sandwich that Sage had fed me that first night at Atlas’ place, and more anger flooded my veins.
“I need to use the washroom,” I declared, standing suddenly.
I waited for a rush of guards to surround me, but to my mild surprise, Jesse nodded without so much as raising his eyes.
“Alanah will show you where to go.”
