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“Talkative fellow.” She spoke to Vanessa on the other side of the wall.
“In all the years I’ve known him, I’ve never heard him speak.”
“It’s not much of a meal, is it? I’m not sure a bird could survive on so few calories.”
“That’s the idea. He wants all the ladies to lose weight, so they’ll look good in their wedding gowns. The diet is precise. Warden weighs each girl, and determines how many calories she’ll needs to maintain her current weight, then he cuts that by 500 calories a day, so she’ll lose any extra pounds she might be carrying. If Mason tells Warden a girl is already thin enough, they’ll allow her a large enough portion of rabbit food to maintain her curves.”
“Oh joy. What a delightful place.” Sam picked at the lettuce on her plate. Her captor hadn’t bothered to leave her a fork, so she had to eat with her fingers, but she would eat. If only to give her enough strength to fight when they came back for her.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Gavinstalkedintothelodge and found Grayson in the kitchen with their father. “Samantha is missing.”
“Say what?”
“I arrived at her house to ask her to be my plus one, she wasn’t there. Her car door was left open. Her house was empty and in disarray. I don’t think she left willingly, but if she did, it was because of this.” Gavin tossed the handwritten letter that had fallen out of the journal in front of his brother.
Grayson scanned it and passed it to their father. Then he locked eyes with Gavin. “That’s enough to make anyone want to run. Her entire identity must feel like a lie.”
“What do I do with this?” He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I don’t know if the Alliance has her, or if she went off somewhere in the woods to think. I can’t let anything happen to her, but I’m powerless to protect her. First Emmaline, then Cate, and now Samantha. We’re bodyguards and we can’t even protect the people we love the most.”
“Is this you admitting you’re in love with Sam?”
“Stay focused, Grayson. What do we do now?”
“First, little brother, you get on your knees and pray. You know as well as I do that if you want to fight your battles like a man, it’s your only recourse. Then after you have a good, long talk with the Almighty, get ready for the wedding we’re about to attend. I’ll find you some arm candy.”
“Tell me you didn’t just call a woman ‘arm candy’?”
“It was a joke… testing you to see if you’re paying attention. But you probably shouldn’t attend this shindig alone. If Mason took her, he did so to throw you off balance. Let’s let him think he lost this round.”
“Where are you going to get a girl to join me at this thing with almost no notice?”
“Trust me.” Grayson slapped him on the back. “Have I ever let you down?”
Gavin narrowed his eyes.
“Never mind. Don’t answer that.”
Samanthaknockedonthewall separating her from Vanessa. “Are you awake?”
“I rarely sleep.”
“What is it like to be married to a man like Mason?”
She heard Vanessa’s sigh. “I’m not sure you can understand what I’m about to say, but since my husband brought you here, I feel I owe you my honesty.”
“I appreciate that.”
“The first few nights were torture. I hated the idea of him touching me, but I got used to him. As time went on, he would show kindness. Little things at first, a pat on the head or a kind word, but eventually, his gestures were grand, like filling the house with my favorite flower or taking me to a play he knew I longed to see.”
Stockholm Syndrome. Samantha had heard of it, but never met anyone who’d suffered from it before. Vanessa had grown to trust her captor. She’d even allowed herself to love him. “Do you love him?”
“I did.” She let out a bitter laugh. “Until he replaced me. He claims it’s not permanent. He’ll bring me back when he’s ready for me, but he has in mind now that it’s okay for him to have multiple wives. He’s on number three, but told me he plans to have at least ten of us. I would’ve willingly stayed with him if he would’ve been content with just me. I know that sounds crazy, but I made my choice when I married him, and I was willing to live with it. Make the best of the hand I’d been dealt.”
“I’m sorry about the other women.”
“Don’t be. It’s God’s punishment for letting Mason use me to recruit new girls.”
