Her hand snapped out like the crack of a whip across my face. So fucking hard. My head jerked sideways, the sting bringing tears to my eyes.
She was within inches of me now, that lifeless stare replaced by pure loathing. “You will not disrespect us the way you did, the way you are, ever again. If you even try, I will personally make your life a living hell. Do I make myself clear, Chloe?”
Exhaustion and hunger and nausea overwhelmed me at the same time while I held my face. Henrietta grasped my arm, my gaze jerking to hers that was pleading with me. Just fold, it said. Just give in and it will be easier.
She was right. I could sit here and fight, but it would make no difference when they’d marooned me on this island, using Jared of all people to get me there. I was fifteen again, so small and helpless in this woman’s clutches.
“Yes, Mama” was my quiet reply before I let Henrietta lead me away.
Up the stairs, all the way to the end of the hall where my room and bathroom were. Nothing had changed in there either. The room was bright with white linens and floral patterns, the bed covered in a flower duvet to match the drapes. My wardrobe stood against the wall, probably still filled with clothes that would no longer fit me in my current predicament. The clothes that were out on my bed were a beige maxi skirt and a plain white T-shirt. The skirt had a stretchy band on it, and the shirt looked a bit longer—they might actually fit.
Henrietta urged me to the bathroom that joined with my room. “Get cleaned up. I’ll be back soon to do your hair,” she instructed.
“There’s no need for that,” I told her. “It turns out I do know how to do my own hair.”
She snorted before pursing her lips and leaving the room. The second she was gone, I whipped my phone out, and my stomach sank—it was dead. And I had no charger. My only way of getting a hold of anyone on the outside of this prison was gone. I couldn’t even call Del to see if she could help.
Hopelessness overwhelmed me, but then a contraction came on, so swift and painful that I had to use the bed to keep from collapsing. It reminded me why I couldn’t fold, why I couldn’t live within their boundaries. The only hope I had was that Kai knew the general location of where I was. He would find me. He had to.
After breathing deeply through the contraction that lasted about a minute, I decided a shower was necessary to calm my nerves and get the contractions under control. The bathroom was lined with salmon-colored stone, the white counters offsetting the hideousness of the shade. The stone shower took up a large part of the bathroom, with a clear sliding door. The water was as hot as possible when I got in and curled up on the floor, letting the rain showerhead pour water down on me.
I stayed in there as long as I could, breathing through three more contractions. The fact that they wouldn’t stop, now that I was trying to relax, terrified me. I wasn’t close to my own doctor—I refused to go into labor in this hell—and I was still only twenty-six weeks pregnant. I washed quickly, having yet another contraction in the process. They weren’t extremely painful but were getting to the point that I had to hunch over and concentrate on breathing.
After I dressed in the clothes that almost fit, my belly and the pump peeking out the bottom of the shirt, I did my hair in a braid down my back, loose strands falling in my face that still had a beet red mark across the left cheek. The thought of sleeping in that house made me sick to my stomach, even though I was in desperate need of it. Since that would be impossible, I made my way back downstairs to get some water. At the bottom of the stairs, I stopped right outside the parlor, listening to the murmured voices within.
“We just spoke with your father,” my mother said. “Everything will move forward as planned once the babies are taken care of.”
My breathing hitched. Those words again: “taken care of.” What does that mean to them? To me, it was a threat. They were threatening my children. I would do whatever it took to protect them. I had to do everything I could to get out of there.
Jared’s voice interrupted my thoughts. “With all due respect, ma’am, sir, I won’t go near your daughter with a fifteen-foot pole.”
I almost snorted at that. Thank the heavens I disgusted him so much; at least that part of my goal after leaving was accomplished.
But my father’s reply had me seeing red. “You don’t have to touch her. But you two will be married. Just keep your other endeavors under the radar. You did so….”
I’d had enough. I hurried past the parlor, making a mad dash for the kitchen. I would not marry that man. These people would not go near my babies.
After grabbing a much-needed bottle of water from the kitchen, I hurried out the back glass doors, waddling toward the bench swing that hung from the old oak tree.
It swung in the humid breeze while I lay on my back, staring up at the moss-covered tree. I had no one in this place. Not one ally. And I had no way of getting a hold of Del or Kai. No car, no way to jump the ten-foot fence when the trees were in the way and I was pretty freaking pregnant. Even if I walked out the front gates, they would drag me back kicking and screaming.
The hot breeze kept rocking me as tears ran across my cheeks and into my hair.
18
Chloe
It was stiflingly hot when I jerked awake,
