Chapter One
“Lucy!”
Samantha’s voice screams out before the slam of the front door to the house registers through my brain fog. I jump up from where I’m hiding in the basement and scramble up the stairs just as she flings open that door.
“What? Are you all right? What’s wrong?” I bark out.
“I found you someplace to hide,” she says. “A stroke of luck that I was on duty today.”
My cousin works as a chauffeur for a limousine service. She’s beautiful, talented, strong… but at the mercy of Duke Milinazzo.
Just as I am.
His coalition, who are preparing him for political office, have nudged him toward tying up loose ends. I’m a loose end and he’s been scouring the Earth for me.
I’m at the last place he ever thinks I’ll be.
His sister’s house.
Patricia Milinazzo Merende is the spitting image of her brother, and not only in looks. She’s just as mean and spiteful as he is on the inside.
My aunt helped him name me when my mother died when I was the tender age of two, right before Patricia dumped me off at the home. I have no idea what my birth name was and didn’t find out my legal name until my withdrawal records from the home at eighteen. Fortunately for me, Aunt Patricia’s daughter Samantha was twelve and was fascinated with her baby cousin, though she couldn’t go against her family. When she turned eighteen, Sam came to visit me, and told me she was my cousin. Explained that right now, the home was the best place for me since there was free schooling, but when I was turned out at eighteen, she’d hide me at her home and help me find someplace to live.
I’ve been hiding in her basement with Aunt Patricia living upstairs.
“I took a woman home today from Duke’s party.” She’d told me this morning about being hired to chauffeur people back and forth for his party, held at his friend’s house.
“Who was she? One of his floozies?”
“I guess you could say that. But it wasn’t willing. Her father is Steve Milles, and the party was at his home. They threw her out but ordered me to take her, probably so they could find out where she lived. Unfortunately, I didn’t turn on the GPS since it was just down the street near the commune. I imagine they’ll be furious tomorrow.” She smiles broadly, then continues. “She has plans. She just bought a tiny little cottage right outside the commune. She’s going to get a job within the gates. Janitorial.”
She’s looking at me expectantly.
“She’s looking for a roommate?” I ask.
“Not exactly. But she’ll need someone… she’s shunned. By her father.”
“Her own dad?”
Sam nods.
“I guess he’s as much an asshole as Duke.”
“From what I saw, yes. But anyway, she’ll need someone who will share clothes. I told her you’d work and pay rent and you know what she said? That it didn’t matter because she bought the house. She’ll get a job for food and if you want to do that too, just help out with bills, she won’t even charge you rent.”
“What’s the catch?”
Sam’s voice turns soft. “There isn’t one, sweetie. She’s really nice, and she’s used to being stepped on too. It’s just two women banding together, helping each other out. You keep her secrets, she’ll keep yours. She’s more worried about you being embarrassed about her status than she is about yours.”
“What happened to her that he shunned her?”
“She birthed a baby at fourteen. And since they were probably planning on having spotless reputations—her dad is an investor and he’s running Duke’s campaign, he shunned her so he wouldn’t look like a bad parent to the ones who line his pockets. And to protect the political campaign now. That’s why she wants to work in the commune, so she can find her daughter.”
“What a jerk. I can’t believe he’d protect his friend over his daughter,” I say.
“You both have prize parents. Which is why I think you and Isabel will get along great,” Sam says. “Now we just need to sneak all your clothes into my car. Tomorrow when my mom and dad leave, I’ll swing by for lunch, pick you up and zip you over to her place.”
I’m on pins and needles all next morning. My clothes have been packed for hours.
I practice smiling bravely, but I’m not sure how I’m feeling. While I knew it was dangerous to live in Samantha’s basement—what if, by some fluke, her parents decided to descend the stairs? What if there was a flood? I know this is an amazing deal she’s wrangled out of a stranger, but I’m afraid.
Being around Sam, even if it’s only half the day, at night, with her two flights of stairs away, was my safety net. I don’t know this woman, though Sam’s vetted her.
Samantha waits until no one is around in their yard, or walking by the street on their way to the commune further down the road, and then she pulls her car around the tiny cottage, parking in back. She and this Isabel must have worked out a system beforehand.
The back door opens. “Come on, hurry now,” Sam says, glancing around though there’s no one watching.
We grab my suitcases from the trunk and head toward the back patio. It’s covered for some privacy and has a sliding glass door.
We have two suitcases each and there’s still a couple in there. Having a cousin like Sam makes for a ton of hand-me-downs.
“Hi, Samantha,” a woman says, ushering us inside. She turns to me. “You must be Lucy? I’m Isabel.” She holds out her hand.
She’s about my same height, though a little more buxom. Her hair is dark, and her eyes are striking, large and grey with a fringe of thick lashes that look like they could tangle if she blinks. Maybe a few years older than me, but it’s hard to tell because her skin is so pale and unlined.
“Yes, I’m Lucy. Nice to meet you. Thank you for sharing your home.”
She nods. “Don’t you worry about a thing. Sometimes women have to help each other, you know?”
I do know. “I thank God every day I have Sam.”
“Aww, hush,” Sam says, her cheeks pink. “I love you, silly. I’d never let you hang in the world all alone.”
Sometimes I wonder how she escaped the family trait of cruelty and selfishness. I mean, I missed it too, but I have a mother that I’m sure I got genes from, though she’s passed.
But then Samantha continues, “Isabel, I’ve been thinking. If you can already afford to live on your own and just need a job for the monthly bills, would you be able to work part time?”
Isabel looks confused and I can’t say I blame her. “I mean… I’d love to, but I don’t see a job that is willing to pay me to work half the time.”
Samantha smiles broadly. “That’s where my plan comes in. You see, instead of Lucy getting a job, why don’t you let her work every other night for you? You get to have free time when people think you’re working but you can move around the commune and catch glimpses of your daughter.”
I can tell it makes sense to Isabel, who turns to look at me.
“She’s almost your height. Both brunettes, close enough to pass for each other at night. Especially if you wear the same clothes. No one will be close enough to see you have gray eyes and she has brown. But you’ll always have an alibi if someone says a person is walking about… you work in the commune. Later, if they should happen to ask if you were somewhere on a certain night… well, timecards don’t lie. You were working. Obviously, hard at it because the church and surrounding buildings are getting cleaned. Every evening. There’s no way someone can skip out and still do the work.”
“It’s almost brilliant,” Isabel breathes. “Lucy, are you okay with it?”
“That brings up something else,” Samantha says before I can answer. “I think for this to work, there needs to be honesty all around. While it’s Lucy’s story to tell, and Isabel, you too have details that should be yours to share, I’m sure you’ll be fast friends and will soon know everything about each other. But for now, let me tell you that I worry about Lucy getting a job on her own, under her name. I don’t want her to be traced. Try the two-person, one-job thing. If it doesn’t work or if you find you don’t have enough to pay the bills, maybe you can apply for a part-time job and Lucy can take it?”
“Yes,” Isabel says, and smiles at me. “I’m sure we can work something out.”
Samantha nods. “Good. I’m about to quit the chauffeur job. When I do, I’ll come to visit but it won’t be in the limo anymore. Which should probably work out to our benefit, anyway.”
“How did you end up working for Steve Milles?” Isabel asks. “He seems to have gotten quite a bit of money over the years.”
“Oh, I don’t work for him,” Samantha says. Then she takes a page from her own handbook on honesty and admits, “I work for Duke Milinazzo. He’s my uncle.”
Isabel freezes.
“But she’s not like them,” I say quickly, because the look of terror on her face makes me realize she’s probably had to deal with Duke once or twice, which makes sense if her dad and mine were partners for years. “Sam’s mom is Duke’s sister, and they don’t even get along. Not much. They’re too alike in personality and are always competing.”
“My mom’s a bitch just like Duke’s an asshole,” Samantha says cheerfully. “Let’s just call it like it is. But she married into money and she and her brother need each other, even when they can’t stand one another. Isabel, you’re not the first person to run from our family.”
“Okay.” Isabel looks wary and I don’t blame her one whit.
“How about if we don’t talk about him?” I ask gently.
She’s nodding enthusiastically when Sam says drily, “So what are the two of you going to talk about?”
“I-I guess I could tell you stories about the orphanage?” I say, and my grin is huge like what I really mean is I came from a fancy, upper crust home. “Stories of mystery and intrigue.”
She snorts. “I could tell you stories about living at my Aunt Elsa’s. Lived on the other side of the commune there. Stories of betrayal and brainwashing.”
That makes me laugh. “Have you seen the latest prophet? I swear he’s about to drop dead if a stiff wind blows.”
“It would be a good time to be one of his wives,” she says slyly. “I’d take a walk to the edge of a cliff and pray for that merciful wind.”
Both me and Samantha burst into laughter. Isabel smiles shyly and I think I like her.
Samantha unloads groceries and we all start making lunch, talking about forbidden folk because we have one thing in common. None of us can tell.
I don’t think it’ll be so bad here after all.
When Samantha leaves and it starts to grow dark, Isabel shows me the garden she plans to start.
“I think we should probably come out one at a time after this day,” she says. “Pretend to be one and the same, you know?”
I agree. “Yes. If the neighbors are questioned, they can never say there are two women who live here.”
“Exactly! Just one eccentric woman who comes out after dark because she cleans the church down at the commune at nights, so she’s used to keeping a night schedule. In fact, we can let them know without them ever seeing me. When the first crop from the gardens produces, we can leave a basket on their porch with a note introducing me and mentioning that I sleep during the day and work all night.”
For the first time, excitement bubbles through me. This could work. This could really work.
“Hey, have you heard about those aliens?” Isabel asks.
“The Britonians? The ones that are here to clean up the planet?”
She shakes her head. “Not those ones. The ones they’re matching us up to. They walk on tentacles!”
“What?” I blink my eyes when I realize how wide they’re stretched. “I haven’t heard anything. I haven’t been out much since I left the home.”
“It’s absolutely crazy. The Britonians match two people and then you leave for your mating for six months. After that, you’re returned here to decide without influence if you want to stay or go back. People at the commune say no God-fearing woman in her right mind would bear their babies. But the women who have gotten pregnant? They choose to stay. And the leader of the Britonians?” she leans in, like this is just gossip. “He says there’s no limit to how many babies we can have.”
“That can’t be,” I gasp. “Why aren’t we having babies with our own men?”
“That’s the thing no one wants to say out loud,” she says. “But obviously it’s our men that can’t produce.”
Apparently, my father is a fluke.
“Would you go?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “I’m here to find my daughter. Besides which, I wouldn’t qualify for the program. I’ve already been married and while they might open up that option in a couple years, right now it disqualifies me. But no matter, I’m focused on finding her.”