Delilah
Present Day
“Well-behaved women seldom make history.” – LAUREL THATCHER ULRICH
The crunching of the gravel beneath the tires fades as the van comes to a stop. My heart is pounding so hard I can hear it in my ears. My breaths are coming out in short pants, causing the nausea from the boat ride to return in full-force.
Oh god.
My mind runs through every worst-case scenario, playing out my intrusive thoughts like I’m watching some kind of horror movie. I’m spiraling—already—and I haven’t even gotten out of the van.
Benji sees me panicking and offers me a water bottle. “Deep breaths, okay?”
I take a drink before locking onto Benji as he talks me through some breathing exercises.
“Inhale two, three, four. Exhale two, three, four.”
I follow his lead, going through several rounds as he counts for me until my breathing has finally evened out. “Thank you.”
He gives me a shy smile. “Always works for me.”
The distinctive thump of a car door closing has my head snapping toward the back of the van. There are no windows back here, so I can’t see what’s going on. Muffled voices travel through the metal walls, but I can’t decipher who’s speaking or what’s being said.
I close my eyes and repeat the mantra I stole from Bec, offering a quick thank you to her nan, wherever she is.
I must, so I will.
The door creaks open, spilling a blinding white light into the back of the van. I shield my eyes against the sun before Bec crouches down and shuffles to me, wrapping her arm around my bicep.
“Ready?” She keeps her voice low, but I only manage to nod.
She leads me out of the van, her grip firm.
My eyes adjust to the change, and I take in my surroundings for the first time.
We’re in what I’m sure used to be a parking lot but now just looks more like a clearing among the thick pine trees.
There’s a lake in the distance, though it’s eerily quiet.
Whatever wildlife makes their homes here have gone into hiding upon our rude intrusion.
A second vehicle—a black SUV—is parked several yards away. Two Brotherhood guards in full tactical gear and masks stand on either side of the car, watching us like hawks.
And there he is: impeccably dressed in his typical three-piece suit, not a hair out of place on his arrogant head.
Gabriel. As soon as my eyes connect with his I drop my gaze, and I’d be lying if I said it was part of my performance.
After so many years under his thumb, the submissive response is automatic. I hate myself for it.
“Delilah,” he says. There’s no softness to it, no warmth. It’s a command.
A claim.
I’ve never liked my name less.
I keep my eyes on the ground, forcing the expected response past my lips. “My lord.”
“Where are the women, Gabriel?” Maverick gets straight to business, and I’m grateful for the distraction.
Gabriel whistles, and one of the guards says something into his radio.
A moment later, a van—not dissimilar to the Rebel’s—comes into view.
It stops and parks near the SUV before the women I’m being traded for stumble out.
They’re all well past their childbearing years, and they look absolutely terrified.
The Brotherhood probably didn’t tell them anything, the pricks.
I’d be scared too, probably thinking I was being sent to my death rather than my salvation.
“As promised: ten worthless hags.” The guards cackle at Gabriel’s joke.
Maverick leads the terrified women over to our van, offering a hand and helping them step up into the back one by one. Only once they’re all loaded does Bec release her grip on my arm.
“It’s been a pleasure doing business with you, my old friend,” Gabriel says with a cocky grin.
Maverick practically growls. “Enjoy your power while it lasts, Gabe. I wouldn’t get too comfortable if I were you.”
My husband’s spine straightens.
“Is that a threat, brother?”
“Of course not,” Maverick says with equal hostility. “It’s a promise.”
Gabriel’s flushed neck and clenched fists tells me he’s fuming on the inside, though he maintains his outward composure. He snaps his fingers, and I flinch involuntarily. “Wife.”
I cross the distance over to him, the gravel crunching beneath my feet. Once I’m directly in front of him—eyes still downcast—I curtsy slightly. “Yes, sir?”
Without any warning, he reaches out and grabs my face roughly with his fingers, squeezing my cheeks hard.
He lifts my chin so I’m forced to look up, but I still don’t look directly into his eyes.
I feel his scrutinizing gaze sweep over me, before he spins me around roughly so I’m facing Maverick and Bec.
I’m trembling, but I don’t think he even notices.
My back’s to his chest as his arm wraps around my waist from behind, holding me flush to him. “Look at him.”
Despite the visceral fear running through my veins, I can’t bring myself to follow his command.
When I hesitate, he slaps my cheek before gripping my chin again and forcing my face up.
I finally bring my gaze to Maverick’s face, and I can tell he’s seconds away from losing it.
One foot planted forward, fists and jaw clenched, he looks ready to charge like an angry bull.
I give him the slightest shake of my head, silently begging him not to do anything stupid.
“You’re mine,” Gabriel whispers in my ear. He sticks his finger in my mouth, hooking the digit in my cheek and pulling my skin like I’m a fish on a line. “Understand?”
I nod frantically, holding my tears at bay while trying not to gag on the taste of his salty skin.
“Good girl,” Gabriel praises patronizingly, like I’m some kind of pet. “Let’s move out.”
I give Maverick one final look, hoping my eyes tell him everything he needs to know.
His expression is indecipherable, stoic, but I commit it to memory anyway, in case it’s the last time I ever get to see his face.
Gabriel yanks me along by my waist, escorting me to the SUV and pushing me inside.
The door slams much harder than necessary, and I use the ten seconds of privacy to look at Maverick through the window one last time.
I know he can’t see me through the tinted glass, but I mouth I love you to him anyway.
That way at least I said it, even if he didn’t hear it.
The other door opens and Gabriel climbs inside, making me feel claustrophobic in the finite space. Heart still pounding, I drop my head and keep my eyes on my lap. The silence is deafening, my own harsh breathing hardly a comfort. I can feel his eyes on me, but I don’t dare look at him.
This is a test, I think, to see if I’m still the obedient, subservient wife I was when I left.
“Well?” Gabriel’s impatient, as always.
I don’t dare move. “Yes, sir?”
“Did you not miss your husband?”
“Of-of course I did,” I stutter, caught off guard.
“Prove it,” he challenges.
I finally look at him, trying to decipher whatever game he’s playing. “What would you have me do, sir?”
He studies me, and I resist the urge to squirm in my seat. “Did he fuck you?”
I let my face morph into the expression of shock I practiced in front of the mirror countless times. “I beg your pardon, sir?”
“Don’t play dumb, Delilah. Did Stetson touch you?”
I shake my head. “No, my lord.” Hardly a lie, after all.
A moment of tense silence passes as Gabriel continues to stare me down.
He reaches toward me as if he’s going to cradle my cheek, but instead he moves his hand to the base of my skull and grabs a handful of my hair, yanking me toward him.
I cry out, genuine fear replacing the disdain I felt a moment ago.
“If I find out you’re lying—and believe me, Delilah, I will find out—I will hunt down that bastard and kill him in front of you. Understand?”
A whimper slips past my lips as I nod, unable to form the words.
“Answer me!” Gabriel screams in my face, spittle flying.
“Yes, sir,” I cry. My husband’s always been cruel, unfeeling even. But this… this manic version of him is a hundred times scarier than the version I know. He’s unpredictable. A man possessed.
He releases my hair and looks down at his phone, completely unfazed. “Get us the fuck out of here.”
The driver—Paul, if memory serves—starts the car and pulls away, heading back to New Athens: to the place that used to be my home but now serves as my temporary prison.
Little do they know, I am not the scared little girl I once was. I’m a woman reborn, and I’m gonna burn their whole fucking system to the ground.
To be continued…