Page 56 of The Caged Girl

“I’m begging you to force yourself to fall in love with him, Demi. It’s the only way we can all survive.”

CHAPTERTHIRTY

I satin the sand and looked at the crashing waves. Now I understood why people run away to the ocean. My problems felt much smaller as the powerful ocean danced in front of me.

My sister was still alive, and Bradley was married to her. Layla was being used like a dog, breeding babies for wealthy couples who were coming here to have their darkest desires, fantasies, and wishes come true.

All while Alister Ivory made millions of dollars and was one of the most influential men on earth. He was dominant because, with a snap of his fingers, he could inflict damage on anyone who’d been in his presence.

He dangled the idea of escape in front of their faces, and they ran away from their realities to live out what they thought would be their dreams.

Layla let me have the better path—being the good wife and living in luxury—while her body was beaten, neglected, abused, and babies were ripped from her.

I was too tired. I wasn’t mighty, let alone capable of saving anyone. Dragging my fingers through the soft, white sand as my hair picked up in the salty air, I knew this was it. I wanted to live. I didn’t want to die, and I didn’t want my sister or Bradley to die. I knew I had to accept Alister Ivory as my husband. Looking over my shoulder at the stunning black and white resort, I smiled.

This was all mine. Perhaps I was having some kind of psychotic breakdown or maybe a different Demi was coming out to protect me. I just knew I had to do whatever it took to survive and keep the ones I loved alive.

Our fate had been sealed, and sometimes, no matter how hard you try, destiny will overtake any ounce of effort put into trying to alter it.

The only way to keep my sister alive in better living conditions was if I obeyed Alister Ivory. He made it clear that if I ever defied him, he’d put us both in a cage.

What good was coming for any of us by fighting him? He almost killed me. I could become someone else…a woman I never wanted to be.I could be the evil yet obedient wife he wanted me to be.

“Demi.” His voice wove into the breeze.

He sat next to me in the sand. Turning my head, I looked at Alister Ivory. My husband.

“Alister.” I forced a small smile.

“Here.” He lifted a necklace with an evil eye pendant. Putting it around my neck, he whispered into my ear, “This will protect you from all the evil in the world, my precious little bird.”

I looked into his eyes and brushed my hand against the necklace. “Will it protect me from you?” I spoke softly.

Alister stared into my eyes for a brief moment before looking back into the ocean. “Nothing can protect you from me, my raven.”

Nodding, I cradled my knees and winced as my ribs ached—a painful reminder that I wasn’t invincible. He wrapped his arm around me and tugged me into him. “I love you, Demi.”

I bit back the laugh that tickled my mouth.

“Why do you love me?” I drew a little design into the sand.

“My family didn’t love me, either. My father’s prodigal son was Ian. I had to become this, Demi. I needed this. It’s given me purpose and value. This is what you need, too.”

He paused as I closed my eyes.

Sometimes we have to become evil because we were never given a chance to be good.

“I’m sorry for tearing your eyelashes off.” He caressed my eyelids. The sand stung my eyes without them. He tugged out a packet of false lashes and stuck them onto my eyelids carefully. I was frozen in fear and not going to protest as he patted them down.

“You are damaged like me, but you’re also just as resilient. These couples come here with money to escape reality, Demi. What is so bad about helping them do just that? I’m giving these babies homes and families who have always wanted them. You and I both know more than anything what it’s like to be unloved.”

Something inside me shifted. I didn’t know what I felt but something changed.

Alister Ivory was right.

We were both misfits.

He never lied to me the way Bradley and Conrad had. He always told me exactly what he was and how he was.

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