Page 57 of The Caged Girl

I looked at him. “Where are all these babies coming from?”

“Demi, La Gabbia is a full-service resort. We provide everything one could dream of. We are gifted with one life…one precious life that is fleeting. Every day we grow closer to death, and since I was small boy, I fantasized about an escape. And that’s what I have created. Look at this, Demi.” I studied him carefully as he waved his hands around. He was wearing an all-white linen outfit. I hadn’t seen him in white before. His preference of black clothing and darkness molded into who he was.

“People are shunned and made to feel embarrassed by their darkest desires, but if they don’t expel that rage and lust somewhere, then how will they be adequate fathers, mothers, wives, and husbands?”

I wanted to scream and tell Alister that this wasn’t the way. But the passion in his eyes about this empire he had created made it clear that there was no way I would ever get through to him.

“I understand now.” I opened my hand to him. And in some sick way, he did make sense.

“I need you to promise me something, Alister.” My chest tightened as I was about to make the biggest trade-off.

He laced his fingers with mine. “What is it?”

“You have to let Layla and Bradley go. I’ll be everything you could ever want in a wife and partner. I’ll make this business my entire world. I just need you to let them go.”

Alister smiled at me. “Demi, the moment you realize I don’t have to negotiate is the moment you will learn to be happy. Bradley and Layla have impeccable genetic makeup. The made-to-order products will be perfection. The price these couples are willing to pay for their custom-made?—”

“It’s not a product, Alister; it’s ababy. It’s a child. It’s my sister’s baby.” I took a deep breath in.

“Demi!” He put his hand up and silenced me. I flinched back in fear he’d hit me.

“They will not be let go of. You will be the best wife, partner, and eventually, the mother to my children, and in return, I will not peel Layla’s nails off. I will not slit her throat and allow her to bleed out. I will not chop Bradley up and blend him into our wellness smoothies. I will not skin her face and sew it onto another nightingale.”

I closed my eyes.

“Do we have an understanding?”

I nodded. There was no negotiation.

“Wonderful. Now, if you’ll stand up and come with me, I’d like to take you to the live cinema tonight as my date. You are to be introduced to the business and be more involved. As my wife, I’d like you to be by my side. Truthfully, I’ll need you to occasionally come with me to check inventory on all fronts. It’s becoming a challenge to have no one to lean on the way I know I can lean on you, my Demi.”

He stood and brushed the sand from his pants before lowering his hand to lift me up.

Wincing again, I shook my long, white cotton gown off.

Glancing once more at the ocean, I thought about drowning.

“And if you ever think about killing yourself, the torture that Layla and Bradley will endure, along with any child they bring into this world, will shake the earth to its core with their screams.”

“I understand.” I clutched Alister’s hand and together, we made our way back to La Gabbia.

CHAPTERTHIRTY-ONE

“I feellike we haven’t seen you in forever!” Taylor and Kandi were standing behind me, brushing my hair out. I no longer wore the blonde wig. I wasn’t used to my black hair anymore, and part of me missed the blonde. It fit more with the woman I had become versus the girl I was.

“I heard you were in the cages,” Kandi whispered as Taylor shot her a look of disdain.

I looked at them through the mirror. “I’m not sure if you both know, but I am Alister Ivory’s wife, and I expect that you limit your useless conversations and uphold respect for me.” I gritted my teeth as Kandi stared at me in shock.

Taylor cleared her throat. “Of course, Mrs. Ivory.” Everything would be different now.

Kandi smiled at me quickly. “Mrs. Ivory, is there any specific hair or makeup style you’d like today?”

I didn’t smile; I didn’t gossip. I simply nodded. “Leave my hair down in loose waves, and I’d like dark eye makeup but the classic Ivory nude lipstick. And Kandi, your lips have too much of a hint of pink in them. I shouldn’t see that again. You need to follow protocol.”

Kandi nodded and grabbed a tissue before quickly wiping her lips. “I apologize, ma’am.”

Closing my eyes, I let them work on my hair and makeup. For the first time in my life, I felt…power.

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