Which made me feel horrible, until one night I came out to see another girl leaving his room. He didn’t know I knew about that one.
But he sends me gifts each day that he is gone.
Mark hasn’t been around either. Instead I have no one on me. I kind of enjoy that. I walk around and pretend that I am free. That I am a rich girl walking around my mansion.
I pretend that I am happy.
I am alone for the first time.
And the feeling makes me feel more fearful.
Max calls me 20 times a day.
I ignore his calls.
He texts me
I need you. I love you. I want you.
I don’t need him.
“I saw the girl in your room the other day.”
That’s my only text.
He calls 20 more times.
“I call them all Olivia.”
He thinks that that makes it okay?
I didn’t ask for this. I didn’t ask to be taken from my son. Regardless of what happened with Dean since I left, I didn’t request for Max to give up his life. He just chose to have me, he could have let me stay.
I won’t raise his child.
‘Do you really love me Max?’ I text
‘More than anything’ he responds
‘Then you need to let me go’ -me
‘I’d rather die than let that happen’ –Max
‘I’m not your only girl. Just let me go home’ –me
‘You are the only girl I love, you are the only girl who will have my babies and you are the only girl who will be my wife. I am your home now.’
‘You lie. So you will never be my home.’
I turn off my phone. I don’t want to hear his responses anymore.
There’s a gentle knock on my door
Andrea is standing at my doorway. She comes once a month to ask me if I need anything, clothes, and hygiene products. Normally I check my bathroom and closet and make a list, to help save her time but with everything going on with Max I forgot.
“Crap Andrea, I am so sorry I totally forgot to look at what I have. Give me one second.”
She smiles and comes in and sits on my bed, while I look through my drawers. I need new underwear. Max has a habit of ripping them off when we have sex. Which doesn’t bother me, he’s paying for the replacements. I call out and let her know I need underwear.
She writes it on her list.
I walk into the bathroom
“I need more of that dry shampoo stuff you got me, I really like it.”
I open up under the sink
“I need more bubble bath, the pumpkin scented one, I love it.”
I pull the box closest to me out and give it a shake, I am sure it will be empty.
I am baffled when it is full.
I sit on the floor.
I am quiet for obviously too long because Andrea comes in
“Olivia, are you okay?”
I look up at her. I can’t speak “what is today’s date?”
“February 12th, why is everything okay?”
I think back my period is late. I should have had it 2 weeks ago.
2 weeks ago I saw Max sleeping with someone else. It had to be stress.
“I think I need a pregnancy test.”
Andrea’s mouth drops open. I see an odd emotion play on her face. It almost looks like shock, and worry. Is she worried like I am that I will be pregnant? Or worried that I might not be?
God please. Please if you are really up there, do not let me pregnant. I cannot have another baby when I already have a little boy out there who doesn’t even know who I am. Please.
Chapter 41
Alfonso comes back with the results of my blood test he took the morning before
“You are indeed pregnant.”
“No! NO!”
I start screaming. He leaves.
No one tries to come in.
I tear all my clothing out of the drawers. I tear the bedding off my bed. I smash my bedroom window with a snow globe that Max bought me of the Eifel Tower for Christmas.
Alarms start blaring. Of course my windows were alarmed.
Mark comes rushing in.
He sees me, and sees the status of my room.
He grabs his radio and tells someone that I am okay.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m pregnant.”
Mark looks shocked
“What didn’t your bosses tell you, that’s why I am here? I am here to make Max lots of babies and to marry him. I am his baby cooking machine. I lost my son, I lost my life and now he will have his fucking baby.”
I start crying. But Mark hushes me
“Sit down, we need to talk.”
I look at him. He looks concerned, but he is in a rush to say whatever he needs to say
“My brother got me this job. His boss talked him into getting me on board.”
He stops for a moment
“Do you know who my brother is?”
I look at him. “No.” nothing about him is familiar
“My brother’s name is Marco.”
I gasp. Mark nods his head “Mark and Marco. Your parents really went on a ledge with your names.”
He laughs but then grows serious once more “I am working for Ryan and Dean. I am here to make sure you are safe and wait until you are ready to get out of here.”
“Dean knows you are here? I thought he was with Stella, I didn’t think he would care if I was let go or not.”
“Dean and Stella are not a concern right now. I might add that Stella is a snake and that is not something that has ever been forgotten. The point is, I can get you out if you are ready, but when we decide to do it, we must work fast. Max is out of town, but I have a feeling Alfonso is probably alerting him as we speak to your condition which means you will officially be in deep shit if you don’t leave now.”
“Max loves me.” I manage out
“He does.” Mark says “But he is not going to ever let you go Olivia, he is obsessed and it goes far beyond love. I can’t get into all the details, but you have a choice. You get out with your child now and go home to your boy, or you stay here for forever because once Max knows you are pregnant he will never let you out of his sights again. Your child is all he has wanted this whole time, and a child is also a key to more money and power for him.”
“But he will get mad. I don’t want him to be unhappy.”
“Do you want to go home?” he cuts me off
“Of course, more than anything.” I reply
“Then I will be back in 2 hours and we will leave. Don’t overthink it. Don’t bring anything. But once we walk from that door, you better be prepared do everything I tell you to do.”
I nod. I don’t know what this will entail. I don’t know how we will get out from the front gates, but I do know that I am going to trust Mark.
This might be my only chance.
Chapter 42
Dear Max
By the time you or someone else finds this letter, I will hopefully be back home with my son. I know that you may be angry, but I need you to understand a few things. You stole me. If you had been anyone else, I wouldn’t have sat back for so long and allowed myself to be sucked into this web of mess we have created. I know you love me. On some level I love you too, but seeing you with someone else secured my lingering doubts that I was giving up a life with my son for a life of heartbreak and pain. I deserve better than that. You want a queen. That can be anyone. Stop trying to form your perfect person and just go with it. Use one of the women you have had since we met and make her your queen. It can’t be me. I can’t live a life locked in a big house with shiny things when I have a family on the other side of the gates. Let me go. Let us go. Let me raise our baby in a happy normal life. I belong with my son. I want you to be happy, but holding someone captive is not the way to make that happen, I think you know that. Be happy. Make yourself happy, be happy with what you have, and don’t become like your father. You are
already so much like him. I think that’s part of what scares me about you most. You don’t even know how dark you are going to become in a life like this. I wish you nothing but the best, and I hope you can let me go and don’t do anything to cause me further pain than you already have. You were never my forever.
-O
I probably didn’t have to write him a letter, but some strange nagging feeling was eating at me, that I owed him that much. He had taken really good care of me. He had kept me safe for all of these months.
As promised two hours later there was a knock on my door. Mark was there with a smile.
“This might get a little rough, I am going to pretend to take you hostage, and no one will shoot you because you belong to Max. Just play along.”
I nod, he removes his gun from his holster and takes me by the arm. When we reach the top of the stairs looks around to see if anyone is below, he has the gun to my side.
When we reach the bottom and walk out the front door no one notices. He’s a guard, no one would pay him much attention. It isn’t until we get to his car that he leans in “start acting scared, there are men on duty out here. Once we get in the car we are good. It’s bullet proof glass and no one can stop us. He drives a freaking hummer, no wonder.
I notice the other men, they are now watching us. I start to cry. “Let me go” I play along with the charade
I hear yelling as Mark breaks out in a run towards his vehicle.
When we are safely inside, he puts the gun between us, never letting it go.
He starts the car, drives straight forward. He pulls out his work radio “open the gates or she dies.”
No one does anything for a brief moment.
“It’s not going to work.” I am getting worried.
As soon as the words leave my mouth the gates open. The men standing on the other side with guns drawn, aimed at us, step back and put their weapons down. Mark opens the window and shoves his radio outside.
“I worry about tracking devices”
When we reach the second gate and Mark picks up the speed his phone rings.
He answers “yeah? Yup I’ve got her. Let’s wait until we are out of Mexico before we start that.” He hangs up
“Ryan?” I ask
He nods.
It takes us 3 hours to hit the boarder. He has my passport which allows us to get back through. I wonder why no one ever stopped the big truck at the boarder when Hector had me?
“I hope Max isn’t mad at me. I hope he is okay.” I say
Mark looks at me but says nothing.
A few more hours later we are pulling into town.
Suddenly I start to panic.
“You can’t bring me home. I can’t go there.”
I start to shake, I am crying. Gasping for breath. I am having another panic attack. I haven’t had one in a long time.
“Max is going to be so mad. I can’t go home. I need to go back. Take me back Mark. Take me back before he gets back and sees me gone.”
I know it’s not rational
Mark pulls out his phone “Ryan, we need to go to plan C, she’s not ready.” He listens to whatever Ryan is telling him on the other end.
Mark hangs up and turns his hummer around. We drive a large building that I know houses condo apartments.
Mark gets out, and walks around to my side and opens the door. He offers me his hand. He smiles, it’s genuine. I accept his hand
“I had a feeling we might end up going with plan C.” he explains
I don’t ask what plan C is. I just follow him. We enter the lobby, it’s empty. We climb onto the elevator and he enters the floor number.
When we reach the floor and climb out, I smell cookies. It smells like home.
Mark knocks on the only door on the floor.
An older woman answers, she must be well into her 50’s. Her face lights up when she sees us.
“Mark!” she’s excited to see him, he leans in and gives her a kiss on the cheek and a hug.
She steps away and looks at me, her smile never faltering, “You must be Olivia.” She reaches out her hand for me. I take it.
“I am Sarah, I am Mark’s mom.” She explains
I nod. Sarah steps out of the doorway, allowing Mark and I to enter.
We walk in, Mark takes my hand and pulls me toward the couch and gestures.
He walks into the kitchen behind me and I hear ice clinking in glasses, he brings in a glass of water I take it, thanking him as he takes the seat beside me.
Sarah comes in and sits in the chair across from me.
“So Olivia, we decided on Plan C I see.” She’s still smiling. Her smile is relaxing, I feel weird in my stomach. The emotion is welcome
I nod “I don’t really know what Plan C is.” I admit
“Well, you were kidnapped, you were sold as a slave and you were in a relationship with you captor. You are not ready to go home correct?” She asks
Another nod
“Plan C is I am a therapist. I treated Dean and Adam’s mothers. They lived with me, while they readjusted to live outside of captivity. I helped them learn how to take baby steps outside the door. I taught them how to be free again. In your case, I think we have a slightly different case, I believe you are experience something called Stockholm syndrome, have you ever heard of it?”
I shake my head no I had never heard of it.
“Well.” She crosses her legs. “Stockholm Syndrome is a very common condition for those who have been captured. Those experiencing it, have been in situations where they feel they no longer have control over their own fates. They feel intense fear of potential harm and they believe that all control lies with the person who has captured them. They learn to survive by developing a relationship with their captors which can be as simple as feeling sympathy for the captor, or developing romantic feelings. “
“Now, I have been informed on your case fairly thoroughly, I do understand that your captor did love you. He did take care of you, but I also understand that he still did not release you, I am privy to several situations that have occurred including the fact that you are newly expecting.” She pauses
I put my hand on my stomach. In all of this I briefly forgot that I am pregnant. I feel the panic rising again. I start to cry and gasp
Sarah talks a little louder, her voice is calm but it’s full of authority “Olivia, I want you to tell me exactly what you are thinking right now?”
I look at her, I look behind her at the Monet picture behind her. I gasp.
She looks behind her at my line of sight “you know Monet?” She asks
“Yes.” I whisper “He’s my favorite
“Mine as well.” She replies. “Now what are you thinking about?”
“Max, this baby belongs to Max, he’s going to be angry. He will come back for the baby. I don’t want him to hate me.”
I am honest with her. I don’t want Max to be upset with me.
“Why did you decide that you wanted to go with Mark and return home?”
“Landon.” I manage after several moments
“You wanted to see your son, but what else?”
“I knew he would never let me go if he knew we were finally having a baby.”
“He never would have let you go Olivia. You would have been giving him what he wanted so badly. I think one of things that is important for your recovery is knowing exactly how you were chosen. Did anyone tell you?”
“Stella told me she wanted Dean so she made the arrangements.” I say
Sarah shakes her head and Mark makes a noise beside me
“No, Stella did not have that kind of pull. Although she helped to locate you, Max found out about you when Dean was in Mexico looking for Connor and his mother. He and Max were friends as children. Michael having been a friend of Matthew and all. Dean spoke of you in high detail, Max wanted that. He choose to allow Stella to stay, but their agreement was for Stella to find a way to lure you away from Dean.”
Max lied to me about
all of that?
“Why would he lie?”
“Well, I personally believe that he knew that you would not leave Dean on your own, and he became obsessed with the idea of you based on how often Dean talked about you while he was there securing the release of his mother and Adam’s mother. He saw pictures. He knew how much Dean loved you and he wanted that. Max is not a healthy individual, he has always been under his father’s thumb. Being primed for taking over his father’s business. He thought you were beautiful, he knew you had a beautiful son, and he wanted what Dean had. He could have found someone else, but instead he took the easy way out and took what someone else had.”
“Were Dean and Stella really together?” I ask
“No.” Mark and Sarah say together
“Oh.”
“Was that the only reason you stayed, because you thought that Dean was with Stella.”
I think about her question
“No, I think that it made it easier to give Max the control and let go of mine, because I don’t know that I could survive feeling like I had somehow betrayed both Dean and Landon.”
“That makes sense.” Sarah says
“So how does this all work?” I ask her
“Well, this works however you want it to work. You will stay here, we will work together every day. I will be your new best friend for the time being and as you grow ready, we will reintroduce you to the people you love. I think that we should start small, Alexis, your mom and brother and work up to Dean and Landon.”
I frowned “Do you think it’s okay to wait on them?”
She nods “I really do, I think they will be the most emotional, and I think you have a lot to work on, but I also think you are stronger than you realize and you will get there before you know it.”
“Is Landon okay?” I ask
“He’s beautiful, but he also is reminded of you every single day and I think he will be excited to finally meet his mommy again.”
“Okay.” I stand up “let’s do this.”
Chapter 43
It takes me a month of constant personal therapy with Sarah. She teaches me how to get out of the house. We go shopping and I have a panic attack in the middle of the store, but she brings me back. I end up needing a prescription for the attacks, but that is the least of my worries.
Sweetest Torture (Sweetest Kill Book 2) Page 12
