Joseph Fallen (The Estate Series) (11 page)

Seemingly hesitant to answer, Connor breathed out
heavily.
 
“I shouldn’t be talking to
you about this, Mrs. Carmichael.
 
If
Joseph found out…”

“Arianna.
 
Please, just use my first name.
 
Calling me by his surname feels like a punch to the stomach these days.”

He looked over to her, sympathy evident in the clear green
of his eyes.
 
“If it’s just us, I’ll
call you whatever you wish, however, in his presence or the presence of his
men, I have to call you by a name that is proper.
 
His obsession with you is
upsetting.
 
I understand a man
loving his wife, but…”

Placing a hand on his, she silenced his thought.
 
“I know – trust me, I know.
 
But there’s nothing that can be done
about it.
 
That is, unless you want
to turn your head so that I can leave.”
 
Wriggling her brows at him, she caused him to smile brighter.
 

“It would cost me my life to do so.”

A gasp escaped her before she could contain it.
 
Even though she’d seen what her husband
was capable of, it still surprised her to hear it.
 
“No.
 
Then that won’t work.
 
Maybe I’ll just wait for him to pass out
one night and sneak away when you’re off duty.”

“Please don’t.”
 

His response was so immediate it worried her.
 
“Why not?”

He chewed at his bottom lip for a moment before answering.
 
“When he visits you at night, he excuses
me from the suite, but his personal guard, Emory, is always there with
him.
 
I’d hate for you to run into
his guard, there is something off about him – something I don’t
trust.”
 
He quieted for a second,
appearing to decide how he would say what he wanted to tell her.
 
“I know your husband hurts you, I’ve
seen the bruises and other marks, but he still loves you.
 
If Emory were to get his hands on you,
you wouldn’t live to see the next morning.”

Taking a moment to think about what he’d just divulged,
Arianna looked out towards the mouth of the cave before speaking again.
 
“Why is everyone so afraid of
Joseph?
 
He is one man, I don’t
understand how he came to be the most powerful, especially in a group of men
who seem to lack any sense of morality.”

“Your husband is a very intelligent man.
 
He keeps the network working together
instead of against each other.
 
Each
man has become wealthier as a result.
 
In a group such as that, money speaks.
 
Joseph has also found a way to keep the
authorities from investigating their crimes.
 
That alone is enough for each man to
defend the organization and to protect Joseph if it came to it.
 
Fighting him would mean fighting
hundreds of men.
 
It’s not worth the
risk.”

Her head swam with the information Connor gave her.
 
She’d known that Joseph’s
business
was large, but she’d never
imagined the true extent of his reach.
 
“The authorities?”
 
A
humorless laugh escaped her.
 
“So even
if I were to escape…”

“You’d be found and returned to your husband.”

A golden curtain of hair tumbled forward as she brought her
face to her hands.
 
Finally lifting
her face, she stood up and walked out into the sunlight.
 
She allowed the heat to dry the tears
that fell along her cheeks and could feel Connor when he walked up behind
her.
 
He stood so close, his body
heat rolled over her back.
 
After a
few moments, she asked, “How did you end up a killer?”

At first she thought he wouldn’t answer, but then she heard
a resigned sigh just before he said, “I was abandoned when I was young and I
grew up on the streets.
 
It was a
bad area – kill or be killed.
 
I’m good at what I do and when I was found by a group of men, they employed
and educated me.”

Turning to him, her eyes met with the broad expanse of his
chest.
 
Musk and a touch of spice,
his scent enveloped her before she could step back to look up into his
face.
 
“Do you agree with what my
husband is doing to me?
 
Is it something
you’re okay with?”

“No.”
 
Hard,
assured, and instantaneous, his response surprised her.

“Then why do you work for him?”

His lips twitched and he appeared uncomfortable with how he
should answer.
 
“I accepted the job
before I knew what Joseph would become.
 
When I started here, he wasn’t doing the things he does now. I blame
Emory’s influence for that.
 
I stay
now because I don’t have any choice but to stay.”

“Why don’t you have a choice?”

“Because I won’t leave you here alone.”

Taking a few steps back, her brow furrowed as she tried to
understand what he was saying.
 
“You
still have a choice.”

His eyes left hers and he looked out over the water behind
her.
 
She continued staring into the
endless green, patiently waiting for his response.

His eyes finally meeting hers once more, he said, “I won’t
leave you here to die and taking you from here would only end in death for us
both.
 
In time, that might change,
and I’ll stick around just in case the opportunity presents itself; but for
now, we have to stay.”
 
He paused
for a moment, his eyes moving back to glance at the water.
 
Softly, he added,
 
“I’m sorry, Arianna, but there is no
choice.”

“Tell me you love me, Arianna.
 
Remind me how you can’t live without
me!”
 
The hard slap of knuckles
against her cheek and she fell against a wall in the corner of the room.

Crouched down in her corner, she attempted to avoid Joseph’s
hand when he reached out for her again.
 
It was futile to fight and she knew that; but even though her mind told
her to endure, her instincts told her to fight.
  
His fingers tangled into her hair
and the cold stone tile rubbed against her skin when he dragged her across the
floor.
 
When they reached the bed,
he used his other hand to grasp the shackles he’d attached to the bed months
ago.
 

But, it wasn’t every night.
 

Over the time that he’d practiced his abusive ritual against
her, there were nights when he didn’t show and she was left in a restless
sleep, never knowing if she would hear the click of the lock or the creak of
the door as he entered.
 

She was tired.
 
Bags hung heavily beneath her eyes and she’d lost weight from lack of
eating.
 
It took more and more
makeup each time Joseph held a party at their home; each time demanding she
present herself as nothing more than his loving wife.
 
The party attendees had changed over
time.
 
What had once been mutual
friends soon became the men of his network and the women they brought with
them.
 
Arianna spent most of those
nights blending into shadow, not interested in conversing with the evil Joseph
kept for company.

The soft click of metal and Arianna felt the pinch of a
shackle as it closed around her ankle.
 
Falling heavily on the mattress, she pulled her arms under her and
braced herself for what she knew was to come.

. . .

The cold water rushed across her bare feet; a stream of ice
that helped soothe the broken skin at her ankles and contrasted sharply against
the heat of the sun that warmed her head and back.

“Your ankles look really bad today.
 
I’m not sure I can stay quiet about this
much longer.”
 
Connor sat on the
grass near the stream’s edge, mindlessly grabbing pebbles and tossing them into
the water.

She looked over at him, a sympathetic smile gracing her
features.
 
“You’d only be killed for
saying anything.
 
It’s been months
and he appears to be getting worse.
 
But at least his visits have become less frequent.
 
And when he does show up, sometimes he
loses the ability to, well…to finish.
 
He’s passed out a couple of times.”
 
A sad laugh escaping her, she added, “I’ve thought about bashing his
fucking head in when that happens, but then I remember Emory is in the living
room, and I’d rather not be left to whatever he would do if I killed Joseph.”

“Maybe I should just kill Emory.”
 
Bitterness dripped from Connor’s words.

“So that Joseph can replace him with another?
 
I’ve heard several voices in the living
room lately.
  
I think he’s
added to his personal security.
 
Maybe he’s pissed off someone as crazy as him and they’ll take care of
the problem.”

Connor looked out over the water.
 
“I could kill him, it would end things
for you.”

Arianna flicked her toes over a small rock in the
water.
 
“You’d die.”

An arrogant grin spread over his face.
 
“They’d have to catch me first.”

Turning towards him, she tried to smile, but it was a sad
attempt at best.
 
“It’s not worth
the risk.
 
How many men does he have
living over there now?”

“Hundreds.”

She nodded.
 
“Like I said, it’s not worth the risk.
 
Maybe he’ll grow tired of me; put me out
of my misery.”

“I wouldn’t waste much hope on that - he’s too focused on
getting you pregnant.
 
I don’t
understand it. Why would he want a child?”

Turning her gaze back to the babbling creek, she
sighed.
 
“He’s wanted one since we
got married.
 
He still believes he
loves me; he tells me so when he does the things he does.
 
I wonder sometimes if he believes a
child would make me love him again.
 
He’s a sick man…it’s such a shame because he was brilliant when we were
first married.”
 
Laughing, she
added, “Although, he never did have a lick of common sense.”

Connor chuckled at her comment.
 
“That’s usually the way it works.”
 
He grew thoughtful for a moment.
 
“It’s getting worse in his wing.
 
Drugs, parties, whores…”

Arianna closed her eyes.
 
She’d suspected the things Connor was
telling her, but hearing it confirmed only made it worse.
 
Stepping carefully over the wet stones, she
made her way over to where Connor sat.
 
Sitting beside him, she pulled her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms
around her legs before leaning into his side.
 
They’d become friends over the months
and she’d grown to trust in him as a friend and confidant.
 
She knew he was being driven crazy in
his knowledge of what happened to her some nights, but she’d never permit him
to do anything about it.
 
She cared
too much about him to let him waste his life in an attack against Joseph.

His arm went around her, pulling her closer against his
strong chest.
 
They sat quietly,
their eyes looking over the stream and field they walked to almost every
day.
 
It was a respite from the
prison, a hidden dream within the nightmare.

“At least we have this place, huh?
 
Somewhere we can escape, if only for a
few hours.”
 
Her voice was wistful
and soft.

Laying his head against hers, Connor hugged her closer.
 
She felt so small next to him, so soft
in comparison to the strength of his chest, his shoulders and his arms.
  
Lost in his scent and the feel of
him, she startled when he spoke again.

“I’ll steal you from him someday.”

She felt him kiss her softly on the top of her head, his
hand moving to smooth down her back.
 
She knew she should stop him, pull away and put distance between them,
but she yearned for a tender touch after so many months of abuse.
 

“I know you’ll take me away from here when you can.
 
Hopefully, I won’t be completely broken
when that occurs.”

. . .

She looked over his body, as it lay motionless on her mattress.
 
The sheets that were twisted around his
legs and his back moved slowly up and down while he slept.
  
It had been a year and a half, his
visits had become less frequent, but every now and then she was met with the
monster he’d become.
 
Until tonight,
it had been several months since she’d seen him, and she was taken by surprise
when he’d entered the room staggering over his own feet before laying down next
to her and falling asleep.
 
She’d
woken when he entered, but pretended that she hadn’t.
 
She was surprised he’d passed out beside
her, the typical pungent odor of alcohol permeating his hair, skin and
clothes.
 
She could hear Emory and a
group of men in the living room, laughing and carrying on.
 
And her bedroom was the last place she
wanted to be.

Slipping into her closet, she dressed herself in head to toe
black.
 
It was a new moon that night
and there were very few lights left on around the mansion.
 
Quietly, she unlatched the window,
opening it slowly before crawling outside.
 
She prayed Joseph wouldn’t wake up while she was gone, but she had grown
braver in the months since he’d started his abuse.
 
Once she was fully outside, she looked
back in and was gratified to hear him still breathing deeply on the bed.

Looking out over the shadowed yard, she crept low to the
ground until she’d reached the cover of the woods.
 
Moving quickly, she stumbled a few times
over top roots, but she knew the path so well, that she was able to find her
way to the stream where she spent her days.
 
Her breath came easily once she heard
the soft gurgle of rushing water and she moved to sit down on the rocks that
lined the edge of the creek.
 
Tears
falling from her eyes, she feared Joseph would wake while she was gone, but she
couldn’t bring herself to go back to the room where she knew he lay
sleeping.
 
When her eyes finally
dried, she wiped away the remnants from her cheeks and turned her face up into
the infinite, star-filled sky.
 
Silently,
she prayed that something would change; that maybe, she could awaken from whatever
twisted reality her life had become and discover that it all had been a dream.

The slight crunch of pebbles under a boot caused her to
jump.
 
“What are you doing out here,
Arianna?
 
If you’re caught…”

“I don’t care.”
 
Her words were unintentionally spiteful and curt.
 
“I don’t care about anything anymore,
Connor.
 
What’s the worst he can
do?
 
Beat me?”
 
She paused, a humorless chortle escaping
her before she added,
 
“He does that
already.
 
In fact, in the last few
months, it seems like that’s all he does.”

Connor didn’t move to approach her and his presence at her
back felt familiar, like when he’d first been assigned to her guard.
 
“Shit.”
 
His murmured swear surprised her, she’d
never heard or seen him behave with anything but absolute control over his
emotions and actions.
 
“At least,
come in the cave with me.”

“Why?
 
If they
notice I’m gone, that’s all it will take for him to punish me.
 
It won’t matter where I’m found.”
 

Finally, after a few awkward minutes, Connor sat down beside
her.
 
“How did you get out?
 
Emory had at least five men with
him.
 
More may have arrived after I
left.”

“A window.
 
Joseph passed out almost immediately when he arrived.
 
I left him sleeping in the room.
 
I just wanted to be out of there, away
from him, from that place.
 
Because,
here, I can pretend like it isn’t happening, that I didn’t make the mistake of
marrying a monster.
 
I can pretend
to be living a different life…” Tears again, but they weren’t accompanied by
the sobs of a distraught person.
 
Those tears had disappeared months ago and were replaced with ones
filled with frustration and anger.

Placing his arm around her shoulder, Connor used his other
hand to pull her chin around so that she faced him.
 
His thumb brushed over her cheek to wipe
away a tear when he said, “I wish there was a way to get you out of this.
 
I’ve been trying to come up with
something, but every action I could take would lead to more problems.
 
If I kill him, would you be able to
escape his men?
 
If I help you
escape, where would you go?
 
I’m angry
with myself for not having helped you leave when it first started, maybe then,
there would have been a chance.
 
But, over time, he’s grown stronger, pulled more people to his side.
 
He’s erected walls around you, ones that
I’m not sure even I could help you get around.”

Considering his words, Arianna didn’t immediately
respond.
 
Finally finding words
adequate to convey her thoughts, she said, “Years ago, I would have imagined it
impossible for my husband to become what he’s become; I would have fought tooth
and nail with any person who even suggested it could be possible.
 
But, looking back over the years, there
were signs…symptoms.
 
And I think
that’s what scares me the most.
 
His
madness wasn’t always there, it was gradual, a slow decay that snuck up on me,
that left me unsuspecting so that I could not act against it.
 
So, does that make me blind or stupid?”

His hand squeezed her shoulder and she leaned into him in
response.
 
His voice soothed her,
even though his words were utterly frightening in their truth.
 
“There’s a fine line between many
things; love and hate, light and dark, brilliance and madness.
 
Much like when the sun rises, the light
it gives still touches on the darkness that it destroys.
 
And it’s in that place, the moment
between sunrise and day and sunset and night, that is the scariest of all,
because they are so closely linked that one cannot always be distinguished from
the other.
 
From what you’ve told
me, it seems that Joseph has stood on that precipice for a long time. But I’ve
noticed that people who finally succumb to the dark - to evil - it’s not a
dramatic shift, it happens slowly and without warning.
 
However, in order for it to happen, they
had to have been straddling that line and therefore, the madness had been a
small part of him since the beginning because he was at a place where the two
halves touch.
 
You can’t blame
yourself for not seeing it.
 
You
loved him, you wanted to believe the illusion he created, but in that time, he
fell too far, allowing you to finally recognize what he may have been all
along.”