Within His Reach

Chapter 26

BRIAR POV

"Briar, meet Sevina Nevretti."

The woman staring back at me had a grim expression on her face yet had been dressed in clothes similar to mine and if it wasn't for the deathly emotion sinking through her face, I'd say she was a carbon copy of myself.

"Sevina will live here now. She is the ward of Jona so I expect the two of you to spend much of your time together."

I stared blankly at Theo, confusion evident on my face.

"I don't understand."

He sighed, moving toward me. Although I kept my gaze fixed on him, I could see in my peripheral vision that Sevina remained tense. I didn't blame her, I would be too if I hadn't been so used to Theo's games.

"Think of it as a token of my gratitude for your improving behavior. I've given you a friend."

If there was one thing I knew Theo would never be able to get over it was his absurd fixation on the belief that women were to be bargained and bought. A woman was not a gift but a person. The thought still irritated me yet I knew fighting him on it was futile. Some things never changed and this was one of them. It would be easier on both of us to bite our tongues and make the most of this new freedom. After all, I now had company and Sevina had her life. I was certain that if this did not work out to Theo's vision she'd end up dead. She was only useful to Theo for a single purpose, if she could not fulfill it then she'd have to go.

"Thank you, Theo."

Not long after the two of us had been escorted to the library where we were left alone to 'bond'. It didn't take long for my new friend to start pacing the room, plotting ways we could escape.

"What if we just ran? They're bound to take us out eventually and I'm sure if we went to a restaurant we could slip out of the bathroom window and-"

"There would be guards stationed everywhere, including outside of any windows. Trust me. Theo is thorough in his security."

She frowned and remained silent for a minute before pitching her next idea. Surprise- it was no better than the last one.

"Well we could drug him? I'm sure there are dirty guards here and Theo has enemies everywhere. We could get our hands on some poison or something. it doesn't even need to be strong just enough to knock him out so we could sneak away."

"Again. Theo is very thorough in his security. Trust me there are no 'dirty' guards. Even if we did drug him they'd act anyway without his order. They'd be even more alert if their Don suddenly collapsed and we'd be the primary subjects. And trust me, you don't want to know what would happen when he'd wake up."

I finally gave up on my useless hopes of day dreaming, realizing that I wasn't going to get any peace and quiet whilst Sevina was squawking like a parrot.

"Look, my family is dead. Or at least they will be soon if not already. I do not care what happens to me but I will not live this life. I would rather be tortured to death then live like you have. The pampered little princess of the mighty Theo Emberson. Have you no shame?"

Oh was she far from the truth.

"Pampered? You have no right to criticize me. I have been anything but pampered. You think because I'm sitting here now, with you, in some pretty dress that I haven't felt my own pain at his hand? My family was killed in front of me. Then I was locked away until I was forced to marry on my 18th birthday where I was raped that same night. Since then my life has been nothing but a blur of pain and hate. Only hours ago I was on my knees, scrubbing blood out of the floors whilst it burned my skin like acid. I suggest you stop this now because you only have a matter of time before Theo finds out about your plots and trust me, whatever you think about your current situation- it is better than getting on his bad side. Do not underestimate him."