Returned (Book 2 of the Stolen Collection)

5

I woke up hearing a rustling outside the bedroom door. It was so close, but I couldn't tell what it was.

I started to sneak towards the door to get a peak when I heard a loud snap. I looked under the door and saw Blake standing over two men looking into a crate.

"One of these appear to be damaged, sir." One of the men said. Blake nodded and held out his hand for whatever it was.

The man reached into the crate and lifted something up to Blake, but I still couldn't see what it was. I tried to move over to the other side of the door when a pair of boots stepped into my line of vision and the door slammed open into my face.

"Ouch!" I grabbed my nose and felt his hand on my arm yanking me up to stand. I looked up at yet another unfamiliar face. He pulled me behind him out into the hall where Blake and the two other men stood in front of the now closed crate.

"Sir," the man said as he moved me in front of himself as though he were presenting me. "We have an audience."

"I see that," Blake stepped closer and took my arm from the other man's hand. "If you will excuse me for a moment, I have a pest problem to deal with."

I felt a pang in my chest as he spoke. He started to lead me down the stairs without a word. I stayed silent and held my now bleeding nose until we reached the second floor.

"Go," he said as he opened a door. He looked at my bloody hand on my nose and waited for me to go into the room. It looked like a hotel room inside, a beige bed in the corner with an empty night table and desk.

"No," I said quietly as I pulled my arm from him. He raised a brow, still waiting. "I'm not going in there."

"I'm not sure where you think you heard a question in that, but I wasn't asking." His voice was calm and even as he spoke, as though he were telling me something as simple as the weather.

I took another step back out of his reach. If I let him lock me in there, I didn't know when anyone would come back for me. If he'd let anyone come for me.

"You still seem to think you have a choice." Blake sighed, he was clearly becoming annoyed with me. "Either go into this room or I'll make you wish that you had. I'm not-"

"Please," I interrupted him. "Don't make me go in there."

I watched his eyes soften for a moment as he looked at me. For a moment, he was just the way I remembered him. It only lasted a moment before he grabbed my wrist and pulled me into the room. The blood coming from my nose began dripping onto the carpet as soon as he pulled my hand away.

"I told you it wasn't a choice." He glared before slamming the door. I heard the lock click and fear immediately crept through me.

I grabbed one of the pillow cases from the bed and held it to my nose as I looked around the room. It was completely empty, not even a bathroom. The walls were plain, without a window or painting. Their sole purpose was to remind me I was completely trapped.

When will I be allowed out?

I opened the night table and found something I had almost let myself forget about. The good wife book sat smiling up at me, taunting me from it's home in the drawer. 'How To Be His Perfect Woman' printed there on the cover.

The last time I'd read that book, Blake tore it down the spine and told me it was garbage, but this wasn't the same Blake I used to know. He was dark and made it clear didn't care for me anymore.

It probably wouldn't be in the room if he didn't want me to follow it. He told me it would be different this time.

I hesitantly opened the wretched book and wondered how many copies they had laying around. I searched for the place where I had left off.

20. She is always obedient

21. She will realize her golden rule should be "only speak when spoken to." No man wants to hear the ramblings of a woman after a long day of work.