Magda was reviewing details on her laptop in an office at Miklos’ head office where he had graciously allowed the girls to work until they got their own place set up.“You’re actually moving in with him and his mom?” Sienna was baffled. “His mom?”“She needs Ares and I love her already,” she shrugged.“Your mom is going to lose her mind.” Dimi didn’t look up from her screen. “You have refused to move back home with her for the last eight years and one day after meeting Ares’ mom you’re shacking up with her.”“Ares mother never abused me growing up.” Magda didn’t look up from her own computer.“True.” Darya grunted her approval.“Your mother doesn’t consider it abuse.” Dimi commented.“My mother loves me,” Magda sighed, “and I love her but I will never live with her again. I try to

 Magda opened her eyes slowly and blinked. Her head ached, her vision was blurry and her mouth tasted dry and metallic. She tried to swallow but her tongue felt stuck to her palate. She attempted to sit up and her elbows sunk into a pillow-soft mattress yet her body felt pinned to it. The room was dark and only a small filtering of light from a lamp on a table in the far corner.She held a hand to her head and tried again to sit up. “Where the hell am I?” She tried to clear her throat as the words stuck. “Hello?” she called out.A door opened on the other side of the room from where she was facing made her turn her head in the direction but her sudden movement had her head spinning dangerously and it fell back against the pillows and her eyes closed.A man’s voice spoke softly, “Magda, try not to move too quickly. The ketamine in your system is going to make you feel dizzy and nauseous. I have left you water and y

 The next morning Magda woke to the sound of someone puttering in her room and she opened her eyes to see Estella leaving a small tray on the same stand the water had been the day before. She didn’t even look towards the bed where Magda lay but simply set the tray down and then walked back out of the room. The locking mechanism mocking Magda’s freedom.She couldn’t help but feel sad for the loss the woman had been through. The words Alvar had spoken the night before had kept Magda up long into the evening, even after he had walked her back to her bedroom and locked her in.She had cried long and hard over the death of the man who had been her personal trainer for eighteen months. He had made a mistake and while she couldn’t forgive him for what he’d done, he certainly hadn’t deserved to die.Hugging her pillow tight she rolled onto her belly and resumed the position she’d spent much of her night in; bur

 Magda walked along the shore trying to keep her tears at bay. She told herself there were women in the world who were kidnapped who were in far worse situations than the one she was in but she hated this. She hated everything about it. She wanted to go home.This morning after her breakfast, Alvar had taken her into an office space and made her sit quietly on a leather sofa while he worked on his computer. The way he moved his fingers across the keyboard spoke of a man who had decades of practice. He had three monitors in front of him, all positioned away from her view. His face was set and serious and he worked silently. Each time she’d opened her mouth to speak, he’d held up a finger to silence her.Then he had taken a phone call and his rapid-fire Italian was far too quick for her to follow the conversation. All she knew was whoever was on the other end of the phone was probably debating suicide based on the tone of Alvar’s voice beca

  Magda retreated back to her bedroom after sitting on the beach for two hours contemplating her situation. She left the door open and grimaced as Estella followed her into the space. “Estella, I’d rather be on my own.” The woman had been shooting hateful glances all afternoon from the house, watching her like a hawk and likely reporting her every breath to Alvar. “Alvar called and told me to let you know he will be very late arriving this evening. He has an engagement on the mainland. I want to know where you want to eat dinner. Here or in the dining room or on the patio.” “I don’t care one way or the other,” she moved to lay on the bed. “Tell me where to go and I’ll go.” She reached for the glass of water on her nightstand and carelessly she hit it and it smashed to the hardwood floor. “Son of a hobbit!” Mag