Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

Maisy stared at Jack as he slept. The last hour or so was absolutely horrible. Every word out of her mouth was a lie. She wasn't his wife. She'd never even met the man before Jason dragged him into her room and dumped him on the bed.

Her brother was awful. Terrifying. Nothing like the boy she'd looked up to when they were growing up. Somewhere along the way, he'd changed from the protective older brother to the monster he was today. And she was trapped.

It was true that their parents had been killed when she was only fifteen years old, and that her brother had moved in to care for her because she was a minor. Also, because she'd been out of her mind with grief.

Somehow, one year had turned into two, into five, into ten. And now, thirteen years later, she was still living in the house she'd grown up in with a brother who hated her.

For the most part, it was just the two of them all those years, with Paige and a few other daily staff members on the payroll. Though Jason did get married five years ago…but his wife had mysteriously disappeared just four months after she and Jason were married. Her brother claimed Martha had left him without a word, but Maisy wasn't convinced. She'd spent the night before Martha's disappearance with her sister-in-law, and she'd seemed…okay. Not super happy, as she'd admitted she and Jason were having some issues, but Martha was determined to work through them. She'd genuinely loved Maisy's brother, which made her disappearance all the more confusing.

As for Jason, instead of seeming heartbroken, he'd appeared…satisfied.

That was when Maisy's suspicions really started. She hadn't wanted to think Jason had anything to do with his wife's disappearance…but how could she not?

For years, she'd kept silent about what she'd seen the night Martha had supposedly left…but if she truly believed Jason's story, that he'd gone to bed next to his wife and when he'd woken up, she was just gone…

Then how did she explain his behavior that night?

Why had she kept the pictures she'd taken all those years ago, still carefully hidden?

Just in the last several months, as the drugs she'd been on for over a decade started to clear from her system, allowing her to think clearly for the first time in years…she'd begun to wonder about her parents' deaths, as well.

Jason had received a hefty life insurance payout after their parents died. Money he seemed to go through rather quickly. Then, three months after getting married, he'd finally been able to access additional money their parents had left to him in a trust.

Now that money was apparently long gone, as well. It was a pretty hefty sum, yet he'd managed to spend it all. If she had to guess, she'd say he ran through the last of his inheritance close to a year ago…around the time he started to ween Maisy off her meds. Started encouraging her to find a boyfriend.

But apparently his patience was wearing thin. Just two months ago, Jason began outright insisting she needed to get married. Of course, because she was old, fat, and ugly, he was going to find her a husband.

She hadn't expected him to literally drag in a stranger off the streets.

Maisy didn't know what her brother had done, or where he'd found Jack, but it seemed to be a stroke of unbelievably good luck for Jason that Jack had amnesia. The man didn't even know his last name wasn't Smith.

Her brother was smart; the story about them planning to renew their vows was ingenious. Maisy had no idea how Jason had planned to get Jack to marry her if he hadn't lost his memory, but because he had…it made things much easier.

Jason wanted her inheritance. The money her parents had left for her, sitting safely in a trust since their passing. She received a stipend every month—which her brother took—but he wanted the rest, and unfortunately for him, it had the same stipulation as Jason's own inheritance.

She couldn't access the money unless she was married.

It was why Jason had married Martha, she now realized. Maisy had learned there was a three-month waiting period after the marriage was official before the money could be released, and it hadn't been too long after that when poor Martha had supposedly "left."

Maisy had already come to the realization that her brother would have skipped her sham marriage to a stranger, and she'd probably be dead right now, if it wasn't for the fact that upon her death, her inheritance wouldn't go to her brother—it would go to charity. Her parents had been eccentric, but also very clear in their wishes as far as distribution of their assets. They knew that money could make people do terrible things.

But Maisy didn't think they'd ever believe it could make their own son do such awful things to get his hands on their millions.

Now Jason was forcing her to get married so he could gain access to her money.

Maisy wanted to stand up to him. Wanted to go to the police with her suspicions. But her brother terrified her. He had a lot of nefarious friends. People who wouldn't hesitate to break the law. People he'd probably hired to kill Martha…and maybe even their parents. People who'd probably kidnapped poor Jack.

Jason was a greedy asshole, and Maisy had no idea how to get out from under his thumb.

She had no college education, no friends, no driver's license or money of her own—no way of escaping his clutches. No matter where she went, he'd find her. And the second she signed her name on a marriage certificate, the clock was ticking for her poor husband…and probably for her too.

Three months. That's how long she had before every cent her parents had left her would be under Jason's control.

And she'd be expendable.

As would Jack.

Turning her attention back to the man resting on the bed, Maisy studied him. He was exceptionally good-looking. She guessed he was in his thirties. Built. His stubble enhanced his square jawline rather than hiding it. And the glasses? She was a sucker for a man who wore them as well as Jack did. Back in high school, the last time she'd had any interest in boys, she'd always been drawn to the smart, nerdy-looking guys. Not that Jack looked like a nerd. Far from it. But the glasses took him from handsome to crazy hot. She'd also caught a glimpse of a tattoo on his right shoulder.

In short, he was way out of her league, and there was no way a man like him would tie himself to a woman like her if he didn't already think they were married.

Which brought up another issue…her lack of sexual experience. Thank God she wasn't a virgin. That would be impossible to explain away when they'd supposedly been married for two years.

She'd had sex exactly once, not long before her parents had died. She'd been young, too young, and sneaking around had felt liberating. She'd felt so grown up at the time. But the experience had been awful. Was over in minutes and had hurt horribly.

Then her parents had been killed and her brother moved back into their family home and before she'd realized what was happening, Jason had taken over her life. Had arranged for her to be homeschooled and earn her GED, sequestered her away from the few friends she'd had, and had brought in a doctor who kept her sedated with drugs, at first to manage her grief, then allegedly to help her deal with stress. And she hadn't complained. It was easier to just go with the flow, and the drugs helped her avoid thinking about everything she'd lost .

She sighed. Jack would discover they hadn't been intimate when she balked at sleeping with him. How the hell Jason thought she could make this man believe they'd been married for two years was beyond her.

"Maisy? Come here."

As if thinking about her brother had conjured him out of thin air, Maisy turned toward the door.

"Did you hear me? Now ."

Sighing, Maisy nodded and turned back toward Jack. He was still sleeping. Without thought, she reached out and gently took his glasses off his face and placed them on the small table next to the bed, so they wouldn't get crushed if he turned over, before walking toward her brother.

As soon as she was within reach, he grabbed her upper arm in a cruel grasp and hauled her out of the room. He closed the door softly, then dragged her downstairs and toward his office.

Maisy hated the room. It used to be her dad's, and once upon a time she'd had wonderful memories of sitting on the sofa, playing while her father worked. Or sharing the oversized armchair with her mom while she read to her.

But now, the room was filled with bad memories and pain. Her brother liked to bring her there to yell at her. To tell her how stupid she was, how lucky she was that he was around to manage her life. Remind her that she'd be homeless if it wasn't for him. He also had a tendency, more so in the last few years, to use physical force to get his point across. Slaps, shoves, and he particularly loved pinching her, bruising her skin.

The brother she used to know was nothing but a memory, and in his place was this cruel, greedy man who thought he was entitled to whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted it.

"We need to get our stories straight," he said as soon as the office door shut. "Tell me what you talked about. What you've already told him."

"This isn't going to work," she said with a small shake of her head.

Pain burst in her cheek when Jason smacked her with his palm.

"It'll work if you want it to," he growled, then got in her face as he squeezed her upper arm hard enough that Maisy knew there would be bruises on her skin later. "You owe me," Jason told her. "I wasted my entire fucking life coming back here to make sure you were okay after Mom and Dad died. I gave up my dreams to babysit you. And we need the money you'll get for marrying this guy."

Maisy didn't dare show the doubt she was feeling on her face. She'd learned over the years to not show emotion, to hide what she was thinking from her brother. She really had no idea how Jason had managed to spend not only the life insurance payouts, but his trust money as well. The amount had been in the millions.

"Besides," Jason said, letting go of her arm and giving her a shove away from him. "It's not like you need the money. It's just sitting there gathering dust, and I'll be damned if it goes to charity. Mom and Dad worked hard for that cash, it would be a slap in their faces for it to go to strangers."

Maisy resisted the urge to rub her arm. That was one more thing her brother loved; proof that he'd hurt her. "He asked questions that I didn't know how to answer," she admitted .

"Like what?" Jason asked.

"How old he was."

Her brother waved his hand in the air as if brushing off her concern. "Doesn't matter. Just tell him he's thirty-six or something."

"He's gonna be suspicious when there aren't any clothes or IDs or even a toothbrush of his own in the bathroom," Maisy warned.

"Way ahead of you. I've arranged to get some shit brought in. Remember, I told him that you guys had been having a rough patch. If nothing else, just tell him you decided not to move back in together until after the ceremony."

"But isn't he still going to want his own stuff? Or to see where he was living?" Maisy asked. This plan was horrible. How in the world did Jason think they could pull this off?

"Shit, Maisy, don't be so goddamn annoying. Figure it out! Right, sorry, you're too fucking stupid to do that. Fine—say that he lived in Spokane or something, somewhere that isn't too close, and the place burned down. So all he owns is what's here. He just moved back in right before his hiking accident."

Maisy stared at her brother. He was sitting at their father's desk now, and she was standing in front of it as if she were a kid being reprimanded by the principal or something. He had an ability to make her feel small, and she hated it. Hated him .

The thought startled her. She'd spent her life giving Jason the benefit of the doubt. Brushing off her concerns about him even as he got rougher, scarier. After all, he was her brother . The only blood relative she had left. And he had taken care of her, had been there for her when she'd been at her lowest.

But she knew that wasn't enough to excuse his behavior toward her. Not in the least.

And here she was, a grown-ass adult, living under Jason's thumb.

In her defense, Jason wasn't the kind of man you defied. She'd learned that well over the years. But kidnapping a stranger to force him to marry her, just to get access to her inheritance…it was unbelievably crazy. The monthly stipend she received was generous. It went straight into Jason's account and was more than enough for most people to live on comfortably. But now that he'd blown through his own inheritance, his greed had obviously gotten the better of him.

She hadn't been around Jack more than an hour or two, but she already had a feeling he wouldn't be fooled by any of her brother's stories, not for long. It was only a matter of time before he figured out that something was very wrong. It was possible he'd get his memory back too. And when he did, he'd be gone so fast it would make her head spin.

Which was the main reason Jason wanted them married so quickly. It didn't matter if he left…as long as they were married for at least three months, her inheritance would be released.

But in the back of her mind, Maisy knew that Jason had no intention of ever letting Jack go. If he was dead, he couldn't go to the cops with any accusations that he'd been kidnapped and forced to marry a stranger.

"Right, so what else do I need to figure out for you?" Jason sneered .

Maisy didn't want to be here. Didn't want to be having this conversation, but she did need help. She wasn't good at lying. Never had been. "What do I tell him he does for a living? He's bound to ask. Wonder if he has any work friends he should invite to the ceremony this weekend."

"Hmmm," Jason mused. Then he snapped his fingers. "Bounty hunter."

"What?"

"Bounty hunter," he repeated. "They're loners. He never got too close to anyone because in his profession, that wouldn't be smart. And you were a stay-at-home-wife. It's not like you can do much of anything, anyway."

His barb hit its mark. Jason always complained that she did nothing but sit around the house, but it wasn't as if she'd been given the opportunity to do anything else. Having a job meant possibly making friends, and that wouldn't do. It would mean people asking questions about why an almost-thirty-year-old woman was still living with her older brother.

And that was a good question. Over the years, her brother had done a great job of convincing her—and others—that she was fragile. And when necessary, he used drugs to keep her from caring too much about what was going on around her. But when he'd stopped insisting she take her pills every morning, her newfound clarity came not only with suspicions about her brother, but also a glaring truth…

She was ashamed of herself.

She should've left long before now. Should've gone to the police the second she had suspicions about her sister-in-law and her parents. But she didn't have access to her money, had no friends to help her, and while she was close to the staff in the house, especially Paige, she refused to put them in danger by enlisting their help to escape.

And now there was Jack. Maisy knew without a doubt if she didn't go along with the scheme her brother had come up with, Jack would pay the price. And if she did anything right in the world, it would be to protect the innocent stranger upstairs in her bed.

Jason continued giving her answers to questions that Jack would inevitably ask. And while on the outside it looked as if Maisy was listening, her mind frantically wandered. She couldn't pull this off for three months. There was no way.

But the ugly truth was, she only had to string Jack along until his signature was on a marriage license.

During a lull in the ridiculous stories Jason was spewing, Maisy blurted, "How would this have worked if he didn't have amnesia?" She couldn't stop thinking about that. It wasn't as if people actually had shotgun weddings anymore, and if someone had kidnapped her and told her that she had to marry someone, she would've laughed in their face.

"I was going to give him one chance to do as I asked," Jason told her with a straight face. "If he refused, I would've had to use more drastic measures to convince him."

"Like what?" Maisy reluctantly asked when he paused.

Jason grinned. "It's not like you need all your fingers."

Maisy stared at him in shock.

Her brother laughed. Laughed .

Yes, she was an idiot for giving him the benefit of the doubt for so long.

"If that didn't work…" He shrugged. "Having the barrel of a gun pressed against your temple goes a long way toward making someone see the benefits of signing their name on a piece of paper."

Maisy felt sick. She couldn't believe she was related to this man. Someone who was so ruthless and coldhearted.

"All we need is his signature on that marriage certificate. After that…" He stared at Maisy for a long moment. "You need to keep him compliant. If he suspects what's happening, it won't end well for him."

Maisy swallowed hard and nodded.

"Good. Now get out. You're making my head hurt."

Maisy turned toward the door without another word. She felt sick inside. She didn't know what to do. If she admitted to Jack what was going on, he'd leave in a heartbeat…if Jason even let him out of the house, which she doubted. But if she went along with her brother's scheme, she was as bad as he was.

"Maisy?"

At the door, she turned to look back at her brother.

"Don't fuck this up. You won't like the consequences if you do. And once we have this money, you can get your own place. I know you'll like that."

Oh, he was good. The old Maisy would be thrilled at the bait he'd just dangled in front of her. But now that her eyes were finally opened, now that the fog of the drugs had faded, screw an apartment of her own. All she could think of was getting the hell away from the evil that was her brother. Getting out of the state.

She nodded obediently because it was what was expected of her.

"Good. Glad we're on the same page. And, Maise?"

She wished he'd just shut up and let her leave. She needed some time to think. To try to figure out a way to save not only herself, but Jack as well. He might be a stranger, but when he'd touched her, she'd felt…a connection.

He didn't deserve what was happening to him. She might be complicit in a lot of things her brother had done, but she'd do whatever she could to help her "husband," no matter what the consequences turned out to be.

"When he asks questions you're too dumb to answer with something convincing, suck his dick and spread your legs. Sex works wonders as a distraction."

Bile rose in Maisy's throat, and she quickly walked through the door and shut it quietly behind her.

She leaned against it and shut her eyes, her mind spinning. For the first time in years, she wished her parents hadn't been wealthy. Maybe if they hadn't had millions of dollars in the bank, they wouldn't be dead. She'd be married for real, with a family, and her brother wouldn't have turned into a monster. Money had its perks, but she wouldn't wish her life on anyone.

"Hey there, sexy."

The three words had Maisy's eyes popping open and pushing away from the door.

Don Coffey stood way too close to her, leering. He was one of the many men Jason "worked with"…and someone who had always given Maisy the creeps.

"Jason's in there," she said, gesturing toward the office with her hand.

"Thanks. You want to meet up later?"

Maisy shuddered. Don was always hitting on her, and it made her feel the need for a shower. "Sorry, busy," she told him .

His eyes narrowed. "One of these days, you're gonna regret turning me down."

That definitely sounded like a threat. Don was a big man. Tall at six-three, and muscular. Jason told her once that he took steroids to stay so bulky, and she didn't doubt that for a second. If he wanted to, he could seriously hurt her. She'd always tried to stay out of his way.

Maisy wasn't sure why her brother didn't just have one of his friends marry her. It would be a lot less risky than kidnapping a stranger. She could only guess it was because his friends were just like him. The possibility that they'd double-cross or blackmail him after the deed was done was high. They weren't exactly model citizens and would probably do anything necessary to get more money.

Maisy didn't respond to Don's comment, simply sidled around him, trying not to touch him in the hallway, and headed for the stairs.

"That's an ass I wanna tap."

It was obvious Don wanted her to hear his crude comment, but she didn't react, simply kept walking up the stairs. She needed to get out of here. Even though she didn't have any money, she'd leave today if she could. But now there was Jack. She wouldn't leave him in this viper's nest. She'd do her best to convince him that they were a loving couple, do this farce of a vow renewal ceremony, then play things by ear.

Three months. That's all she needed. After that, she'd be free. Jason could have her money. She just wanted out.

She slipped back into her bedroom and her eyes immediately went to the man lying on the bed. He had one arm flung to the side and his head rolled back and forth in agitation. It looked as if he was having a nightmare .

Wincing, because it was likely he was probably dreaming about something her asshole of a brother had done, Maisy hurried to the side of the bed. She sat on the mattress and put her hand on the arm that was by his side.

He startled at her touch, and Maisy questioned what she was doing. He could hurt her through no fault of his own, if his dream was violent. But when a whimper left his lips, she leaned toward him as if drawn by the vulnerable sound.

"It's okay. You're okay," she murmured.

To her surprise, his eyes popped open, but his gaze was unfocused. "Don't. Please don't! No more… Hurts ."

"I won't hurt you," she soothed. "I'm going to do everything I can to help you. To get you out of this."

His eyes closed, and it seemed to Maisy that he calmed. His head stopped thrashing and he stilled on the mattress. But when she went to stand, his hand shot out and grasped her forearm.

She gasped in surprise, but his hold didn't hurt. She'd gotten so used to Jason grabbing her and squeezing hard that she automatically recoiled anytime someone touched her. But Jack's fingers around her arm, while firm, weren't causing any pain.

"Stay," he whispered. "Please."

Maisy settled back down on the mattress. "I'm here," she told him softly.

His fingers relaxed around her arm, but he didn't let go. Maisy watched him sleep and wondered what his story was. Where Jason had found him. If he had friends who were worried about him. If he had a family, a real wife.

At that thought, she frowned. What if he was already married? When Jason submitted the marriage certificate, would that come up somehow, despite the fake last name? If his marriage to her couldn't be registered with the state, he was as good as dead. Because there was no way Jason would simply let him go.

Surprisingly, the thought that this man belonged to another woman made a pang of jealousy spear through Maisy. It was irrational. She didn't know him and he didn't know her. He might be the kind of man who would beat his woman. Or maybe he was an asshole.

But from the little she did know of him, Maisy didn't think so.

"Please don't be married," she whispered. She hated to think of a woman out there frantic because her husband was missing.

Even if Jack wasn't married, he had to have people who would notice he was gone. Someone as charismatic as Jack seemed to be wouldn't live in a bubble like she did. They'd eventually discover where he was and come for him. And when that happened, Maisy vowed to do what she could to aid them. It was the least she could do. Jack had somehow crossed paths with her brother, and she might not have done anything for poor Martha, but she could do something now.

However, as much as she hated to admit it, the best thing for Jack right now was to go along with her brother's plan. It was the best way to keep him safe. She just prayed he didn't regain his memory in the next few days. Or at least until she could come up with some way to get them both out of this mess.

The second she signed that marriage certificate, the countdown clock would start. As soon as Jason had her money, both she and Jack would be expendable. Shivering at the thought, Maisy took a deep breath.

The longer Maisy sat next to Jack as he slept, staring at his fingers around her arm, the more she understood this man's fate was entirely in her hands.