Chapter 2 - The Wedding Dress That Wouldn't Come Off
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The first thing Paige tried to do after entering Gabriel Rossy's guest suite was take off the wedding dress.
The second thing she did was panic.
There were ninety pearl buttons down the back of the gown, a hidden zipper beneath them, and a corset so tight that every breath felt like someone pressing a fist into her ribs.
Colin had chosen the dress himself.
He'd called it perfect.
Paige remembered standing in the bridal salon while the seamstress quietly explained that the waist needed another two inches.
Colin had smiled.
“Then she'll lose two inches.”
Three weeks of barely eating had followed.
Now, alone in a stranger's mansion, Paige couldn't get the damned thing off.
She twisted her arm behind her back.
Pain shot through her side.
She gasped.
The room tilted.
Her reflection stared back at her from the full-length mirror.
White lace.
A diamond tiara.
Perfect makeup covering the bruise along her jaw.
She looked like a bride.
She felt like a prisoner who had escaped one cell only to discover the door to the next was locked.
A gentle knock interrupted her breathing.
“Miss?”
Paige spun toward the door.
A woman's voice followed.
“My name is Helen. Mr. Rossy asked me to bring you some clothes.”
Paige pressed a hand against her chest.
“Come in.”
The door opened.
Helen was in her late fifties, with silver-streaked hair pulled into a neat bun and the calm expression of someone who had seen too much to be easily surprised.
She carried folded clothes and a small medical kit.
Her eyes moved over Paige.
Then stopped at the wedding dress.
“Oh, honey.”
Paige laughed once.
It came out like a sob.
“I can't get it off.”
Helen set everything down.
“Turn around.”
Paige hesitated.
Helen noticed.
“I won't touch you unless you tell me it's okay.”
The words were so simple that Paige nearly cried.
For two years, Colin had touched her whenever he wanted.
Held her wrist.
Gripped her chin.
Corrected how she stood.
How she smiled.
How she breathed.
Nobody had asked permission.
Not until now.
Paige nodded.
“Please.”
Helen carefully began undoing the pearl buttons.
Halfway down, she stopped.
“Good Lord.”
“What?”
“This isn't just fitted. Someone altered the closure so it would pull tighter.”
Paige stared into the mirror.
“Colin wanted it perfect.”
Helen said nothing.
She loosened the corset gradually, allowing Paige to breathe between each adjustment.
When the final fastening came free, Paige stumbled forward.
Air rushed into her lungs.
She braced herself against the dresser.
Then the dress slipped from her shoulders.
Helen caught it before it hit the floor.
Paige stared at herself.
There were bruises along her upper arms.
A fading mark beneath her collarbone.
And a yellow-purple shadow across her ribs.
Helen went very still.
“Did he do that?”
Paige couldn't answer.
She didn't need to.
Helen folded the gown over a chair.
Then handed Paige an oversized cotton shirt and loose gray pants.
“There's a physician on call. Would you like me to ask her to see you?”
Paige immediately shook her head.
“No hospital.”
“Not a hospital. A private doctor. Your choice.”
Paige looked at the bruises again.
Then whispered, “Maybe later.”
Helen nodded without argument.
An hour later, Paige sat on the edge of the enormous bed, wearing clothes that didn't hurt.
A tray of chicken soup, toast, fruit, and tea rested on the table.
She ate slowly.
Her stomach cramped after the first few bites.
She hadn't eaten a proper meal in days.
When someone knocked again, she nearly dropped the spoon.
“Paige.”
Gabriel.
His voice came through the door.
“May I come in?”
She stared at the handle.
Then said, “Yes.”
Gabriel entered alone.
He had removed his jacket.
His black shirt was rolled to the forearms, revealing dark tattoos that disappeared beneath the cuffs.
His gaze moved toward the discarded wedding dress.
Then toward Paige.
“Better?”
She nodded.
“Much.”
He noticed the medical kit.
“Did Helen call the doctor?”
“Not yet.”
Gabriel didn't press.
He walked to the window.
“The cathedral incident is already on the news.”
Paige's stomach tightened.
“Colin?”
“He's alive.”
She hated the relief she felt.
Not because she wanted Colin safe.
But because a dead Colin would have meant a different kind of nightmare.
Gabriel continued.
“His lawyers are calling it an abduction.”
Paige stared.
“Of course they are.”
“They'll claim you were taken against your will.”
“Your men locked the church doors.”
Gabriel turned.
“You're right.”
The admission surprised her.
“Then what happens?”
“An independent attorney is coming tomorrow. You can explain that you left voluntarily after the ceremony was interrupted.”
Paige looked down.
“And if I don't want to be involved?”
“Then you don't have to make a statement tomorrow.”
She studied him.
He seemed impossible to understand.
A man who had nearly crushed Colin's throat in a church.
Yet one who asked permission before entering a bedroom.
“Why are you helping me?” she asked.
Gabriel didn't answer immediately.
Then he said, “Because Colin's family has something I need.”
“The offshore accounts.”
“Yes.”
“And I'm useful because I lived with him.”
“Potentially.”
Paige laughed bitterly.
“So I'm still a bargaining chip.”
Gabriel's expression tightened.
“You can leave whenever you choose.”
“With five dollars in my shoe?”
He looked at her for a moment.
Then took out his phone.
“I can arrange independent transportation, a hotel, and access to legal assistance. None of that depends on whether you help me.”
Paige stared.
“Why?”
“Because freedom without a safe way to leave isn't much freedom.”
She looked away.
For the first time, she didn't have an answer.
Then Gabriel said something unexpected.
“There's another reason I interrupted the wedding.”
Paige looked up.
He reached into his pocket and removed a photograph.
It showed a woman standing outside a courthouse.
Dark hair.
A blue coat.
A familiar smile.
Paige's chest tightened.
“Who is that?”
Gabriel's expression changed.
“My sister.”
Paige studied the photograph.
The woman was young.
Maybe twenty-five.
She looked happy.
“What happened to her?”
Gabriel lowered his eyes.
“She trusted Richard Hale.”
Paige went cold.
Colin's father.
Gabriel continued.
“Three years ago, she disappeared.”
The room seemed to shift.
“Disappeared?”
He nodded.
“And six months ago, I found evidence that Colin helped cover up what happened.”
Paige stared at him.
Then whispered, “What kind of evidence?”
Gabriel's jaw tightened.
“A payment made the morning after she vanished.”
May you like
He paused.
“From the same offshore account Colin used to buy your father's debt.”
