behavior, and he used it to get the results he desired. With teachers, friends, lately with girls, and especially with his parents. It was why he had been so upset about the move; his parents would never understand. He had followers back home.
Followers .
Like a prophet . And they obeyed Adam’s command.
It was intoxicating, this power, and while he knew he could regroup and start over, “make new friends” as his father put it, he missed that feeling now. Of watching someone come to a decision they thought was their own, never realizing Adam had fit his arm up their ass, their head nodding when he moved up and down, mouth opening at the split of his thumb and forefinger, words repeating what he whispered in their ear.
He hadn’t been born with his gift; it had been hard earned, though he didn’t like thinking about that.
He knew he was gifted, because he had never been caught. No one realized how he turned the conversation or how they forgot what they had initially come to him about. His response or lack of response always elicited the results he wanted.
People were so stupid.
But Joje, he was something else. It was like he could see through Adam, see what he was really after. Like when Adam set up his dad to take the fall, pretending to just want to follow the rules—Joje knew what he had been doing.
Pulling the I-don’t-want-anyone-to-get-hurt card, Joje had called his bluff. Straight out.
“You sure?” he had asked.
It had taken Adam so off guard he hadn’t known how to respond. Luckily his father hadn’t caught on.
But while Joje was something of a mystery, Drew could have been hypnotized by a kindergartener. Before Drew had left his room, Adam had shared with him a little secret—since after all, they were coconspirators.
“She sleeps naked. Don’t tell her I told you.”
If a fire had burned behind Drew’s eyes, it would have been stoked to blazing.
And with that, Adam had him. It was a lie, of course, but one he’d never be caught for. He only wished he could be in the room when Drew demanded she sleep in the nude.
Jenna always walked around her room naked; Adam had plenty of recordings, though he kept them well hidden. This would be something completely different, however, and her looks, instead of helping to talk her way out of a situation, would only make things worse. If only he could have caught it on film.
Jenna relied far too much on the looks she got from other men, at the gym, at Starbucks, anywhere her fake boobs and tanned pelican legs would take her. Adam still remembered the teacher-parent conference four years ago with Mr. Morrison.
No wife of mine will ever get away with that kind of behavior , he thought.
He smiled, chained up in his room, yet, for the first time since they had arrived in this awful new house, feeling so free.
This would be a fun seven days.
Chapter Three
Day Two
1
Blake walked up to the mirrored glass doors of his office building, hoping the reflection of his shaking hands was just a warp in the glass. “Fake it till you make it” wasn’t supposed to apply to someone his age or at his level. His plan, however, was as thin as the line he was walking with Joje. One misstep and there would be no going back.
On the drive up, Blake couldn’t count the number of times he had contemplated finding a nice piece of wall to ram his M6 into. Maybe the center divider at an angle that would propel Joje up and over, straight into oncoming traffic, or a quick plunge off the rise of a cliff into unforgiving waves.
Unfortunately, he knew where that would lead his family, a death not nearly as quick as a watery grave.
One long breath to clear his mind and turn that interior switch to the on position. He’d only have one chance. It was all he would need.
Blake entered the building.
He did not hold the door for Joje.
The front receptionist, Cyndi, with the Y and I reversed in a failed attempt at chic originality, greeted them coolly. Thin to the point of
Followers .
Like a prophet . And they obeyed Adam’s command.
It was intoxicating, this power, and while he knew he could regroup and start over, “make new friends” as his father put it, he missed that feeling now. Of watching someone come to a decision they thought was their own, never realizing Adam had fit his arm up their ass, their head nodding when he moved up and down, mouth opening at the split of his thumb and forefinger, words repeating what he whispered in their ear.
He hadn’t been born with his gift; it had been hard earned, though he didn’t like thinking about that.
He knew he was gifted, because he had never been caught. No one realized how he turned the conversation or how they forgot what they had initially come to him about. His response or lack of response always elicited the results he wanted.
People were so stupid.
But Joje, he was something else. It was like he could see through Adam, see what he was really after. Like when Adam set up his dad to take the fall, pretending to just want to follow the rules—Joje knew what he had been doing.
Pulling the I-don’t-want-anyone-to-get-hurt card, Joje had called his bluff. Straight out.
“You sure?” he had asked.
It had taken Adam so off guard he hadn’t known how to respond. Luckily his father hadn’t caught on.
But while Joje was something of a mystery, Drew could have been hypnotized by a kindergartener. Before Drew had left his room, Adam had shared with him a little secret—since after all, they were coconspirators.
“She sleeps naked. Don’t tell her I told you.”
If a fire had burned behind Drew’s eyes, it would have been stoked to blazing.
And with that, Adam had him. It was a lie, of course, but one he’d never be caught for. He only wished he could be in the room when Drew demanded she sleep in the nude.
Jenna always walked around her room naked; Adam had plenty of recordings, though he kept them well hidden. This would be something completely different, however, and her looks, instead of helping to talk her way out of a situation, would only make things worse. If only he could have caught it on film.
Jenna relied far too much on the looks she got from other men, at the gym, at Starbucks, anywhere her fake boobs and tanned pelican legs would take her. Adam still remembered the teacher-parent conference four years ago with Mr. Morrison.
No wife of mine will ever get away with that kind of behavior , he thought.
He smiled, chained up in his room, yet, for the first time since they had arrived in this awful new house, feeling so free.
This would be a fun seven days.
Chapter Three
Day Two
1
Blake walked up to the mirrored glass doors of his office building, hoping the reflection of his shaking hands was just a warp in the glass. “Fake it till you make it” wasn’t supposed to apply to someone his age or at his level. His plan, however, was as thin as the line he was walking with Joje. One misstep and there would be no going back.
On the drive up, Blake couldn’t count the number of times he had contemplated finding a nice piece of wall to ram his M6 into. Maybe the center divider at an angle that would propel Joje up and over, straight into oncoming traffic, or a quick plunge off the rise of a cliff into unforgiving waves.
Unfortunately, he knew where that would lead his family, a death not nearly as quick as a watery grave.
One long breath to clear his mind and turn that interior switch to the on position. He’d only have one chance. It was all he would need.
Blake entered the building.
He did not hold the door for Joje.
The front receptionist, Cyndi, with the Y and I reversed in a failed attempt at chic originality, greeted them coolly. Thin to the point of
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