I am sure that Lindsay saw me eyeing the drawer full of knives. She had me sit across from her and Jenny as the two of us played some card game. I tried to get away from the table. I told her that I was tired and wanted to take a nap. Lindsay than gave me a lecture about how sleeping in the daytime is bad for your health.

While making dinner, Lindsay spent most of the time standing in front of that drawer. She had me fetch things for her out of the fridge or out of the pantry. She seemed reluctant to hand me one of the knives when she wanted me to cut the vegetables. I was dicing some carrots when the boys came back into the house.

I jumped when Jared put his cold hands on my waist. I tried to pull away from him, but he curled his fingers into my flesh.

I glanced up to see Lindsay had pulled Gabe over to the side of the kitchen. She got up on her toes and whispered something into his ear. Gabe's eyes darted over to us. I tried to keep my lips lifted in a fake smile when Jared kissed my neck.

"I missed you today," he said. "I thought about you all day."

I let out a deep breath as I continued to cut the carrots. I could turn around and plunge the knife into his stomach, but his family was surrounding me. They would kill me in seconds if I killed Jared.

"Thanks," I mumbled.

Jared chuckled before he kissed my cheek. He took his hands off of my waist. I looked over my shoulder as Jared head over to the staircase. I set the knife down beside the cutting board. Lindsay snatched it and tossed it into the sink. She piled plates over the knife to hide it.

"The boys are just washing up," she said. "They will be down in a minute. We better get this food on the table."

Lindsay passed me a bowl of mashed potatoes and I brought it over to the table. Jenny was sitting at the dining room table. Theo was sitting beside her with his hand covering hers. His eyes locked on the four scabbing slashes that Jared put on my forearm the other night.

"He's already punishing you?" Theo asked.

I held my arm against my chest. Jenny started shaking her head. Jenny popped in to put the roast on the table, but she soon left.

"I gave Jared the benefit of the doubt and I thought he would go easy on you," he said. "I should have never had that much faith in him."

"You have to get me out of this," I said. "He's awful to me."

"It would be just as much my funeral as yours," he said. "Don't do anything stupid."

I was going to continue to beg, but Jared walked into the dining room. Lindsay followed behind him with a plate of vegetables. Jared pulled out my chair, and motioned for me to sit down. I sat down. Theo's eyes were cast down on the table, and was avoiding my gaze. Gabe came in and sat at the head of the table.

Food was being passed around the table. Jared filled my plate with food before passing the bowls over to his father. I picked at the food on my plate.

"How are you liking it here so far, Leah?" Gabe asked.

I wanted to scream at him about how sick they are, but I managed to keep myself in check. If I told them how much I hated them, Jared was sure to start tearing into my arm again with his pocket knife.

"It's different," I said.

"A good different?" Gabe asked. I nodded my head, and his lips lifted into a smile. "Atta girl. I knew you were perfect for this family when I saw you. Do you know that I saw our poor Leah here stranded alone in a motel lobby at two in the morning?"

"What were you doing there?" Jared asked.

"I couldn't afford a room," I said.

"Why were you alone?" he asked.

"I left boyfriend," I said. "And I had nowhere to go."

Recalling that night made a lump form in my throat. I should have called my Mom. I should have begged and cried for her to send me money. If she wouldn't have sent money, she would have at least paid for a flight back to Anchorage.

"Well." Jared reached out and held my hand. He squeezed my hand, and the ring dug into my skin. "I'm your husband, and I am always going to protect you."

I nodded my head and pulled my hand out from under Jared's. He scowled. I picked up the fork and started eating. Hopefully he thought I pulled away because I was hungry, and not because of how much I hate him. He continued to eat his meal, so I think that it worked.

"I'm glad to see that you're settling in here so well," Gabe said. "You would never try to hurt any of your family, would you?"

Lindsay must have been whispering her worries about me into Gabe's ear earlier. I could tell she was paranoid about me looking at those knives. I bit down on my lip. I was an idiot for making it look so obvious.

"No," I said. "I would never want to do that."

"I hope that it true," Gabe said. "We are doing a lot to protect you. We are getting you safe from everything that is in the outside world."

"I wouldn't try to hurt any of you," I said, and I added a fake smile at the end.

Gabe smirked and leaned back. He pushed his empty plate of food forward. I twirled my fork around in my remaining mashed potatoes.

"Don't think you can outsmart us, Leah," Gabe said. "If you try to pull something it will come with great consequences."

"Why do you think she's going to hurt us?" Jared asked.

"I am just looking out for you," Gabe said. "Being the oldest means that you have to learn everything about girls the hard way. I don't want Leah doing anything that you are not prepared for."

"I can handle it," Jared said.

"And you are doing a good job," Gabe said. "Theo, you should pay attention. You have three years to learn a lot about how to train your girl."

Train.

The word disgusted me. They thought they were trying to train me into being the perfect housewife. All they were trying to do was brainwash me.

"I have time," Theo said.

"It will come sooner than you think," Gabe said.

Lindsay started gathering up the dishes on the table. I followed her, and carried the dirty dishes over to the sink.

"Can you wash them?" Lindsay asked me.

I nodded my head and filled the sink full of soapy water. Lindsay cleaned the dining room. Jared stood next to the sink. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the counter. I washed the dishes and then placed them on the drying rack.

"What do you want to do tonight?" Jared asked.

I stopped scrubbing the one plate and looked up at him. That was not something that I was expecting him to ask me. I thought that he was going to drag me upstairs when I was finished washing the dishes and rape me again. I doubted he would ever give me choices.

"Can we go for a walk?" I asked.

Jared raised his eyebrow. He was clearly confused by my request. If I got outside I could take off running.

"You know I cannot let that happen," Jared said. "It is not safe for you outside."

"I'm going stir crazy in this house," I said. "Please, just for a few minutes."

"Leah, I can't. Stop asking."

I let out a deep breath, and put the plate on the drying rack. I dipped my hands back into the hot water. My fingertips brushed against the handle of the knife. I bit down on the inside of my cheeks to stop myself from smiling. They were suspicious, so I had to act like I was not interested in my potential weapon.

Jared's eyes were locked on me as I brought it over to the rack. I finished washing the dishes as he watched me. When I was finished, I dried my hands on the towel. Jared grabbed my wrist and pulled me into his chest. He wrapped his arms around me. He looked down at me and smiled.

"So, what do you want to do tonight?" Jared asked.

"We can't go outside?" I asked. Jared shook his head. "Can I call my mom? Please, she is probably so worried about me. Let me just call her and tell her I am alive."

"We don't have a phone," Jared said. "Besides, no one is looking for you. Your birth family does not care about you."

I opened my mouth to speak, but Jared leaned down and kissed me. His motion caught me off guard, and I jumped. He chuckled against my lips.

"Let's go play a game," he said.

He laced his fingers through mine, and pulled me into the living room. Theo was sitting on the couch with his sketchbook. Jenny was sitting in the rocking chair and staring out the barricaded window. Jared pulled a box out from under the coffee table.

"You're playing a game?" Theo asked.

"Yeah, we are," Jared said.

"Play with us," I said.

I felt an odd sense of comfort around Theo. He was the only person here that was not completely crazy. I don't think Jared would try to hurt me if Theo was around.

"No," Jared said. "We're going to play upstairs."

"Please," I said. "The more people you get to play the more fun it is."

"No, Leah."

Jared grabbed my hand and yanked me out of the living room. He pulled me up into his room. He tossed the box onto the bed.

"Why do you like spending time with Theo so much?" he asked.

"I like spending time with him," I said. "I like spending time with all of you. You guys are my family now."

I was proud of myself for not letting my voice waver as I spoke. Jared held up my hand. He twisted the ring around my finger. He stayed silent as he stared at it. He brought it up to his lips and then kissed my hand.

"I love you so much, Leah," he said before kissing me. "I am always going to protect you. I never want to hurt you. Tell me you know that."

"I know that," I said.

"No, I want to hear you say it."

I took in a deep breath. "You're always going to protect me."

"And?"

"I love you."

Jared kissed me once again before going through the drawers in his dresser. He gave me a pair of pajamas and I got changed. I moved as fast as I could so that Jared could not see my body. Jared changed his clothes at the same time.

We sat on our bed and Jared explained the rules to the game for me. I followed along and played with him. Jared talked to me, but it was just an endless string of compliments and "I love you"s. I just thanked him as we continued to play. I ended up winning the game.

Jared cleaned up the game, and he brought the box back down to the living room. As soon as he left the room, I hurried to get into bed. I curled up on my side and shut my eyes. If I pretended to be asleep, hopefully he would leave me alone and not force himself on me.

When Jared came back into the room, he did not say a word. He flicked off the lights and crawled into the bed. He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me close.