Sold (Keeping her in the Dark)

BOOK: Sold (Keeping her in the Dark)
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Sold
Keeping her in the Dark Vol. 1
By:
Leslie Sansom
For those of us who like a dark story

 

Copyright@ Leslie Sansom 2013
ISBN-13:978-14839112448
ISBN-10:1483912442

Also by Leslie Sansom:
Lost at Sea
Stranger on Route 35

And coming soon “Lost in the World” Book 2 of the
“Lost of Sea” duet

 

Prologue

 

Norah stood at the kitchen sink washing the dishes, listening

 

to her summer vacation and graduation present being planned out

 

behind her.

 

“I think two months in Europe is extremely generous, Norah. I

 

don’t know why you aren’t more excited, or thankful even?” Her

 

mother had her hands on her hips, she was clearly irritated by her

 

daughter’s less than enthusiastic attitude. Norah nodded.

 

“You’re right. It’s very generous. But I was really hoping to

 

spend the summer with Lorraine and Maggie.” Protect them is more

 

like it, she thought. She finished the dishes and wiped her hands on

 

the drying towel, and then turned to face her mother. She tried not

 

to make eye contact with Jim, her mother’s new boyfriend and the

 

person behind this very generous gift.
“Well, I think Jim is being very sweet by offering to pay for

 

you and Tiffany to go together. Most girls would jump at the chance

 

to leave their families behind, and back pack through Europe for the

 

summer. You’ve graduated college, Norah, and you worked very

 

hard. I think you deserve a break. You’ve lined up this internship in

 

Chicago in the fall, so this summer is the only time. Soon you’ll be so

 

busy and you’ll wish you had taken this opportunity,” she huffed.

 

She was right. Norah had worked very hard in college. She

 

worked so hard she hardly ever came home to visit. So when her

 

mother started dating Jim, she wasn’t around to tell her the guy

 

seemed a little creepy. She didn’t know what it was about him,

 

something just wasn’t right. Maybe it was the way he looked at her,

 

or sat to close. Maybe it was how he always tried to find a reason to

 

touch Norah in some way, or maybe it was just the rude comments

 

he would make when her mother wasn’t around. All of it added up

 

to nothing really, so she kept her mouth shut. Her mother never

 

seemed so happy. Jim was a rich business man, what kind of

 

business, Norah still wasn’t sure.
She thought it had something to do with real estate, but he

 

was never clear. He gave her mother everything she had ever

 

wanted and more. So Norah held her tongue most of the time.

 

Having Norah at 15, and then the twins at 20, kinda limited

 

her prospects on men. Mary Birch was attractive, but when men

 

found out she was a 37 year old, show girl, with three kids, they

 

usually ended things rather quickly. Mary had her heart broken so

 

many times, Norah couldn’t tell her that her new prince charming

 

was really just another jerk.

 

When Norah came home to visit for Christmas all her fears

 

were confirmed. Jim had cornered her more than once and tried to

 

have his way with her. He never managed to get any further than

 

groping and grinding before someone else walked in the room.

 

Norah told him to leave her alone, that she was virgin, but that only

 

seemed to turn him on more. Finally, their last encounter, just

 

before Norah went back to school, he crossed the line.

 

“If you don’t give me what I want, I’ll just have to get it from

 

Lorraine or maybe Maggie,” he breathed. Norah hated the idea of
him being in the house with her sisters. She certainly didn’t want him

 

to turn his focus on them. So she did the only thing she could do; she

 

pulled a knife on him.

 

“Look, asshole, I’m telling you right now if you lay a hand on

 

one of my sisters I will cut your balls off and feed them to the dog!”

 

Jim backed away from Norah with his hands up, as if he

 

surrendered. “Don’t think for one second I can’t go and tell my

 

mother about this whole thing and then you’ll be out the door so

 

quick your head will spin!” He smirked and laughed a little. “What’s

 

so fucking funny?” she asked.

 

“Norah, come on, be serious. We both know if you thought

 

you stood a chance in hell of your mother believing you over me, you

 

would have told her already.” He hung his head and laughed a little

 

more.

 

“I’ve given her this house, her car, nice clothes, and that

 

lovely diamond ring she has on her left hand as well. We both know

 

your mother is not about to give those things up, because I groped

 

you a little,” his smirk was bigger now.
Norah knew he was right. As much as her mother loved her

 

and the twins, she also resented them. She secretly blamed them for

 

chasing off any boyfriend she ever had, and even their own father’s.

 

Norah’s Dad had left as soon as the word baby was brought up. The

 

twin’s father split right after they were born. Mary never said it

 

openly, when she was sober. But when she was drunk, which was

 

often when they were younger, she couldn’t stop saying it.

 

Norah accepted the blame, and made herself a vow. She

 

would never give herself to a man until she was married. She didn’t

 

want to take the chance of having a child out of wedlock, the man

 

leave her, and she spend her life trying to replace him, and blame

 

the kid in the process. She didn’t want to be her mother. Going to

 

college was the first step.

 

She was educated, and had a career lined up. She knew she

 

could take care of herself without a man. His voice brought her out

 

of her head.

 

“Put the knife away, and we’ll forget this ever happen, ok?”

 

Jim said. This time Norah laughed.
“Yeah, how can I do that?” she said. “You want me to forget

 

this ever happen, and go back to school, knowing the minute I’m

 

gone you’re going to rape one of my sisters? You must be out of your

 

mind!” she snapped. Jim held his hands up again.

 

“I think we can make a deal,” he paused. “You put the knife

 

down, go back to school, and I won’t touch your sisters.” Norah

 

laughed again. “I promise.”

 

“How can I trust you? Once it’s done, it’s done. Calling you a

 

liar, liar, pants on fire, won’t take away my sisters pain,” she cocked

 

her head to the side, still holding the knife. Jim stepped a little

 

closer.

 

“You’re right. You’re right. You’re absolutely right. So you are

 

going to have to trust me, Norah. You can’t stay here, you have to go

 

back to school. If you don’t, what will you tell your mother? I’m

 

telling you, I won’t touch them. I promise.” Norah didn’t want to

 

believe him, but she knew she didn’t have a choice. She could kill

 

him, or just hurt him really bad, and then end up in jail with her life

 

ruined.She could tell her mother, and have her not believe her, and
lose everything she held dear to her; or she could simply trust this

 

asshole. Her options were not easy. She slowly lowered the knife,

 

and Jim walked away.

 

The night before she went back to college she had a long talk

 

with Lorraine and Maggie. She explained to them the importance of

 

staying away from Jim, in not so many words. Neither one seemed to

 

be affected by him, which made her feel a little better. At least he

 

hadn’t given them the creepy vibe. She also pressed upon them that

 

in the event something weird did happen, anything, they were to call

 

her right away.

 

She also gave them each a can of pepper spray and told

 

them to keep it with them all the time. The University of Nevada was

 

only six hours away from Las Vegas, she could be back in a jiffy. She

 

was strangely comforted when both girls thought she was acting

 

crazy.

 

Now he had offered her this trip to travel Europe for the

 

summer. She knew it was just a ruse to get her out of the way. He

 

didn’t like having her around.
The twins were supposed to spend the summer traveling to

 

different colleges. They would both start their senior year of High

 

school in the fall, and neither had decided on a college. They both

 

wanted to attend the same college, the problem was Lorraine

 

wanted sun and sand, while Maggie wanted snow and skis. They

 

were identical physically, but their personalities couldn’t be more

 

different. Finally coming to an agreement they could both live with,

 

they decided to travel to several colleges over the summer, and

 

whichever one had the hottest guys, that’s the one they would go to.

 

It was very scientific, and Norah assumed that to them,

 

school programs and the quality of the education didn’t matter

 

when it came to college guys without their shirts on. Norah wanted

 

to go with them. Not to check out the guys, not that that would have

 

been all bad, but to help them decide on something other than abs

 

and biceps. But a trip to Europe was also appealing, even if it was a

 

bribe to get her out of the way. Jim hadn’t made any more advances

 

on her, and from what Norah could tell he hadn’t touched the twins

 

either. Even with her vague questions, she concluded that the twins
weren’t at all weirded out by Jim. Which again, gave her a small

 

sense of relief, and thought Jim might be an ass, but he kept his

 

word.

 

Norah started packing two weeks before they were set to

 

leave. They would fly out of Las Vegas and be in New York for one

 

day, then leave New York for Paris. Jim had generously given her his

 

credit card and let her go shopping for her trip, which she graciously

 

accepted. She didn’t at all feel guilty about buying Tiffany new

 

clothes too.

 

“I can’t go,” Tiffany said. They were set to leave in two days,

 

and she was dropping this on her now! Tiffany plopped herself on

 

Norah’s bed.

 

“What do you mean you can’t go?” Norah asked. Tiffany held

 

out her left hand which now had a mid-sized emerald cut diamond

 

ring on it.

 

“Jason proposed! We’re getting married! He wants to have it

 

in the fall, so I can’t go. I have to stay here and plan the wedding!”
She seemed very excited, despite the fact she was kinda screwing

 

Norah over.

 

“Congratulations! But come on, it’s only two months, you’ll

 

have plenty of time to plan when we get back! Don’t do this to me. I

 

didn’t want to go back in May, and you convinced me. Now I’m really

 

excited!”

 

“I can’t. If I went it would only give me August and September

 

to plan for an October wedding. That isn’t enough time. Jason has

 

like five hundred people he has to invite, and with his sisters, my

 

sisters, cousins and friends, our wedding party is going to be like

 

fifteen people strong,” she paused. “Look, I’m really sorry. I know I

 

convinced you to go, but I didn’t know this was going to happen.”

 

Tiffany tried to give Norah a little smile. “We can do Europe next

 

summer. Instead of traveling with a backpack, getting lost, and trying

 

to find anyone that can speak English, you can stay here and help

 

me. I would love for you to be my maid of honor.” Norah’s eyes filled

 

up with tears. “Really? That is so sweet, Tiff. But I’m going,” she took

 

a breath. “I know it’s crazy for me to go alone, but next summer,
you’ll be pregnant, and won’t want to travel, or Jason will be in the

 

middle of building your dream home, and you’ll have to stay to make

 

decisions on bathroom tile. I would love to be your maid of honor,

 

really, I would. But if you’re going to put together the amazing

 

wedding I know you want, in four months, you need someone who is

 

BOOK: Sold (Keeping her in the Dark)
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