Stealing Grace by Shelby Fallon Read Free Book Online

thing to do after all. That he wondered if they’d really be able to pull it off and pretend to be normal according to the community standards.
    Should I believe this? Is he trying to trick me? No, he has been nothing but kind since I arrived. Gentlemanly and genuine. Oh, God. Please help me! I’m so lost and confused!
    When she thought back he had been nice to her. He hadn’t been mean to her once, not even when she’d tried to escape. And he defended her to Roger.
    “You saved me?” Elena asked. “That’s why you’ve been so nice to me?” Alex just smiled a crooked modest smile. He reached up and grabbed her face gently to check under the ice pack once more, wincing at what he saw and then spoke again.
    “I’m so sorry for all this. I know it’s a strange way to help someone, by buying them as his wife...but I couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.”
    She wanted to cry and she was a little. These past few years she felt so alone after leaving her family. She hadn’t spoken to God in years despite her grandma’s influencing attitude. She had tried to ‘con’ her into going to church with her many times. Now she wished she had. Oh , thank you! This is not an ideal situation...but you have made something good out of evil. Thank you!
    She felt the urge to hug him and though feeling it might be awkward she gave in and reached for him in one quick movement. He stiffened, not sure what to make of it her sudden change.
    “Thank you,” Elena said softly. “Thank you for restoring my faith in humanity.”
    He loosened up and reached his arms around her slightly. They sat for a few seconds in silence, awkward in their embrace.
    “Now what?” she asked pulling back to her side of the couch.
    “Well, if they think I’m not fit to be the kind of husband to their standards, they’ll take you and place you with someone else that might want you, do an annulment so you can remarry. There’s a waiting list for wives so...” he trailed off. “Look, I’m not gonna ask you to do anything you don’t want to do. I mean, you will have to perform some ‘wifely’ duties, but I’m not here to hurt you as I said. I can only hope that you will just accept this and make the best of a very strange situation.”
    Elena suddenly remembered what she said to Amy. “Just be his wife”. Oh, those girls . Guilt suddenly swept over her for the girls that were not in her shoes. Poor Amy. Oh, help me to say the right words to guide them somehow. Help me help them to do what’s right so they can endure this.
    Alex noticed her somber expression.
    “What’s wrong. What did I say?”
    “I’m just worried about the other girls,” she said. “It’s not fair that this happened. I mean, I had no life but some of them may have. What about their families?”
    Alex told her that the traffickers scouted out young girls and women who were alone. They watched them for two weeks prior to kidnapping them to make sure they wouldn’t get caught on any loose details.
    “You’ve already done the best thing you can do for Amy. I heard what you said. That’s the best thing she can do. Men who keep their women under control gain a lot of respect from the community. The least she fights back, the better he’ll feel toward her,” Alex said.
    Then he got up and took the ice pack from her. He dumped it into the sink and laid out the towel to dry meticulously, just like the night before. When he came back he looked at her face again.
    “It’s pretty colorful today, but if nothing else,” he shrugged and smiled sadly, “at least it looks like I did it to the people who weren’t here, anyway. Most of the men...discipline their women this way so it’ll look better that way.”
    Elena grimaced at that fact.
    Poor Amy. Poor girls.

    She fixed patty melts for supper and then they watched a movie - well he did. A western was playing on the television that had already started 10 minutes earlier. He was in his chair and her on the couch. She