Total pages in book: 149
Estimated words: 141255 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 706(@200wpm)___ 565(@250wpm)___ 471(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 141255 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 706(@200wpm)___ 565(@250wpm)___ 471(@300wpm)
If Felicia was supposed to be the ‘perfect’ wife-material slave personified, why was she so out of sorts with me? Maybe because what I brought to her life was outside the norm of what she’d been trained for. Lisa had stepped into a role and knew her part and she fulfilled it. Felicia was likely off-balance because I told her she wouldn’t be marrying me and that she was no longer a slave.
When I’d told my brother about Lisa on a brief instant message conversation from the resort, he was as shocked as I was. We agreed on our last video call that I needed to talk to Lisa but knew I’d be opening a can of worms, so I’d left it on simmer.
She was pregnant and widowed but young, beautiful, and wealthy. She hadn’t taken off the minute Pop died, scared for her life or anxious to move on. She and Tess were living in Pop’s house and she was helping raise my nephews. They were best friends and were clinging to one another to heal and move on after all that’d happened. Tess, Lisa, and Luciana were the three amigos. They’d raise their kids together and do their shopping shit and their yoga and their gossiping and reality TV parties, and scrapbooking shit, and they’d be happy. It had all worked out for her. Maybe she could help Felicia heal.
I finally spoke. “I have questions, Leese.”
“I bet you do,” she answered softly.
“When the time comes, will you help her? Will you talk to her and help her?”
She nodded. “Of course. I don’t remember a Felicia.”
“She came shortly after you left.”
“She probably replaced me. When one goes, they bring another.”
I felt nauseous.
“Did they say anything about me?” she asked softly.
“Yeah. They asked if I was taking responsibility. Said I was.”
She choked up. “I won’t let you down. I tried not to think about what if, what if they came for me. It tried to creep in, but I just put the baby first, I…” She stopped and shrugged.
“Leese, you’re family. You’re pregnant with my brother or sister. My sisters love you. Me and Tommy would never let anything happen to you.”
Her face went sour.
“What?”
She shook her head and muttered, “Tommy.”
My scalp prickled and I knew by her face what she was referring to.
“Hey. You do not speak of that. You do not know. You think you know but you fucking don’t.”
“I loved your father,” she said. “I know what you think of what he did, buying me, and buying her for you. But he gave me so much. He saved me, Dare. I loved him and Tommy took–”
“Shut up,” I warned. This was dangerous. “You and I are gonna need to talk about where you’re getting your information, but we won’t talk about it here and now. All you need to know is that he’s gone. You don’t need other details, but you need to shut your fucking mouth about my brother.”
She stopped talking. Her face went stony. She was guarding her emotions now, doing what she’d been taught at Kruna.
“Fuck,” I said and then reached into my pocket for my cigarettes.
“Dario, the baby,” she said as I lit one. I gave her an apologetic look and walked in the other direction, taking a few quick drags and then dropping it and stepping on it. I walked back to her and sat beside her on the bench.
“No one’s feeding me info, Dare. I have two eyes and a brain. Tessa and Luc know, too. No one talks about it, but we can all guess what went down.”
“What’s your real name?” I asked her, ignoring what she’d just said.
“Shayla Townsend,” she whispered.
“How’d they get you?”
She took a deep breath. “They stole me off a cruise ship. I was 17. I had almost no family left, no one really close. My daddy died when I was little. Mom took us on a cruise when they found out her Cancer was inoperable. It was a girls’ trip together for us to make memories before her health declined. I checked after your father saved me. She’d reported me missing. They’d said I probably fell overboard. It didn’t take long for it to just be a cold case and she died a few months later so there was no one to push for answers.”
I put my arm around her and she put her head on my shoulder. But she didn’t cry. Poor Leese. Stolen and forced to live knowing her ma was dying not knowing what happened to her. I shook my head and let out a slow breath.
We were quiet a minute. When I asked Felicia about her family, she shook her head. Maybe there was no one. Maybe that was a requirement for these guys before they took a girl. Maybe they made sure a mark had no one to look for her. Felicia had said they blackmailed her. I didn’t know the details yet. I’d find out.