“Yeah, well, it also means she reads between the lines really easily. She spent some time telling me everything about herself, but after that, she started grilling me about Daddy Doms and Littles. I barely had to tell her anything because every time I start a sentence, she finishes it.”
Blade laughs harder. “She’s going to be a handful. Why do I picture a devious, sassy girl who gets herself into all sorts of trouble and manipulates her Daddy into giving her exactly what she wants?”
I groan. “I think you’re spot on.”
“Then I’d say you’ve met your match.”
I sigh. “Anyway, back to her past. There’s good news and bad news. The good news is it’s not as horrifying as I expected. I’m not saying she’s lived a life of luxury. Far from it. But she wasn’t beaten or raped.”
“That’s a relief.”
“Her full name is Eloise Manning. But rape and physical abuse aren’t the only ways to ruin a person’s life. She was manipulated by the school cop right after her eighteenth birthday. He planted drugs in her locker and threatened her with decades in prison if she didn’t do as he said. At which time he trafficked her and left her with some fuck in the Appalachian Mountains. That man, whose name was James Westin, used her as his live-in maid for three-and-a-half years before he dropped dead of a heart attack six months ago. She took the opportunity to run for her life, and she’s been on the run ever since. Until the dark cloud that’s been following her since birth put Stark in her path.”
“Jesus, fuck. No one deserves that much bad luck.”
“Well, that was the last bad luck of her life.”
“I believe you. I’m glad you were the one to pull her into your arms and carry her out yesterday.”
“Me, too.”
“Wait, why is she still on the run?”
“Because the cop who trafficked her made regular visits to make sure she was behaving. He reminded her every time that she could either continue to cook and clean for her fucking captor or serve time. Eventually, he would have found James Westin’s dead body and Eloise gone.”
“James…Westin. Noted. And this cop?”
“Gary Larkin.”
“Got it. Surely you don’t think he ever turned her in for anything, right?”
“Nope. I suspect you will find her record squeaky clean. That doesn’t change the fear she’s lived with for the last four years. She was eighteen. She had no choice but to believe him.”
“Of course.”
“And…”
Blade draws in an audible breath. “And Larkin’s a dead man.”
“Very dead,” I respond.
“Do you think he trafficked other women?”
“I know he did for a fact. Eloise says he used Westin’s place as a waystation. When she first woke up, she was in a basement. Concrete cell. She’d been drugged. Mattress, bucket, pitch dark, no water.”
Blade hisses. None of us likes stories like this. Human trafficking makes us fucking see red. Red blood that is.
“The thing is…well, she’s stunning. It’s been a pain in her ass for most of her life. Beauty can be a curse, but in this case, for whatever reason, it probably saved her life. Westin wanted her for himself, and Larkin owed him, so he kept her.”
“But he didn’t rape her?” Blade asks.
I run a hand down my face. “Oh, he tried.” I chuckle sardonically. “She put him in his place. He never did it again.”
“Good girl. Fucking strong and smart. And apparently gorgeous.”
“And mine.” I don’t know why I feel like staking my claim. It’s not like Blade would look twice at Eloise. He’s head over heels in love with June. I’m feeling ridiculously defensive.
“I have no doubt. No one’s going to challenge you, man.”
