“I’m sorry,” Lorenzo mumbled towards the screen.
A large hand punched him in the face.
“I’m sorry, Selene,” Lorenzo corrected, fear coming into his hazy eyes. “It won’t happen again.”
A gunshot rang out, and Lorenzo stared into the camera lifelessly.
The image went black and a sense of relief flooded through me. Good. My stomach tightened as I thought about the look on Anya’s face when she’d talked about her pimp. I had brought all of this on her. She’d embraced me as one of her own and I’d repaid that kindness by making everything worse.
A thought occurred to me, “Will his medical bills be added to my debt?”
A smile spread across Sebastian’s face. “Your agreement was only to pay the medical bills for whatyoudid to him.”
My stomach fluttered. But what had he sacrificed to make sure Anya and I were safe? When he’d promised to do what Luca asked, it had looked like someone was dragging the words out of him unwillingly. He was evidence that in our world there was always a price for a favor. What would I owe Sebastian?
“Why?” I asked, failing to keep an edge out of my voice.
He reached up and ran his thumb over my jaw. “Always so quick to assume the worst.”
“That’s how I stayed alive so long. Why’d you do it? Leverage?”
Sebastian’s eyes darkened. “No one touches you and gets away with it.”
My heart fluttered, but I pushed that emotion down. “Good luck with that,” I snorted. “You have a long list to get through.”
He smiled tightly. “I’m working on it.”
“What does that mean?”
Sebastian shrugged and pulled up another video. My mouth dropped open as the camera panned over 8 familiar men: the men who’d ambushed me that rainy night before I went to Sebastian for help.
A man screamed as a knife pierced through his right foot. “You kicked her with that foot,” Sebastian's voice echoed on the video. “Now you’ll lose it.” Another stab.
I stared at the screen as Sebastian stabbed every man who’d hurt me that night until they bled out.
As fucked up as it was, I think it was the most romantic thing anyone had ever done for me. I was staring at the ground, trying to process all my thoughts, whenmy eyes caught on a slightly beat up bag in my peripheral vision.
I blinked a few times and turned my attention to it. It couldn’t be. I moved towards the white duffel bag and kneeled in front of it. I unzipped the bag and checked the tag. My breath caught.
Underneath the Chanel label was written “Selene Regan” in scrawling cursive.
I hugged the bag against me and stood up.
“But I thought I lost the bet,” Isaid.
“You did.” He shrugged. “But I knew it’d make you happy.”
It would’ve been so much easier to have bought me a flawless new bag. But this slightly damaged bag with a small scuff near the zipper had been with me since before I’d left the suffocating safety of my father’s house. It’d been with me through the agonizing uncertainty of my freedom. It’d seen me laughing as I spent money at Tao, and muttering curses as I tried to fix wounds on my stomach.
He had no idea how happy he’d made me by getting this bag. I set the bag reverently on the floor. Or maybe hedidunderstand how happy it made me. The way he looked at me when he played with me like a toy told me hecould see through my front. He shattered me with the knowledge of my secret thoughts. But each time he shattered me, I felt a sense of peace. At finally being seen. At finally being understood.
I stood up and stepped towards him. Slowly, Iwrappedmy arms around his body, pulling him into a hug.
“Thank you,” I mumbled into his shirt.
Heyanked me in closer, pressing the front of my body completely against him. The feeling of relaxation that swept over me was even sweeter than I’d felt during my releaseearlier.
While keeping one arm tightly wrapped around my waist he played with the tendrils of my hair. As the tenderness of his touch reacheda part of me I thought I’d lost,I nuzzled my face against his hard chest. In the back of my mind, I knew I should be worried about my new debt, about his brother, and so many other things. And yet as he held me there I felt completely safe. As if nothing could touch me as long as he was near.
