My pulse picks up at the thought of them in bed with another woman, but I can’t keep lashing out. That’s not fair to them.
Knox tips his head. “Then what’s the problem?”
“I would like some kind of warning, so I’m not blindsided by women wanting to boast about bagging the Montgomery twins. And you’re right, we all had lives before whatever this is started,” I wave at the space between us, “But if the situation were reversed, you’d probably kill the men who talked to you like that woman talked to me.”
“That’s true,” Griffin says with a shrug. Neither of them bothers trying to deny it at all. “And as for this,” Griffin makes the same waving motion, “Call it what it is. A relationship. It may be considered unconventional to some, but that’s what we have. We’re building a life together.”
Knox’s expression is open and sincere. “We’re all in, Raven.”
Why do they have to hit me right in the heart every single time? It’s like they know what I need when I need it. My eyes bounce back and forth between them as my throat clogs with emotion.
“Before you two, I’d never…” I trail off, realizing what was about to come out of my mouth, but they won’t let it go.
Griffin steps up next to Knox. “You’d never, what?”
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I squeeze my eyes shut. My truth sits on the tip of my tongue, waiting for me to let it free. A part of me wants to keep them in the dark because then they’re more likely to stay. But I know that’s denial whispering sweet nothings in my ear.
They say that the truth sets you free. But what if the truth was never my prison? My cage was made up of people who sought to control me and use my body for their own profit. They may be out of my life, but part of me that they hurt is still held in a cage. Will breaking the lock on that cage help or hurt me more?
I’ve never been able to talk about this with anyone. I have my fellow survivors, but we’ve never discussed it. We lived it together. We don’t need to bring that back into the space between all of us. And Noah is my son. I’m supposed to shield him from things like that.
So, if not Griffin and Knox, then who?
Along with their gift of discernment, it’s like they also have the gift of mind reading or something. They’re always able to look at me and just know.
Griffin picks up on the secrets I’m still holding close to the vest. “There’s something else.”
Do I tell them? What will they think of me?
“Whatever it is, you can tell us. We’re not here to judge. We’re more like the last people who could ever judge someone.” Knox’s solace gifts me with the remaining courage I need.
My heart swells as I realize that I trust them. I trust them with my secrets. I trust them with Noah. I trust them with my heart.
Dropping my arms to my sides, I face them, ready to set this part of my soul free. “My life in New York wasn’t what you’d imagine it to be. I didn’t go walk down Saks Fifth Avenue searching for the perfect dress. I didn’t explore Times Square or take the ferry to the Statue of Liberty. I never stood at the top of the Empire State Building to admire the beauty of the city lights at night. My life was full of things no one should ever have to go through.”
“Well, you had Noah when you were only nineteen. That couldn’t have been easy,” Griffin sympathizes.
If only that were all…
They did the math correctly on that one. That’s usually the first thing people do when they find out I have a son and that I’m only twenty-five.
Blowing out a breath, I respond, “Yes, that was part of it.” I swallow and lay it all on the line. “When I was eighteen, I was kidnapped. My captors took me to New York and forced me into prostitution.”
The temperature in the room goes up as Griffin and Knox start to lose their cool.
I scramble to finish explaining, biting the bullet. “I got pregnant with Noah right away. My captors realized that if they let me have the baby, they could keep him as leverage. Eventually, they found out about my training as a ballerina and moved me to their strip club, Euphoria.”
Griffin’s breath gets heavier as Knox’s fists clench and unclench.
“Almost two months ago, we were all rescued. I grabbed Noah and got out of dodge.” I pause, waiting for them to saysomething, but they stay quiet. I shuffle my feet. “So, that’s how I ended up here.”
“You were trafficked?” Knox questions.
“Yes,” I clarify. Griffin still doesn’t speak. He walks over to my bed and sits on the edge. He rests his hands in his lap, studying them closely.
Knox poses another question. “Noah was the product of rape?”
“Yes,” I answer again, waiting for all the anger stewing inside them to turn to me, but that doesn’t come. It never comes. I should’ve known better. Griffin and Knox would never do that to me.
