I walk over and reach for her. "Are you okay?"
She shakes me off. "I'm fine." London returns upright and dusts herself off. "Nothing I'm not already used to." She pats her red hair and no doubt does the very thing I do all the time, shoves the trauma away in a little folder in the recess of her mind.
It's not hard to notice she's so like me in this sense.
Honestly, I see a lot of myself in her, and it's a bit frightening to gaze into the mirror of her tortured eyes staring back at me.
"Are you?" She points to my face which is no doubt still beat red from where Ricardo hit me.
I nod. "I'm fine."
"You'll probably want to change before you leave." London opens the cracked door and motions for me to go ahead of her.
I steady a breath and make my way down the hall with her on my tail. My heels click against the floor and overpower the sound of my thudding heart. My torture might be done for the day, but the time spent here will haunt me long after I'm gone.
Once I'm at the bathroom door, I pause as London stops outside. "You can come in," I tell her. It's not like I didn't barge in while she was peeing and she isn't looking at me practically naked. We've only just met and somehow our relationship is strangely intimate already.
London doesn't bother questioning me, yet she strolls in behind me and latches the door. She goes to the oversized vanity and peers at herself in the mirror, primping her hair and smoothing out the bright red lipstick on her bottom lip.
I'm not entirely sure why I invited her inside. Maybe it was because I don't want to be alone, not in this house, not with her dad prowling about. It's not like she can protect me, but there's something calming about being near someone other than him. I can't imagine how she must feel when she's trapped in this mansion with him.
I fight the scrappy garment I'm wearing and huff when I can't quite figure out how to get it off.
London sighs and walks over. "May I?" She points to my back.
"Yeah." I go limp in front of her.
She tugs at one of the straps and pulls my arm through it. "There. That should help."
"Thanks," I tell her and finish getting out of the stupid contraption. I make quick work of throwing Alec's T-shirt over my head and savoring the comfort of his oversized clothing.
I'm slipping into my sneakers when she speaks.
"So, what are you in for?"
I blink at her. "What do you mean?"
London crosses her arms. "I can't imagine you're doing this for fun. I'm guessing it's money, but I can't fathom a price I'd settle with to do whatever it is he has in mind." She squints her eyes. "Leverage of some sort. He has something on you."
"My mom," I admit.
"Hehasyour mom?"
"Sort of, yeah."
"Like he kidnapped her? Who is she? What does he want with her?"
I shake my head. "No, it's not like that. I don't think. She's sick." I tuck my hair behind my ears and try to make sense of the story for her. "My dad found some experimental treatment or something, I don't know exactly, but it wasn't cheap. He went to your dad and defaulted on payment."
"How does that involve you?" She taps her fingers on her crossed arms.
"I was there when he came for my dad. He threatened to kill him. Had a gun to his head. Said he'd let my mom die, too. I didn't have any other choice..."
London raises her head slowly like she's finally understanding. "You offered yourself in exchange for your parents’ lives."
"Yep."
"What's that like?"
