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“Did you find anything out?” Sean asked Loch.
Loch gave him a meaningful look and glanced briefly at me. “Get some rest, and I’ll tell you later.”
“You don’t give the orders around here,” Sean griped.
“No one listens to me anyway.”
Sean snorted and made a rude gesture. The two seemed close, nothing like they’d acted at the club. Not that I’d seen Loch there again after the first night.
“Are you going to stab him while he’s asleep?” Loch asked me, scowling.
“Why would I do that?” I said.
The thought of stabbing someone made me queasy. There are three people you would stab. My conscience helpfully reminded me.
“Something Rada would have done,” Sean said.
“Feck off.”
“And he would have liked it. Kinky bastard.” Sean chuckled.
“I’m going now,” Loch grumbled and left us alone.
“Seriously, are you planning on clobbering me again because I was hoping to get some kip?”
“I’ll leave you…” I sat up but got yanked against him more tightly. “We’re both having a nap.”
“If you aren’t working with the…” My mouth wouldn’t form the words. “The other gang. How did you find out my real name?”
“I found out because we were inspecting my clubs for signs of the Bulgarians targeting girls to traffic, and you blatantly lied to my face, so I investigated you. Visited your old friend Briggs.”
A hot slice of shame burned through me, and I turned away.
“He’s dead, by the way.”
Good.
“How did you find me if he was dead?” I asked.
“I didn’t say he was dead when I found him.”
My eyes flew to Sean in alarm. “What?”
“Do you think I would let him keep breathing after I found out what you had to exchange for your safety?”
I cringed, and my face tingled. Sean knew. That disgusting man, Briggs. He was the first man that I paid with my body. I scrubbed myself raw in the dingy hotel shower afterwards and cried for a week straight.
“Look at me,” Sean barked.
I called my strength back to myself and looked him in the eye. “I did what I had to.”
“I know, a chuisle, and I hate that you had to, but I’m so proud of you.”
I choked on the lump in my throat. He was proud of my biggest shame?
“Survival isn’t pretty. It’s a fucking bitch. But you pick yourself up and dust yourself off.”
I nodded, leaning against him. We sat silently for a few minutes, and I pushed away thoughts of Briggs. Sean had killed him, and I couldn’t find it inside myself to feel sorry. I thought back to what Sean said about Mystique.
