I’d almost gotten away. My chin hit my chest. I’d been so close to getting in my car and disappearing.
Nothing good ever worked out for me. I wondered why I couldn’t stop hoping and dreaming for more.
When your dreams got ground to dust, it hurt so badly.
The door suddenly creaked open, and my head jerked up.
A slender woman in a white slip of a dress hurried in. She was holding a plate of food, and a bottle of water. Her head was down, her pale-blonde hair covering her face.
“Who are you?” My voice was croaky. “Where are we?”
She lifted her head and my entire chest locked. She was stunning. I’d never a seen a more beautiful face, with high cheekbones and plump lips.
“Ava-Jane,” I croaked.
“Lili.” Her face cracked. She set the plate and water down, then flew at me.
She hugged me hard, and I leaned into her. I couldn’t get my arms around her because of the handcuffs, but I pressed into her as tightly as I could.
“I’m so sorry,” I cried. “I thought you’d left and ghosted me.”
Ava-Jane sobbed. “It’s not your fault. You couldn’t have helped me.”
I pulled back, unable to believe she was here, right in front of me. She was a little thinner, with shadows under her eyes. My gaze moved over her and I noted the faint bruises on her neck and arms.
“What happened?” I whispered.
“I don’t have long.” She glanced at the door. “I went to a modeling job that Chadwick Goodyear arranged.”
My heart started pounding. “Okay.”
Her face fell. “It wasn’t a modeling job. They took me to what I thought was a photo shoot…”
“What did he do?” I pressed my handcuffed hands to her face. “Ava-Jane, what did he do?”
Her blue eyes met mine, and the pain, shame, and misery I saw in them took my breath away.
“There are three other women. They were taken like me. We’re kept locked up, they move us around, and…they make us go to Goodyear’s private parties.”
“No,” I whispered, my voice shaky.
“I was such an idiot,” she said.
“No, this isnotyour fault. You’re a victim!”
“He makes us…We have to sleep with him, and he lets men have sex with me, Lili. Sometimes more than one.”
“That’s not sex,” I said fiercely. “That’s rape. This is trafficking.”
Emotions moved across her face, then her features settled in a mask of nothing. The life drained from her eyes. “You should eat.”
I grabbed her wrist. She winced and I realized I’d touched a bruise on her arm. “Where are we?”
“Shh.” She glanced at the open door. “They don’t like us talking.”
“How many guards are there?” We needed to find a way out of here.
She licked her lips. “Look, just eat.”
