Page 100 of Coal Hearts

All his cryptic urging from the plane. All his vague hints as he chased and pinned me to the ground.

If he was a cop hunting traffickers, it would make sense that he would have darkness within him. If he worked undercover, he wouldn’t have gotten this far without becoming infected with whatever disease these bastards harboured.

He’d had to become one of them.

But at least he fought it.

At least he knew right from wrong.

Crushed against dusty books and utterly nude, I felt the first flush of safety.

Henri was many things.

Still a total stranger and without a doubt one of the most complicated men I’d ever met, but...I believed him. I believed my intuition on him. I believed there was far more to him than this and us and a transaction of flesh and fear.

Please, please let me be right.

Sucking in a breath, I nodded. “You’re saying everything you do to me is out of obligation...not desire.”

“Exactly.”

“And you need me to trust you.”

“With every damn part of you. Not a single shred of doubt. If you doubt me and fight back, then...this is all over. My life. Your life. Their lives.”

Their lives.

Did he mean the other slaves? Prisoners who were all alone and broken?

“You’re here for them?” I whispered. “The jewels?”

His eyes met mine and held.

He nodded just once.

I melted into a puddle of relief. “Really? Truly?”

A growl echoed in his chest. “Don’t question me. Not when I’m second-guessing every-fucking-thing.” Making sure no camera could hear him, he whispered, “I’ve been sent here, alright? Sent to stop what’s happening and save those trapped against their will.”

The world stopped spinning.

I’d been frightened out of my mind and wrapped up in my own demise, but Henri had put his life on the line to save others.

He’d used me as a tool.

He’d dragged me into this nightmare.

But...with one small whisper, he turned all my panic into conviction to help.

My mother always said my empathy helped Krish to trust and confide in me. I’d always been cursed with the ability to not only put myself in other people’s shoes but also their clothes, thoughts, and hardships.

I’d only spent a morning with the jewels, but it’d been enough to see every fracture, witness every bruise, break, and beg.

In a single heartbeat, my allegiance switched from my own survival to theirs. There was no way to know if Henri was telling the truth or if this was some kind of sadistic game, but...I didn’t have a choice.

I had to have faith in something.

It might as well be him.