Page 36

"Nope. Everything seems quiet. They're bound to know we've taken her by now, so we have to stay low. I can't imagine what they want with her, but if we want to keep her safe until we can take her back home, I think we should leave here tonight. Staying on the move will keep her alive."

"Okay." Cassian grunts softly.

"Did she tell you anything?"

"No. She's far too scared. She looks at me like I'm one of the bastards who dragged her into that van, and I can't blame her. No matter how I look at it, Mario's really fucked me on this one. I mean, what the hell is he playing at?"

"There's got to be something we're missing," Valentina replies. "Unless your twisted grandpa is into shipping poor women from the States and locking them up in his house."

"Should have put a bullet in his head when I had the chance," Cassian growls, and the rumble of his voice sends shivers spiraling down my spine.

He sounds… angry. Annoyed. But not at me.

Was he really telling the truth? Does he really have nothing to do with his grandpa?

I listen for as long as I can until I grow aware that the silence from me and the shower might be a dead giveaway that I'm eavesdropping. Moving back from the door, I turn on the shower and slowly strip off my clothes while everything swarms around my mind.

Maybe Cassian really doesn't know anything about Illyana. If he were on Mario's side, what use would there be in removing me from the estate when they already had a plan to carve me up and take my kidney? There's no more need for games and lies when they had me exactly where they wanted me to be.

Unless there's a struggle for power, but that doesn't sit right with me when I think about Cassian. He was so tender with me when caring for my lip, and when he kissed me, it was as if he were being as mindful as possible. Even now, the ache left by his fingers warms between my thighs and with it comes the real reason for my internal debate.

Am I blinded because I like him?

By the time I've showered, wrapped my hair in a towel, and dressed in some jeans and a light peach shirt that's only one size too big for me, I don't have an answer. Every time I settle on one side of the argument, my mind comes up with another handful of reasons against it.

In the end, there's only one thing I can do to help me decide whether Cassian is truly worth trusting.

Both Valentina and Cassian look up when I exit the bathroom. A sandwich rests on Valentina's lap and she lazily licks sauce from her fingers while Cassian sets his aside as soon as he sees me.

"Hungry?" he asks. "Val got three different ones because we weren't sure what you would like. There's chicken, turkey, and salad." He points to the three other sandwiches on the table all wrapped in greaseproof paper.

The sight of them is tantalizing, but I have too much on my chest to ease first. I walk to the middle of the room and slowly sit on the seat between the two of them—Valentina on my left and Cassian on my right.

"You wanted to know what was going on," I say softly. "If I tell you…" My chest tightens briefly. "You have to believe me when I say I had no idea something like this could happen."

Cassian and Valentina exchange a look, then Cassian speaks. "If you think we will judge you, I can assure you that will not happen."

I glance at him, but I'm unable to meet his eyes. "I've never told anyone this," I murmur, shaking my head carefully so the towel doesn't fall. "When… when I was thirteen, I was kidnapped. I didn't exactly come from a loving home, and I suppose I just kind of stuck out as someone that no one would miss."

Both my hands rest on top of my knees and tighten.

"They snatched me when I was walking home from school, locked me up and held me for… a long time. I don't know how long. Eventually, I was sold, and then sold again. I passed through all these slavery rings like some hunk of meat because when they learned I was a virgin, suddenly, I was the hottest commodity for them to make money on."

Valentina shifts slightly in her seat but she doesn't speak.

"I worked a lot. It was mostly cleaning and tidying because there wasn't much I could do. Mostly, I think they gave me something to do just to pass the time so they could work out whom to sell me to next. Everyone wanted a piece. So many people would tell me that…" My voice trembles and I curl my fingers tighter against my knees. Now that I've started talking, it's almost impossible to stop.

"Then…" I finally meet Cassian's gaze and find nothing but warmth there. "After about two years, when I was fifteen… I was sold to someone else. Someone who decided he'd paid enough for what I had and he wanted it. Someone who… drugged me. And raped me."

15

CASSIAN

The weight of her truth takes my breath away.

Tension floods through Valentina, though she is careful not to move, almost as if any movement, any kind, will spook Sabina while she talks. My hands ache suddenly with the urge to reach out to her, but I can't. She's created a bubble for herself where she feels safe enough to speak and I can't interrupt her, no matter how badly I want to.

"I don't remember the rape," Sabina continues flatly. "The drugs were strong enough that I was knocked clean out and when I woke up, it was all over. I was sore and I was sticky and everyone around me was acting like I had done some great thing, but I couldn't remember it. I had no idea what happened at first. Nothing made sense to me and I tricked myself into thinking I had fallen over. That was why I was sore and why I couldn't remember anything."