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Sapphire kept staring at me, a knowing grin on her face. “So…you wanna start talking? Or do you want me to start asking questions?”
“What did Conway tell you?”
“Everything your father shared with him. That this relationship has been going for a long time…” She gave me an accusatory look. “I was surprised by that part.”
“And I’m sure you understand why I had to keep it a secret…”
Her gaze softened. “Yes, I do. Conway has been pretty upset about it, even after you guys talked.”
“My brother is just as protective of me as my father.” I stirred my drink with my straw. “And more stubborn, on top of that.”
“I know,” she said with a chuckle. “I’ve heard all the reasons why they hate Bones and don’t trust him. But there’s something else I’ve heard too…that they all think this guy really loves you.”
At least they could see the truth of that. “Because he does.”
“And I’ve also heard he’s hot.”
My jaw nearly dropped. “Who told you that?”
“No one said those exact words…but everyone has said he’s got great looks,” she said with a chuckle. “Even Conway said it. So, if Conway, your father, and your mother all mentioned it…then he must be pretty damn fine.”
I dragged my hands down my face, thinking about the way he’d made love to me that morning. “You have no idea…”
“The sex is incredible?”
“Again, you have no idea…”
She tried to hide her smirk, like she was keeping a comment to herself.
“But it’s more than that. I love him. I understand why my family hates him. I don’t judge them for being so hostile about it. But we need to let go of the past and move on. He’s not a threat to anyone, and he just wants to be accepted. I know in time, they’ll even start to like him. They just have to keep an open mind.”
“The fact that he’s still around tells me they’re keeping an open mind. If Conway weren’t, he would have shot him by now.”
“I know…”
“I think they’re worried he might flip and change his mind, that we’re all in danger.”
“He would never hurt anyone. But maybe they’ll believe that in time…”
She dipped her bread in oil and balsamic before she placed it in her mouth. “Honestly, it’s hypocritical for Conway not to give Bones a real chance. I shouldn’t tell you this…but he’s not the most noble man in the world.”
I raised an eyebrow, not sure what Sapphire meant by that.
“But I love him that way. I love everything about him, our entire story. I wouldn’t change any of it for any reason. And from what I can tell, your father and uncle weren’t much different when they were young. So…it’s a pattern with the Barsettis.”
It was hard to imagine my brother doing anything remotely wrong, considering how high-strung he was. “What are you talking about? And leave the gross stuff out of it.” Sapphire was my friend, and if she were seeing someone else, I’d probably want to know all the details. But since this was my brother, the man who lit my dolls on fire when we were kids, I didn’t want to know anything about his personal life that wasn’t relevant.
“Long story short, I left his modeling company and tried to take off on my own. I was grabbed by traffickers and sold at the Underground, a place where men bid on enslaved women. Conway was there, and when he saw me, he bought me for a hundred million dollars so no one else could have me.”
My jaw dropped. “He has that kind of money?”
“Apparently.”
“And what was my brother doing at the Underground in the first place?” I refused to believe my brother would participate in the slave trade so openly.
“He and Carter run a business. Families pay them to rescue their daughters from the Underground. They pay for the women and then deliver them back to the families. He was there buying someone else when he saw me.”
“Oh…that sounds pretty noble.”
“Well…when he took me back to the house, he said he owned me. He said he could do whatever he wanted with me because he paid so much for me…including sleeping with me. I was a virgin, so that made him want me more. For the first few months of our relationship, that’s how it was between us. Master and slave.”
I covered my open mouth. “Seriously?”
She nodded. “I was never his girlfriend. I only told you guys I was so I would have some leverage over him. I said if he didn’t treat me right, I would tell his family the truth, that he was keeping me as a slave.”
“Oh. My. God.”
“Yeah…”
“And you just fell in love?” I asked incredulously. “How do you fall in love with someone like that?”
She narrowed her eyes at me, like she couldn’t tell if I was being serious.
