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He probably meant that—at least in his mind. Likely, he saw himself as the noble savior come to rescue her from her wretched fate. And perhaps he was. After all, the rest of his team had saved her from Emilo’s compound less than five months ago. She’d been wearing only a towel when the operation had gone down, and she’d been nervous everyone in the helicopter would expect her to fuck them in appreciation. Instead, an operative named Cutter had given her his shirt. Hunter Edgington had insisted she take a blanket he’d stowed in his bug-out bag. His younger brother, Logan, had given her his rations. None of them had so much as laid a finger on her or looked at her with anything more than pity.
Had she misjudged Trees because he hadn’t been there and because she’d rarely been around good men? Perhaps…but did the nature of men ever really change?
“Thank you for those words.”
“They aren’t just words. I mean them.” He nodded toward the stew. “Let’s eat.”
She shook her head. “I still have no way to pay you.”
He heaved another frustrated sigh, as if he was struggling to hold his temper. “How about if you do the dishes? If you’ll do that, I’ll consider your meal paid.”
His proposition surprised her. Laila turned his offer over in her head. “That is acceptable.”
“Thank god.” He settled the pan on the burner again and dumped the can of vegetables into a bowl, then shoved it in the microwave. Three minutes later, they were eating at his kitchen table in silence. And even if the stew had come out of a can, it tasted like heaven.
“How did you wind up in Emilo’s compound? I know your sister married him, but…”
“Not by her own choice. My father married Valeria off to Emilo.”
“Why?”
“Papá was a farmer with fallow land. We were dirt poor, and he wanted to be rich. He wanted to be important. Emilo sought to use my father’s property to aid his growing drug empire. They came to an agreement, which included Emilo paying lots of cash to marry Valeria.”
“So he sold her to that scumbag on purpose?” Trees looked shocked.
Laila hadn’t been at all. “My father had been nothing his whole life, and now he could join his poor family to a wealthy one and gain influence. Others would look up to him. He could finally stop a life of toil and enjoy his days. Of course he did.”
Trees scowled. “Did he know how dangerous Emilo was?”
“Everyone did.”
“And he sold his daughter to that monster, anyway? How old was she?”
“Barely eighteen.”
“Jesus… Then what happened?”
“Papá suddenly had money and he got a mistress. My mother was stunned and heartbroken, so when Valeria pleaded with us to come spend the summer with her, Mamá quickly said yes. We had no idea…” How their lives would change. That they would never see home again. God, how naive they had been. “Emilo quickly realized he could use me to control his headstrong wife’s behavior. Mamá tried to protect me, so they separated us. As a last resort, I called my father to tell him I was afraid because I barely saw my mother and I did not like the way Emilo’s men treated me.” Her voice broke.
What had happened next had been nothing short of hell.
“What did he say?”
“That his life was much better without us. Mamá had grown old and unappealing. My sister and I were too spoiled.”
Trees dropped his spoon in his stew. “He left you there, knowing you were being raped?”
“I did not tell him that exactly. I did not know the words for it. But he must have been aware.” She had never been close to her father, but the sense of betrayal after he’d hung up had been absolute.
“So, for his own comfort, he left you to a bunch of drug thugs’ nonexistent mercy?” He sounded stunned, horrified, and furious. “I’m adding him to my list of assholes who need killing.”
“You are too late. When he got greedy a couple of years later, Emilo had him killed.” She hesitated. “I have mixed feelings about that. Some would say he got what he deserved…”
He reached for her hand. “In my opinion, he did. But he was your father—your blood—even though he didn’t fulfill the responsibility of a dad.”
It was foolish to accept solace from Trees. It probably made her weak. But she needed comfort, and she soaked his in. “Exactly.”
“What happened to your mother?”
“She got sick and developed pneumonia. Emilo refused her medical attention. I tried my best to help her, but…” Laila tried to swallow back tears—and failed miserably. “Then Valeria was rescued. I was happy for her, but…”
“You were alone.” Trees squeezed her hand. “You’ve never had anyone to help you, and everyone you’ve ever loved has been taken away.”
