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An intrigued Nina sat up at full attention. “Like?”
“I grew up extremely poor. My parents were meth addicts, and my mother was deranged and very abusive.”
“Really?” Nina’s reply was a whisper as her eyes filled with pity.
I lifted my hand, palm out. “Don’t, seriously don’t do that or this story ends.”
She gripped her glass close to her chest and nodded.
“I was involved with a man before I left. We’d been together for years, and when he started selling meth, I helped him. The whole town was addicted.”
“Jesus, Taylor.”
“You can’t be that surprised. I gave you your first gun. Introduced you to Cedric. I told you I lived in the Wild West; I just didn’t explain the extent of it.”
Nina worried her lip with her fingers as I tossed back more courage.
“We planned on getting out of Dyer and taking Amber with us, but he got addicted himself and became something else, so I escaped by putting a bullet in his leg. And it’s a severe understatement that he hasn’t forgiven me.”
“Oh my God.” Nina sipped more of her whiskey.
“It gets a bit more interesting.”
“Fuck, I thought my life was complicated.” Nina chuckled ironically.
I stood and walked around my desk and took the high back leather chair next to hers.
“Nina, I fled to a man who paid my college tuition and gave me room and board in exchange for sex.”
“What?” Her eyes widened as she looked at me like I’d just shot her.
“He was a tycoon, one of the richest men in Tennessee. I was still in high school when we started sleeping together.”
“Jesus, Taylor!” Nina stood and paced the room, covered in shock. Her dark locks twisted in a no-nonsense chignon while she marked the carpet in three-inch heels.
I voiced the words aloud for the first time. “I was a paid whore in exchange for my education.”
Nina paused and then turned to look at me.
I faced her head on. “And I can’t say I’m sorry for it.”
Nina tossed the last of her drink back, gripped the bottle off my desk and poured. “Fuck it, Taylor, if the last year of my life has taught me anything, it’s that some people will do whatever it takes to survive.”
“And that’s all I’ve been doing, Nina. This success we’re experiencing isn’t a surprise to me. It was all carefully planned, calculated, expected. I had no other option.”
Nina cringed. “What do you mean?”
“When you grow up with absolutely nothing, it can instill fear in you once you’ve actually got something.”
She nodded.
“I was bred to be an addict and a tycoon. It’s evident which part of me won. And I’m proud of that, but I can’t say that I’ve kicked my real addiction.”
Nina brought the whiskey bottle to my glass and poured. “Explain.”
“At first I thought it was about kink, rough sex, control, and power, but now I know.”
“Stop being so vague. There is no way you are leaving this fucking office without telling me.” Nina sipped more whiskey and then looked at me pointedly. I spent the next few minutes divulging as little as possible about Daniello with uttering his name. Nina sat back and listened without judgment.
