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Leaning forward, Hawkins said, “I’m concerned aboutyou, Isabel. You’ve been through a rough few days. You lost your baby—”
“I wanted an abortion,” she said, cutting him off.
He sat back, caught off guard.
Shifting her gaze back to the window, she stared at the endless blue sky. It hurt to see that shade of blue. It made her think of Travis. The ice around her heart grew another layer. She welcomed it.
“One of my father’s friends raped me,” she said tonelessly. “My father knew. He’d been pushing me into dating Stephen—our fathers are thick as thieves. I told him no. But my father doesn’t believe in the wordno. Neither did Stephen. We were at a charity dinner on Valentine’s Day and my father trapped me in a corner all throughout dinner, then left with my mother near the very end of the meal, leaving me stranded at the banquet hall with nobody but Stephen to take me home. Stephen raped me, then walked me back into the house once he got me home and smiled at my father.”
Hawkins’ breath came out in a harsh burst. “Your father ... heknew?”
Isabel turned dead eyes to the man. “He’s involved in human trafficking. People are commodities to him, agent. Especially women. Why would you expect him to see me any different?”
The look he gave her actually struck her asfunny.
She’d tried to tell so many people who Wilson Steele was, had tried for so long. But nobody believed her.
“You really think you can lock him away?” she asked quietly as the shadow of the girl she’d once been stirred inside her.
Hawkins inclined his head. “With your help, I think we can.”
“I want something.”
She barely saw the flicker of his lids. He didn’t hesitate to ask, though.
“What do you want?”
Miles
December
“Can I ... ”
The faint, polite smile on the young man’s face faded, then fell away completely as he met the eyes of Miles Hawkins. A cold expression settled on his face and he stepped outside the sprawling ranch-styled house a few miles outside Malibu.
After closing the door behind him, Travis fixed his cool gaze on Miles and folded his arms across his chest. “I don’t know why you’re here, agent. I don’t have another girlfriend living some other life I’m unaware of.”
