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“Got to stay hydrated when the bedroom calls.” Sandy leaned against the counter, giving me a curious look. “How is it?Finallyhaving sex?”
The reason I was here wasn’t to have a gushy, girly chat about scandalous things. Yes, Sandy had become a confidant, to whom I’d lamented that I would never get to put into play any of my sexual lessons because my father kept me under lock and key. Her response had been that if he’d sent me to learn about pleasure, there would definitely come a day when I would know a man’s touch.
“It’s good,” I replied evasively with a wave of my hand. I was trying to decide how to bring up what I needed to without blurting it right out.
“Oh, darling,goodisn’t good at all!”
I blushed. “It’s great, actually. Really,reallygreat.”
“That’s what I’m talking about,” Sandy cooed. “So what’s he like, this husband of yours?”
Kind.The word popped into my mind immediately. It was followed closely by images of his bravery, loyalty, ferocity... Drakos was the opposite of everything I’d been led to expect. But I couldn’t tell Sandy any of that. “He’s never hurt me.”
“Well, that’s a small mercy.” A haunted look flashed through Sandy’s manicured features, but she replaced it with a fast smile. “There’s only really one question that matters most.” Sandy then held up her hands and began to draw them slowly apart. As she kept making the distance wider, a look of feigned shock and delight danced on her face.
I laughed. “On the larger end of that spectrum, but it’s my secret to keep.”
“Oh, baby girl, bless you.” She shook her head and gulped her water. “Stay hydrated, my friend.”
I glanced down the hall at the door to Sandy’s room. “I came here for some answers, Sandy.”
“I’ve already taught you how to blow a man’s mind, darling.”
“But you’ve never explained how you know that,” I whispered, turning back to her. “You’re a dancer at my father’s club, but you turn tricks on the side.”
Sandy drummed her false nails into the counter. “Yes, and your father asked me to educate you in the ways of the bedroom, so you’d be an expert whenever he made a political match for you.”
“Does my father run a sex ring in the underworld?” I blurted out.
Sandy blanched, completely taken off guard. Underneath that fake tan, she’d paled horribly. Mouth open, she stepped back. Unlike me—or Drakos even—she wasn’t a master of her features.
“Sandy, I need to know.” I approached her, hands up. “They call my father the devil. What does that mean?”
The frightened woman looked around the apartment, as if searching for a ghost. “You shouldn’t speak of such things, Talia.”
“My father sold me to his enemy. How did he think I wouldn’t hear the moniker or the damned accusations?” I demanded.
“Then he should be the one you talk to, not me.” Sandy swallowed and shook her head. “Besides, his enemy would spread bad rumors about him.”
There it was. She was shutting down. Putting up barricades so I would drop the subject.
“I don’t know what to believe,” I whispered. It was a childish plea, appealing to the lone female in my life who I’d formed a connection to, fucked up though it might be. Sandy had been my tutor, and if that meant anything to her, I’d hoped she could help me sort through this mess. “Please, Sandy. Are you a victim of my father’s sex trafficking trade?” I reached for her, but she snatched her hands away.
“Thank you for visiting. Please go.”
Dammit.I blinked hard. “All right. But please, if you are, know I could help you.”
“Go.”
“Goodbye, Sandy.”
It was clear she was scared. I chewed on my lip as I emerged from her room. Philip slid me a look as we started walking down the hall. “We have one more stop before home,” I told the driver.And he’s not going to like it. Not at all.
~*~
There was no sparkof filial joy as I pushed into the café. Philip, still following me, cursed from behind.
“Sorry,” I whispered to the bodyguard before I walked swiftly over to the table where my father sat, sipping a coffee. “Père, you look well.”
