tub, he led her to the settee, where he dried them both off and snagged two robes. Once they were wrapped in terrycloth, he lowered onto the seat beside her.
She hadn’t finished her story, but he didn’t press. He simply sat beside her, quiet and patient.
How much could she tell him? Not all of it. But if she gave him some insight into how the cartel trafficked girls, it might help him stop the operation. If that was his aim. She hoped.
It was more hope than she’d had in years, and that scared the shit out of her.
“Miguel offered me an installment plan.” She hugged her waist, hating how naive she’d been. “All I had to do was sign a contract that promised to pay back the money I borrowed by working for his connections at a restaurant or factory. The going rate was thirty-thousand dollars. It sounded too good to be true. But hey, everyone gets rich in America, right? So I signed, ignoring the clause that said my family would be responsible for my debt if I couldn’t pay.”
“You didn’t know what would happen.”
“I should’ve known. There were so many warning signs. I ignored them all and paid for phony identification documents, adding to the debt I was already trying not to freak out about. Then I let him put me into a car with a strange man, who drove me to a strange city in California.”
“What did you tell your family?”
“I didn’t. I left Mexico thinking I would call once I was settled.” Her chest constricted against the stabbing guilt. “I was taken to a place that was neither a restaurant nor a factory. There, in a filthy backroom packed with dozens of girls just like me, I was handed off to Miguel’s connection, who told me I would be a prostitute. I would be charged room and board while I paid off the thirty-thousand dollars I owed them. Just like that, I went from being in debt to being in more trouble than I could’ve ever imagined.”
He gripped her hand on her lap and bowed his head. At the edge of her vision, she watched his jaw grind and flex.
“I protested.” She sat taller, recalling the painful memories. “God, I fought. I don’t even know how many times I tried to cut and run. I even enlisted the other girls to rally with me. But every effort I made ended in agony. He beat me, starved me, kept me awake for days on end until I was too disoriented and weak to lift my head. That’s when I caught a glimpse of my future.”
“You knew you’d been trafficked.”
“I was starting to suspect that. I mean, I understood all along that what they were doing wasn’t legal, but part of me still believed I was in control of my situation. I remember lying in that backroom—eyes swollen shut, ribs cracked, my stomach twisted with hunger—and that’s when I finally came to terms with how grim my predicament was. I’d unknowingly sold myself to La Rocha Cartel and became an illegal immigrant, without a cent to my name. I didn’t know where I was, had no access to a phone, and no options because no one allowed me to go anywhere alone.”
He scooped her into his arms and held her tight across his lap. It was a big lap, warm and protective, reinforced by rock-hard thighs and a sense of security that shouldn’t have made sense.
After Miguel, she’d sworn she would never be fooled by a man again. But her relationship with Miguel had never been this. He’d bought her expensive food, wooed her with pretty words, and fucked her without fireworks. Not even a spark.
He’d never held her, never embraced her without throwing her against the closest surface and rutting atop her.
Angling her head, she sought John’s vibrant gaze. Sweet Lord, he was so close, regarding her as if nothing else existed in the world. She nuzzled so deeply against his chest she felt the rhythm of his heart in her soul, dancing with hers. Endlessly, he held her, his mouth nearly upon her lips, chasing her breaths with unspoken questions.
“I was out of options,” she whispered. “What was I supposed to do?”
“You survive by doing what you’re told.” Green eyes glared down at her.
“Fuck that.” She glared right back. “I will always fight. And I did, earning more punishments. More beatings. More days without food. But you know what? Every infraction ensured that he couldn’t whore