Page 138 of Forbidden Fate

Slowly.

My body goes alert, though I don’t know why.

She moves around the desk to face me. “I thought you were grateful,” she says.

“I am.”

“Señor Vega has given you a home.”

“I know.”

“Education.”

“Yes.”

“Protection.”

“Yes.”

She narrows her eyes. “Money.”

“I know.”

She crosses her arms. “Yet here you are, speaking of morality.”

“I don’t want to be ungrateful,” I say.

“Then don’t be.”

The words sting.

I look down at my hands. “I think maybe I should leave.”

She steps closer until she’s right in front of me, leaning back against the desk. Her knee brushes mine.

I stop breathing.

“Leave?” she asks.

“Yes.”

“And go where?”

I have no answer.

“To the brothel?” she asks. “Back to the women who raised you?”

“They’re my family.”

She sneers. “They’re prostitutes.”

Anger flashes through me. “Don’t talk about them that way.”

“But that’s what they are.”

I push to my feet. She’s right in front of me. We’re too close. Much too close.

“You wanted to speak to me,” she says. “So speak.”