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“Yes,” she confirmed. “My grandmother, the only person in my life who cared about me, died when I was fifteen. But instead of leaving them her modest fortune, she left it to me. It could only be accessed when I turned twenty-one. It was ironclad. My parents couldn’t get around the measures Grom had put in place.”
“Are they the ones you burned?” Roman asked, brown eyes like flint.
Angela shook her head. “They’re still alive.”
“Not for long,” Roman growled. “They’re dead. So dead.”
When he went to get up, she pulled him back down. “Don’t. Roman, please.”
He looked at her like she was mad. “You don’t want them punished?”
“Of course I do,” Angela replied fiercely. “In fact, I spent years trying to do just that. But they have too many ties to the community. They’re too wealthy. Even evidence sent directly to the police yielded nothing.”
“My actions won’t yield nothing,” Roman vowed to her.
“I don’t doubt that. But their deaths won’t go unnoticed or unexplained. You can’t kill them. I won’t risk you like that,” she said.
Roman still wasn’t backing down. “You don’t think I’m more powerful than them?”
“I won’t risk you,” Angela repeated sternly. “They are already dead to me. I haven’t seen them in years. I don’t even think about them. Truly.”
Roman stayed stiff and unyielding for a moment longer before relaxing back against the headboard and pillows once more. “It’s not enough, Angel. But I’ll let it go for now.”
It was all she could ask of him. “Anyway, I stayed with The Foreman—that’s what he called himself—for two years. He never used me personally, but he was the one in charge of arranging my services. There were auctions and parties, as well as private viewings.” Angela blanched. “I had no idea there were so many ways to turn a human being into a commodity before then.”
“Angel...” Roman murmured brokenly, tugging her against his chest.
She hiccuped, sucking back her tears. Once they fell, there would be no stopping them, and she wanted to finish her story. “Not everyone wanted me for sex. Some wanted me to clean and cook. Others wanted me to do degrading, dehumanizing things like eat out of a dog bowl while wearing a collar and lead. There was this one man who liked to throw parties and invite his guests to play roulette with the bodies of the males and females in his service.”
Angela recalled the night when Jedidiah had passed her around on the whim of a roll of dice. Her body felt broken, and it had been hard to move. She was bleeding from multiple orifices and had been ready to launch herself off the balcony. Unfortunately, he kept the place too well guarded for that. She, and others like her, were insured at a high price. Jedidiah and the other bastards that hired them didn’t want to have to pay out the exorbitant death clause.
She explained all this as dispassionately as she could to Roman. When she looked at him, she found tears running down his face, and her heart lurched in her chest. “Roman. I’m sorry. This is hurting you. I’ll stop.”
“You—” He broke off, looking incredulous. He wrapped her up tightly, his head resting between her neck and shoulder. She stroked his back as he shuddered. “You really are a miracle,” he told her. “So much compassion for someone shown so little.”
Angela allowed herself to fall against him, so they were holding each other up. “The next morning, I was in the bathroom, and I found an envelope with Jedidiah’s name and address on it. We never knew where we were. We were also transported blindfolded or with a bag over our heads.”
Roman made a sound of distress and reared back. She knew what he was going to say before he opened his mouth. So she beat him to it. “Don’t tell Abel. Promise me. I know him well enough to know he would never forgive himself for putting that bag over my head. Don’t tell him.”
Roman ran his fingers through his disheveled hair. “No wonder you didn’t give a fuck when we abducted you. No wonder you were such a mess the following day. That look in your eyes... I’m sorry, Angel. I’m so sorry. And I used you against the wall.” He looked devastated.
“Hey, I’m okay,” she said. “I’m okay because it was you.”
“That’s not good enough for me,” Roman told her, still looking guilty.
But she didn’t want him to be guilty. Not for that. “Listen to me,” she ordered him, tugging his chin so he faced her once again. “You were right. Using you that day gave me my power back. It helped sandblast some of the triggered memories away. It also felt damn good.” One side of her mouth quirked. “I have learned not to deny myself things that feel good. That includes your dick with its jewelry.”
Roman was startled into a laugh, and it was music to her ears. He looked so much younger and carefree when he laughed. “I really do love you,” she told him.
He stopped laughing and cupped her face with his hands. “I really love you, too.”
Their kiss was brief but filled with warmth. When she pulled back, she returned to her tale. “After that event, I was sent home two weeks later.”
“What?” Roman asked with a shocked frown.
Angela gave a short laugh. “Right? I was just as confused as you. But my contract was up. The Foreman is a man of his word and runs an honest and ethical service. Or so he told me when he dropped me back at my parent’s house.”
“Who the fuck is this guy?” Roman wanted to know.
