The first time?
Ezra snapped forward. “The first time? That means there was a second.”
“The first one was the only real close call, after that I had bodyguards. But my performances brought in all types and I was very popular in some circles.” She made a face. “I didn’t really think about the audience that much, we just went, I performed, and we left…”
“Em—are you telling us that traffickers actually came to your shows and tried to acquire you?” The fact Ezra could deliver the line so coolly earned him points.
I pinched the bridge of my nose.
“I can’t say they were definitively traffickers,” she said before taking a sip of her coffee. “Some were just rich, fat men who wanted a young girl.”
Anger lit a tempest in me.
“I recognized it, and I did everything I could to avoid it. So, yes, when I went, I had big burly bodyguards, often two at a time, to keep my ‘fans’ at bay and so no one had to worry about me going missing.”
Because her uncle was already a pedophile who wanted to claim ownership of her. I wish we could resurrect that piece of shit just so we could kill him. Again.
“Anyway, I’m not worried about that this time. Because I’m never alone and the guys would never let anything happen to me. Nor would you.” She motioned to the two of us. “I also know a lot more about fighting, using a knife, and shooting a gun. I’m not an easy target anymore.”
Anymore.
“Ivy…”
“I love you too,” she murmured. No, she wasn’t making light of her history or her experiences. “Lainey needs this. She needs help to find Andrea. If she’s in Eastern Europe, and ‘sold,’ then we need these people. People who can point us in the right directions. Of all of us, I can do this. I can bring them to the table…”
I fucking hated that she was right.
“How the hell are you convincing Liam and the others to even consider this?” Ezra demanded.
“Well, I’m going to let Milo talk to them first.”
Right…
The door locks tumbled and I rose, half-aware of Ezra standing too. A moment later, the door opened to reveal Lainey and I was able to take a deeper breath. She was here and she was safe.
Trusting her to look after herself was one thing. Setting my own eyes on her was another. Her troubled gaze lightened as she met mine then she smiled at me before glancing at Ezra and then Ivy.
All at once, Mayhem’s smile vanished. “Em… what’s wrong?”
I shot a look over my shoulder. Ivy had gone painfully pale and her hand shook, but she wasn’t looking at any of us.
She was staring at Karagiani and he was staring at her.
“Ivy?”
“He worked for my uncle…” The paper-thin rasp of her whisper ripped through me. I didn’t miss a single thing crossing Karagiani’s face.
Or the fact that Lainey was between us.
Chapter
Three
LAINEY
Em went deathly pale and her gaze wasn’t on me or Pretty Boy or even Ezra. It was on my bodyguard.
“Em… What’s wrong?”
She said nothing, her eyes seemed almost unnaturally large. My stomach dropped at the clear horror reflected in them.
“Ivy?” Pretty Boy prompted. He and Ezra were both on their feet. Ezra cut his gaze back and forth between Em and me. He seemed nearly as mystified as I was by her response.
I’d never seen her look like this…
“He worked for my uncle…”
The words seemed to rip out of her like we were tearing off a sheet of paper. Ice threaded through my veins at the mention of that vile man twined with Em staring at Karagiani.
He worked for her uncle.
He worked for her uncle.
It was like a dozen scenarios cascaded through my mind, each one going from terrible to worse. Dead almost a year and Bradley Sharpe still inflicted wounds.
Hell. No.
