Surprise rippled through me, and I tilted my head. "Well shit, that's better than I expected. The girls want to go home?" Nadia nodded. "Well then, let's sort it out sooner rather than later. What about the other four?"
"One is the girl in hospital," Nadia ticked off on her fingers, "then there're the two who don't speak English. One speaks Spanish, which, luckily, Maxine is fluent in, and we were able to learn she comes from Colombia. She was crying for her family, but..." Nadia grimaced, indicating to Gen.
My lawyer screwed up her nose, looking angry. "I investigated the family and did some digging. I'm at least ninety percent sure she was sold by her parents to clear a bad debt."
Anger filled my veins, and my fist clenched at my side. "How the fuck can any parent do that?" I growled, furious.
Gen shrugged. "Happens more than people realize. Anyway, it looks like the father is mixed up in some shady shit. If we sent her back, they'd likely just sell her again."
I let my breath out on a long exhale. It sucked, but it was sort of what I’d expected. If my father had succeeded in selling Seph off in the auction house, then she’d returned a month later, he wouldn't have blinked twice before collecting a second paycheck.
"The other girl is Russian," Nadia continued, looking more pissed off than I'd ever seen her. "Sounds like she’s been held the longest of all of them."
A flash of understanding hit me. "You speak Russian," I commented.
Nadia gave a short nod. "Da. Her family are all dead. She has no one to return to."
Sympathy for that child rolled through me, and I stubbornly refused to let my mind wander over all the horrific things that could have happened to her while being held for transport. She hadn't been sold to her final owner yet, but that didn't mean her captors would have treated her with any kind of respect.
"Fuck. Alright. And the last one?" Because they'd only told me about eight of the nine so far.
Hannah gave a short chuckle, sharing a glance with Maxine, and I gave them a suspicious look.
Nadia clicked her tongue at them both before turning back to me. "Diana," she said, and somehow I wasn't even slightly surprised. "She won't tell us her surname, where she came from, how long she was captive... anything."
I frowned in confusion. "I don't get it. She speaks just fine and seems confident as hell today. What's the problem?"
This time Nadia herself seemed to be trying to hide a smile. "She said there’s no point in telling us who her family are, because..." Nadia cleared her throat before continuing in a direct quote from Diana, I was going to guess "...because fuck family, they're a bunch of assholes."
My lips parted, but no sound came out. Consider me speechless. And judging by the way Nadia glared at me, and Hannah grinned behind her hand, I was willing to bet Diana had told them I'd been the one to say that originally.
"Well," I said after a painfully long pause. "She's probably not wrong."
Nadia threw her hands in the air and Hannah seemed to shake with silent laughter until Maxine elbowed her.
"Where's Sabine?" I asked, changing the subject away from my appalling influence on impressionable young children.
Maxine pointed toward the living room. "In there, braiding hair. She's having an amazing time."
"Cute," I murmured, then shifted my attention back to Gen. "Let's sort out those five who want to go home. If Maria is happy with their physical health, then we should reunite them as soon as possible."
Gen nodded. "Yes, sir."
"What about the other three?" Nadia asked.
I bit the edge of my thumbnail, thinking, then gave a small sigh. "Nothing, for now. I'll talk it over with Zed and see what we can do for them. Obviously, the Russian girl—"
"Zoya," Nadia offered.
I amended myself. "Obviously Zoya can't be sent back to Russia with no family and, I'm assuming, no money. And I don't feel comfortable sending..."
"Angelina," Maxine supplied.
"...sending Angelina home to a family who knowingly sold her." I gave a small groan, rubbing my eyes. "How old are these girls? Old enough to make their own choices?"
Nadia shrugged. "Depends on the choice."
"Fair point," I whispered. "Let me think on it. I'll come up with some options, but in the meantime..." Shit, I couldn't just ask these women to babysit indefinitely.
Nadia reached out and patted my forearm where I leaned on the counter, though, giving me an understanding smile. "I'll look after them. After all, I have some free time on my hands right now." She gave me a pointed look, and I cringed.
"I'm sorry about your café," I told her sheepishly.
She shrugged. "I'm not. You should see the beautiful renovation you're paying for." Her grin was all Cass, and I couldn't help smiling back.
"Yeah, I deserve that. It’d better be awesome. Anyway, is there anything I can do here before I go into work?" I glanced around at everyone with that question, and they all looked equally confused.
Nadia answered first, though. "We've got this handled, Hades. You get on in to work, but be sure to tell Diana you're leaving. That little girl thinks you walk on bloody water, she does."
I gave a short laugh as I slid off my stool. "Hero worship. She'll get over it when she realizes what a cold bastard I really am."
Hannah chuckled from where she was drying dishes. "Okay, Boss." Then she checked the time and hissed a curse. "Shit, sorry, I should be at work too."
"Go, we've got this," Maxine told her, tugging the towel from her hands.
Nadia nodded. "I'll send you a grocery list to pick up on your way back, Hannah." Then she nudged me through to the living room to say goodbye to Diana.
Luckily for me and my aversion to hugs from people I wasn't sleeping with, Diana was getting her hair braided by Sabine when I got in there. So instead of clinging to me like a spider monkey again, she just pouted and asked if I'd be back later.
Fucking kid was too good at puppy-dog eyes for her own good—or mine—and I found myself agreeing to swing past after work.
Nadia followed me out and waved to Hannah, who was already getting into her car. But then she paused me with a hand on my arm.
"Hades," she murmured. "How's my boy?"
She kept her face neutral, but there was no hiding the deep concern filling her eyes or the slight tremble in her voice.
Guilt flooded through me, hating that we'd made Cass's grandmother think he was dead for even a minute. "He's good," I whispered back. "Made a full recovery already and itching to be resurrected."
She gave a sad smile. "Well, tell him to be patient. Not everyone will be pleased to see him breathing."
With that ominous warning, she stepped back inside the house and closed the door. A moment later, the lock clicked home. Good. Nadia wasn't taking chances.
45
That afternoon I found myself leaving work early just so I could swing past the safe house and visit the girls like I'd promised. Not that I had any intention of joining in on the hair braiding and shit, but I didn't like to break my word.