If he touched Katelyn, I will kill him.
“Ashton’s not in prison either,” I say dryly.
“Like I said, money talks.”
“How is Prince Christian incarcerated but not these wealthy Americans?”
“Because wealthy Americans can buy their freedom.”
“So in addition to buying your freedom with Auntie’s money, you’re also a damned canary.”
He doesn’t say anything, but he doesn’t have to. We both know the truth.
I’m as much of a canary as he is.
Again…I feel like I’m looking in a mirror.
What makes us so different?
And my father…
I always knew he was an asshole, but this?
Then again, I’ve watched him mistreat my mother my whole life. I grew up thinking that was the way one treated women, which was part of the reason why I was so hard on my girlfriends. Why I wanted to control them, order them around, punish them when they disobeyed me.
My God, no wonder I’m so fucked up.
10
KATELYN
I lift my hand, ready to knock on Aspen’s door. She lives on the same floor. This building must be mostly vacant.
What’s stopping me? I’m a little worried, feeling kind of shy.
But Zee is right. I need friends, and these women know more than anyone else what I’ve been through.
My fist comes down on the wooden door.
I knock once and then again.
I steer clear of the doorbell and the buzzer. A knock seems more friendly.
“Moonstone— I mean…Katelyn,” Aspen says through the door.
“Hi, Aspen. I was just wondering if you wanted to get some coffee or something.”
She opens the door. Aspen is beautiful with dark hair and eyes and fair skin. She’s tall, muscular, and athletic. She was a professional volleyball player before…
And she was hunted viciously. Because of her athleticism, some of the more degenerate visitors to the island liked to hunt her. She was a challenge.
To see her now, I wouldn’t even know she had been on the island. She’s not scarred, at least nowhere I can see. Diamond took such good care of all of us that we have fewer scars than we probably should have.
Aspen still hasn’t answered my question.
Do I ask again? It’s like I’ve forgotten how to be social.
“You know what?” Aspen finally says. “Yeah. Let’s get the hell out of here for a little while.”
We go downstairs, let security know we’re going to take some time for coffee, and then we head out into the busy Manhattan streets. There is no dearth of coffee shops, so we choose the first one we find, which is only a couple buildings away.
I order a cinnamon mocha latte, and Aspen orders black coffee. Then we find a table by the window.
I open my mouth…but I have no idea what to say. Sheesh. This was my idea. I can’t expect Aspen to start talking.
But thankfully, she does. “What’s going on with you? Have you seen your family?”
“I’ve talked to them. They live in LA.”
She drops her jaw. “Then why are you here?”
It’s a valid question. “My family isn’t what I need right now.” No lie there.
“I get it.”
“Wait. Aren’t you from Colorado?”
“Yeah.”
“So you’re not with your family either.”
“They’re here, actually. My mom and dad rented an apartment for a few months. She takes a sip of her coffee. “It’s a little…awkward.”
“I can imagine. Part of the big reason why I’m here instead of LA. Plus, the Wolfes are helping us out so much and they’re here.”
She nods. “Don’t get me wrong. My family is great and all. But they just… They don’t understand, and I’m really glad they don’t understand. I mean I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy.”
I consider her words. My worst enemy. I’m not so sure I agree with Aspen. My cousins Jared and Tony? The two who sold me off to that damned place? Jared is already dead, but Tony? He’s rotting in a prison cell, but is that good enough for what he put me through? How many other women did they give to that priest?
I should try to find out.
Then again, should I?
This is all about reclaiming my life. Does reclaiming your life mean getting back at the person who put you in the position? Does it mean investigating and finding out who else that person hurt?
If they sent anyone else to that island, those girls are either dead or free now.
Dead.
How is this the first time I considered the word?
There were women who…
“Aspen,” I say. “Do you remember Turquoise?
“I have limited memory of my time on the island,” she says. “All the therapists say it’s a defense mechanism. They’ve offered me guided hypnosis to recover the memories, but why would I want to remember any of that?”
“I don’t know. So you can work through it, maybe?”
“The reason I’m here is because I worked through as much of it as I could on the island. I’m in a fairly good headspace now. I know, that sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? I mean I was held captive for God knows how long.”
“You don’t remember how long you were there?”
“No, not really. Like I said, it’s kind of a blank.”
“But you know. Because you remember when you were taken.”
“Yeah. I guess it’s been about five years. I was taken from a hotel room during a tour with the team.”
“Were any of the other team members taken?”
“No. I was the only lucky one,” she says dryly.
Her beauty. Aspen’s beauty made her a target.
“Is that why you’re not wearing any makeup?”
“Yeah, it’s also why I cut all my hair off.”
Aspen is still gorgeous with short hair. There’s no way to make her not gorgeous. She doesn’t even need makeup. She’s got that fresh-faced look of an athlete.
“I understand. It’s like we no longer want to be noticed.”
“That’s it in a nutshell.”
“Except that… I met someone.”
Her eyes pop open. “Seriously?”
“Yeah, he’s a server at The Glass House. Really nice guy. Even I can’t believe what I’m feeling. Honestly, Aspen, I didn’t think I’d ever have these feelings again.”
“I know I’ll never have those feelings again,” she says. “I don’t care if Hugh Jackman himself walks up to this table and propositions me.”
I nod. I totally get where she’s coming from. “Except Luke is way cuter than Hugh Jackman.”
She laughs. “Totally not possible.”
I take a few more drinks of my latte. “I’m not sure I’m ready. Can you tell I had a sobbing spree earlier today?”
“Not before you just mentioned it. But yeah, your eyes are slightly swollen.”
“Believe me, they look a lot better than they did.”
“So why the crying spree?”
I fill her in quickly.
“He didn’t leave town after all?”