Page 18 of Vengeful Vows

“What do you want?”

A pang of sympathy for her rocks me for a moment. I know how girls get caught up in this life, and she looks so young...

“Just a gram.” Her eyes are pleading, and her voice is getting squeakier. “Dust. I’m going to share it with the other girls.”

I wince, not liking the sound of that, but what can I do? It’s the life we live.

“All right,” I say. “You can have it, if you give me something I can use.”

“Some of the girls are under eighteen,” she murmurs.

My eyes snap up to hers where I’d been looking at my hands.

“What?”

“Some of them are young, Mister. He keeps bringing them in, from all over the world.”

“Sex trafficking,” I nearly whisper.

I know that Murphy sinks pretty low, but I didn’t think it was this low.

She nods. “He’s getting a shipment in a few days. I was hoping that you could stop it.”

She presses her lips in a thin line. “I know I’m just a junkie stripper,” she says, and suddenly there are tears standing in her eyes. “But I don’t like the idea of children getting pushed into this life.”

“You’re doing a good thing, Diamond.” I stand up. “Listen, I’m going to get you to Jimmy. He’ll give you the gram if that’s what you want.”

Her eyes light up, but then I pause, just standing there, looking at her.

“But if you want a way out,” I say quietly. “Out for good? Jimmy can also take you to rehab. Change your name. Get you away from Murphy.”

Diamond looks up at me and I hope the flash in her eyes is hope.

“You’re a good man, Mr. Burke.”

“Declan,” I remind her.

“Declan.” She smiles and stands up.

I lead her over to Jimmy, walking away so that I don’t know if she chooses the drugs or the rehab because I think it would break my heart if she chose the former. It might make me think twice about what we do, and that isn’t good for anyone.

I find Gray popping open crates and checking product, not testing it because none of us actually partake, but just checking to see that it’s all there.

I tilt my head to the crate in front of him. “How’s it look?”

He glances at me. “It’s fine. Everything’s here. It’s almost a miracle.”

“I’ve got something to tell you.”

Gray frowns. “What is it? Don’t tell me he is using underage girls at the club?”

“Not just at the club,” I say. “Prostitution. He’s bringing in girls from all over, making them work in the clubs, getting them hooked on our shit, and then pushing them into sex work.”

“Jesus,” Gray mutters. “What a piece of shit.”

“Well, we knew that,” I point out. “But there’s a shipment in a couple of days.”

Gray wrinkles his nose. “It fucks me up when you refer to people as shipments.”

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