Page 88 of Baby Duke

Barely half an hour later, we are gathered around the lounge in my house. The same lounge we had sat in to plan the whole foiled Den project. It seemed like a lifetime ago.

Roe is curled up with Captain on a single recliner. No idea how the giant brute managed to get himself up therewith her, but they have it managed, smooshed together as they are.

Law, Brett, and I have explained everything up to the moment we entered The Den's main floor when Roe cuts in.

"First off," she says, a tiny bit of her usual sass back in her voice, "that woman… gross. Secondly, Trent didn't get searched?"

Law throws his arms up in the air in surrender as Brett and I blink in surprise.

Trent just smirks. "I knew someone had to be smart enough to realize that. Not like these clowns," he gestures to us.

"Come now, it was a stressful moment!" Law exclaims defensively.

I find myself grinning and quickly wipe it off my face before Trent can see it. He can't know I am softening towards him. But fuck him and his attraction to my sister.

I catch Roe looking at me, a secret smile on her own face. Damn, she caught me.

"Anyway," I say quickly, embarrassed that Roe had seen my moment of weakness. "We walked through those doors and…"

I wince, cutting myself off as I am instantly sickened at the images running rampant in my head. How do I explain what we saw to someone who was so recently abused?

I clear my throat and glance uncomfortably at Roe.

"I saw you all," East says suddenly, and we all look at her in surprise. She picks at her blanket nervously, eyes down. "Our fath-Vincent, took me to his office after he had taken me away from the room Roe and I had been held in."

We stare intently at her. This is the first we have heard anything about Roe's and East's side of the story. Trent had told us how he had found her, of course. Curled in a tiny ball in an office that overlooked the entire floor of The Den, completely hysterical after being forced to witness everything that had played out that night.

"You were all so lost. Disgusted, yes. But lost too. Like you didn't know what to do. Vincent laughed when he saw you all. He gave me a kiss on the cheek and told me to enjoy the show before he left me there. Alone.”

East bursts into hopeless tears. Trent rises so quickly that I don't have time to punch him in the dick before he picks East up and sits with her in his lap. He coos softly in her ear while he holds her tightly.

My blood simmers, and I am about to yell at the fucker to get his hands off my sister when I notice something abouther. She is curledintohim, not away. She clutches his shirt like a lifeline. Like sheneedshim.

I sit back, frowning. My sister likes Trent. Like,reallylikes him. I blink at the realization that East wants to be with Trent just as much as Trent wants to be with her. There is no coercing, no manipulation. Just love. No,attraction. The L word can fuck right off.

I glance up and catch Roe once again smiling at me. Sheknew. I mean, of course, she did. This isRoeI am talking about.

I smirk and shrug a shoulder. I will let it slide. For now.

"So, then Vincent found you?" Roe asks, a gentle reminder to get on with the story and get the spotlight off East.

My teeth grind together as I recall my father's grand entrance.

"Yes. Vincent arrived. We yelled at each other. I told him how disgusting a man he was. He chastised me for being weak." I take a deep breath. "And then he told us he had a special show planned for us.”

I feel sick. I run my hands over my face as I try and fail to not think about hisshow.

"Me," Roe whispers hoarsely. I look back up and see her trembling lips. She blinks rapidly as tears well in her eyes.

Captain whines, moving his head from her lap to rest it on her chest, his nose almost touching her chin. Roe accepts his comfort, giving herself a shake before she starts petting Captain's giant boof head.

"How did the police know to come?" she looks to Trent with her question, already deducing it must have been his doing, as he was the only one of us not to receive a pat down.

Trent nods, his hand still soothingly running up and down East's back, though she no longer hides her face, and her tears have mostly stopped.

"I had a dozen tiny microphones and cameras attached to me," he starts. "My grandfather is a smart man. When I told him where I was spending the weekend, he drilled me until I admitted the truth. He worked with the police, who weren't corrupted by Vincent Mazzuchelli, and a man from the inside who wanted out. The plan was good but not flawless. But it worked."

Roe sends Trent a soft smile.

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