Page 74 of Sin & Sapphire

Yes.“There’s a price on her head,” I said, modulating my voice to hide my annoyance. “And the man who gave her that scar on her cheek? He’ll do anything to catch her.”

The woman eyed me up and down, her eyes flicking to Valentin, and then to the soldiers behind us. She wasn’t going to tell me. Shit.

Valentin’s gentle touch on my back calmed the fury coursing through my veins. Violence wouldn’t solve this, as much as I wanted it to.

“Please,” I said, letting my worry bleed into my voice. “She’s …” Fuck. “She’s important to me,” I admitted.

The woman pressed her full lips together, then nodded sharply. “She came in, paid for a shower, and dyed her hair brown before taking off again. She traded clothes with me.”

Valentin stopped me from stepping into the woman’s space. “What clothes did you give her?”

The woman rattled off a description. When she was done, she stared at me for a moment. “Is she really in danger?”

“Deadly,” I said.

She nodded. “I told her—” she stopped, her eyes flicking to Valentin before returning to me. “And you’ll keep her safe?”

Valentin stepped in front of me, his suave charm smoothing over my rough edges. “She’s precious to us. Please, help us find her.”

“She was asking about the best places to catch a ride out of town. I sent her to the train station. She thought she should hitchhike!”

The outrage in the woman’s voice made me laugh. Beautiful, clever, spoiled Ana would never have traveled through Europe except by plane and car.

“Let’s go get our girl.”

29

ANA

I couldn’t stop grinningas I sat in the train station’s café, drinking terrible French coffee, watching tourists and locals make their way to their platforms, lost in their own safe, legal, free worlds while I waited for my train to arrive.

My newly brown hair and sunglasses hid my face, and in my voluminous pants, covered in paint stains, I didn’t look anything like a spoiled mafia princess.

The old-fashioned schedule, high above our heads, rattled as trains arrived and departed, announcing which platform led to which city.

I had enough euros in my pocket to get me to Paris, and then I’d figure out next steps from there. Eastern Europe, maybe. Not bad for someone who’d never had a job in her life, and didn’t even have her own bank accounts, I thought smugly to myself. I’d learned a lot during my three weeks of freedom, and I was determined not to make the same mistakes again.

I wouldn’t get caught.

I couldn’t.

My backpack was lighter than I liked. I’d need to pick up another set of clothes, perhaps sell one of the ungodly expensive watches I’d swiped from my captors, but it felt like freedom when I hiked it higher on my back and made my way through the crowd to my train.

The bruises and welts Valentin left on my body felt well earned, as if I were stronger for having suffered them.

And I was.

The heat that suffused me when I thought about his hands on me, pinching, hurting, followed by Angelo’s soft caresses… No, I’d learned something about myself and what I liked, and that was it. There was nothing wrong with a little masochism, nothing wrong with wanting to sink into their touch and let them sweep my cares away. But they wanted more than that. They wanted everything.

And I wouldn’t give it to them.

A feral smile crept over my face. All it took was one night of submission, one night to fool those assholes into thinking I wanted to be their pet, and now I was going to get away forever. Unlike the last time, I’d stay off the radar and lay low for as long as I could.

Just because I’d never had a job didn’t mean I’d never worked hard. I had a fucking master’s degree. I’d smoothed the way for my father’s deals my entire life, even if he’d never acknowledged what an asset I was. I’d find something, and when the furor over my disappearance died down, I’d disappear for real.

Surrounded by crowds speaking a dozen languages, freedom beckoned. Once I climbed aboard that train, I’d disappear.

A shiver ran up my spine, bringing an abrupt end to my euphoria. My entire life, I’d trusted my instincts, and right now, mine screamed to run.Shit.My eyes darted around the station, seeking the danger as the brakes of the arriving train squealed, overpowering the sounds of the rest of the station.

---