Page 62 of Watercolor Skulls

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"Will you tell me what he does to you?” Lily asks me.

“Never,” I answer simply, drawing the brush over the nail on her ring finger. I cap the bottle then reach for the next color.

“Maybe I could go to the police.” She watches me shake the bottle before I reach for her hand again.

She lays her dainty hand in my palm. I glide the bright purple color over the next fingernail in line. “He told me has the police in his pocket.” I glance up briefly, searching her eyes for confirmation of his threat.

Lily bites her lip and nods.

“We’re sticking to the plan. It’s a good one. We can keep padding our account with his money until you finish college and then we will run.”

“Why wait so long? I don’t need to go to college.”

“One of us needs an education and I haven’t been to school since eighth grade.” I blow on her nails, trying to decide on what color to use next.

“For not going to school you give the best advice,” she says kindly.

Lily has such a soft heart.

“You are more of a mother figure to me than my own,” she continues, smiling at the color on her nails. “I should call you Momma Jenny.” She laughs.

I dig through the bag of nail polish. “Ugh, don’t call me that. How about Aunt Jenny. I could be like a long lost cool aunt or something.”

She thinks about it, tapping her finger over her mouth. “I like it. It will definitely make it less awkward when my friends ask about you. Not that I have many.” Her head drops.

I reach out and tip her chin with my finger. “I’m your friend and now your aunt.” We continue to laugh and joke as I finish her nails.

The door swings open and Senator Ramsey steps inside. His eyes look at her rainbow colored nails in disgust. “Take that off, Lily. Benjamin will be here to pick you up in an hour.” He snaps his fingers, making her scurry for the polish remover.

“Yes, sir,” she says, her voice quivering.

I narrow my eyes at him as his roam over my bare legs. Asshole.

“I’ll allow this for now but if Lily can’t keep up with her family obligations, I’ll have to separate the two of you.” His threat makes her scrub at her nails at warp speed.

“Yes, sir,” she says again. In fact, those are the only two words I’ve ever heard her utter to him.

He snaps his fingers at me like a dog. I follow him out of the room.

As we head to the other wing he informs me that he likes me as me and her as her. “She isn’t free to have your personality,” he says, opening the door to my room. I step inside, dropping my head in obedience.

It’s never good to fight him behind closed doors. God, I hate him.

I could probably run on my own. He might not know about my friend Raffe. My previous “owners” did, and they threatened to hurt him every time I thought about disobeying.

Senator Ramsey has never threatened my friend. He threatens me with pain or worse.

So, I could run.

He shoves me face down onto the mattress.

I should run but I can’t leave Lily behind.

Lily is innocent and beautiful and everything I once thought about myself. If I save her, it’s like saving the me I was before meeting my traffickers.

Several hours pass before the Senator puts himself back together and walks out of my room, telling me he is headed to Washington and will be back in a few weeks.

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