Page 35 of Lorcan

“He doesn’t talk much,” Percy replied, putting the drink down on the table in front of me. “Kind of annoying if you ask me.”

I felt the chuckle bubble to the surface before I could silence it. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be, it’s been a while since I heard a woman laugh.”

That brought the reality of this situation back to me. I was on a boat in the middle of the ocean with a man who bought women for the sex trade. He knew shady people and yet he was willing to help me.

“Why?” I asked him. “Why do you do what you do?”

“Why do I help women escape a terrible future?” he asked, almost as if he were trying to understand why he did it.

“Is that what you do?” I asked him.

“Yes, Bridget, it is. This world is full of bullshit. My own father runs a black market operation that is trying to lure the devil to the surface. My brother and I will stop him somehow. If that means we buy women under the guise of selling them to the highest bidder, then that’s what we’ll do.”

“I’m sorry for being nosey.”

“Bridget, you can ask me as many questions as you want. This must be awfully terrifying for you. Ask me anything you want.”

“How did you get into this?”

He sipped at his whiskey and for a moment I thought I had asked the wrong question. “When I was a young man in my twenties, I loved a woman. Her name was Dora. She was the most beautiful woman I’d ever laid my eyes on. I didn’t want to be with her at first because I was the son of an asshole. He used to pit my brothers and I against each other for fun. One day, he decided he was going to rule his empire with fear and the city changed. He discovered the black market and got hooked into the dark side of life. He tried to pull us in with him, but both Halen and I held off. He liked Dora. He thought she had talent and he pulled her into his web. She ended up on sex trade slavery ship.”

“I’m sorry.”

He shrugged. “I never saw her again.”

“That’s why you do this?”

He nodded. “Yeah, it’s tough being so close to those who could have been the one who killed my Dora but over time, I learned to be someone else. I can pretend like the best of them and when they’re gone, I put these girls up in a better life.”

“Surely they know something is up, there has to be some girls who get sold.”

“Some do,” he said. “Some need to make that decision to keep up the ruse. I promised I would get them out eventually. They did it for others, the stronger of the girls who come through me.”

I couldn’t even imagine the pain he has to deal with everyday, putting girls in that predicament, but I understood why.

“So what should we do next?” I asked him after a brief moment of silence.

“Stick with me for a few weeks, stay low,” he said. “You’ll be safe here. You can see what I do and you can help me with the girls. Show them there is nothing to worry about and that they are safe. Tell me the ones that you think would be okay with the hardness of the life.”

“I couldn’t pick out a girl for you to sacrifice.”

“I’m not like that, Bridget. It is always their choice.”

It wasn’t exactly what I wanted to do but I knew it would be good for the girls.

“What about Lorcan?”

“You can video call him if you want,” he told me. “Anytime. Killian messaged me earlier and told me he was rescued and has been admitted to the hospital. His wounds were quite severe but he’s stable.”

“I don’t want him to be mad.”

Percy smiled. “Give him a week, send him a video. Then stay in touch. He’ll get over it.”

What if he doesn’t? I thought.

Why did I care so much what he thought?

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