Page 24 of Luka

Slowly, she faces me, her cheeks turning red as her eyes blaze. She just stares at me for several seconds with her mouth agape.

“If you classify not allowing children to watch television as abuse, then I’m afraid you’re the one who’s damaged. My father ensured his children enjoyed a love ofbooks. That is howIlearned the lingos of other cultures and how you could have had you not been busy drowning puppies in rivers, you fuckingmaniac.”

I blink at her. “Wow, that really pushed your buttons.”

After glaring at me a few more moments, she faces forward.

“Was it all a lie then? Did you even watchTheWizard of Ozas a kid?” I ask, mocking offense.

She rolls her eyes. “I didn’t imagine you could empathize with a favorite book.”

“Did you name your dog Toto?”

“I don’t have adog,” she says, exasperated that I wouldn’t already know that.

My head tips back as I laugh, my hand running over my eyes. I thought her attempts earlier were cute, but they’re even more adorable knowing they were manufactured.

Which means she probably lied about the extent of her father’s wealth as well.

A sobering thought comes over me, dropping my hand from my face.

What if she isn’t an illegal immigrant? What if she lied about that too?

What if there are people out there looking for her, right now, and tomorrow her face will flash across the news?

No. That doesn’t make sense. She would just say that.

“I have an idea,” Lucia says, her voice stronger than I’ve heard it. When I meet her eyes, she’s sitting up straight, her feet on the floor, her hands in her lap. Despite her newly brave voice, her eyes look scared.

I twirl my hand. “Let’s hear it.”

She clears her throat. “It sounds as though there are some things you would like to know… There are things I would like to know as well. For every question of mine you answer honestly, I will answer one of yours.”

My lips pull into a smile. “You want to play twenty questions with me?”

She raises her chin but doesn’t otherwise respond.

“There are some questions I won’t answer.”

She nods. “I understand. That’s why I’ll go first. If you don’t answer, you don’t get to ask me a question. If I think you’re lying, you don’t get to ask me a question.”

“And what if I thinkyou’relying?” I ask with a slight chuckle.

Lucia’s hands fidget in her lap for a moment, but she doesn’t take her eyes off me. “Then you will decide the consequence.”

My smile falters as blood flows into my cock, stirring something I’ve let die twice already today. I let several seconds pass before replying just to avoid sounding too eager.

“All right. Go ahead.”

She shifts, takes a deep breath, then, “Are you going to kill me?”

“Yes… Who is your father?”

Glassy eyes widen at me as her jaw falls with the weight of words she surely knew were coming. But still, she looks at me with shock. Then horror. Then sadness.

She drags her gaze to her lap as she blinks a tear onto the shirt I lent her.

“It’s your turn for honesty, Peach,” I prod, my voice so unfeeling it reminds me of my mother. I cringe slightly at the thought.

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