They looked at each other, and then at Easton. “I’ll let Easton handle that,” Sid replied.
“A-are you going to kill us now that we know you?”
For some reason, Sid threw his head back and laughed. “Oh god… Well, so much for explaining things. But no, we aren’t going to hurt you. Even if we wanted to, Easton here would blow this building to dust, with all of us inside, if we look at you wrong.”
“Maybe it’s best if I explain it,” Dalton suggested.
“No,” I insisted. “I want Easton to do it. I trust him and only him, for now.”
Dalton nodded and smiled, taking no offence. “You got it.”
Easton took my hand again, and before we left, Dalton stopped him and whispered something into his ear. He looked back at me before nodding and walking me to a lounge area.
Meanwhile, a short woman, about Annie’s height, with short dark hair and glasses, took Annie back to an office to get her cleaned up and dressed.
When I sat down on the plush leather sofa, Easton laid a throw blanket over my legs.
“Eat first,” he said, sitting next to me.
Right when I got comfortable, a young man with long, blond curls came out carrying a tray of food. He smiled at me with shy blue eyes.
“Hello, I’m Luca.”
So,thisis Luca.
“Hi, I’m Thomas.”
He set the tray on the coffee table and sat next to me with folded hands on his lap. “It’s not much, but it should fill you. There’s a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, some potato chips, and a glass of orange juice.”
“Thanks. It’s… perfect. I’m not sure my stomach can handle more than that.”
The shy man beamed.
“Where is Angel?” he asked Easton.
“He’s dropping off several women at one of the safe houses for the police to retrieve. He’ll be back shortly.”
“Angel wasn’t hurt?”
“Someone clipped him in the face, but other than that, he’s fine.”
Luca’s relief was palpable. He seemed as innocent as I was. You could see he had a moral compass and empathy. Surely, he wouldn’t have if these men were all horrible, right?
Easton stood. “I’ll be right back. I need to scrub my hands and change my clothes. Eat, Thomas.”
I took a small bite of my sandwich, testing out my stomach. All seemed fine, so I took another.
“I know it can be scary,” Luca said. “I was held as a prisoner and used for men’s pleasure for eleven years until my angel found me.”
“God, I’m so sorry, Luca. Easton told me a little bit about you. Three days were enough to break me, and they hadn’t even used me yet. I can’t imagine what you went through.”
“It was really hard sometimes. But I found… peace where I could find it. It’s… funny how we adapt to things when we have to.”
My eyes watered, and I nodded, taking another bite. “I killed a man today,” I said with my mouth full.
“I killed three. Once to save Angel, the second was my father, and the third was to save my own life. But… I didn’t want to kill anymore. I’m not a dark angel like my Dante. I liked helping everyone here better.”
I took a sip of orange juice, unsure what to make of it or what to say.