Page 6 of Lust
“Like what, twelve?” he scoffed.
“I’m sixteen. Had my birthday last week.”
“Oh yeah? I bet a pretty girl like you has lots of friends to throw you a party. Was it fun?”
Her expression dropped. “I didn’t have a party.”
His face turned all compassionate. “Ah, shit. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought it up.”
She looked away, but he ducked to stay in her view.
“How about I take you somewhere warm and give you a party? I got sweets, cake, soda. Whatever you want.”
Her eyes lifted, hesitant. “Cake? I ain’t never had no birthday cake.”
Lust flared so hard it blurred Liza’s vision. Every instinct said this fucktard was a spotter for trafficking or a pimp. If that girl went with him, she’d never be free again.
Blind rage trembled through Liza. And then she blacked out.
2
Liza surfaced from her blackout,surrounded by the devastation of a hurricane. Pain flooded her hands. A woman screamed. The man in the army jacket writhed on the alley floor, clutching his groin. Blood was everywhere. She couldn’t tell if it was fromthere, or the other swollen parts on his face.
The teenage girl cowered in fear, head hiding beneath her arms and hands.
Something restrained Liza’s wrist. Frowning, she glanced down. A big male hand held her. She followed the hand, to the arm, to the face. Black hair and scowling blue eyes.
“Wyatt?” She yanked her hand back. “What the fuck?”
“I sensed wrath,” he explained quietly, and then gave a pointed look at the man on the floor. “Good thing I came straight out,Detective.”
Liza’s gaze ping-ponged to the man on the floor and back to Wyatt. He was saying... she did that?
Holy fuck, she’d blacked out. Her first time.
Wyatt leaned close to whisper, “You want to take it that far, perhaps it’s time to finally join us dressed in your battle gear at night.”
He flicked the CCPD badge still hanging from her gaping blouse.
Shit.
Fuck.
She’d blown it.
The army jacket man cursed and scrambled to his feet. He bared his bloody teeth at Liza. “You’re going to pay for that, bitch.”
“Yeah, tell it to someone who cares!” she shot back, despite the stutter in her pulse.
Wyatt’s cell phone rang and he answered. “I’m coming back.” His eyes flicked to Liza. “Nope. Nothing to worry about.”
Then he cut the call and gave Liza one last glare. “You need to decide what world you’re living in, Liza. You can’t straddle both.”
She swallowed the lump in her throat, nodded, and watched him leave. He was right. It was getting harder to pretend she was normal. This may have been her first blackout, but it wouldn’t be her last. It was harder for her to stay in balance these days. She wasn’t sure a quick trip to the cathedral was going to cut it, and she was out of alternative ways to keep her internal sin equilibrium in balance.
She glanced at the teenager, now quietly sobbing. But at least she wasn’t screaming anymore. Liza extended her hand.
“I’m so sorry about that. He was a spotter for a sex-trafficker. If you had gone with him, you’d have been hooked on drugs, made to work as a prostitute, and would never see the light of day again.” She sighed. God, she sounded like an awful callous bitch. “There was no way you could know that, though. I’ve been putting these assholes away for years. That’s the only way I can tell. Don’t… don’t beat yourself up about it.”
