Page 54 of Titan

Theia: Tonight at mine, but only if you’re not busy.

Gil: I can be there at nine.

I sent him the number of my flat before dumping my phone down beside me and reaching for the tissue box. Settling back down after wiping my face, I focused back on the TV while I waited for evening to come.

When nine rolled around, I’d had dinner, a quick shower and changed into something more comfortable. Not like I was out here trying to look my best for him when I was an absolute mess inside. The buzzer went, and I let him up. When I opened the door a few minutes later, Gil was rubbing the back of his neck.

“Hey, come in.”

I stepped back, allowing him to walk inside. He let me take his coat and hang it up before following me into my living area.

“Do you want a drink?”

“No, I’m okay,” he said, watching me with a neutral expression on his face.

“Well, make yourself comfortable.”

I waved at the sofa in the living room before I fixed myself a drink. A strong one because I was so fucking nervous. It had felt like a good idea to open up earlier, but now I was going back and forth with myself over how wise it was to spill my darkest secret to him.

Don’t act like you don’t need this, Theia.

I sighed as I carried my gin and tonic into the living room and took a seat on the sofa on the other end from Gil. He stared at the space between us with a frown but didn’t comment on it. I decided not to question why. I was too busy fretting over what I was about to tell him.

“Did something happen?” he asked after a moment.

“No. I couldn’t stop thinking about it after I brought it up earlier.”

His eyes narrowed as if he didn’t quite believe me.

“I see.”

I stared down at my glass before I downed the whole thing and set it on the coffee table. Then I took a deep breath.

“I was kidnapped, and sex trafficked six years ago when I was twenty.”

The words came out in a rush. It was the only way I could get them out. My eyes were on my fidgeting hands. They were clammy, so I wiped them on my thighs, but it didn’t stop the fear rippling under my skin.

I’d told someone the truth.

I’d admitted it.

Fuck.

It wasn’t until I felt two hands covering mine and stilling their movement that I let out a shuddering breath. My eyes darted up and met Gil’s dark ones. He’d moved closer, and our thighs were almost pressing together. His face was expressionless, but there was emotion swelling in his eyes. Something that looked a little like anger mixed with understanding. It made me want to spill the whole sorry story and not leave a single thing out.

“They held me for two years in a cold, dark room with no outside windows. The door had a window. There were bars across it like I was in a prison. I was fed three times a day to keep me from starving to death, but I got so thin because they never gave us enough.”

My voice was unsteady, but I knew I had to keep going. The way he held my gaze made it impossible not to.

“At least once a day they took me out to… to do things to me.” I swallowed. “At first, I fought, screamed, and told them no. It didn’t stop them. It went on and on. I lost track of time and space in that place. It was hard not to. They told me it was to break me in, to make me obedient.” A lone tear slid down my face. “And it eventually did. That’s when it got worse.”

I choked on my breath, letting more tears make tracks along my cheeks.

“They gave me to their clients, and they… they…”

Gil’s hands squeezed mine, reassuring me it was okay.

“They hurt me. Sometimes it was just one of them, sometimes more. I can still remember it all so vividly. Every painful, excruciating moment of those two years of my life. I thought it would never end. That they’d never let me go. Every day I wished for freedom, but it never came. They broke me into tiny little pieces, and I started to believe them when they told me I was a whore. That I wasn’t worth anything else.”

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