Page 115 of Carbon

Black glanced across at me, and I dreaded to think what he was planning.

“We’ll take this outside the meeting.” Still, he wrote the name Bertrand Leroux under Guy’s on the screen, with a number two next to it. “Anything else?”

Gideon got up and walked to the front, then motioned to Black for his stylus. “May I?”

Black hesitated a second before handing it over, and Gideon’s neat printing soon filled the screen as item number three: Roksana Bartosz.

Black raised an eyebrow, questioning.

“Leroux wasn’t the only man to fuck her over.”

“Elaborate.”

“Roksana Bartosz was blackmailed, trafficked, and sold nightly by two animals thinking only of their personal gain. She spent last night scrubbing herself in the shower until her skin went raw, then crying into her pillow because twobâtards putainconsidered her life to be worth less than a car or a television. And right now, they’re probablyun peu énervébecause they’ve lost a piece of merchandise, but tomorrow it won’t matter to them so much because there are plenty more girls where she came from.”

Silence fell as Black mulled over Gideon’s words. His expression gave nothing away. Finally, he responded with a single nod. “Task number three is Roksana Bartosz.”

Up until now, I’d been guilty of concentrating on Ben and his problems. His return, Angelica, our reunion, and the night we spent together. But he wasn’t the only victim in this mess, and my heart went out to Roksana.

“Do you need me for this bit?” I whispered to Ben.

Black must have had superhuman hearing as well as his ability to intimidate and a weird sixth sense when it came to predicting people’s actions.

“You’ve played your part, and I’m sure Roksana could use a friend.”

Ben gave my hand one last squeeze as I slipped out of the room. I wasn’t sure what to say to Roxy, but above all, I wanted her to understand that people here cared about her. Even Black in his own twisted way. I didn’t know what item three on the board would entail, and deep down, I didn’t want to know.

I found her in the kitchen with Ruth, staring into space as she ignored the bowl of fruit in front of her. She looked different. Not her eyes—they still harboured the same dark pain I’d glimpsed when Gideon helped her into the house last night—but she’d been cleaned up on the outside, and if you only glanced at her, apart from the scratches on her face, she was just another pretty girl who’d made her home in London.

“Hi,” I said.

She took a few seconds to focus on me. “Hi.”

“I’m Augusta. We haven’t been introduced, but I’m staying here too. I’m Ben’s...” What label did I put on it? Despite everything we’d done, it was too soon to call myself his girlfriend. “I’m with Ben.”

“Then you’re lucky. He’s a good man.”

Shit. I hoped she didn’t think I’d come just to stake my claim on him. “The best. But he’s busy in a meeting so I thought I’d get some breakfast. Is the fruit good?”

She glanced at her bowl, which looked untouched, and shrugged.

“I can get you whatever you’d like, lovey,” Ruth said. “Fruit, cereal, pastries. Or something cooked?”

“Some fruit would be wonderful.”

Now I was here, I didn’t know what to say. From what Gideon said, Roxy had been through hell, and any words seemed inadequate. “Do you have enough clothes? Toiletries? I’ve got spare I could lend you.”

Even as I spoke, I realised how stupid I sounded. She was at least six inches taller than me and a heck of a lot thinner. My knee-length skirts would look like minis on her.

“I don’t know.”

Ruth put a bowl of mixed fruit down in front of me together with a pot of yogurt. “We’ve sorted all that out; don’t you worry. What Roxy needs is a bit of company.”

Really? She barely glanced in my direction, suddenly more interested in the bowl of fruit she was stirring. Ruth came closer and lowered her voice.

“She might not say much at the moment, but she knows you’re there. Just be a friend to her, because I suspect she’s got precious few of them.”

I ate my fruit, and Roxy chewed a few pieces of hers before the spoon clattered into the bowl.

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