Page 17 of Forever Midnight

I can’t exactly confess what I do for a living or that his scent robs me of all rational thought. No. Instead, I smile. “You first.”

He huffs a breath, dragging a hand through his damp curls. “Okay, so, um, my dad is Louis De Palma.”

I have no reaction to the name, which seems to confuse Tru as his brow furrows.

“Louis De Palma,” Tru repeats. “Owner and CEO of De Palma Industries?”

“I’m sorry. I’m not familiar.”

“Wow. Finally someone who doesn’t know my dad.” He takes another sip of coffee. “I thought everyone did. Fuck knows I get plenty of people trying to get close to him through me.”

“What does your father do?”

“He runs a corporate mega machine. He’s the largest employer on the Eastern Seaboard, he co-runs a huge charitable organization with my mom, and he’s very visible and prominent.”

“I see. And your troubles with the Malice gang are connected to your father?”

“Sort of. It’s really more about my sister, Lucia.”

The shift in his energy is palpable, his delicious scent soured by stress and anger. I want to pull him into my arms to make it go away, but I force myself to stay planted.

Tru lifts his eyes to me as they fill with tears. “It’s really bad, Midnight.”

ChapterEight

TRU

“Take your time,” Midnight whispers, his expression soothing and non-judgmental.

I haven’t told a single soul about this, not even Pilar, to make sure it didn’t accidentally leak, but there’s something about Midnight that draws the words to my lips. Maybe it would feel good to actually tell someone.

“Two years ago, Lucia went through a bad spot. Rebellious. She was twenty-three, and I don’t know, but she just broke free. My mom said she was like a wild animal we tried to domesticate. She would disappear for days and come back a mess. She was partying, hanging around with the wrong people.”

Midnight nods, still listening with a concerned but otherwise neutral expression.

“It caused all of us so much stress. My mom couldn’t eat or sleep. My dad was hiring people to look for her, but she eluded everyone. Then one night she found me at a club I was at with friends. She was—” My voice breaks as the memory of that night rushes back to me.

Midnight reaches across the table and rubs my hand in an attempt to comfort me. Releasing a shaky breath, I nod.

“I’ve never said any of this out loud.”

Midnight nods, silently encouraging me.

“She looked bad, Midnight. Cuts and bruises, obviously tweaking from whatever drugs she was on. She had these deep bruises on her wrists. She told me she did something bad, really bad, and she didn’t know what to do.”

I stare into my mug, taking deep breaths to steady myself before I break down crying. Midnight rises from the table, returning a second later with a carafe of coffee. It’s a small comfort but it helps.

“Thank you.” Clearing my throat, I press on. “Lucia told me that she was seeing this guy. Turns out he was part of Malice and…” My jaw trembles as I push back the rage and sadness coursing through me.

“I don’t think he was genuinely interested in her. He knew who she was the first night they met. He saw an opportunity and he took it. She was…used.” I blow out a breath. “Not gonna lie, she was into it at first. I think rebelling against my family. She liked being able to do whatever she wanted. They kept the drugs flowing for three days, filmed her being…” I shake my head. “Being passed around. She was there willingly but she never consented to being filmed. They made her sign some stupid contract saying she belonged to them.”

“Shit,” Midnight mutters, his face now a mask of anger.

“They told her to get a million bucks and they would let her go, but in a rare sober moment, she heard them talking about their plans. They were gonna get the money and then…keep her. Traffic her. Send her off to some bullshit operation they have down in South America somewhere. She knew she had to get out.”

“Fuck.”

“I still don’t know how she managed it,” I continue. “She doesn’t either, but she found me using the location on my phone. I got her home and we got her into rehab far away from here. I told her to trust me, that I would fix it. The money was easy to get. My dad doesn’t give a shit about how we spend money.”

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