Page 86 of Forbidden Fate

I stare at her.

“He takes them in,” she says. “Educates them. Trains them. Gives them purpose. Protection. Money.”

“What does he want?” The question comes out before I can stop it.

“Service,” she says.

“What kind of service?”

She looks me up and down. “That depends on your talents.”

“I don’t have talents.”

“We both know that’s not true.”

“I’m not leaving with you,” I say.

She steps even closer, close enough that I can see the faint line of red at her mouth, the perfect arch of her brows, the way her earrings catch the light.

“You’re fifteen,” she says. “In three years, you’ll be a man. Men need opportunity. Think about it, Cruz Moreno. Think about what your mother wanted for you.”

I turn away from her. “Don’t talk about my mother.”

She lays a hand on my shoulder. Her fingernails are long and painted dark purple. “She wanted better for you, didn’t she? She wanted you educated. Safe. Respected.”

“Yes.”

She turns me around, slides her fingers over my cheek.

A chill ices through me.

I’ve been touched by women all my life. Kissed on the forehead. Hugged. Pulled into laps when I was small. Swatted when I was rude. Held when I cried.

But this touch isn’t motherly. It isn’t comforting. It’s not even friendly.

My breath catches.

“There is a world beyond this house,” she whispers. “A world where men make themselves useful and are rewarded for it.”

Then she hands me a business card, turns, and walks to the door.

I stand in the front room for a long time after that.

I want to know more about her. About this powerful man who knows my name.

Maybe there is more for me out there.

I don’t want to go to school. There’s nothing I’d learn there that I’d need to know in real life.

This woman might hold the key to the life I’ve always wanted to lead.

A week later, I call her.

A week after that, I leave the brothel.

29

ROBIN