Page 76 of The Big Bad Duke

He closed his eyes against the sudden rush of pain.

“Were you forced?” His voice came out rougher than intended.

She licked her lips. “Sometimes.”

He cursed under his breath. “Tell me who. Names. If you don’t know names, then cities and their descriptions will suffice. I’ll find them.”

She chuckled softly. “There’s no need.”

“Yes, there is,” he growled. “Every man who ever wronged you deserves a long, painful death—and I would be more than willing—no, I would relish being the hand that delivers it.”

She hesitated. “Thank you for saying that. It means more than I can explain that you would even offer.”

“You don’t need to thank me,” he said. “Any man who forces himself on a woman—any woman—deserves to be eliminated. Doing so would be a pleasure, not a favor.”

She swallowed. “You need to understand… it’s as simple as that.”

What could be simpler? “What do you mean?”

“I mean… they didn’t find me in a back alley and force me at the tip of a blade. I was… I had to do it to ensure my safety and my brother’s. To have a roof over our heads. I was basically a… what’s the word? A harlot.”

Gideon didn’t flinch, precisely, but his muscles coiled, his nose twitching. Not because he was surprised—but because she thought that somehow made her less of a victim. Less worthy of being fought for. Avenged.

Many harlots didn’t choose the lives they stumbled into. Some were tricked or abducted. Others had no other recourse. Unscrupulous bawdy-house owners took advantage.

In her case, though, it was even more complicated.

“I wasn’t soliciting random men on street corners,” she continued. “Or waiting for people to walk into a bawdy house and hand me a coin. But I was living under expensive roofs, fed, and looked after. My brother remained safe and untouched. And for that, I was required to perform services for different men.

“Other times, I had to seduce and spend nights with men to get information for the Cardinal…”

Or to kill, he filled in silently. Like she meant to do to him.

She still didn’t trust him enough to tell him the entire truth. That was fine. He would wait.

“I had to do this to survive. I had to keep my brother safe.”

In short, she’d traded her body for survival. And in his book, that was no different from being forced at knifepoint.

“So they forced you to do it,” he said quietly. Succinctly.

“Yes,” she agreed hesitantly. “But I could have said no.”

“And what would have happened then?”

“I would be punished…” Her grasp on English slipped a little, her accent thickening with exhaustion. “But I could run off. I did, a few times. Once… I got my brother.”

“What happened then?”

“We stayed on the streets… They found us. The Cardinal’s people. They told me I was better off with them…” She paused. “Maybe they were right. My brother went to school with them. On the street, his life would have been ruined. And… if they found me once—”

“They would do it again,” he finished for her.

She nodded against his chest. “And next time, they might hurt him.”

So she was forced. Coerced. Tricked.

Yet, she thought she had agreed to it all. That she’d chosen this life.