The Squad

It wouldn’t be the first time some man thought that because of my past, I was easy-pickings. They seem to think that because I was dragged away from my home and made to live a life of hell that I was the one responsible for being exploited. Then again, those men were usually no better than the ones that took part in the sick pedophile ring that had subjected me and the others to a life of hell.

I didn’t get that vibe from anyone here, though, but it might be too early to tell. In the past five years, I’ve kept to myself. It’s true that after a while, the abuse had ceased to matter, at least the physical side of things. Psychologically I never gave up trying to escape, and I never accepted the blame for any part of what was being done to me.

I’d tried to share my strength with some of the others that came before and after me, but once my foster mother became aware of what I was doing, she’d put an end to it, or at least she’d tried to. But the more she beat and tormented me, the more adamant I was about not letting any of the young girls and boys who they brought home give into despair. It’s only one of the reasons why I must return to save them.

I’d become so lost in my own thoughts that I didn’t realize that Jason and his brother had stopped talking. I started walking again and turned the corner just as his brother did and almost ran into him. Before I could utter a word of apology, Jason reached out and pulled me back to his side. “I was just coming after you.”

I gave him a look to let him know that I didn’t appreciate being manhandled, but he, of course, ignored it.

“By the way, this is my brother, Gideon. Gideon, Roxana.”

“Roxy!” I stared down the other man who was studying me like a bug under a microscope.

“Pleased to meet you, Roxy. Welcome to the family.” He walked away before I could correct him, and I started to wonder if maybe someone had tampered with the water on this island.

What was it with these men and just accepting that I somehow belonged to some guy I just met less than twenty-four hours ago? I started to ask Jason the same thing, but he pulled me around to face him. “Shoot, you don’t have a whole lot to change into. You’re not much bigger than Ash, I’ll see about getting you something to wear. That stuff you have in there might be too warm for this island weather.”

“Why don’t you go get cleaned up, and I’ll see about getting you…”

“Hey, moron, I didn’t ask you to…” Before I could finish my sentence, I found myself being pushed back against the wall and before I knew it, his mouth was once again covering mine.

Where was the disgust at being handled this way by him? Where was my aversion to the feel of his lips on mine, or the way his body pressed into me, leaving me no room to maneuver, to escape if I wanted to? I didn’t feel any of that. Just a fire in the pit of my tummy that seemed to spread throughout me until I grew lightheaded.

“What did you…?” I started to ask the obvious when he raised his head, but all he did was swoop back in and resealed my lips with his again. “I like the taste of you.” Why did his words make me so weak in the knees instead of filling me with horror the way they should?

Mancini

I met my wife at the door when she came back from the beach with her friends. I took the baby from her arms and gave my sweet little girl a kiss on both cheeks as I walked towards the lower office, with my wife on my heels. “Did you two have fun?”

“Yes, we did, our girl was the perfect little angel, weren’t you honey. In fact, all of the kids were. I never knew mommy yoga could be so much fun.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it. Shawna is an expert at such things.” She’s also a kickass marksman, but the women don’t need to know that, no more than they need to know that each time they step outside the door, they have a shadow. My people are trained well enough not to be seen or heard, which is something the other men gathered here on the island are grateful for, I’m sure.

Of course, Lyon had to test them, since as he said, he had more skin in the game with nine kids, his parents, in-laws, Cy, and of course, his wife. I’m pretty sure had it only been Kat and him, he’d have done the same. His meticulous attention to detail when it comes to such things is only one of the reasons I’m sure he’d be ready to take over the helm sooner rather than later.