“What? I want to.”
“Has he threatened you? Told you to pretend that you’re okay with this? If he’s threatened you…”
“I want to marry him.”
“Holly, Dare and his brother can help get you out of here. This place, it’s---”
“I’m fine. I’m even better now that I know you’re okay.”
“Has he been abusing you, honey?” I touched her arm.
“No, Ang. I’m an eighteen year old virgin. I’ll be a virgin until my wedding night, I’m guessing. My virginity goes to Alessandro. He’s earned it.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“You love him?”
“Yes,” she got a faraway look and flashed me her dimples. God, I’d missed those dimples.
“Does he love you?”
“I … don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“It’s… complicated.”
“If he doesn’t love you madly, deeply, and he is who he is?”
How could I finish that? I’d love Dare whatever he did. Because he was Dare.
But this was my baby sister. This was Holly!
/> Was Alessandro Romero someone worthy of her love? How could he be with his ties to the human trafficking industry? Dare rescued me. Alessandro kept Holly.
Okay, so Dare kept me, too, but he was thrust into the human trafficking world. I’m not a slave any longer.
But, it’s Holly who doesn’t wear a collar.
My mind was a bit boggled.
“He told me what happened to you. I’m sorry, Angie.”
I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know how much she knew.
“What were you told?”
“I was told that you did what you did for me. You didn’t have a choice, but you did it for me, anyway. That you endured unspeakable things. I’ll never forget. Never. I’m sorry you had to go through it. But it wasn’t for nothing. I’ve been safe. I’ve been okay. Because of Alessandro. He has kept me this way. And maybe you did have something to do with that. Whatever you had to do got me sent here so I’d be safe. You’ve been protecting me since I was little.”
“But you haven’t been free, Holly. He’s kept you here hidden away in a place that… you do know what he does, right?”
She shook her head, her golden locks bouncing, “I don’t want to talk about what he does. I’ve pieced some of it together. It doesn’t change anything for me.”
“Honey, he---”
She must have Stockholm syndrome.