“Thank you for all this.” I pick up the fork and take a bite of the pasta first. A small moan leaves me, and Curt stops pouring me a glass of water. His eyes once again stare into mine, and he looks pissed-off again.

“No one should go hungry. Especially a girl who should still be taken care of by her own parents.” He places the glass in front of me before he picks up a knife and starts to cut the steak he’d given me.

“She needs help.” I swallow my food and take a drink of the water. “My mom, I mean.”

“Don’t make excuses for her. It’s bullshit.” Easier said than done. Especially from a girl starving for attention and affection from the one person who is supposed to give it to her.

“Still, thank you. I won’t stay long.”

“You’re not going anywhere while you’re not a legal adult.” He pushes the plate with the steak on it back toward me. Then he picks up a fork and stabs a piece of it before bringing it to my mouth. I open it and take a bite and try not to look at him as I chew and swallow. “I’ll take care of you.”

“For now,” I agree.

Maybe that’s not a terrible idea, and I can stay here until then. It might be nice to be taken care of for once. I can pretend this is a small birthday gift that I’ll let myself have.

For now, I remind myself. Things like this never last, and it’s always better to remember that.

Four

CURT

After we have dinner, Demi is practically falling asleep at the table. I’m careful to touch her as little as possible to help her up the stairs and into her room. Once she’s tucked into bed, I go to my room and have a fitful night of sleep.

The next morning I’m up with the sun after only a few hours of rest. I checked on Demi three different times to make sure she was okay, and each time she was sleeping like a rock. When was the last time she had a safe place to lay her head?

After checking on her once more, I softly close the door and decide to get a jump on the day. Pierce has coffee ready for me when I get downstairs, almost like he knew I’d be up early. When I got into my office, I begin looking into Demi Slater and why she’s in this situation.

At one point I need some help with the research, so I wake up the guy I use for surveillance. Tim has been useful with information for Boone and me before. He’s helped us check in on people and find out secrets that we could use to our advantage in business. I like to think we use his powers for good instead of evil, but right now, I need to know all of it.

“And her birthday is tomorrow?” Tim asks, and I nod. We’re on video chat now and he’s typing on his desktop while I drink my coffee and look over the notes he’s sent me.

“She said she’ll be eighteen.”

“Got it,” he says, not looking at me. “Demi Renee Slater, no priors, but there is a record of her entering the foster system over several years off and on.”

“Shit,” I say, mostly to myself.

“Looks like she’s gotten into something sticky with Shapovals.” This time, Tim turns to look at me and raises his eyebrow. “What the hell have you gotten mixed up in, Curt?”

“I’m not sure, but I know that I didn’t have a choice.” There was no way I could have let Demi go after I saw her place. Or after I looked into her eyes. “Tell me what you know.”

“There’s a bounty out for her on the black market. It doesn’t say why, but they’re looking for her.” He sighs as he shakes his head. “You need to watch your ass. These guys don’t play.”

“What about her family? Will they be targeted if they don’t get her?”

“Looks like there’s no known father, and the mom is already in debt to them for drug money.”

“Fuck.” This is going from bad to worse.

“How much to buy out the bounty?”

He lets out a humorless laugh. “There’s no price.”

“What?”

“Something really fishy is going on, but the way the bounty is listed is that she’s wanted and they’ll pay to get her back. There’s no debt listed to pay off and buy her out.”

“Then it’s not really money they’re after.”

“That’s what I’d assume too,” Tim says as he leans back in his seat. “Either she’s being used as leverage, which I honestly can’t see because her family doesn’t have any assets. Or she’s a hot commodity they think they can make a fortune on.”

I clench my coffee cup so tightly I’m afraid it’s going to shatter. “Thanks.” The one word comes out sharper than I intended it to.

Tags: Alexa Riley Erotic
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