Page 73 of Vicious Seduction

“When I was seventeen, my mother sold my virginity to gain admission to the Society.”

CHAPTER 38

ORAN

The fuck?I knew her parents were shitty, but that was a whole new level of depraved.

And why? They had a fuck ton of money. My mind raced with the need to figure out what besides money could serve to justify such an atrocity, but then I realized that would be looking for sanity from the insane. The two simply didn’t coexist.

I set aside my mountain of questions and braced myself as Lina continued.

“Eliza and Charles had joined Olympus a year earlier. I was told that there was a secret inner circle within the club called the Society and that my virginity was the only offering that would grant them access. I was stunned,of course. Eliza had been a terrible mother, but I never saw this coming. I panicked. My mother scoffed at me. She told me that my first time would be a disappointment anyway, and it might as well be for a good cause.

“I was already counting down the days until I was free of my mother and stepfather. I told her I’d run away, but she’d already planned for that and shrugged patronizingly.I guess we could always offer Amelie instead.Those words changed my life forever. I almost threw up on the spot because I knew she’d do it. Eliza didn’t make idle threats.

“My little sister was six years old at the time. She’s my half sister, and even though there are eleven years between us, she’s the best thing to ever happen to me. I would have done anything for her. I still would.” Lina’s voice thinned with tension. She fought back tears, and I desperately wanted to pull her into my arms to comfort her, but I knew as well as she did that this story had to be told. She had to leach out the poison, or it was going to kill her one day.

“I thought about it for several days and eventually told my mother that I would do it under two conditions. I wanted five hundred thousand dollars and a promise that I’d never hear from her again. I also told her that if she ever tried to use Amelie in any way, I’d go to the cops about all of it. My sacrifice was also my leverage. That night, I was taken to a hotel room. I was blindfolded, and even though I technically offered myself voluntarily, every second of it scarred me beyond comprehension.”

They were dead. All of them. I was going to kill them, but her mother would suffer the most.

“That’s not voluntary, Lina,” I said through clenched teeth. “That’srape.” I couldn’t keep quiet any longer. The rage was too violent to fight back.

“I know, in a way. But I can’t fully silence the voice thatreminds me that I let it happen. I didn’t run away the moment she told me. I didn’t even fight him off. I just … let it happen.” She sounded so fucking hollow that it gutted me. She was always so feisty and strong, but all along, she’d been carrying this horrific trauma underneath it all.

Such a goddamn warrior.

“All this time, you never knew who the man was.” And her parents had brought this man to her, knowing how it would affect her. It was beyond cruel. Sadistic.

“I was worried when I came to the club for the first time a few months ago. Every time I stepped foot in there, I was terrified I’d hear that voice. And when it finally happened, it was just as awful as I feared.” She peered over her shoulder at me. “But now I’ll never have to worry about that again because of you.”

If it meant having her look at me like that again, I’d hunt down every goddamn Society member and flay them open neck to navel.

She turned back to the window and continued. “I didn’t see my mother or stepfather again for ten years. I used the money they’d given me to go out on my own, as sparingly as possible, and the first thing I did when we started turning a profit at the design firm was pay back every cent. I didn’t want any part of their blood money.

“Over the years, I kept in touch with Amelie—lunches with her at school or short visits at her dance studio where she took lessons. She knew that if she ever needed anything, she was supposed to call me. I also made sure our nanny Gloria stayed at the house to be there for Amelie. I knew Gloria wouldn’t have stayed if she knew what my mother and stepfather had done, so I didn’t tell her. All she knew was that we didn’t get along and that I’d gone out on my own.”

A horrible pit formed in my stomach as I thought aboutwhy Lina had come back. She wouldn’t have come near that place without a compelling reason. My thoughts turned to Amelie and her move to Paris. Something had to have happened.

“One day, I got a call from my sister. She was sobbing. My mother had done it again, only this time, she hadn’t given any warning or choice. She’d taken Amelie to a fancy hotel suite and explained the situation. My sister had always been much more of a parent-pleaser than I was. Eliza counted on Amelie submitting. Thank God, she didn’t. My sweet sister attacked the man who entered her room, ran as fast as she could, and called me using a stranger’s phone. I picked her up and brought her to my place. While I’d desperately hoped she’d never have to know the truth about her parents, the time had come. I told her everything. She was devastated but agreed she couldn’t go back.

“I’d already planned to move out of the apartment I shared with Jessa. I’m not wealthy like Eliza and Charles, but I’ve been making enough to live comfortably, so I rented a modest place where Amelie and I could live together.”

“So she didn’t move to Paris? When I looked up your family, I read that Amelie Brooks lived abroad with extended family.”

Lina shook her head. “That’s what my mother told the school and anyone who asked so people wouldn’t ask questions.”

“Did they try to take her back home?”

“I went to them first. It was the first time I had laid eyes on Eliza Brooks in ten years, and the only reason I did was to show her the results of the rape kit I’d had done a decade earlier. I told her if she so much as sent either of us a text, I’d file charges in a heartbeat. I was sure the threat would beenough.” The last words were no more than a whisper. She had to clear her throat before she could continue.

“I planned to move my things to the new place so Amelie wouldn’t be alone, but I was so busy working on a new collection that I kept putting it off. I’d worked so hard building a career for myself that it consumed me. Plus, I wasn’t used to looking out for someone else. I’d been on my own for so long. And besides, everything seemed to be working out so well. Amelie was safe and thriving. She was using a pseudonym to make sure Eliza and Charles didn’t track her down since she was still seventeen, though she didn’t look it. She’d even been able to get a job waitressing.” Lina quieted and finally turned to face me, her eyes glassy and red.

The pit in my stomach grew jagged thorns.

“Amalie had been so proud of herself. She’d gotten the job all on her own, and the bar wasn’t far from our new apartment. A place called Moxy.”

CHAPTER 39