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"I’ll do a sweep for prints," Noelle said The athered up a shirt, jeans, and boots in record tiotten peek after peek at skin he’d only just licked, breasts he’d sucked on, and a portal to paradise that had welcoreedy heat
Mine And he was hers She’d said so
"Thanks," he said They only needed one print, even a partial, and they’d have the guy’s identity If he was huerprints
Hector dialed the nuarete had used to call him He’d wanted her to stay on the line the entire ti up on him when he’d first entered the house, as if she didn’t want to hear any fight that broke out She picked up after the third ring "Whoever broke in is long gone I’ve checked the entire house Will you come out for me? You’re safe now, I proht" Click
A minute passed, then another Finally she rounded the far corner Her golden skin was pallid, and there was a bruise on her cheek The pink dress she as torn at the collar and thigh Trelove to her chest
Shouldn’t have left her here, he thought, pissed at hiet your injuries checked"
"All right," she said again
"Sit here" Noelle righted the couch, and clapped her hands in a job well done "I’ll get one of theoutside, unable to enter without permission Off she went And she knew to threaten whoever she picked with bodily hararete padded over and eased down at the far corner After everything she’d been through, Hector didn’t want to intimidate her, so he claimed the cushion at the other end
"Can you tell littery tears cascading down her cheeks "He was human Tall with a body like yours A crooked nose Dark hair, dark eyes"
Well, well She’d just described Bruiser, the guy from the sketch So the Arcadian hadn’t come Which etting there Going to solve this
"Did he say anything to you?"
Before she could reply, Noelle walked in with a twenty-soy side, yet still possessed a brisk, confident stride
"We’ll pick up where we left off when you’re done with arete, looked her over, and pulled what he needed fro a bit"
When he dabbed antiseptic on the cut on her hand, she flinched That was the only reaction she gave, reed her up and took her vitals Entire process only took about twenty minutes, but because Hector wouldn’t discuss case details with soent, even a h, he, Noelle, and Margarete were alone
"Did your attacker say anything?" he asked again
"He said… he said I belonged to his boss He tried to inject , like you did, but I kicked hiloves I--I love now?" he asked, even though he kneas the one she’d placed in her lap
Her arms shook as she extended the material in his direction Hector loves of her own, and confiscated the evidence
She’d scrape skin cells from inside and have an identity within the next five h hiarete admitted softly "Before you That tih, and he left"
"Will you tell me no you and Bobby met?" he asked "The truth this tiht ht ood "Why did you lie before?"
She looked down, ashamed "Because Bobby told me never to tell He said he would be killed and I would be sent away and given to soiven to anyone else"
"You won’t" A vow "Never again I’ll lee bubbling in her tone, "but we’ve got him Ruppert Gordman Thirty-three, human Picked up a few tiot an appointed into a coency aarete
A ht, then she shook her head
The fine hairs on the back of his neck rose His brow furrowed as he visually searched a room he’d already physically searched He felt as if soh No eyes staring from portraits, no caave another shake of her head and opened her mouth to issue a denial, he held up a hand to silence her "There are two other wo you have They were picked up by the guys who abducted you, and drugged They were going to be sold"
"I--no" The glittery tears sprang forth anew, tracking down her cheeks "I want to stay here"
"You can’t," he said, using a tougher voice "Bobby didn’t change his will Which oing to take over the deed, and she’s going to kick you out You’ll have no place to go No protection This way, you’ll be able to take what you ith you, and we can help you find a place when the one ants to sell you is locked away"
"You won’t have to worry about anything," Noelle added gently "I know a girl, who knows a girl, yada yada, and you’d be doing her a favor, watching over her house while she’s off planet It’s a very safe place I’ve been there irl off planet Ava was her closest--and perhaps only--friend Whichherself
Sweet of her, and forNearly everyone at AIR had called her spoiled at some point Even when she was merely a trainee, she’d had food delivered to her desk--and she had only shared with Ava, no h cars like sone and ate expensive chocolate treats and soht back, so up No one had seemed to notice that when their computers broke down, they were soot sick, she suddenly didn’t feel well so maybe her doctor should check theive her anything The faker, saving everyone’s pride bymattered, she took care of it He realized that now She just didn’t want anyone to know she’d helped
Why? he wondered Because people would expect more from her? Because they would realize she wasn’t… what had she called herself? A flake Irresponsible