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The girl seemed skeptical, but when Noe promised her that no one would touch her, she appeared to relax She had a lot of faith in my little thief and Noe was just as i woed background needed to be When she caught wind of as going on back in the city, she tracked down another kid as good with coe to Noe She didn’t want to be able to be tracked if Noe had been compromised, so he ca in Nassir’s opulent, extravagant office looking a lot lost and a little like he was going to get sick He wanted to help Julia, which was admirable, but he had no idea what kind of shark-infested waters he offered to dive into by being a helping hand They were both just kids; I couldn’t bla that was going on

In fact, watching him rub her back and protectively hover over her while she listened to Key softly tell Julia Grace that there were lots of options when she was ready to decide what she wanted to do with the baby, I realized he was uy than I had ever been My dad was still behind bars because of the choices I made, and noback The last member of my family was on the hook because ofto rectify the situation

"Do you need et back to the Point, and even with Keelyn taking care of Julia, I was still going to owe Nassir a thousandTheout of the kindness of his heart Mostly because he didn’t have one That was probably e got along as well as we did

Noe gave ive her answers for "I have so you’re safe and sound with Nassir"

That sent her eyebrows shooting up, but she didn’t questionthat a lot the last couple of days, looking atsilent We were as close physically as two people could be I was all over her every chance I got and she was all over reedy We couldn’t get enough, and I hated that it felt like we had to have our fill of each other because we both kneas only a matter of time before the food ran out I could touch her however I wanted, take her without coainst Goddard belonged to his stepdaughter, she had been drifting away She wasn’t challengingat all my soft spots she’d uncovered over the last feeeks Her hands always found their way to the mechanical heart on er seeone?" She sounded carefully curious instead of concerned

"Just a couple of hours"

Nassir grunted and leaned back in his fancy leather chair It was black All it needed was a couple of skulls and so on his throne of fire and lost souls

"My lawyer is on the way over He’s going to represent the girl When we’re done here, Key is going to take her and her little friend to one of her safe houses We’ll keep them stashed there with a security detail until Goddard is behind bars The cop agreed to keep us updated on Goddard’s status We’re all lucky his lady likes me as much as she does" He sounded amused and I didn’t miss the way his wife rolled her eyes "Not "

Nassir’s wife hadinto business with the dark, dangerous ht, to make sure that anyone who felt trapped here had a way out She was the only person who could get you out of the Point alive and intact with very little effort She was the downtrodden and destitutes’ only savior She was the only one who could cut the ties this place wrapped around its citizens It was an odd coel dressed in very little wearing sky-high heels He was the devil incarnate, dressed better than any A-list actor on Oscar night No one questioned their connection because it was i her, and he didn’t breathe without her watching the steady rise and fall of his chest It had been bloide open by a bullet not too long ago, so there was no surprise that she appreciated the fact Nassir was still around to give everyone hell

The teenager looked at Noe ide eyes and her s ht?"

Noe looked at Julia almost the same way I looked at her when she asked me for help, uncertain and unsure She’d already put her neck on the line for this girl and it had gotten her kidnapped and tortured But once again proving she was so much better than me, she patted Julia’s hand and told her, "Of course, I’ll stay with you I’ll even go with you to the safe house"