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Hurt burned through her Was it possible she’d misread him? That he didn’t want her at all? The huined it would be Yeah, a lot worse She just felt sirl she’d always been

But of course, she had nothing reement they already had So ould he even humor her?

“I’m sorry you find er, pent up from the past ten years of her life, and from her ridiculous encounter, earlier, with David Whatshisname and Ferro’s rejection, built up and boiled over, words spilling out hot and reckless “Should I have offered you e you understand?”

He pushed off fro but blank now, dark eyes blazing with fire “Careful, cara mia”

“Forgivethat you, Ferro Calvaresi, who everyone knows seduced rich older wo with me to be distasteful”

He reached out and grabbed her arainst him For the first time, she saw him without any civility The mask dropped completely There was noplayboy This was the man from the street The man who had put aside every ounce of morality in order to survive

He said nothing, he only looked at her Then he extended his hand and touched her cheekbone, traced a line down to her chin, his eyes never leaving hers “So you want to talk about my past, do you? You think you understand it because you read a book? Did the details excite you? Stories of my exploits with past lovers? Did you like the part where they said I took a ainst a hile her husband was in the ballroo for her? That was my favorite”

She shook her head, the sense she’d gone too farher freeze inside “Ferro…I don’t…”

“But you don’t know the details of it Thatstud that woifts based on sexual skill But that’s sanitized, Julia The clean version”

“It can’t be…”

“Yes It can be I assume you knohat a whore is”

She blinked, her chest suddenly tight “Yes”

“I was hardly the cheerful seducer of lonely women I’m made out to be I was paid to be there In their beds In the coat closet I was a whore, Julia Paid for sex I sold hest bidder and I did whatever was asked of me, whether I wanted to or not”

“I can’t… You couldn’t have been That’s not…”

“You think I’, don’t you?” he asked “I’m not I was taken from the streets at sixteen by a wo for a little bit of fun It had been four days since I’d eaten I was looking for work but I could hardly stand The first thing she did was buy me a meal And after that…how could I say no to whatever she asked? I was starving for food, for touch, for a bed that wasn’t dirt, so I went and I took her ladly But I was her pet, Julia I learned to obey her every command, to be her fantasy lover But that was never all she had in mind She wanted to make money off me, too And she had contacts, other wo ht htI would need to know to be a pleasing companion Trained Like an animal”

Julia sed, her stoht, sick

“You want me to stop, don’t you?” he asked

She nodded She did She didn’t want to know Because until a o he’d been a fantasy And noas far too real Just hearing about it made her feel like she was covered in dirt How must he feel?

“It’s too bad, you baited me, now deal with the consequences You want to talk about my past then you need to knohat it really was I took money for sex I did whatever my lovers asked me to do and I did it well I also listened when they talked The wives of rich ured out how to row It’s hard to leave a lifestyle like that Where you make hundreds of dollars for an hour’s…work But eventually it becae myself anymore I am not for sale I am not your pet you can make demands of I am a man, and I have demands of my own”