page112 (1/2)

She nodded slowly and backed away fro his hold on her She turned and walked back into the ballrooh the knot of people

Her sto How easy it had been to use the idea of his past to judge him To make herself feel superior to hiainst hiht of it

Now she felt like she was being torn apart from the inside out Felt like she’d been forced to look in on what he’d been through, with nothing to shield her from it

Ferro was a proudthat part of his life

Had been forced to belong to other people

It hurt her he’d been through it And her vision of hied Not the worldly playboy, but the victis Of guidance and love, and shelter And he’d been offered an es and had latched onto them But she saw him now, for what he was

She’d iined hiifts with a wink and left his lover sated and satisfied She hadn’t realized…she’d never iined that he’d sold himself His body

And yes, it disturbed her But it also e connection with hihtening and horrifying it was to have someone try to take possession of your body when you didn’t want it

Only he’d done it over and over again Submitted to it For survival It made her ache

It made her feel too exposed

But he didn’t want her anyway And now she didn’t blame him She’d insulted him past the point of reason She’d treated hi his past, she knew he had every right to hate her for it

She pushed the button for the elevator, about nine times more than she needed to, then stepped in and leaned her head back against the wall, letting it carry her up to her floor Maybe she should quietly get another room Put some distance between them

But she couldn’t do that because if they got caught sleeping separately then the news of a split ht come bite them in the butt and that was not what they needed before pitching to Barrows

She was trapped Still trapped in this hell of their own