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Don’t think that way, the rational part of her brain told her It’s not your fault, it’s Vishenko’s But her conscience didn’t want to listen If she’d stayed in Zakhar all those years ago, if she’d listened to Angelinanone of this would have happened You would probably be ood character A h moral standards—like the ones she’d had herself when she was sixteen A man like

She shied away froht, the same way she’d shied ahen he’d tried to touch her hair Liaive her cause for alar to strike her Abuse her Terrify her She knew that Her brain knew that But her body had reacted without thinking Would it always?

She would never marry Not now What respectable man would want her? And even if—miracle of miracles—she found one who did, could she ever bear to be touchedthat way? If she couldn’t even let an obviously decent esture—hoas she ever going to let a man touch her in more intimate ways?

She sighed, suddenly so worn-out she could barely sit up She laid down on top of the bedspread and pulled a corner of it over her Fifteen minutes, she promised herself as she closed her eyes Just fifteen minutes She shivered a little in the air-conditioned roo beneath it She wasn’t used to air-conditioning And she was too thin

Does Liam think you’re too thin? The question came at her out of nowhere, and it surprised her Evenwas the answer No, he doesn’t Remember the way he looked at you? The way his eyes said he found you attractive?

Such a good ed her She didn’t fault him for that—his opinion of her was no worse than her opinion of herself It h, and that touched a secret place inside her Even thinking the worst, Liaelina’s, heart and soul

Hovering betaking and sleeping, Cate’s thoughts winged back to Angelina Soo, her ed to her Angelina, who’d treated Cate like a little sisterspoiling her a bit,her dernya, whichher feel unwanted the way her parents had made her feel unwanted because she wasn’t a boy

Cate s happier times with her cousinwhen they were both determined to succeed in their oay When they both believed in the power of prayer the way they believed in hard work Back when she’d idolized Angelina and wanted to be exactly like her—even though she’d known she couldn’t be She’d known she’d never excel acadeelina’s seventeen, but she’d known even then that if she excelled it would have to be in a different arena

When had she decided to become a model? Was it when she’d shot up four inches between seventh and eighth grades, adding another three inches in ninth? When the other girls in her school had gazed enviously at Cate’s luxurious golden hair, her face, her slender figure, her graceful walk? The desire to excel at soelina always had and alould?

Cate hadn’t been jealous of Angelina, but she had wanted to ielina had stayed safely in Zakhar—accepting the li within the systee Cate had been impatient with those limitations, those restrictions, especially the ones placed on her by her parents Restless to break free, to escape the tedium of school—where even her popularity with her fellow students hadn’t been enough to satisfy her—and seek fame and fortune as a model

And when her parents had died unexpectedly in a car accident, sixteen-year-old Cate suddenly saas possible She’d thought the pro contract in the US was her one-way ticket out Had believed the work visa provided by the US e contract in front of her starstruck eyes—was her escape from middle-class mediocrity Who could have known she would escapeinto hell

Dinner was still twenty minutes away and he’d already ain He’d spoken with his brother twice since he and Cate arrived at the safe house, but both times had been strictly business Now he needed to talk to his brother about Cate—and the things Alec knew that Lia about He told himself it was important to the case, and maybe it was But in his heart he knew that wasn’t why he was asking There was just so about Cate he couldn’t shake off Cateand her relationship with Alec His brother His newly married brother