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She should have left hione? She had no money, no job skills Her mother was dead and even if she’d been alive, Orianna had never been able to help herself when a hter?

Daung her feet to the floor What rong with her thisabout Har to be paranoid Besides, thinking about hiave back some of the power he’d once wielded over her She’d learned that sitting through so sessions at the woht four years back

“Remember,” the counselor had said, “the best way to break with the past is to take control of your life Educate yourself Make plans Learn to be independent You are a whole person, no matter what your abuser wants you to think”

Dawn had done all that The proof was in as going to happen today, her very first day on her own at her new job That’s what she’d think about, not Harman

The new job was going to be a challenge, but she was up to it Keir thought so Cassie did, too Even Mary O’Connell had given her a wink a couple of days ago, when she’d breezed past the Special Services office where Daas standing at Jean’s shoulder, listening while she phoned to arrange for the Desert Song’s private jet to pick up a VIP and fly him from Bost

on to Vegas

“Good luck,” Mrs O’Connell had said softly, which had to mean that even the Duchess are she’d taken a more responsible position but then, notescaped the Duchess’s attention, even during the months she’d been ill

“Thank you,” Dawn had replied, and the Duchess had smiled in that way of hers that made you feel as if she really cared about you

Dawn laid out her clothes for the day She ran her hand lightly over the blue jacket and beige skirt she’d bought with part of the clothing allowance that ith her new position She just hoped she’d live up to everybody’s expectations

“You’re going to be great at this,” Cassie kept saying Keir had prettywhen he’d interviewed her By then, she’d already passed the other hurdles: a clean e, votes of approval from Becky, who headed up Special Services, but Keir had the final say and what he’d said was, yes, the job was hers

“You’re good with people,” he’d told her “I think you’re going to be an excellent addition to the Special Services staff”

Reht She really, really wanted this job Better pay, which she sorely needed Better hours, which she needed, too, and a bonus she’d never mentioned to anyone but Cassie

She’d never really liked dealing cards, even though she’d been good at it She had quick hands, she didn’t get ruffled It was just that it always felt, well, wrong to be part of a process that separated people from their money, even in the classy area where she’d worked, the casino-within-a-casino at Desert Song, the high stakes tables where most of the players could easily lose tens of thousands of dollars without blinking

“It’s just wrong,” she’d told Cassie one night over takeout Chinese

Cassie put down her chopsticks and stared at her “What’s wrong about it?”