Page 9 of H E R

“Watch your mouth, Julius! Ask yourself what Mom was doing before she met our father and see how comfortable you feel with the name-calling.”

I’m the angry one now. My control is lost to the abyss of seeing Vork after so many years. That and the reality of my mother having once been in Piper’s shoes. She’d proven to be the best wife and mother to us. My father never wanted her to regret her choices because she’d done what she needed to do in order to survive in her hell. Jule knew better than to judge the sex workers in the video and he responded by lowering his head.

Jule nods suddenly. “You’re right, Nik. I’m sorry.” His hands go to a simple silver cross around his neck. It belonged to my mother, and he grips it, squeezing his eyes shut.

I approach him and gently pat his muscled bicep. “I understand your anger, trust me, little brother. Piper is just afraid.”

My hand falls to my side, and he opens his eyes, then gives me one solemn nod. I look at Noah, who’s leaning against a wall, his arms still crossed. Jasmin sits on the edge of one of the small beds. She rolls her eyes at Noah and hugs herself.

“Piper works alone, with no procurer to manage her actions or money. This tells me sheissmart. She also genuinely cares for her younger sister. I think if I use the right words, and perhaps offer some sort of protection, I can convince her to help me trap Vork.”

“I want to help,” Jule stresses, his voice cracking.

Jasmin nods. “I’ll do whatever you need, you know that.”

I smile at my best friend, who is more like a sister. She’d lost her mom when she was eight, and my mother took her in and we grew up like siblings. We lived in one of the neediest counties, but we were lucky to have had such great parents who worked their asses off to buy a small trailer. We still resided there now, and it’s our home. Many of our neighbors struggle to keep up with plot rent, maintenance, and all other utilities, but we’re lucky. Jas and I had been working since we lost my parents and we were surviving this hell just fine.

Noah cocks his head. “You know I got your back, Justice. Always have, always will.”

I smile at him. I’ve known him since we were two kids running around in our underwear while our moms washed our clothes in the river five miles into the woods. His father left when he was twelve, and he started working right away to help his mother come up with the money to pay off loan sharks.

We’d been dating for a couple of months now, mostly because I grew tired of constantly turning him down. Noah is handsome, strong, and adventurous, and he knows me. He loves me and I love him. Although our love is wildly disparate, I decided to give him a chance.

I’m not sure if it helps, but it feels nice when he holds me, kisses me, and whispers seductive suggestions in my ear regularly. I admit that I somewhat enjoy his company and expect his arms around me. It’s easy to be in his arms, familiar. Sometimes he presses his hard cock against me and I’m positive I will let him fuck me soon. Suddenly, an unbidden rookie cop materializes in my daydream and he takes Noah’s place.

Fuck.

Thankfully, my brother’s voice interrupts the dream. “Alright, so let’s do this. Let’s go.”

I laugh. “We can’t gonow, Jule.”

“But we may lose them!”

“Settle down.” I place my hand on his chest–his heart beats crazily against his ribcage. “I know where they’re staying. We need to do this right if it’s going to work. We need to give them some time to recover.”

Jule nods. He’d cringed throughout the entire footage, surely at the sight of Macy’s beaten body. I’m glad he agrees, and even more so, that he seems to understand. I sigh in relief and the release causes my stomach to growl.

“So, breakfast, anyone?” Noah laughs quietly.

Breakfast.

My eyes snap to the alarm clock on the broken-down bedside table across from me–it’s five in the morning. The tense knots in my stomach loosen some at the thought of food. For days now, Jule, Jasmin, and I had been living on scraps and water. We could always count on water. But the trailer was empty of food. Crumbs had been licked off wrappers and the foot-long countertop.

I look at my brother, growing taller each day–his eyes glisten at the mention of breakfast, which is his favorite meal of the day. Jasmin swallows and stares at nothing.

“I’m sorry, Noah. We’re out of food.”

“Well, what kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn’t take my girlfriend, her sister,andbrother out to a birthday feast?”

I try to grin past the annoyance I don’t want to feel and throw my arms around him. I look up and his chin grazes my forehead due to his height. “My birthday was yesterday.”

Jule ignores me. “Where to?”

“How about we eat breakfast at the corner diner and what do we say…Vincent Tavern for dinner?”

I hear Jasmin rise from the bed and my brother’s heavy footsteps approach us.

Jule gapes at Noah. “Vincent Tavern… no one goes to VT’s.”

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