Page 141 of My Five Daddies

I stare at the girl before looking at Hazel, my mouth hanging open. She’s just a fucking teenager. That sick fuckingbastard.

I have no fucking clue what tosay.

24

Hazel

“Sixteen,”she says, and I think my heart breaks into a millionpieces.

Nolan glances at me then looks back at Renee. “And how long have you…. known Julian?” heasks.

She bites back years. “Two years,” she says. “But he didn’t touch me until lastyear.”

That sick piece of shit. He seduced and took on this poor girl as his goddamn mistress, and she’s too young to even drive back home. She’s a fucking child, and no sick bastard should ever get away with doing something like this toher.

Anger flows freely through me and I don’t know what to do. Before, this was all about helping Nolan. I believe in him and think he’s going to make a great leader for this country. I want Nolan to get everything he deserves and more. I didn’t really care much about Julian atall.

Now though, now I want to see that bastardburn.

“It’s okay,” Nolan says, frowning as Renee begins to cry again. “We’re here to helpyou.”

“I knew you’d come,” she says, sniffling. “As soon as I heard that Julian might become the crown prince, I knew you’d find me eventually. He said that if I talk to you…” She trails off and shakes herhead.

“What?” I ask her softly. “It’s okay, you can tellus.”

“He said he’d kill me and my whole family. And I think he meantit.”

I take a breath and look at Nolan, but he doesn’t seem surprised. “Do you love him, Renee?” he asksher.

She shakes her head quickly. “Please, no. This started out as a way to make money for my family. But now… now I’m afraid ofhim.”

“He used to pay you?” I ask,surprised.

Nolan sighs and looks at me. “Polovia is still a poor country,” he says. “And in some of the worst parts, girls like Renee turntoo…”

“I was a prostitute,” she finishes for him. “I’m not ashamed of it. I paid for my whole family to live and survive while so much of my village was out ofwork.”

I blink at her, shocked. I can’t imagine a girl her age going into prostitution. She’s pretty, though not beautiful. Her figure is okay, but she looks like a girl still, and I can’t imagine any grown man would be attracted toher.

“It’s one of the worst parts of this country,” Nolan says softly to me. “I want this to be a place where girls like you don’t need to do what you had to do,Renee.”

She smiles at him. “Julian used to say that,too.”

“Julian took advantage of you,” I say to her. “That’s the difference. He didn’t meanit.”

“I know,” she says, sighing. “I don’t care about politics, you know? I only care about helping myfamily.”

“Why did you have to go into… this?” I ask her, trying to betactful.

She shrugs a little, wiping her eyes. “My da died when I was twelve. My ma tried to find work, but there’s just nothing. I have four younger siblings, and we were getting money from the government for a while, but then that stopped when they cut some programs. So I have to do what I had todo.”

I glance at Nolan and he sighs, shaking his head. That sounds like a story I’ve heard a million times back in America. People get trapped in poverty, and hard work isn’t always enough to get them out of it. People will do whatever it takes to survive, even if it means turning to something horrible like prostitution. She’s too young for this though, and she should never have had to make thatchoice.

“I want to help you, Renee,” Nolan says softly. “But I need you to help mefirst.”

“No,” she says suddenly. “No way. I won’t go againsthim.”

That surprises me. “Renee, this is a man who usedyou.”

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