Page 111 of Only for Love

Emma

“I can’t look at him.” It’s not that I’m embarrassed about what I did. I’ve made hard decisions, and I own the consequences. But that there is something going on that feels so wrong, and I was so close to it… never seeing it. That Ryan and Grayson had to get into a brawl to save me—thathumiliates me. I’ve never been helpless.

Ryan puts a hand on my shoulder. “You okay?”

“Fine.” But I still won’t look at him.

“Ems,” Grayson murmurs into my ear. “Talk to him.”

I was in tears when I first saw Grayson—when I connected the guy in the crowd to my Grayson and registered the shock and anger andWhat the motherfuck?look on his face. Now, I turn to face my brother, who looks every bit as menacing as Grayson and has the same fight marks swelling on his face. My throat stings from emotion, and I can’t swallow because of the guilt about what I failed to notice all the time I was working here.

“Hey.” I roll my bottom lip into my mouth.

Gray shifts me to a chair. “Yeah, so I’ll let you two talk.”

My fingers flex into his shirt. I don’t want him to leave me.

“No, it’s fine.” Ryan pulls up a chair and drops into it. “Gray can stay. I get it.”

Gray nods and slides me onto a chair across from Ryan. The tension kills me, and I’m expecting the worst.

You’re a slut.

You’re stupid.

I’m disappointed.

I’m disgusted.

But Ryan just stares. Finally, he runs a hand over his face. “Talked to Cherry. She gave me some details.”

Aw, shoot.I have no idea what Cherry would have said, so I bite my lip and wait, hoping he’ll keep going. His gaze flicks to Grayson then back to me. “Obviously, whatever you do to pull in some cash, that’s yours to decide. Same with Cherry. Not my business.”

My eyes go wide, and I can only imagine what Cherry said—or threatened—to make our brother stick to that kind of non-Ryan response.

“For real, though—you’re okay?” he asks.

I shrug. “I don’t know. What about you? Are you—”mad, embarrassed, pissed“—working?”

“Kind of. There’s a bit of a…” He looks away, as though searching for the right word. “Jurisdiction problem.”

“What do you mean?”

Grayson clears his throat. “Folks I came here with have an off-the-books federal contract on a sex trafficker—”

My back jolts straight. My mind reels. “Wait. What?” He stares at me as if I’m insane, and I turn to Ryan. Same look. “What do you meantrafficker?”

Ryan’s eyebrows raise, and I see he’s lofting the question to Grayson.

My stomach churns. “Bruno had some girls turn tricks. Occasionally. Not everyone.Never me.” I blink, dumbfounded. I don’t condone prostitution—but to each her own. But maybe I was wrong—really, really wrong. “That’s it. Right?”

Gray’s head shakes slightly. “Don’t think so, baby.”

Move over, stomachache. A surge of nausea hits me. “But I know the girls here. No one was forced.” Or maybe they were? I was always different, and no one ever stuck around long.

Ryan shifts in his chair. “Looks like it’s airing out a couple of dirty cops, too. I don’t know. No one’s telling this rookie cop shit.”

“I’m not stupid…” I can’t comprehend this. “Iamso stupid. Oh, God.”

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