Page 74 of Faith
“Always, Nina. I will always be here for you. No matter what.”
She nodded. “I know. I always knew.”
“That will never change. You understand me?”
She sucked in a breath and nodded. “Zeke.”
“We need to speak to her,” Lorelei said to Montgomery. She glanced around him and caught Zeke’s gaze. “I know how bad this part sucks.”
“Not stopping you, though,” Montgomery told the agent.
Lorelei shook her head. “You know I can’t.”
“We’re not leaving her,” Montgomery declared.
“Wouldn’t ask you to,” Lorelei told him.
Montgomery looked back at Zeke and Nina.
Zeke raised an eyebrow at Nina, and she nodded. She moved to sit next to Zeke on the bench, next to the wall. She grabbed his hand and held on tight.
Zeke pulled the table back into place so Lorelei could sit across from him and Nina. Montgomery stood at the end of the booth, arms crossed and maintaining their privacy.
“First, he’s in custody. He is not talking, but we are not letting him go,” Lorelei said.
Nina nodded. “Thank you.”
Lorelei looked at Zeke, then Montgomery, then back to Nina. “Are you comfortable discussing what he said with them here?”
Zeke squeezed her hand, praying she agreed. He couldn’t walk away.
“Yes,” Nina said. “They know everything.”
“Okay. Can you confirm the things he said? He was a regular client of yours who paid to be with you.”
“I was never given any money. All of that was handled by Gwendolyn or whoever she had taking care of it. But our relationship was not completely consensual.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning we didn’t meet at a bar and hookup. He was brought to me and I was told he paid good money for me and if I didn’t show him a good time, there would be consequences.”
Zeke ached to carry her away. To stop all of it and just leave. Love her until she forgot about all the others, until the past was a dream and not so real her pain radiated off of her with each word.
“But eventually it became more?” Lorelei asked.
Nina sighed. “Gwendolyn liked me. Let me be more selective. Decided I could have regulars who would only see me. He was one who asked for that. That’s what I was told.”
“And you agreed?”
“He was still paying. We didn’t go out on dates. We didn’t have wine and romance and relax and watch TV. We weren’t a regular couple, and I knew that. There were others. Do you want me to say I was involved with all of them? That I liked them? I trusted him. I believed he cared. I wanted to believe he wasn’t just fucking me because he was paying for it even though I knew he was. I wanted to think someone gave a shit about me.” Nina tensed, her entire body curling in on itself. She gripped Zeke’s hand tighter, but he knew it wasn’t conscious.
“That’s enough,” Zeke growled at Lorelei. He liked her, but he was not going to sit there and let her make Nina feel worse than she already did.
“I have zero sympathy for Gwendolyn Lennox or anyone who was working for her by choice. That piece of shit we just took out of here was no better than her. He lied and manipulated Nina,likely to get information for Gwendolyn. To find out if she was loyal. He’s a piece of garbage who will never see the light of day again because of the things he confessed to.” Lorelei’s anger was clear.
“Why would he do that?” Nina whispered.
Lorelei shook her head. “We’re trying to figure that out. He knew we were watching. Gwendolyn did, too. We don’t believe it was an accident that he showed up here. She sent him. What we don’t know is what her end game is.”
