Page 40 of Champagne & Handcuffs
“I need to tell you some things before we go.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Okay. Sure.”
We both sat on the end of her bed, and she turned toward me. “So you’re probably wondering why I called you without much notice?” I nodded, and she smiled. “Well, this wasn’t planned by any means. I came out here to work an undercover case, and I fell in love with—” She paused, and I noticed her eyes were starting to become glassy. “I can’t even describe how I feel about him. He’s just—the mirror to my soul.”
“Aw, Joss …” I touched her knee. It warmed my heart to hear that she’d found love.
Joss took a deep breath and waved her hands in front of her face. “I can’t cry, or I’ll mess up my makeup.” We both chuckled. “Anyway, I met him my first day undercover. I was placed as his roommate, and since day one I fought the attraction I had for him because I was working a case.”
“Was he your … mission?” I didn’t know the right terminology.
She laughed. “No. He was my distraction more like it.”
“But everything worked out in the end, and now you’re getting married.”
“Yes and no. There’s more to the story.”
“Oh. Okay.” I furrowed my brows.
Joss took a deep breath and looked to the left out the window. A few seconds ticked by before she finally spoke again. “I can’t tell you all the details, but I need to tell you some stuff.”
“Are you still undercover?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“Oh,” I breathed. Wasn’t expecting that answer because I thought once someone was undercover, they had no contact with their real life.
“Well, yes and no. It’s a special case.”
“Oh,” I said again, trying to follow along.
“I’ll just tell you how I told Seth.”
My eyes shot up to hers at the mention of his name. Trying to play it cool as if hearing his name spoken didn’t make my heart ache, I replied, “Okay?”
“Remember how I ran away at seventeen and went to live with him?”
“Yeah?” How did twelve years ago factor into her working undercover?
“I ran away because Cruella and her pimp sold me to a man so he could take my virginity.”
I blinked, not sure I was hearing her correctly. “What?”
“That’s why I wasn’t me after that night. It took me years to finally be happy again, and I wasn’t truly happy until I fell in love with Paul. Even though I was a cop and now FBI, I never truly felt safe until him. It was like I was always on edge, looking over my shoulder for more bad shit to happen to me—”
I reached for her and wrapped my arms around her neck. “Jossie, you could have come to me.”
“I know,” she said against my neck. “Seth too. Hell, Seth is a cop, and I never once told him what happened to me until now. I think it was because when I heard from Mrs. McKenna that my mom and Bryce left, I knew there was no hope of catching the guy.”
We pulled back. “Is that what you’re doing now? Catching the guy? Trying to find your mom?” That was the only reason I could think of for her to be telling me this after all these years.
She smiled tightly. “Yeah, but shit, Cat. It’s so much deeper.”
“What do you mean?”
Joss sighed. “So my mom sold me out to her pimp, Tony, and long story short, he’s Bryce’s real father, and they run a sex trafficking ring.”
“What?” I asked again, not sure I’d heard her correctly.
