Page 61 of Tequila & Lace
“I’m not understanding this, Andi. You need to talk to me. Why did you have a date with someone not with S&R?” My hand was still in the air. I was hoping and praying she would take it, but she didn’t. Instead, she sank to the floor and started to cry again. I followed her and crouched down so I was on the same level.
“Because my mother sold me when I seventeen.”
“That doesn’t make any sense, baby.”
She looked up at me with tears in her eyes. I pulled her to me. I didn’t care if she wanted me to. This was the woman I loved and if she didn’t want to be in my arms, then she needed to speak up.
She didn’t. She let me hold her, her body shaking as she cried. “I want to save them all.”
“Save who?”
“The girls.”
She wasn’t making any sense. One minute we were talking about her almost getting raped. The next we were talking about her losing her virginity. And now we were talking about her saving women? How did they all link?
“What girls?”
“The ones like Nelly,” she sobbed.
Who the fuck was Nelly?
“Baby, please. You were attacked. We need to call the cops.”
She pulled back. “No!” She scrambled to her feet again. “No cops. I’m done. I won’t have any more dates outside of S&R. I promise.” She grabbed my head on each side, peering into my eyes as if she needed to get the point across. “I promise. I won’t have any more dates outside of S&R. No cops… please, Paul,” she repeated.
“Are you in danger?” She didn’t say anything. “Andi…”
She pulled back and started to pace. “Leah and Nina told me not to get mixed up with this crew. I didn’t listen.”
“Why?” I snapped, my hands instantly clenched.
“I wanted to help the girls.”
I got it. It was similar to what I did with my self-defense classes and how I showed people—especially woman how to shoot guns properly. But the question was why? “Why baby? Why do you feel you need to put your life in danger and help them?”
She groaned and started flinging her hands as she spoke. I could tell she was starting to get frustrated. “Because women shouldn’t be sold like I was when I was seventeen. We should be able to choose who we want to have sex with.” She stopped pacing again, dropped her hands to her side and I caught the sight of her lips starting to quiver again. “Don’t you get it?”
More tears streamed down her face and I pulled her to me again. Her head fit perfectly beneath my chin and I let her cry against my chest once more. “Aren’t these girls going on a date with these men and choosing to have sex with them or not?”
“Some… Some are. Some aren’t. Some are being sold without being told.”
“Like sex trafficking?” She nodded. “Baby, that’s the cop’s jobs. You shouldn’t put yourself in danger like that.”
She was silent for a long time as her crying eased. “I thought I could get through to the women. Make them quit working the streets.”
“This isn’t what you told me on our picnic.”
“I know, but I couldn’t tell you then. You would have thought I was crazy.”
I groaned and shook my head. “Fuck, gorgeous. I could have lost you.”
“Not a chance. I’m tougher than you think.”
I sighed. “I bet you are.” I leaned down and kissed her lips. She winced slightly. They were busted and tasted of copper. “We need to call the cops and tell them what happened.”
She shook her head. “No cops.Theytold me that if anything happened, they would be after me. I don’t want any more red flags.”
“Then we’re going to the range tomorrow. I’mteachingyou how to shoot.”
