She nodded once and drifted back inside without saying anything else.
I looked back over my shoulder. Sasha sat near the pool watching. She didn’t move or look away, and I turned my gaze back to the house.
Irene was going to be angry, and I couldn’t blame her. I knew on some level that she was right. If I could take the entire Valentino family and go liberate all those girls, I would. But that would never happen.
Instead, I had to work with my single crew, and we couldn’t do it all on our own.
I’d find some other way to hurt the Healy family with those USB sticks. I’d use all the resources at my disposal to take down their trafficking ring.
For now though, I had to help these girls, and giving them guns and pointing them in the right direction was the best I could do.
I only had to hope Sasha could find someone reliable.
17
Irene
I sat in the back of the car with Sasha. She stared out the window, looking grim. Her hair was pulled up in a tight bun and her severe cheekbones made her look ten years older than she was. She wore black jeans, a black jacket, and had a gun shoved into her waistband. I looked from her up to Cam, and he glanced back at me in the rearview.
I looked quickly away and back out into the night.
I hated this plan. I hated the way he’d dropped it on me in front of Don Valentino and Sasha, and basically gave me no chance to argue. As soon as the Don said he liked it, I knew the whole thing was over and would happen whether I liked it or not.
But it pissed me off he pulled that, especially after the night before.
After I gave him my body and finally let myself be what I wanted to be—safe in his arms, naked and unafraid.
That night was a blur now. I thought of it in flashes: his cock in my mouth, his tongue between my legs, riding him hard, sweating as he fucked me and kissed my lips, and the orgasms, god, the orgasms. I squirmed in my seat just thinking about it. I was still sore, and it’d been three days since it happened, and we’d slept in separate rooms.
I knew he was sorry. He felt bad and wanted to do the right thing. But I was angry anyway. It happened too soon after I finally let my guard down, and reminded me of what it was like on the streets.
One false move out there and you were finished. If I let in the wrong person, trusted someone dangerous, I’d be finished.
Cam was most dangerous of all.
“It’s right around here,” Sasha said suddenly. Cam slowed the car to a crawl. We were out in North Philly again, at the top of the Kensington neighborhood surrounded by abandoned houses, boarded-up windows, and overgrown lots. “Make a right there.”
Cam turned, heading east toward the river. Sasha leaned up between the two front seats and pointed toward an empty lot on the corner of the block. It was surrounded by a low wooden fence and some trees were planted inside, like someone actually tried to take care of it. The grass was cut, and standing back in the shadows were two people.
My heart leapt into my chest as Cam parked the car. Sasha jumped out and I hurried to follow her, with Cam bringing up the rear. Sasha stepped over the fence, then ran to the figures and threw her arms around the closest one.
I stood back and Cam lingered next to me.
The girls were young, like Sasha. One was small and petite, skinny and pretty. The other was tall and willow-thin and looked exhausted. Both girls wore tight, revealing outfits and had reddish brown hair swept back.
“We don’t have long,” the small girl said.
Sasha waved me and Cam over. “Girls, this is Irene and Cam,” Sasha said. “Irene and Cam, this is Anna and Mila.” She gestured at the small girl then the taller girl respectively.
“Good to meet you,” I said, glancing around the space nervously. It was quiet and dark, and the nearby houses all looked empty. Not a single light glowed in any of the windows.
“I’m not sure I could believe this,” Mila said. “How’d you make this happen, Sasha?”
“They reached out to me,” she said, gesturing at Cam. “Kira put us in touch. Can you believe it, that bitch?”
“I believe it,” Anna said. “Always trying to do what’s right. Stupid girl. Kind of surprised she’s alive.”
“Did Sasha explain what we’re thinking?” Cam asked.
“She did,” Anna said, narrowing her eyes at him. For being such a small girl, she seemed very intimidating. “You want to give guns to a bunch of hookers, huh?”
“Very manly,” Mila said, grinning. “Get the girls to fight for you.”