“They care about me,” I told her with a heavy sigh, trying not to get frustrated. “I have a duty to them—”
“A duty that involves using your body for pleasure,” she snapped, ripping her hand from my grasp and leaping from her seat. She stood, staring down at me in disgust. “That is not how it was intended to be used.”
“Emerald—”
“The Colony may not have had it right, but I still don’t believe we were put on this earth to be whores!”
Her words were like a punch to the gut, knocking the wind out of me. I clenched my teeth as I slowly stood to my feet, meeting her venomous glare head on.
To be called a whore by my sister—yeah, so that hurt.
My brothers and sisters had always looked up to me, even in times when I was disobedient and fought back against what we all knew was wrong.
“I fought for you and our brothers and sisters, Emerald. I took beatings, so you didn’t have to. How many times did father put me in Doctor Gabel’s office, barely conscious because I offered to take everyone’s punishment?” My body burned, angry at my sister for being so ignorant and also angry at myself for not being more patient with her.
She stared back at me, her eyes welling with tears and her hands clasped in front of her. “I am sorry, sister,” she murmured through unshed tears.
I had to remind myself that she had run, she wanted out and was starting to see through the lies that we were told, but it would be a long time before she understood completely the depths of what the Colony was doing.
“You have a lot to learn about life and the lies that we’ve grown up with,” I told her, as calmly as my voice would allow without it breaking. “For now, you need to trust that I am fine. The brothers are not like our prophet. Their rules and laws are not to deceive us or to keep us in line. They are there to keep us safe and the club strong.”
I watched her body slump slightly, the fight within her withering. “They are scary,” she said quietly. I could feel her apprehension, and I understood it. With the boys and their tattoos, their muscles and scruffy beards, they were intimidating, to say the least.
“They are scary,” I agreed. “But only if you’re on their bad side, or if you are trying to hurt them or their family. Which we are not.”
She twisted her hands together, breathing deeply in and out as she tried to calm herself. “Do you really have to leave?” she finally asked as she pulled her sleeves down over her hands, a nervous habit she’d had since we were toddlers, one that her mother would continuously scold her for.
“Yes, first thing in the morning. But tonight, I’m all yours,” I said, hoping to somehow step over this hump in the road we had discovered. I had to keep reminding myself that this was all new to Emerald. It was going to be a shock, and she was going to want to fight back against anything she felt went against the way she was raised.
But in the end, I hoped she would eventually see there was beauty here, and opportunities she never imagined possible. She needed to open her mind and her heart to them.
A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. “Will you do the puzzle with me?”
I stepped forward, wrapping my arms around her and swaying back and forth until she started to giggle. “Of course, let’s see if we can get it finished.”