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“I heard you’ll be staying here indefinitely,” Jasmine casually remarked as she sat on the edge of the bed, rested a hand over the curve of her stomach, and traced the stitch lines on the comforter with the other.

“Honestly, I don’t know. I’m not sure how much they told you, but I have no idea who I actually am. I’d been going by Jane Doe and that really sucked. That guy, Sabre, said I reminded him of someone he once knew named Soleil, so I guess it’s as good a name as any.” The thought of the dark-eyed stranger sent my heart racing, and a fluttering started in my guts.

“They mentioned that, but I honestly can’t imagine,” Loralei murmured sympathetically.

On the tail end of my thoughts, I wondered if they knew I’d been abducted and was being held for transport. Lord only knew where I would’ve ended up if I hadn’t been rescued. It shouldn’t be something I was ashamed of because it hadn’t been my choice. Being shoved into a room with countless other women after being stripped of my clothing was horrifying and mortifying. The debasement I experienced was psychologically brutalizing.

“I’m going to run back down to check on Kristin, and while I’m down there, I’ll grab you a few more rolls of toilet paper. I’ll be right back,” Loralei brightly offered. But as she reached the doorway, she glanced over her shoulder at Jasmine. The look she gave her conveyed some sort of message I wasn’t privy to. Then she was gone.

Feeling awkward, I took a seat on the chair at the makeshift desk. “So, um, do you live here too?” I asked. Jasmine’s gaze jumped from the bedding to me before she gave a wide-eyed shake of her head. Then she nodded. I had no idea if that meant yes or no.

“No? Yes?” I was so confused.

She wet her lips and clenched her hands in her lap, but not before I caught the tremors that visibly shook them. Her throat bobbed as she swallowed, then she whispered, “I was there too.”

Shock hit me and I could do nothing but stare. Mouth hanging open, I sat there and blinked.

“In that house?” I quietly murmured as my chest became tight. My palms went clammy, and I had to slide them along my thighs to dry them.

She dropped her golden eyes to her hands as she twisted them together before she nodded. “It took a lot of therapy for me to get myself back in a better place. I’d rather never discuss it again, but I want you to know you aren’t alone. I can also hook you up with my therapist, but if you need someone to simply talk to that understands, I’m here,” she kindly offered.

Chills skated over the surface of my skin. Maybe it was crazy, but simply being in the room with someone who knew what it was like made me feel lighter. Except I didn’t really want to talk about it anymore either. I’d been doing that for months with Mia and the counselor she arranged.

As tears blurred my vision, I knew I needed to change the subject. After blinking them away, I motioned to her rounded stomach. “When are you due?”

The question had the desired effect, because she smiled brightly. “Any day now. I’m actually two days overdue,” she replied with a smirk.

My eyes went wide.

“Um, I may not remember my past, but I’m pretty sure I wasn’t a doctor. So, if you go into labor, we need to book it down those stairs,” I joked, though there was a thread of seriousness in there too. The thought of her going into labor in front of me was enough to make me cringe.

“Don’t worry, you’re safe,” she whispered conspiratorially.

Loralei came back with a package of toilet tissue as promised and also carried a pretty little infant. We sat and chatted for a bit, and I even held baby Kristin. A crazy thing happened during that hour. For the first time in months, I wasn’t consumed by my blank slate of a mind.


Tags: Kristine Allen Royal Bastards MC: Ankeny, IA Fantasy