Chapter 16
Harlow
I held Serenity in my arms as we walked into the house.
She stopped crying ten minutes ago and it broke my heart since I couldn’t do anything else to help her.
Those men wanted her. They didn’t care about me other than my having her.
I knew she was with her mother and another little girl, Harmony, but if they were looking for her, she was missing.
There was more to Serenity’s story we needed to discover.
Caterina met us at the garage door, her hand coming to my side and the other to my shoulder. “Are you two okay?”
“Yeah, she’s scared. I didn’t think she would be in danger, too,” I whispered. “She’s not even ours yet and I had to save her from bullets.”
“I think there is something more going on. Roman is going to look into it. Akim Bolkov might be a player in whatever this game is.” I tensed hearing his name.
“This is my favorite girl,” Vincenzo announced as he stepped into the private room with a tall, scruffy, bald man. “Harlow, say hello to my guest.”
“H-hello.”
The man looked at me with hungry eyes, taking in my exposed body.
I hated working in his club and being his favorite.
Being his favorite saved me from a bullet to the head but meant I would endure hours of torture if I disobeyed or if someone didn’t like what they paid for.
This man looked like he wanted what the other sadists wanted. He wanted my pain, wanted me to scream.
“She is gorgeous, Vinny. How much for her to be mine?”
Vincenzo chucked as he pulled me into his lap. “My friend, the best I can offer is a free night with my favorite girl. She is going to be my wife, after all. I just need her to work some of her dear ole daddy’s debt off.”
“You owe me Vincenzo. I want flesh.”
“And you will have it, just not with her. Give me a few weeks and I’ll have my debt to you paid off. Until then, enjoy Harlow. She’ll be good for you.”
“Harlow, baby.” Caterina’s voice pulled me back from my flashback. “Breathe for me. What happened? Where did you go?”
“What if Vincenzo kidnapped Harmony? I met Akim before…he…Vincenzo gave me to him to try and repay a debt, but he wanted flesh. He wanted me, but Vincenzo said no.”
“I wouldn’t put it past him, but what about her mom?”
“Serenity said her mom was hurt, what if they did the same thing to Harmony’s mom? She’s probably out there alone if they are looking for her.”
Caterina brushed her hand through Serenity’s hair. “I’m not going to let anything happen to her. She might be the newest addition to my heart, but you two are my world.”
“I love you.” Caterina was everything I dreamt of growing up, and now she was making my life the fairytale I never had.
“I love you, more than you’ll ever know.”
“I have Serena meeting us for a session to see if we can get any more out of her, and then we can watch a movie together.”
Serenity sat in my lap as Serena walked in.
The attack at the mall should have scared her more than it did, but she wasn’t too fazed by it after her initial reaction.
I knew she was with her mother, but I didn’t know the full story.
It shouldn’t surprise me. I got used to my trauma, to the point I became numb to the feeling of pain with certain men.
How long did Serenity deal with what she endured before she finally escaped?
“Hey, sweetie.” I adjusted her in my lap so Serenity could look at me. “I want you to meet someone. This is Serena. She is really nice and we talk about things that happened to me. Can we talk with her together?”
She looked at Serena for a moment before looking at me. “She’s nice?”
I nodded. “Very. She helped me a lot. I think she can help you, too.”
“Okay.”
“All right, honey. Harlow told me you and your mommy were with a bad man?”
Serenity rested her head on my chest. “Yeah. The bad man hurt Mommy. She cried sometimes and told me she was sorry we couldn’t have a good life.”
“Do you remember a life where you weren’t there?”
She shook her head. “No. Mommy said she had me cause of bad men, but she never loved me any less.” I frowned, looking at Serena. It didn’t take a lot to put two and two together on how she was conceived.
“You mentioned a friend?” I asked. “You said her name was Harmony?”
“Yeah. Harmony and her mommy, Livvy. Harmony was my friend. She was there when I got to the bad man.”
“When did your mommy get hurt?”
“She tried to leave with me, but she got caught. They hurt her. Before she stopped moving, they said I would be hurt because of her. That’s when they put me in the van to take me somewhere else, but I got out.”
I didn’t know what her response would be, but I needed to know if she knew Akim. There was a reason he wanted Harmony, and a reason she was there as well. “Serenity, sweetie, do you remember the man that took you and your mommy?”
She nodded. “He was bad man.”
“Do you remember what he looked like?” She looked up at me, her dark-brown eyes wide with fear.
“I don’t want to.”
I pulled her into my chest. “It’s okay, sweetie.
We don’t have to talk about the bad man anymore right now.
” I rubbed her back. “You did great, sweetie. Now we can go watch a movie with Caterina. What do you say?” She nodded into my chest. “Thank you. Maybe the little information can help. She knows something is connected to her, but we don’t know what yet. ”
“Of course. If you need anything else, let me know. You’re good with her.”
“She is a sweet blessing in this life. I’m hoping I can be everything she needs.”
“You both are,” Serena affirmed. “I can’t wait to see what happens, and to tell Alexander he might have a granddaughter?”
I smiled. “Maybe soon.” I felt Serenity smile against my neck. “I’ll keep you updated with everything, but I am going to enjoy our night with her before taking her home.”
One day, our house will be her home, and she will be exactly where she belonged.