And I’m pretty sure Gerard said it was a loan…
“It’s my fault.” Sugar let go of Billy’s hand, and tears welled up in her eyes as
she tried to talk. “I’m—not originally from America. My parents brought me here when I was a little girl. When I was sixteen, they were deported—but I ran—and I got away. Sugar is the name Robert Townsend gave me because that’s all I was to the men he forced me to service—a little taste of sugar.”
“Oh my god.” I lifted my hand to my lips.
“He told me I could leave whenever I wanted.” Sugar wiped away a tear. “As long as I paid the price.”
“The price was twenty-five thousand dollars…” Liam exhaled sharply as he made the connection in his head. “Fuck!”
“I’ve seen other girls leave. They met someone who promised to treat them well—someone who pays Robert Townsend’s price.” She sighed. “I wanted to believe that could be my future too, but the men—they weren’t nice to me—until I met your brother.”
“He’s a monster…” I felt my anger rising again, but I wasn’t angry at Billy anymore.
But if Billy is telling the truth, and Sugar appears to be pretty emotional—that means Gerard lied about his first visit with Robert Townsend. Why didn’t he just tell us the truth?
The conversation shifted to their wedding, which was more of a distraction from the turmoil I felt like we were still in the middle of than actual curiosity. We were making small talk until the door opened—and all of us were praying that Gerard was going to walk through it with a smile on his face. The subject of my relationship with Liam came up, I decided that it was better to pull the bandage off the wound as fast as possible, so I told him that I was involved with Gerard as well. I even told him about my previous—and very brief—relationship with Gerard.
Billy didn’t lose his mind, but there was a concern on his face. He finally admitted that was a grown woman and allowed to make my own choices—even if that meant I was dating two of his best friends at the same time. It was strange to have an adult conversation with my brother, but I got the impression that his relationship with Sugar had matured him. The Billy I knew would have never put someone else ahead of his own needs—and his decision to do absolutely anything to get Sugar out of the situation she was in was admirable. I just hoped that it wasn’t too late, and I prayed that Gerard hadn’t done something stupid—stupid enough that he had to lie to us about it.
I finally have something amazing—I can’t lose it—not now.
15
Liam
Something wasn’t right. I could feel it in my bones. Gerard told me that Billy borrowed money from Robert Townsend. That wasn’t true. I had always trusted Gerard, and he had never done anything to give me a reason to doubt him. I wanted to believe he had been lied to by Robert Townsend. It just scared me to think of the alternative if what he found out was so bad that he had to lie about it. All we could do was wait for his return and hope that he was able to deliver the money without any sort of incident. I agreed with his decision to be the courier—I definitely didn’t think Billy should try to do it—but that was before I knew there was more to the story. Billy might have returned with the money required to buy his wife’s freedom, but he had inconvenienced a very dangerous man—even that was enough to earn Robert Townsend’s wrath if his reputation was to be believed.
“It’s been two hours.” Rachel followed me into the kitchen. “I’m starting to get really worried.”
“Yeah, me too.” I pulled out my cell phone and sent a message to Gerard, hoping that he would reply.
“Billy is going to take Sugar back to our Dad’s place. They’re tired from the drive, and there really isn’t anything we can do until Gerard gets back.” Rachel put her palms flat on the counter. “Can you just hug me and tell me it’s going to be okay?”
“I don’t want to lie to you.” I walked over and pulled her into for a hug. “We don’t know what is really going on. I’m starting to get concerned that Gerard made some kind of deal with Robert Townsend when he thought we weren’t going to be able to come up with the money.”
“What would a man like that want from Gerard?” She leaned against my shoulder and sighed.
“I have no idea.” My sigh matched the one that rushed across her lips. “It’s terrifying to think about—but Gerard has always done what he thought was best.”
“Don’t I know it…” She pulled back from our embrace.
Rachel still hadn’t completely gotten over what Gerard did to her, and I could tell that those emotions were coming back as two hours turned into four. Gerard wasn’t picking up his phone, he wasn’t returning my text messages, and the silence was getting more terrifying by the minute. Billy and Sugar left, but we promised to call Billy if there were any new developments. I was surprised that he had been so accepting of my relationship with his sister—especially when he found out that it wasn’t just the two of us. I wondered if he would have a different opinion once he had time to process what we told him without Robert Townsend’s shadow hanging over our lives. Billy’s approval didn’t really matter to me, and I wasn’t ready to completely forgive him for putting us in the situation, to begin with. He could have told us. We would have done anything to help him—we were supposed to be best friends.
“You should try to get some rest.” I leaned over and took Rachel’s hand. “Seriously, there’s nothing we can do here but wait…”
“There’s no way I can go to sleep right now.” She looked over at me and shook her head. “This is hard for me because I’ve been in this position before—waiting.”
“I know.” I slid closer and put my arm around her.
And I listened to Gerard tell her that he’d never do it again—never abandon her. Never in a million years did I think he was anything less than truthful when he said that.
The next day
Worry had passed. I was in full-on panic mode. Gerard didn’t come home, he still wasn’t answering his cell phone, and I was terrified to think of the worst-case scenario. I was doing my best to suppress the thoughts and keep them from registering on my face because Rachel needed a rock. She needed me to keep telling her that things were going to be okay—even if I no longer believed it myself. I needed to go to Robert Townsend’s club. I needed to see if I could get any sort of information that would give us the answers—but I didn’t want to abandon Rachel. I certainly couldn’t take her with me. I even considered calling the police, but Chief Dade’s conversation replayed in my head when I stared at the screen with the number ready for me to press a button and call them. If Chief Dade was right and Robert Townsend had the entire police department in his pocket, a call to them might make things worse—if they could be worse than they already were. I only had one choice—one that was probably going to tear Rachel apart when I told her.
“I have to go to the club.” I prepared for wrath—fury—and tears.