Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

Roselia was overwhelmed by both stress and emotion as the agent led her into the room where she would be reunited with the other women she'd been trained with.

The first thing she noticed was that it was not a cold conference room. It was a warm and inviting room with sofas, loveseats, and armchairs. As she stepped fully inside, her breath hitched.

There they were—all five of them. They rose from their seats and smiled at her. She'd only known for a few hours that they'd been freed and reunited with each other. She hadn't had time to process that fact because she'd been more concerned with what coming here meant for her and Stefano.

A sixth woman Roselia did not know rose from an armchair after the others. She was older and spoke first, "Please, come in. I'm a psychologist. Carol Langston. Call me Carol. I've been working with everyone as they were found."

Daffodil broke away from the others and approached. When she got close, she pulled Roselia into a hug. "You're safe now."

Roselia let her shoulders relax and returned the hug as the others gathered.

"We don't want to overwhelm you," Marigold said. "It's jarring at first. We were never permitted to speak to each other, and we didn't even know each other's names."

Roselia nodded.

"Come sit," Oleander said softly. "We'll introduce ourselves. I promise being together is cathartic, but if you're uncomfortable, you don't have to join us."

Roselia let Daffodil lead her toward one of the couches where she sat, still gripping her friend's hand. The furniture was arranged in a circle so they could all see each other. She released Daffodil's hand and tucked both of hers under her thighs. "I don't know what to say."

Marigold smiled. "We'll start. My name is Gemma. I was the first to be found because my boyfriend, Damon, searched for me from the day I disappeared three years ago. He actually purchased me. That's how I ended up free."

Oleander spoke next. "I was the next to be found. My name is Kalinda. Kally for short. The man who picked me up from the auction was not my buyer. He was out of the country at the time. On the day my buyer would've picked me up, my handler failed to lock my cage. I got out, found a gun, and…well, shot every bullet in it until he was very dead. The FBI agent who came to the scene is now the love of my life, Jagger."

Roselia's eyes widened, but she smiled. "Good for you."

"The man who purchased me was located and is in prison," Kally continued.

Jasmine spoke next. "I'm Nora. I was raised in a strict cult and never had any interaction with the outside world. My boyfriend, Axel, was an FBI agent living undercover within the cult to uncover suspected human trafficking. Unfortunately, it was me who was sold. The man who purchased me was OCD. He didn't want to touch me. He kept me in a glass cage as a child so he could watch me play all day." She shuddered. "It was gross. Axel recognized me from the pictures after Master J was arrested. He found me in that cage."

Jesus. They all had a story to tell. Already, Roselia found this cathartic. Reuniting with them was probably the best thing that could've happened to her.

Tulip spoke next. "I'm Grace. Soon after my buyer brought me home, I grabbed a fire poker, knocked him out, and fled the house wearing nothing but his suit jacket. I walked half the night to get as far away as possible before I broke into a cabin tucked away in the woods and stayed. The owner, who is now my boyfriend, Khai, found me there two months later. I didn't tell him who I was or how I'd come to be there until the FBI found me."

And finally, Daffodil. "My name is Summer. An old man without any good common sense bought me for his grandson."

"Seriously?" Roselia almost laughed.

Summer giggled. "Yes. He'd hoped his grandson, Bridger, would leave his boyfriend, Colter, and go straight. Joke's on him. Bridger and Colter rescued me, and although they've been in a relationship for ten years, they weren't displeased with adding a woman." She grinned.

Roselia leaned back. She found herself almost smiling.

Dr. Langston, Carol, spoke next. "Would you like to tell everyone a bit about yourself?"

She nodded. "My name is Roselia. I was working for a man named Antonio Santo as part of his cleaning staff when I was abducted. I'd been flirting with another of his employees, Stefano, when I disappeared. Thank God Stefano cared about me enough to look for me. The man who bought me was probably impotent. He never touched me, but he liked me to roam around almost naked, cleaning and cooking so he could look at me. Ten days ago, he had a guest who dropped his phone between the couch cushions. I hid it and called Stefano as soon as my Master was asleep. He rescued me and took me to a safe place."

Gemma wiped her damp eyes. "We're so glad you're here. We've all been working together to find everyone. We worked from Kally and Jagger's home, turning the entire room into command central." She smiled. We had an informant who was feeding us information. We understand now that that must be your boyfriend, Stefano."

"Yes. I wasn't aware of that until this morning," Roselia murmured.

"I'm sure he did what he thought was best to keep you safe," Kally said.

Roselia knew that was true, but now what? Would she even see him again? She had no idea why he thought he was in so much trouble with the FBI, but she was scared out of her mind that he would be gone from her forever.

Nora cleared her throat and wiped her eyes. "We're all very careful. We spend our days together at Kally's house. Even though all of our buyers are either dead or have been arrested, including Master J, we don't know who the actual seller was, and the thought of him still being out there, possibly gathering the next group of women to train, makes us constantly vigilant."

Roselia realized they didn't know about Santo. "The man I worked for is the seller—Antonio Santo."

Everyone gasped, including Carol.

Gemma's face turned white. "I believe Santo was the head of one of my father's rival families. I wasn't supposed to eavesdrop, but I'm pretty sure Santo had my mother murdered." She shuddered.

Roselia swallowed. "I'm so sorry. I don't know about that."

Kally leaned into Gemma and wrapped an arm around her. "I'm sure we'll find out everything."

Grace turned toward Carol. "Do you think they will arrest Santo now?"

Carol drew in a breath. "I don't know, but I would presume so if they have enough evidence."

"Stefano worked for Santo for fifteen years," Roselia informed them.

Gemma looked like she might puke. "Why?"

"I don't know the specifics. He said revenge. Something happened eighteen years ago that made Stefano so angry that he made it his life's goal to destroy Santo."

Roselia hadn't thought it was possible for Gemma's face to get any whiter, but it did. "Eighteen years ago?" She glanced at Carol and back at Roselia. "My mother died eighteen years ago," she whispered. "Is Stefano his real name?"

"I think so. I knew him as Marco Gallo when he worked for Santo. Apparently, that was an invented persona, though."

Gemma shook her head and looked toward Carol again. "Could he be Mario Rizzo also?"

Carol pulled out her phone. "I don't know, hon. Let me see if I can find out."

Gemma started crying.

Kally leaned in closer to her, holding her tight. Nora scooted over to her other side and hugged her also.

Roselia was confused. "Who's Mario Rizzo?"

"He was my mother's bodyguard. He was with her when she was murdered in a boating accident. They never found his body."

Roselia's spine went rigid as goosebumps covered her skin. How many names did Stefano have?

Carol rubbed her forehead. "I knew Stefano Bianchi. I was new with the FBI when he disappeared, but I met him a few times in passing before he went undercover. Stefano is his real name. He wouldn't have used that undercover. He would've been assigned another name."

Summer nodded. "If he survived that accident and knew Santo had arranged it, perhaps he was furious enough to go after Santo. He would've needed a new alias."

"Marco Gallo," Roselia murmured.

The room was silent except for Gemma's soft sniffles. "Why would my mother's bodyguard work so hard to avenge her death?"

Roselia knew the answer. It was suddenly very clear. Stefano's words from earlier in the week echoed in her head. "I've only been in love one other time, and I failed her." She lowered her gaze, saying nothing.

"They were in a relationship," Gemma finally murmured.

No one spoke. Roselia didn't want to confirm or deny that fact. She was guessing herself, but, more importantly, this was very painful for Gemma. It would be hard to hear that your own mother had been having an affair and died while she was with the man.

The door opened behind Roselia, and she spun around to find Damon striding into the room. He rushed over to Gemma. Kally and Nora released her so he could pull her into his arms. "I'm so sorry, baby. As soon as I realized what you might be piecing together in here, I came." He held her close and rocked her back and forth.

A tight ball formed in Roselia's stomach, and she stared at the open door, willing Stefano to come through it. She didn't really believe he would, but she wanted his arms around her. She wanted him to tell her everything was going to be okay. She wanted to see him, touch him, smell him. She needed him.

She felt horrible for Gemma, and maybe it was weird that she'd spent the last nine days developing a deep relationship with the man who'd had an affair with Gemma's mother, but it had been eighteen years ago. Had he even been in any relationship at all in eighteen years? She kind of doubted it. He'd been singularly focused on avenging his woman's death.

Should Roselia be scared of him? Maybe she shouldn't feel as strongly as she did for him. He'd done a lot of sketchy things in the past two decades. He'd apparently had a relationship with a client, faked his own death, and devoted his life to revenge. What had he planned to do to destroy Santo? He hadn't even known Santo was trafficking women until recently.

Grace and Summer flanked Roselia and embraced her.

"None of this is your fault," Grace pointed out.

"She's right," Summer agreed.

That may be true, but who is the man I'm in love with?

Flashes of the last nine days filled her mind. His devotion to her. The way he'd cleaned her welts and put ointment on them. The way he'd washed her in the shower when she hadn't been able to bring herself to do so. The way he'd patiently stayed by her side at all hours of the day and night so she wouldn't panic.

He'd cooked for her. Laughed with her. Bought her books. Held her day and night. He hadn't even pressured her to have sex with him. She'd had to make that move on her own.

This morning, she'd awoken to find a totally different man in the kitchen, one who'd been filled with guilt and frustration. He'd been so devoted to taking care of her that he'd ignored reality. She knew he'd meant it when he'd said he wanted to leave town with her, take her far away, leave the country even.

He would have done that for her. He would have done anything for her. But reality had pressed down on him. If he'd left with her, Santo would have gotten away with everything. Not only would all five other women spend their lives in fear of him finding them again, but he could have picked up more women. Six. Twelve. A hundred? The man had no scruples. He only cared about lining his pockets.

Santo was filthy rich. Roselia knew that. Her mother had always said she'd been lucky to get a job working for a man that rich and that Roselia should also count her blessings. When Roselia had asked her mother what the man did, her mother had shaken her head. "It doesn't matter what he does, child. Keep your head down and do your job."

Had her mother known how horrible of a person Santo was? It didn't matter now. Her mother was gone, and Roselia had no one. Nothing. Not even her job.

She had Stefano, though. Didn't she?

She hated how badly Gemma was hurting. Even though she couldn't have known, she still felt bad.

No one else came into the room. Damon must have learned about Gemma's mother from Stefano and excused himself to comfort his girlfriend. Where were the others? Was Stefano still in that room where she'd left him?

She had no idea what he'd done that had caused him to believe he might be in serious trouble. A part of her didn't want to know. She just wanted him next to her. She wanted to hide from the world. She wanted to climb back into bed, where he chased away her nightmares with his arms around her.

He couldn't be a bad man. She refused to believe it.

Carol sent and received a few texts while the others remained silent.

Roselia felt like an intruder.

Finally, Damon lifted Gemma's chin, kissed her gently, and whispered something in her ear.

She nodded and squeezed his hand before he left.

"I'm so sorry," Roselia murmured when they were once again alone in the silent room.

"It's not your fault," Gemma said as she used her fingertips to wipe her cheeks. "Nothing is your fault."

Roselia swallowed. But it's Stefano's fault. Everyone is going to judge him . She looked down, fidgeting her fingers in her lap. She wanted to fall through a hole in the floor and disappear.

Carol broke the next long silence. "I can see you struggling, Roselia. There is no reason to be so hard on yourself. You are completely innocent."

Roselia jerked her gaze up. "Am I, though? What was I doing working for a man like Santo? I knew he was bad news. I didn't need anyone to tell me. I knew he was mafia. And why would I fall for a man who worked for him? A man who was his right-hand in everything and had been there fifteen years? I ignored my gut because Stefano was kind to me. He made my knees weak—even when I first met him. I was only eighteen. He was forty-two. He could be my father. And yet I lusted over him." She tried to suck back the erupting sob that wouldn't be stopped. She rose to her feet and started pacing. "And now? I'm so in love with him I can't think. I'm scared out of my mind that I'll never see him again. We could've run off together and never looked back. We could've stayed together. What's wrong with me?"

Carol sighed. "You're in love, honey. It's not that hard to understand. No one in this room can blame you for that. We've all been fortunate enough to find love and lucky enough to keep it. No one would deny you the same thing."

"Maybe Stefano is right, and I'm too young to know my mind." She chewed on her bottom lip.

"You don't believe that," Carol responded.

Summer snickered. "If age is a factor, then all of us are too young."

Roselia turned toward her. "How old are your boyfriends, though?"

Summer laughed. "Mid-thirties, but listen to yourself. You're worried about Stefano being older than you? That's nothing. I'm sleeping with two men who also sleep with each other." She giggled again. "Try getting away with that in society."

Roselia offered her a wan smile. She had a point.

Summer shrugged. "You just have to ignore everyone else and live your life. I'm so happy with Colter and Bridger. I wouldn't give them up for anything or anyone, and they could have given me up for money. Instead, they're letting Bridger's inheritance go to charities. That's how much they love me."

Gemma shuffled over to Roselia and pulled her into a hug. "It's shocking to learn that my mother was having an affair when she died, but if I'm honest with myself, my mother was not a happy person. She didn't like living a mafia lifestyle. She wanted out. I remember listening to them fighting about it when I was very young. My father said it was like a last name. You're just born into it. There is no out except death, and they both paid with their lives."

Carol spoke again. "Gemma, how do you feel about knowing Stefano was probably romantically involved with your mother?"

Gemma pulled in a deep breath, keeping her arms around Roselia. "I think it doesn't matter now. It was nearly twenty years ago. He must've cared about her deeply if he spent all this time avenging her death." She faced Roselia. "And we know he has a huge heart and a conscience because he turned himself in to save the lives of anyone else Santo might hurt in the future. That took balls. He risked everything to stop Santo. He also spent the last four months working day and night to locate all of us. I'm grateful for that. I'll get over his relationship with my mother." She offered a broad smile. "I'm so glad you're here."

"We all are," Kally added. "I'm not sure what I would have done if we hadn't eventually found everyone."

"We would've continued looking for the rest of our lives," Nora added.

Grace stood. "Yeah. She's right."

"Until the end of time," Summer agreed.