Tainted

20

~Sebastian~

We slept right through until lunch time. Woke up with her staring up at me from my chest with a huge smile. I had to force myself to remember last night, to pull her out of bed with a giggle and keep things this light-hearted. I made her food, we danced in the kitchen, I left her alone whilst she showered. Waiting in the living room until she came down and I was in the same spot she left me in, head in my laptop. I closed it after a few seconds, looking up at her tilted head with still wet hair. It's so hot today it'll dry in half hour or so.

She wanted to get out of the house. Anywhere. To explore and see what the area was like, get inspiration for the house. We packed a bag and headed out. I don't honestly know where we are right now but this meadow is huge and I have never seen Pip look so happy.

"I have a question."

"Are you going to announce them like that forever?" I smirk holding her hand tighter when she tries to pull out of my grasp.

"Are you going to answer it?"

"Are you gonna ask it?" She tuts at me and rolls her eyes.

"Your work. You do the same as my dad right?"

"Kind of. Your dad does a lot of things a lot of families like us don't like."

"You mean the trafficking right?"

"Yeah." I nod at her. "I think there's a difference between selling things to people for enjoyment, making money through taking risks and running businesses and taking women from their homes and selling them to the same 6 men who continuously toy with them for fun. Not women that don't have anything to do with this world, who don't deserve to be used like toys."

"You think some do?"

"No. That's not- Its complicated. This life isn't black and white and you have to make decisions quickly to keep yourself and the people you love safe. Look at my parents for example. My dad tried to keep the 3 of us safe and it just didn't work. Some men get greedy and take weaker people as a threat."

"You don't do that?"

"It's a last resort." She gave me a single nod. "I'd much rather resolve things without the mess and hassle. If people upheld their end of deals they agreed to, made payments on time, didn't put my friends and family at risk, I'd happily never watch someone bleed out again in my life but unfortunately that's not the world we live in. I give people chances too. Warnings. I have one guy who I was at the library to see when I met you. I loaned him a quarter of a million dollars 6 months ago. He still hasn't made a single payment. I'd sent him notes, texts, called, Dorian had dropped by, still nothing so I went to the library and it was his husband there but until I find out where he's gone, I can't have his husband running around town telling people I let him go whilst his partner was still free can I? How would your dad take that?"

"He'd think you had a soft spot."

"Exactly. So, he's being held up at one of our safe houses with a few guards. He's fed, can do what he pleases but can't leave the house, his calls are monitored and everything. When his husband turns up and the debt is paid, I'll let him go, keep an eye on him but he'll be fine.

"So why do people say your worse than my dad?" I sighed.

"Because I don't show mercy to get what I need. I've made kids orphans before, taken care of entire families and when I've had men be unable to pull the trigger I've had to handle that too. It's an image thing. Everyone says I'm worse than your dad so they don't even think about trying me because the consequences outweigh the benefits."