It was a long shot, but she had to try, because in Holly, she saw her past. Mark Reeves, just like Sloane, had lured her in with sweet talk and promises, then used her sexually. Kinky desires had evolved into more deviant demands, and with him whispering in her ear how much he loved her, and her system pumped with just enough ketamine to keep her relaxed and compliant, he’d done things to her that with a clear conscience she would have flat refused.
Those memories were what spurred her with Holly now.
Gently, she grabbed Holly’s arm to stop her, and the girl came to a halt-mainly because Nicole didn’t give her a choice. She pierced Nicole with a spiteful look, but Nicole wasn’t about to be deterred. Holly put on a tough act, but Nicole could sense the vulnerability beneath the girl’s belligerent facade.
“I’m not interested in Preston,” Nicole said, getting right to the crux of the problem between them, and hoping that her reassurance would help to soften Holly toward her. “I already have a boyfriend.”
The tension stiffening Holly’s spine eased a fraction, and the look in her eyes gradually filled with resignation. “It doesn’t matter,” she said, her voice choked with distress. “He’s interested in you. I can see it in the way he looks at you. He used to look at me the same way.”
Unexpectedly, Holly grabbed Nicole’s hands, the sudden desperation etching her young features almost frightening in its intensity. “If you’ll stay away from Preston, I can change his mind about me. I know I can.”
Tears filled Holly’s eyes, and Nicole could see the girl breaking down right in front of her. Her belly burned with fury at witnessing how Sloane’s influence had affected this girl’s psyche. Sloane had toyed with Holly’s emotions and twisted her perceptions of their relationship to keep her amenable and dependent on him.
Bastard.
The girl was an absolute mess-from Sloane’s manipulations, the drugs he’d obviously supplied, and the alcohol that Holly used to dull her pain. The instinct to protect the girl was strong, but Nicole knew from experience that convincing Holly she needed to escape this awful, mentally abusive situation wouldn’t be that easy. Not when Holly had obviously been brainwashed and couldn’t see past her need to be with Sloane.
Right now, Nicole could at least be a friend to the girl, someone she could talk to and maybe even come to trust. And in forging a friendship with Holly, she could hopefully gain the information she needed about Angela.
Wanting privacy for the two of them, Nicole led Holly to a secluded corner where they sat next to each other on a red velvet couch. By then tears were streaming down Holly’s face, and Nicole retrieved a tissue from her purse and handed it to the other girl, who used it to dab at her eyes and wipe away the moisture on her face. In the process, she accidentally removed some of her makeup, and her true age began to emerge.
While Nicole waited for the girl to calm down, she casually glanced around the lounge, looking for a certain blond-haired girl. She saw a few mingling and flirting with the male guests, but none that resembled the photograph of Angela Ramsey.
“I’m sorry,” Holly said after a few moments had passed and she was composed once again. She exhaled a shaky breath as her fingers played with the small, diamond heart pendant around her neck. “I don’t mean to be such a bitch, but sometimes I just can’t help it. You’re so pretty and I’m so afraid that Preston is going to replace me with someone new.”
Which would happen sooner or later, Nicole knew. It was inevitable, considering Sloane’s track record. Holly hadn’t learned that lesson yet, but Nicole was certain she would soon.
Holly’s eyes had become glassy, and her body had gone lax as she slouched against the corner of the sofa. The alcohol and whatever pills she’d swallowed were taking effect, making her much more relaxed and mellow. Nothing more than an illusion until the narcotics wore off and the anxiety and fears returned.
Nicole eyed the sparkling diamond heart that Holly kept clutching in her hand, as if by embracing the pendant she could somehow hold on to the person who’d given it to her.
“Did Preston give you that necklace?” Nicole asked.
“Yes.” A faraway look entered Holly’s eyes, and she smiled dreamily. “He gives me lots of nice, pretty things.”
Nicole bet Sloane did. Whatever it took to give the girls a false sense of affection while they were with him. “What other kinds of things?”
“Fancy clothes and purses, and other jewelry,” Holly said, speaking openly and freely about her life with Preston, more than Nicole had expected her to reveal. “He even gave me my own special room at his house and he let me decorate it just the way I wanted. It’s beautiful. I’ve never had a room so pretty before. Or one I didn’t have to share with someone.”
There was definitely a backstory to Holly’s tale, one that had led her to this point in her life where she’d become involved and dependent on a man who only cared for her as long as it was convenient for him and his needs. Nicole wanted to grab Holly and get the hell out of this place and make her realize that this wasn’t the kind of life she wanted to live. That there was something better waiting for her outside the beautiful gilded bedroom that Sloane kept her in at his estate.
But Nicole couldn’t act on the impulse, because there was no way for her to get Holly out of the nightclub safely, not when every exit was locked and guarded. She also couldn’t jeopardize Nathan’s case-not to mention that her actions would put her own life at risk. No doubt a well-connected man like Sloane would hunt her down and make her pay for her interference.
She might not be able to do anything about Holly tonight, but Nicole swore that she’d eventually find a way to rescue the girl, and help get her life back on track. Nicole knew all too well how difficult it could be to get out of a situation you were completely immersed in, and she wished she’d had someone who would have helped her to see how destructive her relationship with her English professor had been.
Nicole wanted to be that person for Holly.
With effort, she turned her attention to extracting as much information from Holly as she could about Sloane and this operation of his, eventually leading up to asking about Angela so as not to raise any suspicions. Any details she could glean from Holly would help her and Nathan understand what they were up against, and what to expect if they found themselves at Sloane’s estate.
“Does Preston give you money?” she asked, keeping her tone light, curious, and innocent. Like a young girl who might be interested in making some extra cash on the side herself.
Holly shrugged. “Depends on what I need. If I want extra money, all I have to do is give his friends massages and pretend that I like them. Sometimes, they pay me even more to do other things with them. All the girls do it,” she said, her tone slightly defensive, as if she felt she had to justify what she did. “I can make a lot of money that way, but the only one I want is Preston.”
A surge of nausea rose up into Nicole’s throat, and she had to tamp it back down. What Sloane did with these girls was no better than prostitution, and it sickened Nicole to the core that he got away with it.
“How old are you, Holly?” she asked, almost afraid to find out.
Holly visibly tensed, some part of her mind breaking through the drugs and alcohol’s haze to register the importance of the question. “I’m eighteen.”
Nicole didn’t believe her, and called her on the lie. “You seem younger. I’m sixteen,” she said, giving Holly an opening to be truthful about her age.
Panic filled Holly’s gaze. “You might want to keep that to yourself,” she said in a low whisper.