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own place sooner rather than later.”
    “Also true,” Kenny said. “I would like to add if she brings it up, or it becomes a discussion Tilly or Eliza force with her, I’m okay saying she’s under our protection without it being anything more. As long as everyone else thinks that’s a good idea.”
    Nolan considered it and nodded. “I’m good with that. It might be what she needs to feel safe.”
    “I hope this experience doesn’t drive her out of the lifestyle altogether.” A dark frown clouded Kenny’s expression. “I remember when we talked to her when we first met her. How excited she was. How she said she felt like she finally belonged somewhere. That she didn’t feel weird or different anymore.”
    “Yeah,” Nolan sadly said. “Me, too. I thought she was adorable.” Kenny’s attention snapped onto Nolan. “What?” Nolan asked.
    Kenny took a moment to answer. “Long-term. If ,” he strongly emphasized, “she is in a healthy place, I’m not against you and me talking about maybe more than just protecting her.”
    “Long-term,” Nolan agreed. “And only if, after we bounce it off others first, they think it’s a good idea.”
    Kenny rested his head against Nolan’s shoulder. “What time is Ed getting here?”
    “We’re supposed to call him, but he said he wanted to be here by ten.”
    “Okay. I hope she’s awake by then.”
    “Why do I have a feeling our world just shifted?”
    “Because it did.” Kenny kissed him before slipping past him and heading for the kitchen doorway, where he pulled up short. “Oh, dammit.” He turned.
    “What?”
    “Mom’s coming for dinner tonight.”
    “So?”
    Kenny pointed down the hall. “ So ? Really?”
    “We tell the truth. She’s a friend in trouble. If Dennis comes with her, maybe it’ll make him keep his mouth shut around Betsy.”
    “I should cancel dinner.”
    “No.” Nolan walked over to him and pulled him in close again. “I don’t want to cancel dinner. I suspect Mom’s going to need to get out of the house, and I’d really be shocked—like buy a lotto ticket shocked—if Dennis came with her. Maybe having Mom here to talk to might help Betsy.”
    “You think so?”
    “I think it’ll help take Mom’s mind off her troubles.” There was a little hard cider left in the bottom of the bottle. Nolan took it from Kenny and drained it, then put it in the recycling bin under the sink. He returned to Kenny and took his hand. “Sorry you didn’t get your beating and fucking.”
    Kenny shrugged. “To be honest? I’m too exhausted and mentally wrung out for either right now. But, hey, bonus, shift in perspective. Having a homophobic douche for a step-dad is no biggie, in the grand scheme of things.”
    Nolan chuckled as he led him down the hall toward their bedroom. “That’s putting it into perspective, all right.”

ChapterFour

    Betsy startled awake the next morning, her left eye wide, right eye unable to open, fear spiking adrenaline through her system and making her heart jackhammer in her chest.
    Fear even overshadowed the disorientation she felt as her one-eyed gaze darted around the room, taking in the unfamiliar surroundings.
    This wasn’t Jack’s bedroom.
    This damn sure wasn’t Jack’s bed—and thank god for that, because it was like a thousand times more comfortable.
    She sucked in a deep breath and let it out again as her mind slowly began to turn and settle back into place, the events of the previous evening coming back to her. Getting the chain off her foot.
    Getting free.
    But how free was she, really?
    She literally had no money. Worse, now she had a hospital bill she’d have to figure out how to pay. At least with Jack, she wasn’t in debt, not that he wouldn’t have loved to put her there and even more firmly under his thumb.
    She wanted to sit up, but when she tried to lift her head she realized that wasn’t going to be possible. Pain, sharp and piercing, slammed through her skull. And that made her