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job, apply for college, so one day she wouldn’t have to think

about what she did to get there.

“Can we do some shots standing up?” Rodger wasn’t going

to take no for an answer, so Cassia nodded. His assistant

removed the stool and she stood against the white background,

letting Rodger once again tell her what to do, design her with

his words, shape her. She wondered what he saw from the

other end. How many girls he saw doing this.

She’d expected the building to be seedy, but the place where

Stu had his office, a headquarters of sorts for the company,

wasn’t run down or creepy. It looked like any other older

three-story brick building. It had been well maintained, and

had cheerful white windows, a big clear glass door, and a nice

reception area with modern white furniture. There was even a

coffee table with magazines she’d flipped through the first

time she’d been there. The back rooms weren’t sketchy. None

of the other girls she’d met were unkind or desperate. They

looked like everyone else. They were everyone else.

Cassia had done a lot of rethinking since she’d been in

Vegas, and not just because it was Vegas. It was because her

understanding of the world had been so limited.

She had only herself to take care of now, and if she was

going to do this, and it appeared she really was, at least she’d

be on the road to freedom. She wouldn’t be required to sell her

soul to anyone. This was only for a short time. She could

endure it so she could get out to see the other side. If people

wanted to say and think certain things about her, she could live

with that. She knew the truth. She knew who she was and what

she was fighting for.

“Here. There. Wow.” Rodger continued to compliment and