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Yes, Lara, you knew this before you made the call.

I take a slow, quiet breath. It’s okay. This call is for you, not him.

“Look, sweetie, I’m in a bit of a bind. I heard through the grapevine that things were going really well for you. Someone said you two were getting on great.”

“You mean the man you sold me to?”

He laughs nervously. “It was the universe working through me.”

He’ll say and do anything to get out of taking responsibility. I close my eyes and press my fingers against the lids. “Dad, I can’t help you with anything.”

“I just want you to ask Nestor to lend me some money, or maybe to help me get back in the game. No one wants to work with me because of him,” he says, still pushing.

“How much money did you owe him when you made the deal to sell me to him?”

There is tense silence on the other side of the line. For all he knows, Nestor might already have told me, and this could be a test of my trust in my father to be honest with me. He’ll be weighing the risk of telling me the truth or making it seem less severe.

“I cost him ten million dollars. Plus a bit that I still owed him from the past. I had to find the money—um, I didn’t have it.”

I can’t breathe for a moment. A blank wall of shock slams into me, and I sit in stunned silence.Ten million dollars.

My father owed him more than I can fathom.

How was I worth that exchange?

I shake my head. This is ridiculous.

“So, sweetie, like I was saying, if you could speak to your husband and put in a good word for me, then—"

“Dad, I know you will always be my father, by blood. But you have never shown me support or love or treated me with any kind of respect. You have given me no reason to do you any favors. I owe you nothing. Nestor owes you nothing, and my advice is to stay out of his way, and mine, respectfully, and get on with your life, being grateful that you didn’t have worse happen to you. I am the one who is paying for your debts. You sold me to cover them. Whatever you need to do to understand that, do it. And never ask me for anything again. You can phone me to find out how I am. I’m doing okay, by the way, thank you for asking,” I say sarcastically. “But other than that—I don’t want to hear from you, Dad. Do you understand?”

“Sweetie,” he groans. “Don’t be like that. We’re family.”

“Not any kind of family like we should have been. I’ve got to go, Dad. I’m happy you’re alright, but no, I won’t help you, and neither will Nestor. Don’t push your luck with him.”

“Honey—"

“Bye, Dad.”

I hang up the phone. My heart is racing. I’ve never been so firm with my boundaries before. I’ve never spelled it out to my father that clearly. It’s exhilarating. I feel empowered. A smile spreads across my face, knowing that it is because of Nestor that I have the security and support to do what I just did.

He quite literally changed my life. He saved me from everything I was struggling with.

I want to find a way to help him, too.

***

At dinner, I can’t stop staring at him. He doesn’t even know the power he gave me today. A power I’ve been wanting all my life. The relief of setting that boundary between my father and me.

“How was your day?” I ask, dishing up a plate of lasagna for him.

“Long,” he sighs, looking exhausted.

I walk around the table and set the plate down in front of him, sliding my hand over his shoulder, massaging him for a moment.

He closes his eyes and groans in pleasure, sending a spark of desire shooting through my body. I swallow hard. That was not what I was trying to achieve.

“Nestor, I wanted to say thank you, for, um, I don’t know exactly—but I spent the day with Ulyana today, um…”