by Rachel Blake
She had to hold back the snort of laughter. The great Ross Worthington would beat her senseless if he saw her outfit, let alone the fact that she was a prostitute. Even he wouldn’t be able to bring his rep back from that, but what did she care? She was twenty-five years old and had finally gotten out from under her father’s thumb… for now. There was always a chance he would find her and drag her back, kicking and screaming.
She pushed back the little voice in the back of her head as she bit the inside of her cheek. She had been twenty-five years old when he had beaten her last. It didn’t make any difference what age she was, he would still take his fists to her if he had the chance.
Wouldn’t matter she had nearly been raped or she had had to fight a man off in her efforts to escape. Nope, wouldn’t matter in the slightest since he was the one who had set all of that up, put it into motion, betrayed her once again.
“Is this from a client or the reason you’re out here turning tricks?” At her quizzical look, peach lady held out her hand. “I’m Rosie.”
Embry snorted. “I’m sorry, that was rude.”
“No, you’re fine. It’s not my real name. The clients love it, though.” Not bothered by the refusal to shake her hand, Rosie ran her finger over the bruise on her face. “You’re a little old to be a new hooker, so I’m going to guess this bruise isn’t your first or the only one you have.”
“Twenty-five isn’t old.”
Huffing a laugh, she shook her head. “In the real world, no, not at all, but here, on the streets trying to turn tricks for a living and just starting out, you’re ancient. So, tell me, who did you run away from? Boyfriend? Husband? Wife?”
“How old are you?”
“Twenty-six.”
“How long have you been doing this?”
Rosie looked at her feet. “On and off for four years now. I didn’t have a choice. I’ve got mouths to feed.”
“Kids?”
“Just one, but then there’s mine as well. You’re changing the subject. Who are you running from?”
“My father.”
“Your daddy did this to you?”
“My father, yes.” The man who raised her was only a father in the biological form. She would never taint the loving term by using it to describe the monster.
“Did you bend his golf club or something?”
Before she was able to answer the question, a black car pulled up to the curb.
“Rosie.”
“That’s mine.” Without another word, she was running around the hood of the car and climbing into the passenger seat with a huge smile on her face.
Embry kicked a rock across the alley. She was jealous of a fucking prostitute, but she needed to make this work to survive, and so far, it had been a dud. It may as well have been her first night out. She had been out there for a week and couldn’t get the sleaziest of men to look at her, let alone one of the ones who appeared to have taken a shower in the last few days.
Her growling stomach had her thinking of the few dollars she had stashed inside her duffle bag. Four dollars and twenty-three cents was all she had left of the money she had, and she’d been hoarding those final bucks for five days.
“You look like a setup.”
She turned to see a well-dressed woman standing behind her—designer jeans, a sensible pair of flats, and a beautiful blouse. She definitely didn’t belong there.
“What?”
“I’m Eden.”
“Embry.”
“Now that that’s out of the way.” She wiped her hand on the thigh of her jeans as if the act would remove the germs she acquired by shaking Embry’s hand. “You look like a setup. Like the second they get you into the sleazy hotel room, the cops are going to storm in, demanding they put their hands in the air.”
“Well, I’m not a setup. I’m just trying to fucking survive, and damn it,”—she slid down the brick wall, her ass landing hard on the rocky alleyway—“it’s hard as fuck.”
“I nearly starved to death before I got my first trick. Was out here a month before one of the guys took a chance on me.”
“A month?”
“And I was one of the lucky ones.”
“You were a hooker?”
“Call girl, but yes. It was a long time ago, but I started out exactly where you are now. I had no choice, just like you.” Eden held her eyes for a few seconds, “Let me help you.”
“Why?” She looked at the other woman skeptically. “Why would you help me?”
“Because I believe in karma. I believe if someone does something good for you, you should do something good for someone else.”
“You’re going to have to forgive me,” Embry said dryly. “I’m over giving people chances to ‘help me.’”
“Difference between me and them… I’m actually offering to help you with no strings attached.”
“Why?”
“When I was new to the streets and desperate, someone took me under their wing, helped me, so I’m going to do the same for you. The only difference is, I’m going to do it before you have to do the hardest thing you’ve ever had the displeasure of doing. When was the last time you ate?”
The sudden change of subject confused her, but at that moment, her belly chose to growl again, giving her away.
“Um, it’s been a few days.”
“How in the hell did you turn down that peach then?”
“I really can’t eat them. It’s the fuzz.”
“Here.” Eden pulled a granola bar from her purse. “No aversion to oats and chocolate, right?”
“No, Ma’am.” Embry eyed the offering. “Why do I feel like you’re tempting me with the forbidden fruit?”
“It’s the name. It throws everyone off.” She shook her hand impatiently.
“Are you sure?”
“Of course. I’m not going to let you starve to death. My girls don’t go hungry.”
Cautiously, she took the offering, eyeing it with trepidation.
“It’s fine, Embry. I’m a sinner, not the evil queen.”
The first bite of the bar was amazing, mouthwatering. She was so hungry, it probably wouldn’t have mattered if it tasted like shit. All that mattered was she was getting food into her malnourished body.
She was halfway through the peace offering when another car pulled up. The man in the front seat first looked at Eden, then Embry, and back to Eden again.
“She yours?”
“Move on, Joe,” Eden calmly stated.
Ignoring the comment, he looked back at Embry. “I want you.”
Embry’s belly tightened. Fuck, was she actually going to do this? Shit, she was going to be sick.
“No. I told you to move on,” Eden said from beside her as she looked at the other girls. “One of you two can have him.”
Embry watched in horror as another woman took her place in the car.
“You just gave my meal ticket away! That was mine. The first fucking person to ask for me, and you gave it away! I needed that money!”
“First lesson, everyone needs the money, they wouldn’t be out here if they didn’t.” Eden’s voice was soothing, almost annoyingly so, and her next words didn’t help any. “You’re not a call girl, Embry.”
“You don’t know me.”
“I don’t have to know you. I know him, I know all of them. You’re not made for this. Fuck, no one is made for this.”
“Then how could you so easily send her away with him if you don’t think she should be doing this? If you’re so far above this, then why are you standing here talking to me?”
“First off, no one is above this. Nearly everyone is one desperate moment from this very circumstance, one bad day. I’m here because I know this, hell, I lived it, and now, I’m in a position where I can help. Unfortunately, I can only help those who want help.”
“They didn’t want your help.”
“They didn’t trust, not that I blame them, but that inability to trust, even for one night, kept them from taking
hold of an opportunity they desperately needed.”
She had trusted Tommy and look where that landed her—sleeping on the street with less than five dollars to her name. At least she had gotten away from her father, right? She wasn’t so sure. Sometimes, the monsters you knew were better than the ones you have yet to see.
“Come on.”
“Where?”
“We have to get you all settled in.”
“Wait.” Embry rushed to get the words out before her supposed rescuer got too far ahead of her, “You know I don’t have any place to get settled into.”
“You do now, honey.”
***
What the fuck had she gotten herself into? How fucking stupid was she to do this all over again?
“Stop. You accepted help, and there is nothing wrong with that. Before you say it, doing so does not make you weak,” Eden lightly scolded.
“I wasn’t thinking that it made me weak,” Embry shot back.
“Doesn’t make you thoughtless either.” Before Embry could respond, Eden was opening the door and leading her into an apartment. “This will be yours, well, yours and Prim’s.”
“Who?”
“Sorry, Rosie.”
“You can’t just move me into Rosie’s apartment.” She looked around the surprisingly homey apartment with bright yellow walls flowing through the open concept kitchen and living room. The place was surprisingly tidy for someone who had a young child.
“Her name is Prim, and besides, all my girls have roommates. She had one up until a few weeks ago, and now it’s you.”
“You don’t even know me, and you’re going to move me in with her kid? What if I’m a crack addict?”
“Rule number one, no drugs of any kind unless they are prescribed to you.” Eden’s expression was cold and hard as steel. “If you break this rule, you’re out. My girls don’t fuck with drugs.”
“I’ve never done drugs in my life.”
She looked her up and down. “I don’t doubt that. Also, Prim’s son doesn’t live here. He moved out and got an apartment of his own a few months ago.”
“What?”
“She’ll explain it all to you later.” Eden waved her hand dismissively. “What’s your degree in?”
“Umm...” Embry’s back went ramrod straight. “What makes you think I went to college?”
“Honey, your clothing, manicured nails, and that tiny gold pendant around your neck say you came from money. Hell, I’m not sure how you still have that necklace. With you living on the streets, it should have been stolen a long time ago, but maybe you got someone looking after you.”
Biting her lip, she took a chance. “My guess is, if you’re a legitimate business and this isn’t your first go around, you already know what I have a degree in. After all, before bringing me here, you would have done a background check.”
“Smart, and you’re right. I already know all there is to know about you on paper. What I will be interested in learning, in the next day and coming weeks, is what you’re like in person, the things a background check won’t tell me.
“Well, that would make two of us because I’m not really sure who I am, either.”
“Your accounting degree will come in handy. We can always use someone who is good with numbers.”
“You know, I change my mind. I-I can’t do this.”
Eden perched herself on one of the bar stools. “I don’t need you to manipulate the books if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“Then what the hell am I doing here?”
“I already told you, but you’re under no obligation to stay. You can do whatever you want. Walk out that door and do as you please, but I guarantee if you don’t give this a shot, you will regret it for the rest of your life.”
“Regret turning down a job from my would-be pimp? I think not.”
“That is your one freebie. I’m not a pimp, nor have I ever been.”
“I’m sorry.” The apology fell from her mouth so easily, it shocked Embry a bit, but she fought to keep it from showing.
“As I said, you’re free to go, but what are you going to do? Walk back out that door and go home to your abusive father? He hit you. On more than one occasion, for years, probably your whole life. Made sure you were trapped and had no other choice but to stay in your prison.
“It wouldn’t have been hard to accomplish. All it would have taken was for him to gain control of your finances. That’s it, isn’t it? He’s had control of your money since you were old enough to make any. Twenty-five years, and my guess, he kept any money you made for himself or in the name of your sick mother.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because all abusers require the same thing—control.”
“Like you’re doing to me right now?”
“God, no. You have all the control here. I’m not holding you captive or threatening your life. You can walk out of here at any moment. I’m offering you a way to make money for you and your future.”
“As a whore?”
Eden features instantly changed.
“Another one of the rules here is to be respectful. None of us are whores. We are people who were forced into this line of work by the circumstances we found ourselves in, most of us by no choice of our own.”
“What happens when I break these rules? Find myself back on the streets, get knocked around a few times? We all know I can take a punch.” She gestured to her face. “End up swimming with the fishes?”
“God, no. That’s the mafia. Trust me, this is not the mafia. Loud-mouthed group of crooks, the whole lot of them. This is The Garden.”
“Do you have that on a business card?” Embry’s mouth fell open when a simple black card with the words ‘The Garden’ written in white ink across it was waved in front of her face.
“We’re even licensed with the state.”
“How? This is all illegal. Prostitution is illegal.”
“Yet the oldest profession still runs rampant and strong all over the world.”
“That doesn’t mean it’s a profession you can license.”
“No, you’re right.” Eden set the card on the counter. “I didn’t license my prostitution business because we don’t do that anymore.”
“But you used to.”
“Yes, years ago, and not nearly as many years as it should have been, but it’s been years, nonetheless.”
“You really ran a stable? You were a pimp?”
“For the sheltered woman you claim to be, you sure don’t sound sheltered.”
“I was a prisoner; even the most heinous murders are allowed books and TV time. And you changed the subject.”
“No, I was a woman who helped other women survive the streets by providing them with protection and a place to sleep.”
“You were a pimp,” Embry reiterated.
“I fucking hate that term, but fine, for the sake of this conversation, and so I can get you to stop calling me that, yes, I was a pimp, but not like you’re picturing. I did it because I knew what it was like to be out there on your own, to feel like it’s you against the world or, God forbid, falling to the hands of a real, stereotypical pimp. I knew the struggle, but I also knew the vision I had.
“It started off with me and a couple of other women, trying our hardest to keep each other alive. They succeeded while I failed miserably. After they died, I pulled my head out of my ass and did what needed to be done. I worked and earned, and I did it all on my back.
“In the meantime, I pulled every girl who was willing to let me help them into the fold. I taught them how to be safe, showed them which areas to avoid, and shared the dream I had. I fought tooth and nail to get The Garden to where it is now, and I will die to keep it that way.”
“Everyone who works for you had to turn to prostitution for some reason or another?”
“An hour ago, you were one of those women.”
“I still am.” Embry looked at the floor. “I’m sorry. I’m not looking down my nose at any
one, but you’re trying to tell me you care for these girls, and I’m trying to understand how that translates into letting them sell their bodies.”
“I told you, we don’t do that anymore.”
“But I saw her, er, Prim, get into the car with a john. You let her do that.”
“That john, as you call it, was one of my men. A bodyguard.”
“I’ve seen her out there before.”
“She’s a recruiter. Her job is to find people, like you, who need this company, who needs our help.” Eden held up her hand. “Before you jump to conclusions, she is a third-degree black belt and has a panic button. There’s a man only a few blocks away at any given point, and she only works in areas I have personally approved.”
Embry let the information settle in her mind, but a single nagging question kept rearing its ugly head.
“If you don’t do prostitution anymore, then how do you make money?
“A year ago, we went full escort service.”
“An escort service?”
“Correct.”
“The man who wanted me, he was just another one of your bodyguards?”
Eden shook her head sadly. “Like you said, prostitution is still a very lucrative business, and while I try to help as many people as I can, I can’t help everyone. The girls you saw out there on the street tonight, except for Prim, weren’t mine.”
“And I am? Yours, I mean.”
“If you decide to stay, yes, but for only as long as you choose to be.”
“I can walk away at any moment?”
“This is a business, Embry, so, of course, I would prefer you give at least a two weeks’ notice, but I know that circumstances don’t always allow for that, especially with the reputation my company has.” Eden stood from her stool and clapped her hands once.
“Here’s what we will do. I’m going to run and get you some food and something to wear to bed tonight. While I’m gone, you can shower and gather your thoughts. Will thirty mins be enough time for you to wrap your head around everything I’ve told you?”
“You’re just going to leave me, a complete stranger, in this apartment to do God knows what?”