Read The Brothers' Virgin Captive for Free Online Page B

sat back down. Luca stared at her silently, and she was happy to see the intense look was gone from his face. He lifted an empty plate and started loading up spoonfuls of food from each selection and placing it on the plate until it was a heaping mountain. To her surprise he walked around the table and set the plate in front of her.
    “Please, Anna, eat.”
    She looked up at him, and he brushed his thumb across her cheek. She didn’t know what the future held, but anything had to be better than her past or what was going to be her life as a virgin bride. Luca sat back in his seat, and she found herself eating nearly everything on the plate.
    When they were both done she looked out the French doors at the vast green lawn. Anna noticed there were no servants, but she really wasn’t surprised. Despite being in Arik’s presence for such a short time she suspected that he liked his privacy.
    “You have questions, Anna, and I want to give you the answers.”
    She turned and looked at Luca. He was so attractive, and not because his face and body were gorgeous, but because his personality and demeanor were caring and modest. He never acted out of place, never was disrespectful, and after it came to light that he was the one that helped her escape being a sex slave, she knew she had been wise to trust her instincts when it came to him.
    “Have you been planning this for more than the past two years?”
    “No.” He leaned back in his chair. “I watched you when you were a little girl and could see how unhappy you were. I wanted to help you, to take you away from the verbal and emotional abuse those people inflicted on you daily.” He shook his head and looked down. It was strange to see another person care about her wellbeing. “I didn’t know how to help you then, Anna. I had no money, no stability, and I sure as hell didn’t know the first thing about taking care of a child.”
    There was a clear pain in his words that made her want to go to him, but she stayed in her seat and hoped he continued. His words were a salve to her, and maybe it would help him as well.
    “I stayed around not only to support myself and mother, but to watch over you. If I stepped out of bounds I would have been dismissed from my position, and then I wouldn’t have been able to see you. It wasn’t until the year you turned eighteen that our father passed and I decided to broach the subject concerning you to Arik. My brother had inherited our father’s wealth, and I knew he had the resources to aid in what I needed done. Even discussing what I proposed with my brother could have landed us in prison or even resulted in our deaths if anyone found out.”
    Anna didn’t know much about the world she lived in since she had been sheltered and only given information that would benefit the auctions and her future husband, but she had heard enough about the importance of virgins being sold and what it did to their society.
    “Arik agreed right away, and so we spent the next twenty-four months planning how we would get you out.’
    “But why did you have to leave?”
    His expression was tender. Couldn’t he have stayed while they planned everything out?
    “I wanted to, but leaving was the best route Arik and I thought we should take. I needed to distance myself from you, Anna, focus on getting you out, and not leave a trail where Arik or I could be linked to it all.”
    Of course it made sense, but she still remembered the years she’d spent wondering where he had been and what he had been doing.
    “I’m sorry if I hurt you.” He folded his hands together on top of the table and looked into her eyes. “I saw the way you looked at me, Anna. It was a longing that broke my heart. I wanted to tell you I’d come back for you, that I wouldn’t let them break you, but I couldn’t. They were always listening and watching, sweetheart. I had to tread lightly.”
    Anna looked back out the double doors and watched a sparrow land on the edge of the stone