"There was just something about him," Elle said, "something calm."
Lacey nodded. "Like a pool of deep water," she said.
"Exactly," Elle said. "When Forrester came into my life, it was like nothing I'd ever experienced before. I never knew men could be like that. Deep and passionate and caring. He was the first real man I ever knew."
Faith was nodding from the back seat. "That's exactly how it was for me with Jackson," she said. "Before Jackson came along I was in a really bad place. I was with a monster of a man."
Lacey nodded in agreement.
Faith continued. "When Jackson came into my life, I had a hard time believing he was for real. I was like, I thought I knew men. I thought I knew what they wanted. I thought I knew how they treated women, and what they wanted from us. And then, in walked Jackson, and I was a real bitch to him."
Elle and Lacey laughed.
"No kidding," Faith went on, "I really was."
"Who was the man you were with?" Elle said.
Lacey and Faith both went very quiet.
"What?" Elle said. "Should I not have asked that?"
"No, of course you should, sweetie," Faith said. "It's just, you still need to talk to Jackson, right?"
"About my past?"
"Yes. About Los Lobos."
Elle went pale. She felt her heart thumping at the name of the gang she'd been sold to. "What's that got to do with this?" she said.
"Well, it's pretty crazy, but I was involved with Los Lobos too, Elle."
"You were?"
Elle's eyes widened. It was crazy. In all her years, she'd never met anyone who knew the least thing about Los Lobos. They were one of the deadliest criminal gangs in Nevada in their day, but they were all dead now, and they hadn't let out many secrets. People had heard of them, they knew of them, but they didn't actually know them.
Now she kept hearing from Forrester and others that she had to talk to Jackson about it.
Faith leaned forward in her seat and put her hand on Elle's shoulder.
"Look," Faith said, "I don't want to get into it now. It's not something we should talk about on a day as happy as this one. Today is about getting you a dress for your wedding."
"All right," Elle said, a little uncertainly.
"I promise you we'll talk about Los Lobos soon," Faith said. "For now, I'll just tell you that I was involved with them too. I was young, I was vulnerable, and they got their claws into me."
"Oh no," Elle said.
"It wasn't nice," Faith said, "but from what I've heard from Forrester, it wasn't nearly as bad as what you had to go through."
Elle looked back at Faith and their eyes met. There was so much compassion in Faith's face that Elle felt reassured. Ordinarily, talking about Los Lobos would have been her worst nightmare, but with Faith she felt safe.
"How did you get away?" Elle said, her voice quiet and serious.
"Jackson got me out."
Elle nodded. As the car began entering the city of San Francisco, the buildings rising up ahead of them along the freeway, she began to realize something about her past that she'd never imagined. Jackson. Was it Jackson who'd killed Los Lobos? If that was true, she owed Jackson her life.
She reached back and took Faith's hand.
The rest of the afternoon passed blissfully. The girls put serious things like Los Lobos as far as possible from their minds and made the most of their day in the city. They ate lunch at the flower market and the women showed Elle the types of flowers that Forrester was looking at for the wedding. They wanted to make sure she liked them. She was speechless when she saw them. They were so breathtakingly beautiful that she didn't know what to think. She cried and had to reapply her makeup.
The highlight was the dress shop though. She hadn't realized it, but she had an appointment with one of the most famous wedding dress designers in the world. After trying on several fabulous gowns, she settled on a simple, white dress that flattered her figure and accentuated her breasts and curves.
When Lacey and Faith saw her, to Elle's amazement, they both started to cry.
"Oh sweetie," Lacey said.
"You look absolutely beautiful," Faith said.
"Really?" Elle said, almost unable to believe she was having such an impact on two women she'd only just met.
Already, they were like family to her. They were for real. They were the big sisters she'd never had. She took photos and sent them to Kelly back in Stone Peak. She felt a twang of guilt that she wasn't with Kelly now, and wouldn't be seeing her friend until the wedding, but that was the way life was. Sometimes, when you moved forward, you had to let go of the people you loved, at least a little bit. She missed Kelly and Grace, but she was so excited to start her new life that she couldn't stay sad for long.
"Forrester is going to ravish you when he sees you in this," Faith said.
"Do you really think so?" Elle said.
"Girl, if you weren't already carrying his baby, he'd make sure he put one inside you on your wedding night. You look like an angel."
Chapter 52
Elle
THAT NIGHT, ELLE FOUND HERSELF sitting on the sofa in the stunning living room of the mansion. She was holding a glass of red wine that Jackson and Grant had made with their own hands. Sitting next to her was Forrester, his hand resting reassuringly on her lap. She looked down at it, the hand of the man who was going to become her husband.
Sitting across from her were Jackson and Faith.
"All right," she said, trying to get rid of the sense of apprehension she felt in her stomach. "What is it? Just tell me everything."
Jackson smiled at her. He looked at Forrester before speaking.
"So, Elle," he started. "Forrester told me that you had some trouble in the past with Los Lobos."
"Trouble is an understatement," Elle said. "My mother sold me to the gang when I was still a baby. My existence, up until the time I was rescued, was a living nightmare."
"I can imagine," Faith said.
Jackson spoke again. His voice was measured and calm. He was trying to soothe her, but the truth was, Elle felt safe in this place, with these people, and didn't mind discussing the past with them if they felt it was important for her. She already suspected she knew what Jackson was going to tell her.
"Faith was Wolf Staten's girl when I met her."
Elle's eyes grew. She had expected something like this, but it still took her by surprise. Even the mention of Wolf Staten's name brought back terrible memories. He'd done things to her she'd never forget, and yet had somehow managed to block out of her conscious mind. He was a cruel and brutal man, deeply disturbed. He appeared to Elle in her nightmares.
"Oh no," she said, looking at Faith.
"It was a long time ago, sweetie," Faith said.
"Faith was vulnerable, much like your mother must have been," Jackson continued, "and Los Lobos were always expert at preying on vulnerable women. They had an instinct for it. They got their claws into her and wouldn't let her go."
"That's awful," Elle said.
"It was," Faith said, "but not as awful as what they did to you."
"Did you know?" Elle said, hesitantly. "Did you know they were buying babies?"
Faith looked into Elle's eyes. "I knew they were buying women. I knew some of them were children. But I never would have imagined they were buying babies. It's like something out of a horror story."
"You have no idea," Elle said.
"Well," Faith said, continuing the story where Jackson had left off. "Over time, I learned more and more about Los Lobos. I learned how evil they were. I learned that Wolf wanted to lock me up in a private cell, so that he would be the only man who ever saw me."
Elle shuddered. She knew what that was like.
"So when I saw my chance, I escaped. I didn't know where I was going, or what I was going to do. I was desperate."
"And then she ran into me," Jackson said.
"Right," Faith continued. "I needed Jackson. I desperately needed him."
"And I needed her," Jackson said.
"We ran away together," Faith went on. "And Jackson made me pregnant."
Jackson smiled at that part. "I did, and I knew Los Lobos would never leave Faith in peace. I knew Wolf would stop at nothing to get her back. It would be a matter of pride for him."
"It would," Elle said. "I know how they think. There's no limit to what they would do, or who they would kill, to get back a woman they thought of as their property."