Erin trailed behind Gabriel as he wound his way through the cacophony of the floor. Criminals and police alike called out friendly greetings, which he cheerfully returned. A particularly attractive lady of the night cooed with pleasure at the sight of him.

He halted beside where the woman, who appeared scarcely out of her teens, sat in a folding chair beside an officer’s desk. Bending, Gabriel gallantly kissed the slim hand she offered. Ugly bruises marred café au lait skin stretched taut over fleshless bone. “Lindy, love, what happened to the job as a stenographer? I thought we’d gotten you fixed up with Jim Anderson’s shop.”

“Nine to five isn’t really my thing, you know.” She dropped her head to stare at gold sandals, one missing a heel. The short cap of curls left her neck bare, and Erin started at the sight of finger marks around the slender throat. “Plus, Donovan didn’t like my change of occupation.”

“Did he do this?” Gabriel tenderly brushed at the purpling welts across her jaw. “Where is he?”

“Mr. Donovan is in lockup,” Detective Sylvie Iberville, who had joined them, explained. She covered the hand he’d fisted out of Lindy’s sight warningly. “He’ll stay there if Ms. Nicollo decides to press charges.”

“How about it, Lindy?” Closing off rage, he knelt beside the girl, bringing their eyes level. “We talked about this. You can’t let him treat you this way.”

Defeat glimmered behind tears she was too tired to shed. “I don’t deserve no better, Gabe. It’s not like I’m gonna find a man like you.” The self-mocking laughter shook narrow shoulders. “Like Donovan says, I’m his.”

Echoes of Nathan’s tirades filled Erin’s ears. She’d listened and believed. For too long.

“No, you’re not.” Erin bent at the waist, her words sharp and insistent. “No one owns you. You are nobody’s property.”

Lindy cocked her head and sized up the lovely young woman wearing real sapphires in her earlobes. The sheen of class was almost blinding, and one look at how Gabriel watched her made Lindy ache with longing. Here was a woman who’d never had to scrounge for a meal or a man. Envy rippled through Lindy and she asked bitterly, “What do you know about it, lady?”

“As much as you,” Erin replied quietly, staring at Lindy’s angry, battered face. She missed the looks exchanged over her head and the dangerous sparks in stormy eyes. Her only thought was rescue. In a low voice, she spoke only to Lindy. “He tells you you’re nothing without him. That you’ll die without him. And when you try to leave, he finds you, doesn’t he? Hauls you back inside and punishes you for trying to leave.” Until you don’t think there’s anywhere else to go.