“Sixteen,” she says, and I think my heart breaks into a million pieces.

Nolan glances at me then looks back at Renee. “And how long have you…. known Julian?” he asks.

She bites back years. “Two years,” she says. “But he didn’t touch me until last year.”

That sick piece of shit. He seduced and took on this poor girl as his goddamn mistress, and she’s too young to even drive back home. She’s a fucking child, and no sick bastard should ever get away with doing something like this to her.

Anger flows freely through me and I don’t know what to do. Before, this was all about helping Nolan. I believe in him and think he’s going to make a great leader for this country. I want Nolan to get everything he deserves and more. I didn’t really care much about Julian at all.

Now though, now I want to see that bastard burn.

“It’s okay,” Nolan says, frowning as Renee begins to cry again. “We’re here to help you.”

“I knew you’d come,” she says, sniffling. “As soon as I heard that Julian might become the crown prince, I knew you’d find me eventually. He said that if I talk to you…” She trails off and shakes her head.

“What?” I ask her softly. “It’s okay, you can tell us.”

“He said he’d kill me and my whole family. And I think he meant it.”

I take a breath and look at Nolan, but he doesn’t seem surprised. “Do you love him, Renee?” he asks her.

She shakes her head quickly. “Please, no. This started out as a way to make money for my family. But now… now I’m afraid of him.”

“He used to pay you?” I ask, surprised.

Nolan sighs and looks at me. “Polovia is still a poor country,” he says. “And in some of the worst parts, girls like Renee turn too…”

“I was a prostitute,” she finishes for him. “I’m not ashamed of it. I paid for my whole family to live and survive while so much of my village was out of work.”

I blink at her, shocked. I can’t imagine a girl her age going into prostitution. She’s pretty, though not beautiful. Her figure is okay, but she looks like a girl still, and I can’t imagine any grown man would be attracted to her.

“It’s one of the worst parts of this country,” Nolan says softly to me. “I want this to be a place where girls like you don’t need to do what you had to do, Renee.”

She smiles at him. “Julian used to say that, too.”

“Julian took advantage of you,” I say to her. “That’s the difference. He didn’t mean it.”

“I know,” she says, sighing. “I don’t care about politics, you know? I only care about helping my family.”

“Why did you have to go into… this?” I ask her, trying to be tactful.

She shrugs a little, wiping her eyes. “My da died when I was twelve. My ma tried to find work, but there’s just nothing. I have four younger siblings, and we were getting money from the government for a while, but then that stopped when they cut some programs. So I have to do what I had to do.”

I glance at Nolan and he sighs, shaking his head. That sounds like a story I’ve heard a million times back in America. People get trapped in poverty, and hard work isn’t always enough to get them out of it. People will do whatever it takes to survive, even if it means turning to something horrible like prostitution. She’s too young for this though, and she should never have had to make that choice.

“I want to help you, Renee,” Nolan says softly. “But I need you to help me first.”

“No,” she says suddenly. “No way. I won’t go against him.”

That surprises me. “Renee, this is a man who used you.”

“He took care of me,” she says suddenly. “Sure, he made me do things, but he took care of me. He made sure my family was eating. They’re alive and still in their house because of him.”

It surprises me that she’s suddenly defending him, but I shouldn’t be shocked. I don’t know what her relationship with Julian is like, and I’m afraid that if we keep pressing, we’ll make her disappear.

“Okay,” I say to her. “You don’t have to talk about Julian if you don’t want to.”

Nolan glances at me but doesn’t say anything.

“But let us do something for you,” I say to her gently.

“Like what?” she asks.

“We can give you some money for you family. Do you need some?”

She nods a little bit. “My brother Tomas just started school.”

Nolan takes his wallet out of his pocket and pulls out all of the cash he has and hands it to her. She takes it, her eyes wide, as she counts it all.

“This is too much,” she says.

“Take it,” Nolan answers. “What you’ve had to go through… it’s not right.” He leans toward Renee. “Please, I hope you believe when I say that I really do want to change this country.”

Renee stops counting her money and looks at Nolan with the most genuine expression on her face I’ve ever seen. She looks slightly confused, like she’s trying to puzzle him out, and slowly she nods.

“Okay,” she says. “I understand.”

“Good,” he says, and stands, “Can we come see you again?”

“Okay,” she says again. “But please, don’t tell Julian.”

“We won’t,” I say to her. “I promise.”

We all stand and on impulse, I pull the girl against me and hug her tightly for a moment. She seems surprised, but hugs me back a moment later. When I let her go, I can see fresh tears in her eyes.

Suddenly I think I know what it means to be a mother. Not because of what I’m feeling for this girl, but because of what she’s been willing to do for her family. I think a mother would feel that and much more. I’m willing to bet that it kills Renee’s mother to know what her daughter has had to do, but she’s sacrificing it for the rest of the family.

It’s an impossible situation, and maybe that’s what being a mother is all about. Dealing with impossible situations and pushing forward, day after day, all for the sake of your family. Nolan wants me to have a baby, and that’s the kind of person I’m going to have to be.

Before any of this, I don’t think I would have been able to. I think I would have been too afraid to step up and have a family. I know I would have run away if someone had suggested getting me pregnant. But after this trip, and especially after meeting Nolan, I feel like I’m ready. I feel like I’m just becoming strong enough, and maybe that’ll be enough.

“See you soon,” I say to Renee, and she nods.

“Bye, Renee,” Nolan says.

“Bye, Prince Nolan.” Renee does a little curtsy as we leave the apartment.

We leave the building in silence, walking side by side. Nolan takes my hand as we step out onto the grass and for a second, I have to fight back tears.

“We’ll stop that,” he says finally. “I’m going to fix this country.”

I squeeze his hand. “I believe in you.”

He looks at me, his face a mask of pain. “Can you believe what he’s been doing to that girl?” he asks me. “Sleeping with her, forcing her to prostitute herself just to keep her family alive…”

“I know,” I say. “He’s sick, Nolan.”

“He’s sick,” Nolan agrees. “I had no clue how far it went.”

“But now you know. And you can do something about it.”

“Yeah.” He takes a deep breath. “Come on. Let’s get back to the castle.”

“What for?” I ask him. “We still need her to talk.”

“She will,” he says. “Did you notice the way she looked at you?”

I shake my head. “Not at all.”

“She looks up to you.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Are you serious? I’m a foreign traitor.”

“You’re also young and come from nothing, and now you’re married to a prince. You give girls like her hope.”

“Huh,” I say, a little surprised. “I didn’t think about it that way.”

He grins and pulls me against him. “You’re a damn inspiration.”

“Obviously,” I say, kissing him softly. “And stop saying I come from nothing, jerk.”

He grins and kisses me again before we get back into the car. I feel hopeful that we’re going to get what we need. Renee will talk to us sooner or later, we just have to be patient and play this right. I’m glad Nolan didn’t press too hard and scare her away. And giving her money was a good idea.

We just might make this work. There are a lot of balls still up in the air, but we’re getting so close.