Added Context

Bea's been here for a week, much to my annoyance. The woman was a huge flirt and full of innuendo. Hell, she doesn't even need innuendo. She's downright dirty when she wants to be.

And don't even get me started on her clothing, or lack thereof.

Shorts so short I can see butt cheeks, shirts without bras or so thin they're nearly see-through. She showers and walks out afterward dripping wet and in no towel. I've learned to lock myself in the room or office or just hide when I hear the shower cut off.

Jasper's been trying his hardest to try and understand why she was like this, but he couldn't look past her trying to flirt with me, so he often avoided her as well. When they did speak it was only to insult each other. Elizabeth just looks at Bea like she's seen dirt and even had a few arguments with her over little things, which couldn't be healthy. I even had to get in the middle of one of their fights one night, and boy can Bea throw a good punch.

Surprisingly, she was a great cook and eagerly helped keep the house spotless, which gained her a lot of favor with my home staff. I didn't expect her to be so domestic, but it's a pleasant surprise. When I ask her about it though she clams up. She doesn't seem to like talking about her past. If I mention it or ask anything personal, she shuts down completely.

This morning, Bea came down the stairs, this time in a very thin, light pink tank top, short shorts and white knee socks.

"Ugh," Jasper said under his breath.

"I've repeatedly asked you to dress more appropriately." I sighed.

Bea rolled her eyes. "It's not like I have many other clothes, Alexander. I'm far from a nun, so I don't exactly wear turtlenecks."

"I've told you I can get you clothes. I know this isn't an ideal situation for either of us, but this is still my home, and I'd appreciate you respecting my rules by dressing less provocatively. You're making everyone uncomfortable!"

"Who said this isn't an ideal situation? I'm in a nice house with two hot guys. No one's trying to do stuff to me twenty-four seven ... though I wouldn't mind that part too terribly much if it were you." She winked at me.

"I've also asked you to stop talking like that. Is it that difficult to talk like a lady?" I mulled over my tea.

She snickered. "Alexander, you don't want a lady. You might think you do, but ladies are boring. I can be as ladylike as anyone in public, but at home when it's just us, I'd much rather be your whore."

I slam down the spoon I was holding. "That's the thing, Bea; you shouldn't want the life you lead. You're smart....well you're beautiful and so young. You can do anything. Why did you choose this life? Why do you act like this?"

Now she glared at me. "Get off your fucking high horse. I know you'd give your left nut to fuck me. You're just too much of a coward. You love my foul mouth and my slutty clothes. You can pretend you don't. So, yeah, I do what I do and am who I am, but at least I'm fucking honest about it."

"I do not want you, Bea. I'm happily married."

"There's no such thing-"

"Bea, stop acting up and causing trouble or I'll just put you back on the street to fend for yourself," I threatened. "You gave me all the evidence already so really I don't need to do anything more for you. You have no leverage to  obligate me to do anything."

"Okay, first, I'm quitting ... hell, I've already quit since I haven't worked since before I met you. Two, I'm not going to tell anyone, and really, what harm will it do to the case? And third, you can be my daddy if you want. I'll even let you spank me when I'm bad." She grinned, turned around and slowly bends over, wiggling her butt at me.

"I'm going to call security," I sighed.

"Come on, Alexander. I was just teasing." She runs to grab my arm, stopping me. "I'm really sorry, okay? You're just fun to rile up. I don't want you mad and staying away from me anymore. I can make it up to you."

"Look, a lot of guys would probably take you up on this, but I'm not interested in whores, Bea," I stated firmly. "Try this shit again and you'll be sent somewhere else."

"You can't do that!"

"Try me, Beatrice. I've been keeping you safe for a week but you've been nothing but trouble for me! I'm better off just sending you back where you came from if this is going to continue!" I snapped. "Stop provoking everyone here! If you don't want the chance to start your life over, just go back to the streets and die there!"

She looked down and started to look a bit teary. She looked genuinely hurt by what it was I had to tell her. Fucking great! After she terrorized my home and the people in it, she has the audacity to get teary eyed like that? The balls on this lady!

"I spoke to Jeff this morning. They'll be bringing over a list of questions about you and how you met Emily," Jasper said putting arm around me. She stiffened but Jasper continued. "I know you don't like talking about your past, but it's probably going to come up. I just wanted to warn you."

She raised her head and looked at me. "I want you to know about this. I've wanted to tell you since I came here but....i don't know why I kept it to myself. I definitely want you to hear it from me and not on the stand."

She lay her head down on the table and started talking. "I was born to a rather flaky mother. She moved us around a lot. It was just the two of us. She said she didn't have any other family and would never talk about my father. It was that way for years. Then when I was thirteen, she met Phil Dwyer."

Dwyer? Did the guy adopt her? Before I can think about it too much, she continues.

"Phil was quite a bit younger than her, and they had a whirlwind relationship. They married after only knowing each other for two months. But my mom was madly in love, so I was happy for her. At first things were okay. We moved in with Phil, but he was gone a lot since he was a minor league ball player. Then he was injured and couldn't play anymore. Things got bad from there. He became cruel. He would yell at me and punish me for the smallest things. My mother started drinking pretty heavily and got lost in her own world."

We must be getting to the worst part; her body tensed up even further. "By the time I was fifteen, he was physically abusive. No one seemed to notice that I had constant bruises. Then he started touching me. At first it was small things, but he got more aggressive. I started hanging out with the wrong crowd just to stay away from home. I lost my virginity at fifteen because I wanted it to be my choice. Phil got worse, my mother continued to drink and I found sex was something that made me liked and kept me away from home."

Her words took on a robotic quality. "Finally, when I was sixteen, I was stuck at home one day and Phil attacked me. I don't really want to go into the details, but afterward I went to my mother begging her to leave. She refused. She blamed me for her husband not wanting her anymore and called me a whore. I begged her to tell me about my dad, and all she would tell me was that he was some mistake she made in the town she was from. Then she talked about the city and how she had to get out of there and being pregnant almost ruined things. I couldn't listen anymore so I went to my room, packed some clothes, stole what money I could find and left."

"So you ran away at sixteen?" Jasper asked.

"Yes. I was going to try to make my way to the city to see if I could find out anything about my father."

"And how old are you now, Bea?" Jasper asked her quietly.

"I'm, um, twenty-five."

"So what happened then? How did you come to work for Emily?" I asked.

"I ran out of money quick enough and had no way to get a job with no ID or social security card. I met a woman named Vicky. She found me half-starved and took me in. She let me do odd jobs and stuff and live with her. I knew she didn't have an honest business, but wasn't sure what she did."

"She was a pimp then?" I asked.

"She preferred madam." She gave me a small grin. "She always had girls in and out of her house. But she didn't ask me to do anything for over a year. Then one night she was desperate. She had a regular client, and his normal girl wasn't able to be there for him. At this time I knew what was going on, so I volunteered to help. At first, Vicky said no, but she's a businesswoman and agreed pretty quickly. After that, I became a regular worker, but Vicky made sure I had only the best clients."

"After a while, I was anxious to try to find out something about my dad. I talked to Vicky about it, and she said she knew someone who was headed for the city and would take me if I wanted. She told them I was her best girl, and they promised they'd take good care of me."

"I'm guessing that was Emily and Tony," I said, wishing I could kill them both; jail was too good for them.

"Yes. Unfortunately, Emily and Tony were nothing like Vicky. They're terrible, and I haven't even had a chance to look for anything regarding my mother or father since she and Tony rarely let me out of their sight for long. That was how I was able to witness what happened to Daniel and why I know your name."

"Tony? Did he ever hurt you too?" I asked, turning her face up so I could see her eyes.

She remained calm and sure when she replied, "Never. He had some sort of strange fixation with me. He was always telling me I reminded him of his wife, so he was very nice to me," I took a sigh of relief. "Emily was the violent one. When she was beating me and Daniel, she'd always call us Alexander. The day she killed him she kept calling him Alexander."

My sister really did want to kill me that badly. It made me wonder, "Are there more victims?"

Bea shifted uncomfortably in her seat, "Um, well—"

"Let me rephrase. How many times did she kill 'me' in front of you?" I tried. "I don't need details, just a number."

"About seven that I know of," she admitted. "Daniel was the first one, after him... people were dropping like flies. Ever since Tony went away, she's been even worse, to the point where you're lucky to escape unharmed. Daniel's sister Jessie was able to escape a while ago with her children and has been safe ever since. The streets say that she works at Lombardi's and is doing pretty well because she helped you out. That's the real reason I came looking for you."

"Listen, I'm not sure about what the streets could say about me, but I helped Jessie out because she told me about the sabotage and showed loyalty. I didn't do anything with her like you think, and I don't like people who operate like that. I'm only helping you and letting you stay here because you had video evidence!" I said. "You've been nothing but rude ever since—"

"I think she gets it, Alex," I heard Elizabeth say from behind us. "I haven't been very accommodating myself, and Jasper has just been a straight asshole to her."

"She keeps making moves on my husband in my home in front of me! I think I have a pretty good excuse," Jasper crossed his arms. "I've arrested and met plenty of prostitutes, but none of them had ever been so blatantly disrespectful."

"He has a point, Liz," I said.

"I'm anxious," Bea said.

"Why?"

"I've always been forced to pull twice my weight. Doing nothing makes me so anxious that..." Bea trailed off.

"I'm not really going to put you on the street! I'd just send you over to my friend to deal with you until the trial starts," I said. Travis would probably be perfect for me to pawn her off on. "Stop making me regret my decision to hope for the best."

"I... can I be part of the staff here?" Bea asked.

"No," Jasper rejected the notion immediately.

"I can't give you any kind of job if you act like that, as I only run respectable establishments," I said. "What do you realistically want to do after the trial?"

Bea dropped her facade. "I... I want to get my GED and be normal."

"See, it wasn't hard to just be normal. You aren't in control of anything until this trial is over. Remember that I can also make your life very difficult," I reminded her, making sure to drill into her head that she had to shape up.

"You could be a bit nicer about it," Elizabeth said.

"Not at Jasper's expense," I told her.

"Now that that's settled, let's talk about the trial," Jasper grabbed a folder off the corner of the table and slid it over to me. "There's a list of questions in there you need to be prepared for. You'll be the first prosecution witness called, and most likely Beatrice will follow."

Bea looked at the folder and then at me. "I'm really scared, you know. I've never done anything like this before."

"I know," I said, softening my tone. "But you're brave for coming forward. This is the right thing to do, and it will help take Emily and Tony down."

She nodded, tears welling in her eyes. "Thank you, Alexander."

"Yeah, yeah," I waved off her thanks. "Now, let's go over these questions and make sure we're ready for anything they might throw at us."

For the first time since she arrived, Bea seemed genuinely at ease. I could only hope that this would be enough to keep her focused and cooperative until the trial was over.