Brent glanced in my direction, something shifting behind his eyes that I couldn't place.
After a few seconds of silence, he pulled Gloria into his arms and murmured,
"Gloria, that thing on her isn't anything special. The style went out of fashion ages ago."
"Besides, it's drenched in dirty water. You'll catch a chill if you put it on. Let's forget about that one. I'll take you to get a brand-new—"
"No!"
Gloria wrenched herself out of his arms,
and the tears came all at once.
"I want hers! You won't give it to me because you feel sorry for her, is that it? She matters more to you than I do, doesn't she?!"
"No, I just meant it's ugly and it's wet..."
"I think it's beautiful! I don't care if it's wet, I want it!"
Brent went rigid for two seconds.
"You do feel sorry for her..."
"I don't!"
He snapped it out without hesitation, then turned on his heel to face me, his voice dropping cold.
"Maya. You heard her. Gloria wants that dress. Take it off."
I looked around at the wall of men packed tight on every side,
then stared back at Brent, shaking, my voice cracking with disbelief.
"You want me to take off my clothes... here?"
"Take it off!"
The words had barely left my mouth before the crowd around me erupted.
They closed in, pressing tighter, eyes crawling over every line of my body.
"Strip! Young Mr. Delgado told you to strip. What are you standing there for?!"
"Young Mr. Delgado, thank you so much! If it weren't for you, when would we ever get the chance to see a body like that with nothing left to the imagination?"
The nearest man didn't wait for me to move. He grabbed the skirt of my gown.
*Riiip!*
One hard yank and the fabric split all the way to my armpit.
A piercing cheer tore through the crowd.
Brent saw it happen, strode over, and kicked the man to the ground, then stripped off his own jacket and threw it over me.
He turned to Gloria.
"Gloria, look—the dress is ruined anyway. Let's not—"
"I want it!"
Gloria cut him off again.
She must have seen the hesitation still on his face,
because she pulled a dagger from her clutch and pressed the blade straight to her own throat.
Her whole body was trembling as she looked at him, her voice shaking.
"Brent, my parents are dead—they died overseas. I only came back because you promised you'd protect me…"
"And now you can't even do this one little thing for me? How am I supposed to trust you! I might as well just die…"
"Don't!"