"I hope Sharon's baby never has to deal with the crap I had to as a kid. Most of my childhood memories are of my biological parents being stoned or be...ting each other or some other bullshit that had me terrorized all the time." A tear formed in her eyes. "It's like I never had a chance. Right from the start, things were fucked up. It's like I was doomed to not knowing real parental love as a child."I gathered Kitty in my arms and rocked her gently. "Oh, baby," I crooned. "I know it was rough.. They stopped to say goodbye to some cameramen and security guards before exiting the studio.“Should I leave my car here?” Ariana asked.“Yep, I talked to one of the guards. We can come back afterwards to get it.”The two young women entered Victoria’s Camry and pulled out of the parking lot. Ariana sat in the passenger seat and smiled as Victoria headed towards downtown Los Angeles. With traffic, it took about an hour before they reached their destination. The sun was setting over the horizon,. "I alreadytold you, there's no way that I can leave the firm. Now that I've madepartner, it's only a matter of time before my name is on the letterhead!I can't believe you would ask me to give that up because my M-O-M-M-Yhurt your feelings!" She intentionally began speaking in the sing-songvoice that one might use with a child, attempting to drive home toMichael exactly how immature his request was.Michael shook his head in frustration, backing away as his face began togrow a deep crimson. . Equally as curious as she, Gorlann pulled her along toward the study. They walked in to find a gladiator hard at work. He stood naked, his most arresting feature being a vicious, angry-looking scar that sliced from his left bicep all the way down to his forearm. He had a naked girl bent over Lord Kaelon’s marble-top desk. The serving girl had golden pigtails which streamed down both sides of her back. The gladiator had bound the girl’s wrists behind her back with a length of torn drapery..