’ Brandi said with a flourish of her arm. ‘Girls,’ he said with a little grin, ‘so nice to meet you, I’m sure that I’ve heard some of your...names in stories, but I’m not sure who’s who, so you’ll have to put faces to names.’ He turned toward Angela, ‘Let’s start with you, which of her lovely friends would you be?’ Angela tried desperately to bring her thoughts into line, this couldn’t be happening, there is no way that he could have done this to her without her being aware. She was going to kill. When she lifted her hand, it held a red leather strap with a buckle and what looked like a few oval metal rings dangling from it. “Hold out your hand.” The moment I did, the meaning of the leather strap became clear. She wrapped it around my wrist and threaded the loose end through the buckle, tightening it enough so it wouldn’t come off. It was soft and smooth inside, but one look at the rings, which were actually small carabiners woven into the leather, told me all about it. Restraints! I had. Get the picture? Growing up in the rough streets of Brockton, I couldn’t wait to get away from my psychotic relatives. I thought all my friends had it good because they didn’t live with monsters. I was wrong. Many men and women in this country live with bad people. And they lead miserable lives. Most of them are too afraid to do anything about it. Not me. I escaped shortly after graduating from Brockton Community High School. I had my name legally changed from Alex Shay to Stephen McCain, and. Not that it matters, because I think you and I both know how this meeting of ours is going to turn out. Why not make it easy for yourself; we wouldn't want to create a scene in this respectable establishment, would we?" she continued threateningly, her face hardening in an attempt to intimidate the Angel.The attempt ultimately proved fruitless. Dark Angel simply raised her eyebrows at Barb, leaning casually against the bar with that unnerving relaxed sensuality."Well, Barbie Doll," the Angel.