"She was right. Pixyish Cindy was the outlier in more than one way."And we're sisters. D'ya understand how wonderful all this is, baby? In less than a...year I went from a disaster of a life to having a husband that I adore, and real friends, and now I've got sisters of my own." She smiled. "And your family. My in-laws." And they adore you, too," I said. I thought back to conversations I'd had with my brother over Nikki's entry into my life and the fact that we'd actually gotten married. His. So my whole world fell apart when after that few seconds of sexual fantasy of letting him pork me over and over flashed through my mind, my sister came from behind him and said, “Hi sis, this is Joseph, my boyfriend.”Not “new,” just “boyfriend.” “New” would’ve implied she had one before, which she did not. Joseph was her first. So as you can imagine, it was a tragedy of epic proportions.I tried to smile through my shock, though I imagine my smile looked so forced.“Hi,” he said. “Mary never said. It is very large - you wonder what if you will be able to handle it when the time comes.I suddenly release you from my grasp and step back. From the cold stone walls I pull a leather whip - it has 12 tails on it, each studded with leather studs. You feel the sudden sting of the whip across your upper right side, the whip reaching around and striking your right breast as well. Your nipples are instantly on fire and your side begins to throb. This strike is followed by 3 more just like it,. He was so peaceful, calm, collected and thoughtful for her all the time, self-sacrificing even.After Gerard's dreadful behaviour towards him, he went out after him in case he was in trouble, brought him back and was responsible for his survival. She still could not fathom how he could do that to the man who stole his wife and child and who had tried to humiliate Joseph further by attempting to adopt the little girl.What if Gerard was right and she would not be able to survive living the life.