He refocused his attention on me, his eyes sliding down my body, clearly displeased by my choice of attire. It wasn’t slutty enough, I was sure. Not by a long shot. But there was very little that was slutty enough for Theo Southerland.
“You and I have a few details to settle, so you can come by my office and—”
I didn’t even look at him. “No.”
He cursed under his breath and ran a hand over his greasy, slicked back hair. “Baby doll, your mom would want you to have her royalties. In a few quick signatures, the money would—”
I did face him that time. “I don’t want it.” When he appeared to be pleased, I realized my mistake. I didn’t want this horrible bastard to have it either. “I’ll have my attorney make sure it’s funneled to anti-pornography dot org.”
His jaw tightened and a vein on his forehead started to pulse. Good. I’d pissed him off. Maybe the damn thing would explode.
He lifted a finger, put it close to my face. It was one of the intimidation tactics I’d seen him do many times. “I’ll have you know that the industry provided you with a good lifestyle.”
I scoffed, and my ulcer, which had been hibernating as of late made itself known. “Lifestyle, maybe. But what about providing me with a life?”
He stepped closer, turning his head to eye me from the top of my hair, down to my feet and back again. “I could make you a star, doll. Give you a life where men worship at your feet. Revere you. Think of nothing but you. Give you financial freedom. Diamonds. Everything you ever wished for.”
He made me sick, and the ulcer began to burn in earnest, but I refused to let my face show my anxiety. “Go away.”
He exhaled, and I held my breath to staunch the bitter smell. “There are a few other things we need to go over before I leave, doll. The first is that the adult network will be doing a memorial for Cyn during the next awards show. They’d like it if you’d come and accept the award—”
“No.”
Like the hateful child he was, Theo stomped his foot, his face taking on a ruddy hue. “Aw, come on. You’re being ridiculous. Do it for your moth—”
“No.”
Even as the word left my mouth, he grabbed my arm, his fingers digging into the bone. “Listen to me, you little bitch.” His voice was low, menacing now. The vein in his forehead pulsed, like a worm slithering from his brain. “You, little girl, are going to do what I say, do you hear me?”
Mustering every bit of saliva in my mouth, I spit in his face.
The smack came so hard and so fast, I didn’t even have time to brace for the blow. I heard Leslie scream, but Theo was sneering in my face again. “I know how to take care of problems, little girl. Remember that little problem with your virginity? I took care of that good enough, didn’t I?”
I was stunned. The verbal punch hit much worse than the physical blow as I understood what he was saying. “You…” It couldn’t be true. Surely no one could be so cruel. “You had those men rape me?”
His fingers bit into my arm harder, grinding nearly to the bone. “Rape? They said you liked it. Got nice and wet for them. I knew you were a natural.” He laughed, his lip curling up into a sneer.
“It wasn’t Mom,” I realized. “She didn’t text me, wanting to meet me at the bar. You did. You set me up. Y had those men…” It was too awful to repeat.
He laughed. “Yep. And I didn’t even have to pay ‘em. Those boys jumped at the chance to pop your sweet little cherry. Lots of men will jump at the chance to—”
The hateful words disappeared as he was off me, dragged backward through the air, and Leslie was at my side, pulling me to her chest. All I saw was a flash of a dark suit before the sounds of wood pews cracking under the weight of the two men was drowned out by Theo’s pitiful screams.
Oh my god. It was him. He was here.
“Gray!”
Jumping forward, I watched in horror and some weird sort of fascination as Gray’s fist broke Theo’s nose with a loud cracking sound. Blood gushed, breaking me from my paralysis, and I grabbed onto Gray’s arm before he could land another blow.
“Gray. Stop. Please, it’s okay.”
Theo crumpled to the floor when Gray finally released him. Gray was breathing hard, his face a mask of fury as he pulled me into his arms.
Employees of the funeral home rushed into the room, and Leslie pointed at Theo. “He attacked Zoe. Call the police.” She looked at me, tears in her eyes. “I… I heard everything.”
Then I was in both of their arms, the two people I loved the most in the world surrounding me with their protection and love. But I didn’t cry. Theo Southerland would never be witness to my suffering.
An hour later, after giving the police my statement, I sat numb with Leslie at my side, our hands clutched together as I told her about the rape. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I just…”
Her fingers squeezed mine. “It’s okay. I knew something was wrong. I should have pressed harder instead of letting you run away to the mountains.”
I looked over at Gray, who was still talking to the detective, and like he could feel my gaze, he looked over at me too. I leaned my head against her shoulder. “I’m glad you let me run away to the mountains.”
Leslie kissed my cheek. “I’m going to miss you so much, you know that, right?”
I smiled. She knew me so well. “I’m going to miss you too, like crazy. You’ll have to visit Uncle Stanley’s cabin all the time.”
She laughed. “And you know you’ll miss the sun, so you’ll have to come back here.”
Leaning against her, I closed my eyes and a bone deep weariness overtook me. “Tell me I’m not crazy.”
Her sigh was loud and long. “You’re not crazy. He loves you. You love him. That’s the easy part. Now, you go and figure each other out, see if the love can outlast the crap that every relationship goes through.” She kissed my cheek again. “And if it doesn’t, you’ll always have a home with me, but I have a feeling you’ll both be okay.”
Gray looked at me and my stomach twisted at the rawness of the gaze.
“Damn…” Leslie sighed, “I hope a man looks at me like that one day. I can’t wait to read your new sex scenes. New York Times Best Seller, here we come.” She laughed, a soft sound that always made me smile. “Pardon the pun.”
I grinned, blushing to my roots as I gave her a shoulder check. “You’re punny.” Then I looked at Gray again. He looked so good in his charcoal suit, the blue tie setting off his eyes. “He’s gorgeous, isn’t he?”
“Yes, he is. And in the few minutes I got to meet him before the shit hit the fan with that sleazebag, I really liked him, so there’s much more to him than that handsome face. Zoe, did you know he’s been here for hours? He stayed in the vestibule, watching over you all evening.”
My heart squeezed. “He seems to have a habit of doing that, doesn’t he?”
“With you, yes. There’s some crazy connection there, and you need to explore it, hold onto it tight.”
It was my turn to kiss her cheek. “I will. I promise. I’ll hold on with both hands and my teeth.”
She laughed. “Good. Because here he comes.”