"You're sorry?" His tone was scaring me. He was acting like he owned me, like he'd had me once, so now he somehow had a right to me. This was far from the calm, confident person I thought I knew.

"No, no. I get it." He pulled put his wallet, "So what will it cost me? Eight? Nine?" He sneered, throwing his credit card at me.

I gaped at him, stunned. He thought throwing a couple extra grand would get me back into bed with him?

"Charlie no. I'm not doing that anymore. I was just trying to help my sister-" His laughter cut me off.

"Help your sister by being a s.l.u.t? Come on, Kaitlin. We've already established you're a wh.o.r.e. Just tell me your price." The words rolled off his tongue with vindication.

I gasped. What the h.e.l.l? Who was he to judge me and my choices?

He was married, for G.o.d's sake.

"Maybe you should go home to your wife." I retorted, instantly regretting the words as soon as they exited my mouth.

His face grew dark, I braced myself, squeezing my eyes shut as he raised his fist.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Both Charlie and I turned to see Barry standing in the doorway, arms crossed aver his huge chest. I sighed, the feeling of sweet relief surging through my body. I'd been moments away from being hit.

That scared the h.e.l.l out of me. I couldn't do this, not anymore. Charlie cursed as Barry escorted him outside. Mauve and Emily came rushing up to me.

"Are you okay?" Emily gasped. I shook my head, my whole body shaking as she pulled me into her arms.

"Take her into my office." Mauve instructed. Emily nodded, leading me down the hall. Inside the office, she sat me down on the sofa, with a blanket.

"Can I get you a drink? Water? Tea?" She asked, concerned.

"Tea would be nice." I managed a small smile.

I sat forward on the couch, trying to slow my still thumping heart. What if Barry hadn't been there? I shuddered to think what Charlie would have done to me. And what was I supposed to do now? Call the police? Act like nothing had happened? I looked up as Mauve came in, followed closely by Emily, who was carrying my tea. I smiled as she handed me the steaming cup.

"How are you, honey?" Mauve sat next to me, her arm around my shoulders. I smiled at her. Still shaken, I was much better than I had been a few minutes ago.

"I'm okay. Has he gone?" I asked, concerned. Mauve nodded.

"There was no point calling the police, because he didn't hurt you or technically threaten you, but you might want to think about going to the police if he ha.s.sles you again. He's been banned from here." I nodded, a bit taken aback that his almost punch to my face apparently didn't cla.s.sify as a threat.

"Okay." I murmured, taking a sip of my tea. I was too exhausted to argue. I just wanted to go home.

"Your check." Mauve handed me a check. I stashed it in my bag, not wanting to think about that, or anything else, right now.

"Thanks." I said, letting her hug me, "I'm okay. I think I just want to go home"

"I'm sorry you had to go through that, Kait." Mauve shook her head sadly, "We try our best to weed out the crazy ones, but no security is fool proof." I forced a smile, and stood up. I turned to Emily.

"Call me, okay?" She mumbled, tears springing in her eyes. I nodded and smiled. I would definitely miss seeing her happy face.

Barry waited by the door to escort me out.

He'd offered to walk me to my car, which I had accepted. I was sure Charlie was long gone, but having Barry next to me made me feel safe.

"Thanks, Barry." I smiled at him as I climbed into my car. He waved, and walked back into the building. I started up the car, letting the heater warm up.

"f.u.c.k!" I cursed. My purse.

I'd left my purse inside.

I contemplated calling and asking Barry to bring it out to me. I glanced around the parking lot. It was empty, apart from a few cars. I knew Charlie's car, and his car wasn't here. I was sure he was long gone.

Taking a deep breath, I unlocked the door, and climbed out. I rushed across the lot, my heels clicking on the asphalt with every step. I'd almost reached the door when I heard something behind me. The sound of a shoe crushing crumpled leaves.

"Well, look at you."

My heart stopped. Literally.

That voice.

I slowly turned around. Charlie stood before me, his eyes red.

He had been drinking. I spied the empty bottle of whiskey in his hand. He saw me looking at it and laughed, throwing the bottle against the wall. The sound of shattering gla.s.s made me jump.

"Charlie. I'm sorry..." I backed up slowly.

In one swift move, he was on top on me, his weight pressing down on me. I tried to struggle, but I could barely breathe through the pressure his body placed on my lungs. I gasped for air, as his hand covered my mouth.

"You think you can just cut me off like that?" He hissed, ramming my head into the cement footbath.

Pain shot through my head, excruciating, throbbing pain like I'd never felt before. I could feel blood oozing from the wound, matting my hair.

"You owe me, you dirty f.u.c.king wh.o.r.e." He hissed, spitting on my face. A strangled sob escaped my mouth.

Holding me down with one arm, he ripped at my skirt with the other, groping around inside of me. I cried out in pain. He was by no means being gentle. He laughed, grabbing me even harder. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I stared into his cold, dead eyes.

His knee pried my legs apart as he brought my legs up around my waist. His gripped slipped off my knee.

I was in the perfect position.

This was the only chance I was going to have before I wound up dead in some shallow grave. With all the strength I could muster, I kicked him right in the groin.

"Jesus Christ, you f.u.c.king b.i.t.c.h!" He rolled off me, clutching his manhood.

His face screwed up in pain. Scrambling to my feet, I screamed at the top of my lungs, realizing just how close I'd come to being raped.

Out of nowhere Barry appeared like an overweight ninja, gripping Charlie in a headlock, until he pa.s.sed out. Emily came rushing outside.

She caught one look at me face, and ushered me inside, screaming at Mauve to call the police.

"Are you okay, Kait?" she asked, shocked. I reached up and touched the back of my head. Blood covered my fingers. My head throbbed, and I struggled to breathe.

"I-I don't know." I stammered. I let her lead me inside. She sat me down on the sofa in the foyer, while one of the other girls got a wet towel for my head. By now, all the girls, and several of the men were huddled in the foyer, trying to see what all the commotion was about. I was more than a little embarra.s.sed.

"Please." I said to Mauve, my eyes begging. She understood.

"Okay, everyone, give her some s.p.a.ce." She ushered everyone away. A man, dressed in a G-string and a garter belt stepped forward.

"I'm a doctor." Mauve looked at him dubiously. He blushed, realizing how he must look.

"Okay." Mauve nodded, gesturing to me. Emily sat down with me and held my hand. I realized I was shaking. I could vaguely make out the flashing lights outside as my head spun. The doctor looked at my head wound, yelling orders at several of the girls who hadn't scattered away. My vision began to blur.

Barry's voice boomed through the front door as he filled the police in. Surely things couldn't get any worse, could they?

I looked up, and into the eyes of Devon, who had just walked through the door. The blood drained from my face.

Things had just gotten much, much worse

Chapter Thirty-One.

Devon stopped in his tracks, blinking several times, and he pieced together what was going on.

Finally he got it. I desperately tried to meet his gaze, but he wouldn't so much as look at me. He asked questions about me, to Mauve and Barry, rather than asking me.

He was acting like I wasn't even there. Once he had as much of the story as he could get without talking to me, he finally glanced at me. All I saw in his cold dark eyes was disappointment. And shame.

He handed me a blanket. Or rather, he threw a blanket in my general direction.

"Come-on. I need to get you to the hospital." His words had bite to them. n.o.body else seemed to notice his coldness toward me. His partner, an older man, had already left with Charlie.

He helped me to my feet and led me to the ambulance. I shrugged him off, not wanting his hands on me.

"Whatever." He mumbled, under his breath. Jumping in the back with me, he avoided my gaze. I rolled over and closed my eyes, feeling his gaze burning a hole into my soul.

I wanted to explain, but what was the point?

He wasn't going to listen, much less accept why I had done what I'd done, that and the fact I was barely conscious.

Pain radiated through my head as the ambulance officer prodded at it, covering it with gauze.

"Ouch!" I gasped, gasping again as pain stabbed through my ribs.

"You'll need a few st.i.tches there. It's pretty deep." He said, taping the gauze in place. The pain intensified under the pressure of the gauze.

I didn't answer. The worst thing was that I wasn't ashamed, or embarra.s.sed about what I had done. I had done it for the right reasons, and because of that, Neri would never have to worry about her education. I was embarra.s.sed at the way Devon was ignoring me. I was ashamed for him.

This was how he treated someone he loved? What a joke.

The ride to the hospital was somewhat quiet. I faded in and out of consciousness. Every time I woke up, it took me a few moments to remember what had happened, and where I was. The whole trip I avoided looking at Devon.

Inside I was taken through to emergency. After the doctor st.i.tched my head, I was admitted overnight for observation. My scans had shown slight swelling on my brain, something that needed to be monitored.

Devon had long gone by now.

Though the nurse had ordered me not to get out of bed, I was bursting to use the bathroom. After no answer ringing the bell, I realized it was unplugged. Sighing, I eased myself out of bed. Clutching onto the sides, I gently moved toward the bathroom. My head throbbed. It was the worst pain I'd ever experienced. As the room swayed, I began to lose balance. I felt like I was falling. Falling through the sky, like a leaf that had just broken off a tree. Floating.

Suddenly I felt the strength of being lifted. I felt myself being carried to the bed. For the next few moments, I fought to keep consciousness. My eyelids felt so heavy, as I struggled to keep them open. Finally I gave up, letting myself fall into a deep sleep.

The pain in my head hit me first when I woke. I half opened one eye and squinted around the room. Two eyes open was just too much. Someone sat next to the bed, hunched over, as though they were asleep.

"h.e.l.lo?" I mumbled. My voice sounded like a teenage boy who'd just hit p.u.b.erty, all crackly and broken.

"Kait?" Devon shot up in the chair, his hand reaching for mine, "Kait are you okay?"

"Thought you hated me." I mumbled, trying to fight off the urge to fall back asleep. I was so, so tired.

"I don't hate you." He replied quietly.

I nodded and drifted back into a deep sleep. A little smile formed on my lips. He didn't hate me. He didn't hate me...

When I woke again, I was alone. Pressing the buzzer, I looked around the room, trying to figure out what time it was. Through the crack in the blind I could see it was dark out. That had to put it somewhere between nine at night and five in the morning.

"You're awake." A cheery woman came up to the bed, a big smile stretched across her face. From the stethoscope around her neck, and the grey scrubs, I figured she was my nurse.

"I'm awake." I agreed, smiling weakly, "What time is it?"

"It's one in the morning, honey. That nice young man of yours stayed until almost midnight. Now he's a looker, isn't he?" She smiled in a way I couldn't help but smile back.

Was she talking about Devon? It made me happy that he cared enough to stay with me.

"What about the kids?" I panicked. Had Devon even told Ara and the kids what had happened? They would all be so worried about me. What was I going to tell Sam and Neri? I couldn't tell them the truth.

"Right, he said you'd ask about them." She paused as she tried to remember, "Told me to tell you not to worry."

Not to worry?

Well of course I was going to worry. It was probably too late to call them now, and hopefully I'd be out of here in the morning.

"What's wrong with me?" I asked, realizing I couldn't remember any of the doctor's visit the day before.

"You have a pretty nasty head cut, which needed ten st.i.tches. You bruised three ribs pretty badly from what I hear, and you have a few other b.u.mps and bruises that will heal over time." She shook her head sympathetically, "You're a very lucky girl, Kaitlin."