He paused.
A shuddering sound came from behind. I twisted, finding Salter trying to prop himself up. “You’re awake. Just in time to see a new round of torture.”
Salter flushed a strange colour.
Davies whimpered. “I have names. Please don’t hurt me.”
He babbled a list. Two I recognised as owning businesses in the city, their names written on tall buildings. Mila made notes.
When he was done, I got that same burst of usefulness inside me. We had answers at last. People who could be held accountable.
Salter sucked in a breath, drawing my focus back on him. His dark gaze held on me. “So you’re bringing it all down. Good luck when you get to the top. There are men up there who will break you in return.”
I angled my head, my smile not forced. “Men have been trying to break me for years, hun. And yet I’m still breathing.”
I came back to the guard.
“One more,” I said.
Terrence Harford was dragged in last. Blood dried at his temple, smeared around the edges of a blindfold.
For long years, I’d imagined this. My rapist. The man who hadn’t even known who he was sticking his dick into, only that he could.
And my confidence fled.
“Everyone out,” Tyler ordered.
The room cleared, Damien helped by Heretic to clear the prisoners, and Mila the last person remaining. She left her corner to throw a right hook at the man’s face. He barely moved, and she swore and shook out her hand.
“Con?”
At the door, Convict came back to her side, stood behind her, then smacked a fist in the same path hers had. This time, Terrence dropped to the floor.
Mila patted Convict’s arm, gave me a grim but fierce smile, and left Terrence to his fate.
“Straighten up,” Tyler stated.
Terrence struggled to his feet, and Tyler whipped the blindfold away. He peered our way, and this time, recognition was instant. His bulk. His shape. The faint scent of his aftershave, unchanged in over a decade.
Horror shimmered in my veins. I was a teenager in a room with him, unexpecting and innocent.
Except his focus was on Tyler. “You. You abducted me from my own home. Right from under the nose of my wife. How dare you?”
Tyler didn’t answer, only remained the quiet presence at my side that I needed.
I didn’t take my gaze off Terrence.
“You raped me,” I said.
An abrupt announcement into the space between us.
Terrence recoiled and finally looked my way. “Excuse me?”
I took a purposeful step so the words followed. If they got stuck, I’d be sick all over my favourite shoes. “I was fourteen years old, and you were at my grandparents’ home for a party. Your wife brought me to you, and you didn’t even hesitate.”
“I… I…”
“You were so used to sticking it wherever you wanted that I bet you never thought about that act throughout the years. I did. You ruined my life.”
