“I think I need to make myself very clear. I don’t want you to ever speak to me or Hope again. Actually, I don’t want you to lay eyes on her for the rest of your miserable life. And if you ever hurt her again, I’ll report you to the dental board, and I’ll put you behind bars myself.”
“I’ve never touched her in my life,” Dr. Pike spat, a wicked gleam still in his eye. “And you have no proof, even if I did.”
I stood frozen, watching the display, unable to move. The valets noticed the tense conversation and started heading toward us.
“Stay away. Or you’ll find out just how easy it would be for me to make you wish you never existed,” Jay seethed, and I’d never seen him look so terrifying in all the time I’d known him.
The valets came to break them up, but Jay backed away before they could intervene.
“We’re leaving.” He took my hand as he led me to the car, opening the passenger door for me.
I got in, taking one last glance at Dr. Pike as he stared smugly after Jay. Even now, he looked too confident. Too sure of himself. He was so slimy and scummy that I felt a little sick inside.
Jay slid into the driver’s seat and pulled away from the hotel, his gaze still hard and furious as he focused on the road ahead.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
Though I was a little stunned from the altercation, I managed to nod.
“Yeah, I’m okay,” I said. I was waiting for the panicattack to take over, for the numbness to spread through me. But it never came.
“I’m sorry, Hope.”
“Why are you sorry?” I was still trying to find my breath after watching him stand up to Dr. Pike like that. I hadn’t realized until that moment just how desperately I’d needed someone to stand up for me. It might have been the biggest source of pain for me, knowing that my own blood wouldn’t do it. But having Jay do it just now… it solidified something.
Something I was really having a hard time ignoring.
This feeling that I’d buried was blooming in all different directions, the tendrils of emotion taking hold and breaking through walls I’d carefully built.
“I don’t want you to see me like that. The last thing I want is for you to be afraid of me the way you were of him. I don’t typically get so worked up. But I kept picturing him laying his hands on you, and I—” He trailed off, his hands clenching the steering wheel. “I can’t handle the thought of someone hurting you like that.”
“I know you’re nothing like him. You don’t have to worry about that.”
Jay's threat to Dr. Pike didn’t scare me in the slightest.
“I would never hurt you, Hope,” Jay said firmly.
“I know,” I said, and I honestly did. I knew without a shadow of a doubt, and the fact that he would defend me if needed made me even more certain. “Were you serious back there? About reporting him to the board?”
Jay nodded. “It was a threat I could absolutely follow through on. And honestly, I think you and I both should.”
“But there’s no proof of the incident,” I said, looking down at my arm where the bruises had long since faded from the incident months ago.
“I’ve been thinking about that,” Jay admitted, hesitating for a moment before continuing. “I don’t want to push you, but I think I have a way we could get him convicted for what he did. If you’d rather just forget about it and never see him again, I’d completely understand.”
My head snapped back up. “If there’s a way to get Dr. Pike convicted for what he did to me, I want to do it.”
“Even if it means facing him again?” Jay glanced over at me, gauging my reaction.
“Yes,” I said, trying to sound confident. I knew I could do it if I had to, especially with Jay by my side.
“These incidents aren’t usually isolated. If he’s been a dentist for a while, I’d bet other assistants and hygienists could testify about his abusive behavior.”
“You think I’m not the only one he’s physically harmed?”
“You might be, but from just meeting him once, I can tell he’s a narcissist. I’d bet there’s a good chance you’re not the only one.”
“So, you’re thinking we search for another victim and ask if they’d testify against him?” I asked.
