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My body is shaking like a leaf even though Alaric hasn’t let go of me since he planted himself next to me and we sped away from my work building. I don’t pay attention to the road as Alaric’s driver smoothly navigates the evening traffic.
I’m definitely in shock as Alaric leads me up to his penthouse suite and guides me to sit down on his couch.
It’s a few moments before he’s pushing a glass of iced water into my hands, sitting on the coffee table in front of me.
“Elle, if you don’t snap out of it I’m going to have to either take you to the hospital or call Cade and have him come over,” Alaric says in a soothing voice as if he were talking to a frightened animal. I suppose on a primal level he is.
I just can’t reconcile that my boss assaulted me and probably would have raped me if I wasn’t able to get away. The reality of what I just endured, while it could have been so much worse, is still horrible hits me and I dissolve into a typical sobbing female that you see in movies.
My breathing is ragged and Alaric’s image blurs in front of me, my tears are so vast a free-flowing. Alaric moves from the coffee table to next to me on the couch and his deep voice rumbles on my cheek.
“We’re going to do what we can to prevent this from happening again, baby girl. I hate that this happened in the first place.” He kisses my hair and I let out a deep sigh, the tension unknotting from my body as I do.
We sit like this as I fall apart and he tries to soothe me and offers words of praise.
I’m not sure how much longer it is before Alaric tries to move away from me but he’s my lifeline right now so I cling to him, begging him not to leave me.
“Please, don’t go!” I sob into his chest, adding more wetness to the darkness already there from my tears.
“I’m just going to let Cade in. I’ll be right back, I promise, baby girl.” His voice is soft but firm, and I search his eyes finding only the truth. What I don’t do is let go of him. Try as I might, I can’t get my hands to listen and release the death grip I have on him.
“Elle, the sooner I go the sooner I can get back to you,” he reasons with me. I nod and loosen my grasp. He doesn’t waste any time and dashes to the door letting a serious-looking Cade in.
They both come over to me and Alaric resumes his seat next to me. I grab his hand with my own, squeezing until my knuckles are white. I’m sure my hold is painful, but I can’t bring myself to loosen it. He doesn’t say a word and calmly relays to Cade what he knows.
Cade listens as he examines me, checking over my eyes and pulse and just doing a general visual inspection of me.
“Elle, what happened at work?” Cade gently prods me.
With both of them here, I can breathe a bit easier. I don’t feel as vulnerable or raw so I tell them what Mr. Neal did to me.
They both sit and listen but I can tell by the tension that tightens Cade’s body with every word I speak that he’s pissed. Alaric’s hand returns my crushing hold telling me he’s also affected by what I’m saying.
When I’m done I feel a bit lighter. It wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be to speak about what happened. Especially so soon after but with them, it wasn’t too bad.
“We need to report him and you need to press charges, Elle,” Cade says after waiting a few seconds to be sure I’m done.
Frantically shaking my head I say, “No. I don’t want to. What if they don’t believe me? I’ll lose my job!”
“Do you really want to stay there, working for that slime after this?” Alaric questions me.
“No, but I have to make a living. I’ll look for a different job, but I have to work. I have obligations and responsibilities.”
“We can help you until you can find something different,” Alaric offers gently.
“I’m not a charity case and I won’t accept handouts. No, I’ll do this on my own,” I defend my decision.
“We don’t think of you as a charity case. We would help you because we’re decent humans and don’t want you putting yourself in danger. It would give us peace of mind to know you won’t be there and us wondering when, and yes, I said when because at this point that’s where he’s at, he’s going to violate you.” Cade makes a very compelling point.
“No. At the end of the day, I have to live with my choices and I couldn’t do that if I were dependent on you all.” I shore up my resolve.
“I see your side, baby girl. Consider this, though, and this will be the last any of us say on the matter. Would you want to live with yourself if your boss were to get to you and do something unthinkable?” Alaric’s words hit me in my gut like a sucker punch, but once I dig my heels in I don’t turn back.
He searches my eyes for any sign that I might waver on my decision. When he finds none, Alaric lets out a defeated sigh.
“I’ll order takeout for us.” Cade stands and gets on his cell phone to place an order.
Alaric and I sit together without needing to fill the space with words, me cradled in his arms and we just be.
