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She nodded and took another sip of tea to distract herself from his looming closeness.
Dr. Smith moved back behind the desk. “I’m going to call an associate of mine tomorrow to see if he’ll meet with you and if he thinks we should accept you into the program. I will warn you that he will touch you, and not in a safe, platonic way.”
Mina felt the tremble coming back into her hands and set the teacup down on the desk.
Lindsay pretended not to notice. “He will touch you. He will look at you. But he will not cause you pain, and he will not penetrate you. Do you trust me?”
“Y-yes.” She shouldn’t. She shouldn’t trust any other perverts after what had happened with the last four. But the doctor felt more solid, more stable somehow.
“If he agrees to the meeting will you go and do whatever he asks within those parameters?”
“Y-yes.”
He nodded and scribbled something down in the notebook. “Very well.”
“A-are we finished here?”
Lindsay glanced at the clock. “Unless you have more to talk about. Do you want me to prescribe a sedative?”
“No.” There wasn’t a pill in the world that would let her sleep tonight. She gathered her purse and started for the door.
“Mina?”
She turned to find intense eyes on her once again.
“Whether or not you end up in our program, you will not speak of this conversation to anyone. I care a great deal about you and your well-being. It would make me extraordinarily unhappy to have to hurt you. Do we understand each other?”
“I-I don’t know anything.”
“You suspect. That’s enough. I can’t let you leave this office unless we understand each other, because if you open your mouth to anyone, no one will ever find you. And that would pain me.”
Every man she trusted turned out to be a monster.
* * *
For three days, Mina convinced herself that her late Sunday night meeting with Dr. Smith had been a dream, that it had never happened at all. She’d been too tired. It had been too late. And it had been too weird. There was no way any of that had happened. It was just her sexual fantasies and fears crossing wires and spitting out a fucked-up dream.
But then her cell phone rang. The doctor’s number flashed across the screen.
“Hello?”
“Anton will meet with you. Remember, dear Mina, this is only an interview. No promises.”
She still didn’t know what theprogramwas. She’d been too stunned to ask many questions the previous night, and she had a feeling that too many questions would only put her in more danger.
“Mina?” Lindsay said. “Are you still willing to do this?”
“I-I don’t know what I’m agreeing to. You’re scaring me.”
He sighed. “You aren’t agreeing to anything just yet except to go see Anton and obey him for one afternoon. You will enjoy yourself. No harm will come to you. Afterward, he and I will speak and make a decision. You aren’t committing yourself to anything long term at this point. Can I tell Anton to expect you at four o’clock today?”
“I’m supposed to work this evening.”
“There are other waitressing jobs if this doesn’t pan out. In fact, I’ll find you a better job personally. Forget the restaurant. Go.”
There might be other restaurants, but the one that employed her was fancy enough that the tips kept her rent paid. She doubted Lindsay could find her something better.
Mina closed her eyes. “Yes. I’ll be there at four.” Theyesbounced and echoed inside her brain so loud she barely heard the directions to Anton’s office. A place calledDome.
