kind of kick that put the doctor on the ground with nothing more than a sigh.
“Dammit, Nik,” I griped.
She dusted her hands off. “Too slow, bossman.” She moved back to my side.
“About those criminal charges. It seems we’ll be adding to them,” Willow said.
Chapter 15 – Willow
Memories washed through my mind in a wave of misery and torment. As if transported through time to the past, they were all I could see.
I stumbled to the wall. Giggled as my heel caught in my dress. Ethan had picked it out. Said I looked lovely. I thought it was ugly, but when Mother had agreed with him, I’d shut up. It wasn’t worth it to fight over a stupid dress. Not when I was getting married to the man in less than a couple weeks.
A small group of men came from one of the backrooms. One of them was pulling his zipper up as they joked and ribbed each other. “Best piece of ass I didn’t have to pay for.”
They all chuckled. “Oh, you’ll pay for it. But at least this way your wife won’t find out.”
I ducked behind one of the curtains. I hated these galas. They were nothing more than opportunities for my heartless parents to lie to the masses of New Trenadie. For dirty deals to be made.
I held my breath as the men walked by. “That Penn snatch was a lot tighter than I’d thought possible after all the rumors I’ve heard.”
I gagged. Men were disgusting.
“Tight enough to get me off at least. I like it when they fight back.”
A fiery heat bloomed in my belly. They were talking about rape. At my parents’ party. Fury the likes of which I’d never felt before bloomed inside my chest. I held my silence until I heard the men open the slightly creaky door to the main ballroom.
I pushed away from the curtains. Headed down the hall until I found the door they’d exited. One of the many guestrooms Mother and Father kept stocked on nights like this.
A woman was lying on the bed. Her long blonde hair was laying in tangles over her face. Her wrists were tied in silken cords that attached to long chains that hung from the four-poster bed rail.
I crept closer. Sobs burned deep in my chest. I bit my lip to keep them from giving me away. I couldn’t be found in here. But I also couldn’t allow her to remain tied up.
“Hello?” I whispered as I drunkenly swayed towards the bed.
She didn’t say anything. I couldn’t even be sure she was breathing.
“Hello? Are you awake?”
I made it to the head of the bed. I reached up, tried to untie the binds. They were stuck tight against the clumsiness of my fingers. “I’ll be right back. I just need to get some scissors so I can cut you loose.”
Backing away from the bed, I dipped and wobbled towards the bathroom. I knew each guest room had a manicure kit. Those little scissors were tiny but they were fucking sharp. Almost as sharp as my Henckels professional knives.
I slapped the light on, blinked against the resultant blindness. Avoiding my reflection, I rooted around in all the drawers in the vanity until I found the little kit. I only stabbed myself once as I gripped the tiny steel snippers.
Making my way back out into the bedroom, I almost screamed as I saw that the woman on the bed was staring at me. Hate and fear filled her blue eyes. “Who are you?”
“I’m Willow Chase.”
She recoiled. “Winslow’s daughter?”
I nodded. I held up the scissors. “I’m here to get you free. Are you okay?”
She shook her head as tears flowed from her eyes. “I doubt I’ll ever be okay again.”
I could sympathize, although I didn’t know that I fully understood. Rape was one of my biggest fears. That she was here, living through it, and only cried silently? She was my version of Superwoman.
I finally made it to the bed. I started attacking the silk restraints. They ripped and shredded under the onslaught of the sharp shears. My breath was heaving through my chest by the time she was free.
She was up and had the scissors stabbed deep into the muscle of my arm before I could figure out that I should probably find a toilet so I could puke up most of this poison masquerading as alcohol. “Ouch.” I looked down at the small implement glinting in the dim light. “What was that for? I helped get