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  Once the project was over, I expected my life to go back to normal, but Chad had other plans. He wanted to get to know me better. When we were leaving school for Christmas break, he gave me his phone number at his house. He lived in Phoenix, so we had to talk on the phone if we wanted to see what happened. We spent the entire Christmas break on the phone with each other, never running out of things to talk about.

  When we got back to school, we made things official and started dating. Things progressed like any normal relationship. We spent time together, going on dates, heavy petting, things like that. The only problem was that, after everything that happened with Jake, I wasn’t quite sure how far I wanted things to go.

  Nervously, I expressed these feelings to Chad and braced for him to get mad and break up with me because he wasn’t going to be able to get what he wanted out of me. Instead, the opposite happened. He gave me a kiss and told me that it was okay. He told me that he was willing to wait for me and that when I was ready, he was too.

  We continued dating and everything was great. We dated the remainder of Junior year and stayed in touch over the summer. He even surprised me by flying in to see me for a week. It was incredible.

  Over that summer, I had also done my internship, which was incredible. When my senior year started, everything was perfect. My grades were amazing, easily the best I’d ever gotten, and I was finally getting to experience what college life was all about. It was all I could ask for. Things were literally as perfect as they could be.”

  As I sat listening, there was something about the tone she was using that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. She was hanging on to these good memories, but I had a feeling that this guy wasn’t the great man he appeared to be. Little did I know that I was about to learn just how right that assumption was.

  7

  Hannah

  I’m not completely sure why I felt the need to tell Reed so much of the backstory when it came to Chad. Part of it was because I wanted to remember the good times I had before everything turned to shit, but a much larger part of me knew that I needed to preface what had happened.

  Even though I’d never shared this story with anyone in the past, I knew what their reaction would have been. How could you have not seen it coming? How could you not have known what kind of guy you were dating?

  The answer to those questions is because he fooled me. I’m not a stupid girl by every stretch of the imagination and I was extremely guarded after what happened in high school. I was so guarded, in fact, that I’d put up an entire wall that was hard as fuck to break through, but he managed to do it. I wanted to tell the entire story so he could see that I wasn’t a big idiot who just got with another bad guy. I truly believed he was one of the good ones.

  I took a deep breath and had to compose myself a bit before going back into the story.

  “One night, his facade came to an end and I had the unfortunate honor of meeting the real Chad.

  He was a member of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity and he and his suite mates were holding a huge party just off-campus. I was never really the type to drink because I really didn’t care for the taste of alcohol, but he told me he really wanted me to drink with him that night, so I figured what the hell and had a few drinks.

  It didn’t take long before the alcohol really started to kick in and before I knew what was happening, everything was fuzzy and I was beginning to feel dizzy.

  I found Chad and told him that I needed to go home. When he asked me what was wrong, I reminded him that I wasn’t a drinker and believed I overdid it. He laughed at me and told me I’d only had three drinks. It was almost as though he was making fun of me, which upset me, but by that point, I was having trouble expressing much of anything.

  My dorm was all the way on the other side of campus while his frat house was just a couple blocks away. I really wanted to be home in my own bed, but Chad convinced me that it would be better if I just went and rested at his frat house.

  He helped me to his bed and told me he was going to lay with me until I fell asleep. I thought it was a sweet gesture and I appreciated it. We had spent many nights with my head resting on his chest until I fell asleep, so I figured that’s what we were going to do again.

  As soon as we laid down, he started kissing me. At first, I thought he was giving me a good night kiss, but the kisses got harder and more intense very quickly. I went with it. I was trashed, but I loved him and a little bit of making out never hurt anyone.

  The kissing soon turned to him putting his hand up my shirt, which he’d done a million times before, but it was still making me feel uneasy since I was so drunk. I let him get away with it until he moved his hand into my pants and down between my legs.

  I knew that I wasn’t in any position or condition to let him continue what he was doing, so I asked him to stop so I could go to sleep.

  For the first time since we got together, I saw Chad get mad. Not even just mad, but he was furious. He started yelling at me that all he was wanting to do was make me feel good so I could go to sleep easier. At one point, I thought he was going to hit me, but thankfully he never did.

  After a couple of minutes, he calmed down and actually apologized. He told me that he really wanted to get me off so I could rest better and he got frustrated that I was putting up such a fight when all he wanted to do was make me feel good. He had a way with words and hearing him say these things actually made me feel like I was the asshole in the situation.

  Eventually, he convinced me that things really were all about me, so I allowed him to help me out of my clothes. He kissed me and told me he was going to show me just how giving he was. He went down on me and didn’t stop until I had gotten off, which was really hard to do considering how messed up the alcohol had made me.

  After I orgasmed for the second time, he sat up with a grin on his face, obviously proud of himself. I expected him to come back and lay next to while I went to sleep, which was the original plan.

  The memories were playing in my head as though I was living them all over again. It was almost as if it was happening to me right then and there. Tears started to stream down my face, but I fought hard to control myself.

  “Do you need to take a break, Hannah?” Reed asked, sensing that something huge was coming in my story.

  “No, I’m fine, thank you,” I lied. I really just wanted to get through the story so he might be able to understand why I am the way I am. “Anyway, instead of crawling up the bed to lay next to me, he stood up and ripped all his clothes off. I asked him what he was doing, and he replied by telling me he was just trying to get more comfortable.

  Chad was completely erect so I knew he was just bullshitting me. It was at that moment when I realized what had happened. Three beers didn’t fuck me up like I thought they did. He had slipped something into one of my drinks so I wouldn’t be able to put up a fight when he made his move.

  I begged him one more time to please stop, but he just shook his head, put on a condom, grabbed my ankles, and pulled me to the edge of the bed.

  When he shoved himself inside of me, he asked me who I thought I was. He told me that I’d been doing nothing but teasing him for the past year and he was tired of being teased with nothing to show for it.

  I was being raped and it made me feel dead inside. I stopped trying to fight him, because there was no use. He was much stronger than me and was going to continue doing whatever he wanted, for as long as he’d wanted. I was looking for a silver lining and found one in the fact that he’d at least put a condom on.

  All I could do was lay there and wait for it to be over. I made my body limp and lifeless, wondering what kind of evil person could get turned on by someone who was unwilling and not capable of stopping something they stated they didn’t want.

  When he finally finished, he got up and went into the bathroom. Even though whatever he had slipped into my drink was still having an effect on me, I didn’t want to have to look at his face for another second.

  Wobbly a
nd unbalanced, I threw my clothes back on and took off out the door. Completely disoriented and not exactly sure where I was, I just started walking. Eventually, I saw the campus and made my way there. I have no idea how I got there or how long it took me, but I eventually found my way back to my dorm.

  My roommate wasn’t there, which I was grateful for. I spent the entire night sobbing into my pillow, wondering how I got fooled once again. This was the second person I’d seriously dated and he was even more fucked up than the first one. I sure did know how to pick them.

  The next morning, I booked a flight home because I couldn’t stand to be on the campus for another second.

  My dad knew that something had happened, but just like with Jake, I didn’t want to talk to him about it. I did everything I could to avoid the subject, but he knew that something was wrong.

  Instead of telling him the truth, I simply told him that Chad and I had broken up and I didn’t want to go back to school because I couldn’t stand to see him anymore. My dad didn’t buy the fact that this was the whole story, but it was all he was getting out of me. He tried and tried to remind me just how close I was to finishing school, but I wouldn’t budge. I left all my stuff in my dorm until the next break when I knew Chad wouldn’t be there before I went and collected everything. I moved back home and never saw or spoke to him again.”

  When I was finished telling my story, I looked up at Reed to gauge his reaction. In his eyes, all I could see was fury.

  8

  Reed

  I was fuming. There was no point even trying to act like I wasn’t because there was no way I’d be able to hide it even if I tried. This man had not only drugged Hannah and raped her, but he had gotten away with it without any consequences whatsoever. That didn’t work for me.

  “Hannah, I appreciate you telling me all this. You do realize that I’m going to run a background check on him now, right?”

  “Yes, I figured you probably would.”

  “Okay, and you also know that, if I have my way, that mother fucker is going to pay for what he did to you.”

  “Reed, it was a long time ago. There’s no need to get yourself in trouble over him.”

  “No, he needs to have consequences. Who knows who else he may have done the same thing to? I will make you one promise, though. Before I drive to where he is, before I lay a finger on him, before I do anything at all, I’ll make sure you’re in the loop. I’ll talk to you first.”

  “Thank you,” she said as she nodded.

  “Was there anything else you wanted to talk about?”

  “Well, there is one thing…”

  “What is it?”

  “Before all this stuff happened, I was offered a job and I’m supposed to be starting soon. It’s the place that I’ve interned at and I’ve worked really hard to be offered a position there. It is literally my dream job. I guess I probably already know the answer, but I was just wondering if I’m ever going to be allowed to leave this place.”

  Her words cut through me like a hot knife through butter. Not only was I holding her against her will, but I was preventing her from a dream job that she worked so hard to attain. It wasn’t fair to her.

  “I’m going to be completely honest with you, Hannah. The auction was not the first time I’ve ever seen you. I’ve seen you all around Vegas. I’ve seen you in restaurants, the library, but most of the times I’ve seen you was when you’d been running, so I was never able to talk to you.”

  She looked at me with confusion on her face.

  “What do you mean? Like you saw me and had an interest in me?”

  “Yes, that’s exactly what I mean. I know this is going to sound incredibly creepy and stalkerish and I really hope it doesn’t sound as bad as I know it’s going to, but I’d actually researched you before so I knew your name, where you went to school, and everything. Of course, I never used that information, but I had to know who you were.”

  “Why are you telling me this?”

  “Because I need you to understand why I bought you at that auction. When I got the notification that it was going to take place, your name and photograph was plastered prominently on the email. As an American, they knew you were going to bring in a lot of money. When I saw your photo, my heart sank and I knew I had to save you. I went to my bosses and they wouldn’t front the money. Buying you was very much against the rules, but I couldn’t let you go into a life of sex slavery. I used my own money to buy you.”

  “You did?”

  “Yes, over $2 million.”

  She looked like she’d seen a ghost.

  “You paid over $2 million for me? Where did you even get that kind of money?”

  “Honestly? I did a ton of mercenary work that paid extremely well. I live a pretty modest life so I don’t need a lot of money. I don’t trust banks so I stuck the money into Bitcoin. Well, over time, it grew and grew. Buying you wiped out most of my savings, but you’re here instead of some third world country turning tricks for the right to eat.”

  “I…I don’t know what to say.”

  “You don’t have to say anything. I’m not looking for a thank you or a pat on the back or anything like that. From the first time I laid my eyes on you, I knew there was something about you. The way I see it, I paid for the right to try to get to know what that something is.

  As far as the job goes, I’m going to be completely honest with you here. I’ve said this before but I want to reiterate it here. I do not have you because I want to hold you captive. The men who run that auction are not stupid at all and it won’t take long for them to realize that I didn’t buy you for the intended reasons. They may already know, which was why I was so worried when you ran.

  I have you here to keep you safe and really need you to stay until I can help wrap up this case. After that, I will leave things up to you. If things are working, you’re more than welcome to stay with me. If not, you can leave. Hell, even if you end up liking life with me, I wouldn’t prevent you from keeping your dream job. How about I make you a deal?”

  “What kind of deal?” She asked, sounding defeated as a single tear rolled down her cheek.

  “If you promise to make up some kind of story about why you can’t start when you’re supposed to, I’ll let you call your employer and see if there’s anything they can do to hold your job for you.”

  “Really? You’d let me do that? Do you mean it?”

  “Of course I mean it. Think about what you’re story is going to be and then let me know and you can call from my office phone.”

  “Thank you so much!” She yelled as she jumped up and wrapped her arms around me. It took everything I had not to lift her up, push everything off my desk and take her right then and there.

  About an hour later, she had her story set up and called her employer.

  “I’ll step out and give you some privacy,” I told her.

  “No, please stay here,” she whispered. “I want you to hear that I don’t say anything I’m not supposed to.”

  She told some story about her father and knowing how busy everything was with the summer interns before asking if there was any way she could push her start date back. She sat listening anxiously before a big smile spread across her lips.

  “Thank you! Thank you so much,” she spoke excitedly into the phone before hanging up.

  “Good news?” I asked.

  “Such good news! They’ve pushed my start date back to October 1st! Do you think that’s enough time for you to wrap up the case?”

  “I promise you by the time October 1st comes around, you’ll be on your way to work.”

  9

  Reed

  I was sitting on the couch with my laptop on the coffee table in front of me doing some research into Chad Whitmore. He was definitely a big piece of shit and I couldn’t wait until I was able to get my hands on him.

  Hannah came in and sat down on the chair directly to my left. I could tell she wanted to talk about something, so I wrapped up my search, made a f
ew notes, and closed my laptop.

  “What’s up?” I asked her.

  “Well, I don’t really know how to ask this without sounding weird.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with weird. You can literally ask me anything.”

  “Okay, um, I was just wondering something. How come you’re not married or in some kind of relationship? You seem like a really good guy and I don’t know why you’re single. Do you have a secret wife or a family or something like that?”

  “No,” I laughed. “I don’t have a secret wife or family. It’s just me on my own.”

  “But why? You seem like a catch. Surely you’ve not been alone your whole life?”

  “No, I haven’t been alone my whole life. I’ve dated here and there, but my last real relationship really messed me up badly and it hasn’t been until recently that I’ve really recovered from that.”

  “Will you tell me about it?”

  ‘It’s honestly really hard for me to talk about. Her name was Nikki and she hurt me worse than I ever thought it was possible for someone to hurt me.”

  “What did she do?”

  I paused, trying to think of the right words to do it justice, but I couldn’t find them. Memories started coming back and I knew I wouldn’t be able to talk about it. I could already feel myself shutting down.

  “Can we not talk about her right now? I’m not trying to be mean, but it’s just not something I feel comfortable discussing yet.”

  “Okay, that’s fine. I won’t push you. Can I ask you something kind of related?”

  “Yes, but I can’t promise I’ll be able to answer it.”

  “Oh, I think you can. I don’t know how long ago your breakup was, but how come you’ve never gotten back on the horse and found someone new. It doesn’t matter how bad things were, everyone deserves to be loved.”

  “It’s really not that easy, Hannah.”