Page 231 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 1
"Please, Penny, take a seat," Detective Turner said. "I'm sorry about my partner's outburst."
No he wasn't. I sighed and sat down, as far away from Detective Reed as possible.
"You said you have nothing to hide," Detective Turner said.
"I don't."
"Would it surprise you, then, if James was hiding something from you?"
I swallowed hard.
He put his hands in his pockets as he studied my face. "It wouldn't, would it? I've heard that James is quite a complicated man."
"And who did you hear that from? His ex wife?"
Detective Turner smiled again. "It's not too late, you know. If you're willing to cooperate with us, we can give the First State scholarship committee a call. Maybe we can get them to reissue that scholarship of yours."
"If I cooperate?"
"Yes. You see, we are building a case against James regarding sexual misconduct."
"I'm not going to lie in order to get my scholarship back. Like you said, I'm a good girl. Besides for that fact, you have it all wrong."
"Unfortunately we don't. We do want to help you, Penny. But we don't actually need your statement. Yes, it'll help, but I think we already have everything we need."
"What do you mean?"
"Two girls have already come forward saying that James agreed to give them As for sexual favors."
What?"They're lying."
"And how sure are you of that? Because Tim and I are trained to tell if suspects are lying. These girls didn't seem like they were lying. Actually, they were both in tears. They were embarrassed and ashamed because of the position that their trusted professor put them in."
"I don't believe you."
"And their stories lined up. They both said that James lured them into his office to dispute a poor grade. And that he agreed to change it only if they agreed to have sex with him."
No.Isn't that what he did to me?No.Kind of?
"Does that sound familiar, Penny? Did he do that to you too?"
"No. It wasn't like that."Was it?
"How about you tell us what really happened. And we'll get that scholarship back for you. Your life will go back to normal. All of this will disappear."
All of this?All of this had already disappeared from me once before. I didn't want my old, normal life back. That emptiness. I'd never go back to that. All I wanted was for these two idiots to leave me alone. "I think this discussion is over." I stood up again.
"Don't you want your old life back? We can give you back what you lost. Stop defending him. Can't you see what he's taken from you?"
"I'm not defending him, I'm telling you the truth."
"He's not who you think he is."
"Yes he is." I could feel myself losing my temper.
"He's a predator, Penny. And you're the prey. Don't you see that? Those two other girls were his prey too. Who knows how many others didn't come forward? You're probably one of a dozen. You can't hide from the truth. He seduces students. He's not a good man."
I had thought that before. That he was the predator and I was the prey. But I was wrong. And these men were wrong. James wouldn't have done those things.But didn't he do it to me?"Get out of my apartment." I didn't need to stand here and listen to this. They were just as bad as the person who wrote the article about James and my relationship.
