Page 104 of The Wicked

Her voice turned my blood to ice, not so much the words but the tone. And her eyes… They were haunted.

I found myself both morbidly curious and nodding. “Okay. Okay, we can talk.”

Gracie perched on the edge of the couch in the break room, twisting her hands. She didn’t want coffee. She didn’t want a cookie. It was clear she didn’t want to be there, period, and yet she’d come.

“I hadn’t told this story to a soul until Garrett flew to New York the day before yesterday. And I never intended to, but then I found out what they’d done to you, and I couldn’t stay silent any longer. For so long, I thought it was just me.”

Cold dread pooled in my stomach. “Seth Harless did something to you as well?”

“He helped.”

If ever I’d doubted my capacity for tears, I found out the truth that day. My ability to sob was limitless. Gracie told her story from the beginning, starting with the carefree young woman she’d once been and ending up with a daughter she couldn’t bear to touch. Seth Harless had guarded the door while his boss raped her, and the senator’s lapdog couldn’t plead ignorance because he’d cleaned her up with a washcloth afterward. And that sweet child, that sweet, beautiful child whom Garrett and I had taken to Fall Creek Falls, was the product of an act every bit as heinous as the one I’d experienced. Gracie and I held each other and wept. Harless and Mandell had ruined both of our lives, and who knew how many other women they’d hurt along the way?

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered.

“Garrett won’t give up. Now it’s not only you that he’s fighting for, it’s me as well.”

“But they’re so careful. Every lead is a dead end.”

“Yesterday, he was ready to fly to DC and send them to meet their friend from the pool house, consequences be damned.”

My heart lurched. “Did you stop him? Tell me you stopped him? He’d end up in prison.”

“I talked him out of it, temporarily at least. But I don’t think he cares about prison. Right now, he doesn’t think he has much to live for.”

“He has everything. People the world over envy him.”

“They envy his money, and money isn’t all that important to my brother. He was always happier living in barracks with twenty other men than in a mansion. He only quit the Marines because Dad put pressure on him to step up and do what was best for the family, i.e. for Dad.”

“I understand about family pressure.”

“People see the glitz and the glamour, but they rarely check under the hood.” Gracie grabbed another tissue from the nearly empty box. “What Garrett did to you was the most egregious breach of trust, and in your position, I’m not sure I’d forgive him either. But he really is devastated. I’ve never seen him like this before.”

“Contrite?”

“In love.”

“Oh.”

“Yup. He’s head over heels, and he’s also terrified you’ll never speak to him again.”

“I need time.”

“Absolutely. You know, I can understand why he doubted you, and it’s not a slight on your character. Graham Mandell is just so, so good at hiding the darkness within. I used to think of him as an uncle.”

“Before that night on the terrace, I don’t remember ever meeting him.”

“He’s caused so much hurt. Maybe someday, would you consider speaking with Garrett?”

“Maybe someday. I do miss him. I miss everything we had, but I’m not sure I’d be able to trust him again.”

“Can I ask a really personal question?”

I could always refuse to answer, couldn’t I?

“Okay.”

“So during my talk with Garrett, some things came up about my family that…well, they shocked me, and I’m just not sure… Can being tied up truly feel pleasurable? And, uh, spanking?”

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