Richard

I panicked, scrambling over to the steps and trying to pick my way through the party goers that littered the stairs. If I didn’t find a way to get close to him again this entire stunt would have been for nothing.

“Jessica? What’s happened? I lost the signal,’ Greg said, his voice edged with tension.

“He went upstairs,” I said softly, though I couldn’t keep the panic out of my voice. “I’m following him now.”

“Just be careful,” he replied, and I could almost feel the worry in his voice.

Once I’d managed to get up onto the second floor I found myself in an almost deserted hallway, the only occupant was a passed out member of AEO sprawled halfway in one of the house’s bedrooms. I looked around, slowly creeping along the hall in the hopes of maybe catching Michael unaware.

“I’ve got the signal again,” Greg said over the earpiece. “He’s close by.”

Those words made my heart skip a beat, worsened only by the smug whisper from only a few feet behind me.

“Looking for someone?”

That cool familiar voice chilled me to the bone, my heart suddenly pounding away at my ribcage like a xylophone. I gulped nervously, steeling myself as I turned around, watching Michael step out of one of the bedrooms, both hands in his pockets as he strolled toward me.

“It’s funny,” he said, his thin lips curling into a cruel smile, “I was just wondering how long it would take you to realize that brother of yours is hardly a match for me. And here you are, crawling back to me dressed like the little whore I always said you were.”

“Jessica? Is everything okay? What’s going on?” Greg asked.

“Michael, I—”

“You don’t have to explain, Jessica,” he said, putting up his hand to stop me from speaking. “I understand. You want a real man—someone who’ll treat you like you know you deserve to be treated.”

“Stop it,” I said, my voice trembling as I took a step back. “Stay away from me.”

“Excuse me?” Michael asked, his head tilting as though he could hardly believe what he’d just heard. “Did you just give me an order you little cunt? There’s no need to play hard to get. I know you didn’t come here for the party.”

“Jessica, get out of there,” Greg said, and I could hear his own panicked voice practically matching my own. “You need to run.”

“I can’t,” I said, taking another step back as Michael advanced. “He’s blocking the stairs.”

“Who are you talking to?” he hissed, lunging forward and grabbing at my purse, pulling me forward along with it. Everything toppled out all at once, the heavy black device slamming onto the floor.

I felt his hand on my throat, crying out as my shoulder exploded in pain as he threw me into the wall. I felt his fingers digging at my ear, pulling out the earpiece and throwing it onto the ground.

“What the hell is all this?” he snarled, “Huh? Tell me!”

I tried to cry out, to get any kind of sound past his steely grip on my windpipe. His face was inches from mine, and I could feel his hot, stinking breathing right against my skin. I could barely draw breath, my head already beginning to swim from the lack of oxygen and the shooting pain radiating out of my shoulder.

I watched his entire face turn a bright shade of red, blood rushing up to declare his rage. He didn’t know exactly what I had tried to do, but knowing that I’d come up with some kind of plan against him was enough to raise his ire to levels I’d never seen before.

“I’m going to fucking kill you, bitch—”

His breath caught in his throat as something massive slammed into his side. All of a sudden I could draw breath, taking air greedily into my lungs as I crumpled against the wall. I blinked away the stars that had formed in front of my vision as I looked up to find out just who my savior had been.

“Richard?” I whispered, watching in awe as my stepbrother reared up and began slamming his fists over and over into Michael’s prone form, the wet sounds of his knuckles meeting his flesh filling my hearing. I’d never seen my brother so enraged, roaring as he grabbed Michael’s now limp form and tossed it against one of the closed bedroom doors, caving the wood in with a loud crack!

Satisfied with the unconscious form of my former boyfriend at his feet, Richard turned toward me, his expression immediately softening as he knelt down to check on me.

“Are you all right?” he asked, cupping my face in his hands.

“I am now,” I whispered, smiling up at him before pressing my lips to his.

_ TWENTY _

Dick

“The jury came back today,” Jessica said as she cuddled up to me in my bed. It had been a long trial, even with the evidence arrayed against Michael and his goons. With his parents’ money, he was more than able to hire himself an attorney willing to stall for as much time as possible to get him acquitted.

“Good news?” I asked, running my fingers through her silken hair. I’d given up on watching the trial myself, unable to stomach seeing that bastard sitting there day after day, convinced this his daddy’s money would save him. Jessica however had stayed glued to every bit of news about the proceedings, even going to one of the sessions of court when Becky was called to testify about the night she was raped. “They’re not letting him go, are they?”

Michael had been given bail, but kept on house arrest while the trial was going on, leaving him trapped far away from the two of us while the trial went on and his lackey’s were all on trial alongside their little ringleader. With half of AEO’s pledges on trial, the fraternity was under some serious investigation into past reports that had “slipped through the cracks.” I couldn’t help enjoying the sight of a fleet of black and white cop cars all parked outside of the Omega’s frat-house, its members displaced out onto the sidewalk to watch as their little club house was turned upside down.

“Just the opposite,” she said, looking up at me with those warm, loving eyes. “Michael is being charged with Becky’s rape, along with a charge for being an accessory to every single one of the Omega’s who were in that room.”

“Sounds like justice to me,” I said, smiling as I leaned my head down to brush my lips against her own. “How’s Becky taking everything?”

Jessica gave me a half smile and gently shrugged her shoulders. I knew that the trial had been hard for Becky, it always is for women who go through trauma like that. She had to relive her rape again and again, even while she was staring right at Michael in the courtroom as she gave her testimony.

“Becky’s doing okay. As well as anyone could be after something like this,” she said. “I don’t think it gave her the closure that she was hoping for. It’s not like what everyone keeps telling girls in this situation. It doesn’t get easier. It stays painful forever.

I nodded, gently caressing her cheek as I looked out toward my window from my bed. I’d never be able to understand the kind of pain Becky had gone through or the hurt that Michael had inflicted on her—a hurt that would follow her into every relationship for the rest of her life. It would always be there, like a shadow hanging over her view of men. And I didn’t blame her one bit if she never trusted anyone for the rest of her life.

“It looks like we’re out of the woods, then,” I said, entwining my fingers in her soft hair. “We’re free.”

“In some ways, yes.” Jessica turned her gaze away from me, a frown marring those pretty features. “Not in others.”

I frowned, sitting up a little straighter in bed, looking down as she set her head in my lap.

What could be wrong now? I wondered, gently rubbing my thumb over her shoulder. We were free to be together again, with no threat looming over our heads that could expose our secret to the world. From what I could tell the two of us had gotten out of this with our lives intact and no worse for wear.