HIM

  I take a deep breath.

  "He climbed on top of me and pulled my pants down. I tried to fight, but he was too strong. H-H-He," I manage to get out but lose it.

  Ris brings her hand over her mouth, and a tear trickles down her cheek.

  "He raped you," she says through exhaled breaths.

  Ris is in shock and unable to control her tears. I look up at her, tears flowing down my cheeks as well, and I nod. She grabs me, pulling me into a hug, and we both cry hard.

  "Ali, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry that happened to you," she murmurs in my ear through her sobs.

  We talked about how I took the morning after pill that night and that Brady should be clean. Ris mentioned that he sleeps with a lot of women, but he's always been cautious. She said they only had sex unprotected once or twice in the millions of times they've been together. She said she's heard of him forcing women to sleep with him but never anything to this extent. She also never expected that Brady would stoop so low.

  She asks if I want to do anything about it, and I say no, because I don't want to jeopardize my job for this or cause any drama, and I'm sure it was most likely my fault. Ris assures me that what Brady did was wrong, and I didn't deserve it or what he did to me at the meeting. She says that no girl deserves to be raped. It's a crime. She tells me she saw his hand in between my legs under the table. She says she is a horrible friend for not making a scene and removing his hand herself. She wishes she would have done that, but she didn't know what to do.

  She apologizes and hugs me, telling me how she wants to castrate Brady, then promises to keep quiet about everything. We fix each other's faces and head back to our offices. Ris holds tightly on to my hand the entire way. I am so glad she's by my side through his. Now, I wonder whether I should tell Luke or not.

  Chapter Fifty-Seven

  The rest of the day goes by rather quickly, considering all the events from this morning. I feel a lot better after telling Ris what happened. I cried my heart out to her, and she comforted and cried with me. She's been working with me in my office on the Christiansen case. We did leave briefly for lunch with a few others to the cute little deli down the street. I did not have much of an appetite, only ordering a small side salad and a fruit smoothie, which I never finished.

  There is only two hours left of the day, as Barrett canceled our afternoon meeting. He must be busy on a job or making plans for the celebration dinner tonight. Brady enters my office, and Ris stands up from her chair, acting like my bodyguard.

  "What are you doing here?" he asks callously.

  "We are working on details of the Christiansen project if you must know," Ris fires back at him.

  "You can do that from your own office," he barks as he glares back at her.

  He steps farther into my office and makes his way over toward me. I cannot stand him, even more so now. He needs to back the fuck off. Ris walks in front of him, and I get up from my chair. My assistant knocks on the frame of my open door, and we all look in her direction. Thank goodness she has broken the tension building in my office.

  "Ms. Garrett, you have a visitor," she says gleefully.

  A visitor? Behind her stands, Luke and I instantly light up with joy. He steps into my office looking at me, then to Ris and Brady. His smile is as perfect as I remember. He's wearing dark wash jeans, a tight white t-shirt, and his hair lays neatly up top his head. He looks smoking hot, as usual. I instantly melt.

  "Hi!" I shout in excitement.

  I walk out from behind my desk toward him, forgetting the intensity that was taking place in my office.

  "Who are you?" Brady asks rudely, puffing up his chest.

  "Ali's boyfriend!" Ris chimes in with pure attitude behind her voice.

  I love Ris and her bluntness. Words can be sharper than actions. I look at Luke to see his reaction to the words that just spewed out of her mouth. His smile doesn't change one bit. He looks at me then turns to Brady, extending his hand out to him.

  "Yeah! I'm Luke. Nice to meet you, and you are?" he says.

  Luke looks Brady in the eye as he formally introduces himself while firmly shaking his hand. Brady better watch out as Luke will turn him into a cheese sandwich and eat him in one bite.

  Yeah! Luke said, yeah, not denying Ris's claim calling him my boyfriend. Holy shit!! I smile.

  "Brady, Brady Adams. Senior Designer," he boasts.

  Luke is quite a bit taller than Brady, and their bodies look evenly bulk, but Luke makes him look small. Brady seems a little intimidated and slightly taken off his macho high horse. It is funny to see him not be the main attraction.

  "Ris, you need to get back to your own office now," Brady snarls.

  "It was nice meeting you," he says sharply to Luke.

  Then he leaves my office. Ris sticks her tongue out behind Brady's back while flicking him off. Ris will be Ris, and I love her for it.

  "Well, ain't he just a pocket full of sunshine and rainbows," Luke chuckles.

  "Oh, you have no idea," Ris mumbles angrily.

  "It's nice to see you," she says to Luke, giggling, then waves at me as she leaves my office.

  Luke nods, then walks closer to me. I throw my arms around him, gripping him tight and resting my head against his chest. I'm so happy he is here; I take in his smell as we embrace, and he rests his chin against my head. I can see Brady staring at us from his office; I turn my head away and close my eyes.

  "Oh my God, I'm so excited you are here!" I say in pure glee.

  "Me too! This building is insane. So amazingly cool," he states.

  I let go of him and check the clock on my desk, it's twenty after four.

  "You made good time," I say with excitement.

  "Yeah, I left a little earlier than planned. I wanted to see you. I messaged you when I left about ten-thirty or so," Luke replies.

  "Sorry, we've been swamped, and I haven't had the time to check my phone at all," I say.

  I haven't checked my phone in all the mess of today with how shook I've been until Luke showed up, and now it has all disappeared.

  "No worries. I figured you were busy, and I enjoyed the look on your face when you saw me. That was enough for me. It was better as a surprise, anyway," he smirks.

  "We've got time for a tour if you'd like one," I ask.

  "Hell yeah! Let's do it!" he replies in excitement.

  We stroll out of my office, hand in hand. I let my assistants know where I am going after I introduce them to Luke. It's rather amusing watching all the ladies drool over him and not Brady for a change. I grab Ris from her office to accompany us on the tour; she does a lot better job as a tour guide than I do. Showing Luke where I work and the fantastic architecture in this building will be a lot better than the earlier melodramatic experience he encountered.

  Chapter Fifty-Eight

  Luke is doing exceptionally well with driving in the afternoon traffic in downtown Milwaukee. I forget that he is from San Diego, so he is used to the crazy driving and traffic jam scene. I did not miss it while I was back home. I like being able to go from point A to point B without having to stop a million times along the way. Since I am not behind the wheel, I'm content in this congestion in front of us, plus it gives me ample time to study more of his gorgeous face.

  Luke kissed me as soon as we got to his car, I was worried I'd freeze at the gesture, but I didn't. The kiss was so heavenly, with a genuine and sincere passion behind it. The longer he is here; the more what Brady did to me last night fades away to the back of my mind. I also mustered up the courage to tell him about Troy almost as soon as we had left Facade.

  He was surprisingly more understanding about it than I thought he'd be, well more understanding than I would be if the situation were reversed. I still have what Ris said floating around in my head when he first arrived, that he's my boyfriend, and Luke didn't deny it. I'm sure I am reading way too much into it, but a "yeah" is technically confirming it. Right? Why am I even contemplating the thought? He's here with me, and I am o
ver the moon!

  "Um... I'm sorry about Ris referring to you as my boyfriend today," I say.

  I sink into my seat and clench my teeth together in a weird smile thing. I'm not sure what Luke is going say, more so after I told him about Troy. However, he did say it was Troy's loss and his gain. Luke looks at me with his dreamy eyes and gives me his gorgeous smile.

  "It's fine. Don't worry about it, relax Turtle!" he replies.

  It's fine? What does that mean? Do I continue with this conversation and ask him if he wants to be, or do I let it go? I don't want this to become awkward.

  "What time is this dinner thing?" Luke inquires.

  "Seventy-thirty. We should have enough time to change then will need to head back out again," I respond.

  I tell him to take a left at the next set of lights, then a right a block down into the parking ramp. I love to stare at him; I'm a creeper, but I cannot help it. His forearms are sexy and flex slightly as he grips the steering wheel. The shirt he's wearing displays his abs and pectoral muscles, and you can see the ink from his tattoos through the white of his shirt against his skin.

  His profile is impeccable, and his lips; ugh, every inch of him makes me want him. He is one man that God made with complete and utter perfection.

  "Where should I park?" he asks, taking me away from analyzing his features.

  "Next to my Mustang. Each occupant living here receives two parking spots," I answer.

  "Well, that sucks. You wouldn't be able to have a plethora of vehicles!" he smirks.

  "I know. They would have to go to a public parking ramp or something. Which would suck balls!" I whine.

  Rethinking my choice in words knowing Luke will laugh at the words "suck" and "balls" coming out of my mouth. He probably thinks they aren't too womanly of me to say, but we get a good laugh out of it anyway. Luke grabs his bag from the backseat, and we gallivant toward my apartment. Ris's parents found us a super cute apartment. The rent is a bit steep, but we manage. I like it a lot. We are on the eighth floor of a historic store building.

  "Which one are you?" Luke asks.

  "C4," I reply.

  I open the door to my apartment, and we step inside.

  "Wow, this does not look like a little apartment to me at all!" he says in amazement.

  "That's because the ceilings are fourteen feet tall," I respond.

  Even I was surprised by it’s instant appeal when I first moved in here. I give Luke a quick little tour before I start to get ready for the dinner. We walk down the hallway and into my room first. My room is the largest, and it connects to a bathroom that also doubles as the laundry room. Ris didn't like hearing the washer and dryer through the wall, so she took the smaller room across the hall. I find the sound rather soothing.

  I tell Luke that Ris's room and bathroom are almost identical, except I have a bathtub/shower combo in mine and the laundry appliances. We walk farther down the hallway into the open floor plan that is our kitchen and dining room. Our living room is on a small loft off the dining area.

  "Wow, the view here is—," he starts to say as I interrupt him.

  "You should see it at night. It's something else!" I impede.

  I leave him to the view of the city from the loft as I saunter to my room to get ready for the dinner party. I stop at Ris's room first to see if I can borrow a pair of her earrings and a necklace, but she's in the shower. I grab them anyway; hopefully, she won't mind. She has everything she is wearing, displayed across her unmade bed.

  I make my way back to my room to work on my face. I decide on a subtle smoky eye with the sophistication and sass of my dress and elaborate eyeliner scheme as it makes my green eyes pop. I would have liked Ris to do my eyes, but I didn't do half bad.

  I attempt some slight contouring, then finish with my lash-boosting mascara, some rouge, and a light pink lip gloss. I add a small wave to my hair and pin back one side. I put in a pair of small diamond earrings and a short diamond necklace that lays nicely an inch or so above my bust. I contemplate going braless as my dress has adjustable spaghetti straps and is quite tight, which hugs my girls perfectly.

  I slip on a black lace thong, then grab my dress off the hanger from the back of my door. It's a little black number that reaches just above my knee on one side. The other side has a frilly ruffled leg flashing slit that travels up a good portion of my thigh. This dress screams class with a shit ton of sass. It's a tad out of my comfort zone, but Ris can be rather persuasive.

  My black ankle strap, open toe pumps completes my outfit, complimenting it quite well. I leave my bathroom to make sure Luke is getting dressed. He looks up at me from adjusting his belt, back down to his pants, then quickly back at me again. His mouth drops open, and his eyes go wide.

  "What? Do I look that bad?" I say in surprise at his reaction.

  I look down at myself and run my hands over my dress. Then bring my eyes back to him.

  "Hot damn, girl! You are killing it in that dress!" Ris shouts as she enters my room.

  Luke points at Ris, not removing his eyes from me.

  "What she said," he mutters in a deep voice.

  "Ali, that dress looks smokin' fucking hot on you. It did well!" she boasts.

  "I hope it's not too over the top and trashy," I question.

  "Nope. It's, ugh," Luke stutters.

  "It's fucking sexy as hell, girl!" Ris interrupts.

  "And no, it's not trashy at all. Just chill out!"

  I walk over to my full-length mirror. I look pretty good, and the slit fits the dress's overall concept, giving it an elegant but edgy appeal. I dig it. I turn to Luke, who is still gawking at me like a horned up teenage boy. He makes me bashful when he looks at me that way.

  "How do I look, bitch?" Ris barks as she does a slow spin.

  She doesn't need my nod of approval as she rocks every dress she wears. She is wearing a super short strapless black lace dress. It lays perfectly down her curves, and she has the boobs to hold it up. She has on the same shoes that I do, only silver, matching her dangly diamond earrings.

  "You look stunning, Ris," I say.

  She tromps out of my room after giving me her pressed lip smirk and eyebrow raise. Luke accompanies me to my bathroom for my final hair, makeup, and wardrobe check. His buttoned-up black shirt, medium gray dress pants, and black dress boots accent my outfit perfectly. I'm excited to go to this dinner with my handsome arm candy. Luke couldn't look anymore, suave.

  Chapter Fifty-Nine

  Ris calls a town car for us. She hates Ubers because she thinks they're gross. I do not see a difference between riding in someone's vehicle that is an Uber vs. riding in a town car; it's a stranger driving an unfamiliar vehicle. She will end up in an Uber tonight regardless, as the clubs don't close until two in the morning, and town cars only run until midnight.

  Luke is in front with the driver while Ris and I are in the back seat. We all could've fit back here, but it would have been a bit tight. Ris hands me a few bracelets from her clutch. One is almost like a cuff, it's so thick. I give her a weird look wondering why she is handing these to me. She points at the bruises on my arms that I received last night from Brady. I hope Luke hasn't noticed them. I wore a long-sleeved shirt today so no one would see my arms. I smile at Ris and mouth "thank you" to her. She blows me a kiss, and winks at me, then butts into the conversation that our driver and Luke are having.

  I slide the single thin brackets, about eight of them, on one wrist. They shimmy down my arm due to their size and cover my bruises. The cuff fits snug on my other arm, where the largest and darkest bruises are resting. I had put what happened with Brady in the back of my mind when Luke got here, and I haven't thought about it or Brady since.

  I hope dinner isn't awkward, and he doesn't try something funny like he did today at the morning meeting. I'm becoming apprehensive thinking about seeing him tonight. I pray Brady behaves himself and Ris doesn't get drunk and cause a scene. I wonder if he is bringing Troy to dinner with him. Troy is his wingm
an. He told me that Brady never brings a girl with him because it's a huge cock block. Therefore, he brings Troy to help him land the ladies.

  Brady makes my skin crawl and thinking about him makes me feel like I need to take a shower. I wish Luke were back here next to me; my thoughts of Brady would disappear. It's still fresh in my mind, but I am trying my best to distract myself from it. Although, I do like seeing Luke's profile and gorgeous teeth while he talks and laughs from back here.

  The driver slows down and pulls up in front of the restaurant. It's seven twenty-eight, we made it on time. He gets out of his vehicle to open our doors. He opens my door, and Luke opens Ris's. I thank our driver then walk around behind the car to Luke and Ris. Luke grabs hold of my hand and kisses me on my forehead.

  "That's an awesome name for a steakhouse!" Luke chuckles as he looks at the building.

  We are at the Carnivor Steakhouse Moderne. It is one of the finest steakhouses in Milwaukee. I have only eaten here once before, but the atmosphere and food are quite exquisite. It is said to be Wisconsin's most acclaimed fine-dining destination and consistently tops the year-end "Best Of" list. The building itself is an architect's dream, and the structure and overall concept is captivating.

  We enter the steakhouse, and the hostess greets us. Ris tells her we are part of the Facade party and we follow the hostess to the Raptor Room. I take in the amazing interior design, lighting, and overall layout of the restaurant that I do not pay attention to all the people from work already here. That is until Ris's loud, obnoxious voice echoes throughout the building.

  A few people are already sitting in our private dining area, but most are gathered around the bar that sits off the opening to the room, socializing with a drink in hand. It's always fun to see co-workers outside of a professional work setting. Of course, Barrett is not here yet, he's always the last one to show up. Brady walks up to us, and sure enough, Troy is right behind him.