Page 68 of Strangers in Love

For a second, I was completely confused, and then heat flooded my face as I realized what she was planning to do.

I shook my head. “I don’t…I mean…”

“Miss Mercier,” the doctor’s voice gentled. “It’s all right. I won’t lie to you. Having a rape kit done isn’t pleasant, but it is necessary. You don’t know what could–”

“I wasn’t raped,” I blurted out. Dr. Stein and Freedom exchanged the type of look that said they didn’t believe me, and that chased away my embarrassment. “I’m serious. The people who had me weren’t nice, but they didn’t…” A flash of the guard groping Gia made me pause to regain control of my voice. “Yes, there was some…touching…over my clothes, but nothing…they didn’t rape me.”

My nails dug into my palms as I struggled to keep my tumultuous emotions in check. I was being honest. They hadn’t raped me, but I knew that had only been because Eoin had shown up before they could. I had no doubt at all in my mind that I would’ve been assaulted in some way if that guard had managed to get me alone. The truth was there, in the back of my mind, chilling my blood and turning my stomach.

“I can’t help you if you’re not honest with me,” Dr. Stein said.

“If my sister says she wasn’t raped, then she wasn’t,” Freedom said firmly. “She’s a virgin.”

My jaw dropped, and I could feel all the color returning to my face. I hadn’t realized Freedom knew, even though it made sense when I thought about it. However, it wasn’t as much her knowledge that shocked me, but rather the fact that she’d feel it was her place to impart that information on my behalf.

“Is this true, Miss Mercier?” The doctor’s eyes fixed on a point above my shoulder.

“That’s none of your business,” I snapped before I could think better of it.

Freedom’s eyes narrowed. “Answer the doctor’s question.”

I glared at her, crossing my arms. “None. Of. Your. Business. Either.”

“I’m going to see about getting those x-rays.” Dr. Stein left, but not before I could see the relief on her face.

A part of me wished I could go with her.

Freedom didn’t waste any time before starting. “Please tell me you didn’t have sex with Serle while I was in the hospital.”

“Serle? Hell no!” My expletive surprised her. “He’s the reason I was taken in the first place.”

“What do you mean?”

Hoping my revelation would distract her, I filled her in on everything that’d happened while she’d been gone, as well as what Eoin had discovered when he’d gone to Neutral Ground for intel on me.

“I’ll kill him,” she said, her face a mask of fury. “Slowly. With my bare hands.”

“I’ll help,” I offered, slightly giddy that I’d managed to get her attention away from–

Her eyes narrowed. “If it wasn’t Serle, then who?”

Dammit.

“Let it go, Freedom.”

“Like hell I will,” she said, her voice sharp. “I left you alone for a week. Less than a week. And you managed to find someone to have sex with?”

I sighed. She wasn’t going to give up. As much as I hated it, I knew why she was being so insistent about it. She was blaming herself for me being kidnapped and wanted to be angry at someone for it, but the people responsible weren’t here and likely would never be brought to justice. This was something specific she could latch onto, and until I convinced her that I’d voluntarily given my virginity to a man, she wouldn’t let up, no matter how much she said she believed me when I said I hadn’t been raped. Fortunately, we wouldn’t be seeing Eoin again, so I could tell her.

“It was the guy who rescued me, okay?”

“Cain?!”

I half-expected people to come running to find the source of that near-shriek, and under other circumstances, it might’ve been amusing, but I needed to do damage control. Fast.

“No, no. Not Cain.” That definitely confirmed that she and Cain had been an item. I tucked away that knowledge for a future conversation. “Eoin.”

“Who?” She’d calmed down a bit when she realized her ex hadn’t deflowered me.

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