Page 193 of Did They Break You

His hand comes to the button of my jeans.But I won’t let him do this.

“It wasn’t just him,” I cry out.

His movements stop.

“It wasn’t just him, Silas, it was…” I choke on those words, but he stops, and I keep going. “It was four of them, I don’tknow what happened. I was just drunk and…” I trail off. “I don’t know,” I whisper, “I don’t know what happened.”

There’s silence.

His hand still poised over my button.

But only silence.

Then he hits me before I can get the next word out, the back of his hand against my face. I taste more blood in my mouth. Fresh.

He moves away from me when he’s done.

And I’m seeing stars as my eyes fly open, his scent no longer so close, his body no longer over mine. I glance at my unbuttoned jeans, trying to process what just happened.

What he just did.

But before I can, he’s speaking again, and I’m ashamed that I feel relief. Fucking. Relief.

“You are a disgrace.” He sighs as I blink, my head pounding, my lip split. “Grab a towel, and get in the car. Sit on the towel. I don’t want your filth on my seats. If you still have your phone, call the police.”

My mind is racing with those words. “N-no, I don’t want to?—”

He steps closer, and I scramble back, terrified. “You’re either a whore for me to use, or you got raped, Remi.”

No. That’s not… Is that… I didn’t mean they did that. I don’t know if they did that. I don’t know…

“Were you or were you not drunk?”

I swallow, but then I nod, slowly.

“Of course you were. They raped you, Remi. At least the Adlers have money. I have no idea what he sees in you, but perhaps you can get a settlement out of all of this, which is the most you could have ever hoped for from him.” He jerks his chin. “Now get upstairs, and get a towel.”

I stagger to my feet, turning from him, stumbling blindly up the stairs, shock settling in.

I hear him on the phone, behind me, and I vaguely register the words. A cancelled meeting. An excuse. Then, “Something bad happened to Remi.” Feigned emotion in his words. “I have to take her to the hospital.”

I’m sitting up,and Cortland is still gripping my hand, but it feels like everything has changed.

“I’m sorry,” I rush to say, speaking through the emotions welling in my chest. “I’m sorry I even… went to the police, and I’m sorry about the charges and everything and?—”

“You went to the police because of your stepdad?” he asks me quietly.

Nerves course through me, and I grip his hand tighter, but he doesn’t return it. “Cortland, I was scared and I?—”

“Answer me.”

I wipe the back of my bleeding hand over my eyes, looking into his. “You know what you did was wrong. You know I didn’t say yes, and you know I was crying and?—”

He lets go of my hand, standing abruptly as fear grips my heart. He threads his fingers together over his head, his back to me.

I think of my stepdad’s anger. The glass at the foyer that I had to clean up when we got back from the hospital. “Say something, Cortland.”

Silence.

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