Page 6 of The Will

“Oh, hell no!” was her response as she immediately moved to get up, but Alex easily put her back in her seat with a hand on her shoulder.

“Chloe, listen to me. I am a headhunter or bounty hunter if you prefer, and they hired me to find you. I don’t know why, but I have a feeling your uncle is lying about why he wants to find you.”

Chloe froze when he said the last part. She looked him directly in the eyes and spoke, leaning toward him, “That’s easy. He wants to kill me.” She didn’t even blink when saying it and picked her drink up for a rather large gulp.

She was feeling good after a couple of glasses and was moving toward her happy place. The one where she isn’t totally out of it, but she really doesn’t mind being asked anything, including “do you want to go fuck”. That thought made her smile.

Alex looked at her and her slightly crooked smile before asking bluntly, “Why would he want you dead, Chloe?”

Chloe had felt for the longest time as not worthy whenever she was near a man. This evening, though— here was a hottie, being nice and concerned, asking her to be an open book. She thought about the situation and decided that once she took another gulp of her margarita to just start with her uncle.

She knew her issue with men was being told she was a halfbreed piece of trash and an entire array of other nasty names by her Uncle Gene. He didn’t have a big vocabulary except for insults, as he never ran out of new ones. He had controlled everything she did, from where she went to school, to her clothes, to what extracurricular activities she could or could not take part in. No say in any of that was reassuring at first, when she had lost her mother at 15 years old, but it continued even when she was trying to be her own person. It was like her independence made her uncle even angrier. Then there was “Little Gene” and his friends that cornered her after her college graduation in her uncle’s house.

She had tried to tell her mom many times that “Little Gene” creeped her out with how he stared at her whenever he saw her. Her mom said she was overreacting and that he only wanted to be her friend, so Chloe kept any incidents with him to herself. He got worse once she had to move into her uncle’s home.

The situation with him came to a climax at a party to celebrate her degree. She had been so happy in a new cocktail dress, mingling among people that wished her well. She had made a few contacts for job prospects and had a couple of glasses of champagne, so she was comfortable and her guard was down. So much so, in fact, that she willingly followed “Little Gene” (which she would never do) when he approached her after she came out of the bathroom. He claimed they were going to see her uncle in the room with the pool table. She had no idea that her uncle was not in there, but three of “Little Gene’s” friends were. They closed the door, locked it, and dragged Chloe to the pool table.

She wasn’t drunk, so she fought them at first while they were busy trying to hold her down. Her cousin got tired of the fight, so he grabbed a pool ball and hit her in the head. Her head exploded in pain and bright light with the impact before she passed out completely.

Chloe woke up naked on her bed. Not covered up or cared for, but like they had tired of her and dumped her there. Her dress was missing. No bra, panties, or pantyhose in sight either, but her heels were thrown on her bedroom floor. She moved to cover up and found that she was in pain whenever she moved. Chloe felt like she had been hit by a truck and in between her legs was throbbing.

She moved enough to grab her bathrobe, and it took her several tries before she was able to get it on her body, the pain making the simple task hard. It felt like every slight brush of the cotton on her skin was a cheese grater rather than a robe. She got up and almost fell right back down on the bed. Her limbs shook from the pain and effort.

Chloe made it out of her room and next door to the bathroom. Big mistake, as the first thing she saw was herself in the mirror.

There was a knot on her head, as well as bruises around her mouth and chin. She didn’t want to look at the rest of her body. Chloe had fought so hard that she was sure there were marks all over her. She sat on the toilet and reached down to tenderly touch herself between her legs where it throbbed to the beat of her heart. The skin burnt with pain after the gentlest graze. She brought her hand up, seeing blood, and knew one of them had raped her, if not all of them.

Alex suddenly grabbed her hand, and it surprised Chloe out of her horrendous story. “You don’t have to go on, you know,” he said. His facial expression was one of deep concern and pain.

Very inebriated, Chloe smiled at him again. “Well, you wanted to know, and I’m not even to the best parts.”

That comment convinced Alex it was time to take her home. Jimmy had sent her address along with the video of Chloe’s backside. He stood up and moved to help Chloe rise out of the chair.

“Oh, wait,” she said, gulping the last of her margarita before taking his hand and stumbling to her feet. She wasn’t steady, so Alex pulled her under his arm to help her to the SUV. As he held open the door to let her sit down, she leaned toward him and waved her arm to beckon him closer. Alex bent down toward her as she whispered to him. “I think I may have had too,” and stopped as she paused for the words, “too many.”

Alex chuckled, “You think?”

Chloe didn’t appreciate his sarcasm, so she retorted while wobbling her head. “Hey, you ordered the pitcher. Besides, I can’t talk about this stuff sober. It scares me.” She gasped and covered her mouth with one of her hands. “I shouldn’t have told you that. I shouldn’t have told you any of it,” she whispered right before her head fell back onto the seat.

Alex looked at her as he belted her into the seat. She had her eyes closed again with her mouth slightly open. Her story so far was pretty bad. Uncle Eugene was an ass and probably some kind of elitist that abused her with words for years. Then she goes to college and was probably just getting her freedom and confidence slowly built back up when her cousin and his friends wrecked her world again. It amazed Alex that she was even still here. Many people commit suicide after experiencing so much abuse.

Also, Alex was concerned. Cy would have supplied him with police records if there had been charges filed for a rape. That part was what really had him clinching the steering wheel on the way to her apartment.

The bastards got away with all the shit they did to her.

Chloe said she hadn’t even gotten to the best part. Was she referring to why her uncle wanted to kill her? Alex’s brow furrowed, his concern growing. She said she shouldn’t have said anything.

He sure hoped he could get her to talk some more once he got her home.

Chapter 6

Alexpulleduponthe street outside of Chloe’s address. It was an older brick four-plex with a neatly kept lawn and bushes dotted along the facade of the building. They symmetrically placed decent-sized windows to give the apartments friendly light during the day and the path had lights staggered so there weren’t dark spots.

Alex approved, as it appeared she chose well for her safety and could easily see people coming when she was home. Now that they were there, it was time to wake sleeping beauty. Alex opened the passenger door, unbelted her while he leaned over her and whispered in her ear. “Chloe, we’re here now. Do you think you can wake up enough to let us into your apartment?”

The voice that came into Chloe’s sleep-fogged mind was soothing and warm. So deep and dark, like good chocolate. Yum, Chloe loved chocolate. She knew it was a sexual substitute, but she didn’t care. Sex was overrated, right? It was something you just grabbed when you couldn’t stand it anymore because otherwise you just willed yourself into being okay without it. Then the voice came again, saying her name, causing her to stretch her arms up and legs out in front of her before she finally opened her eyes.

Alex was leaning over Chloe from the open passenger doorway, smiling like the cat that ate the canary. He chuckled as he stepped away from Chloe to give her room to step out of the vehicle. Chloe was cautious while gathering her belongings and stepping out. She immediately wobbled, and Alex caught her arm to steady her.

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