“Senator,” I said, catching my breath and plastering on a fake smile.
“I seem to have misplaced my cell phone. The last time I saw it was in the study.” He gestured to the room Nathaniel and I had just been in. My pulse sped. He wore a soft smile. “Would you mind helping me search for it?”
I nodded. “Of course not,” I said, gesturing for him to lead the way.
We walked back into the study and I looked around the desk and leather couches.
When I bent down to look by the couch, I felt Senator Scott right behind me. His front pressed to the curve of my ass, and I froze. My brain seemed to empty out completely like it couldn’t process what was happening. It wasn’t until I felt a large hand palm one of my breasts through my work clothes that I jerked into panic mode, finally unfreezing.
I turned around fast, confused and uncomfortable. When I backed up, trying to put as much distance between the two of us as possible, the back of my thighs hit the couch.
“Senator,” I said, cautioning him, trying to reason with him, with myself, with this whole situation—
He grinned and it was full of lust and arrogance and I felt my body starting to shake. He breathed out. He was so close to me—too close—and I smelled the whiskey on his tongue. “I’ve been watching you all summer, Juliette. And I rather like what I’ve been seeing.”
I swallowed thickly, not liking his tone or the way his eyes scanned me like a starving dog eyed a piece of fresh meat before pouncing on it.
When he reached out once more and his hand touched my hip, I swatted it away.
“Don’t you dare look so offended at my touch, darling. I just saw you service that rich kid in here,” he growled, unpleased at my defiance.
Confused, shocked, I simply stared at him. How did he… how did he know? I must’ve asked that aloud because he replied in an even, scary voice. “I was passing by and heard strange sounds coming from here. The door wasn’t locked so I opened it and saw you blowing that kid’s cock like your life depended on it. It certainly made me want to test the naughty maid out for myself,” he said, shrugging.
My heart stopped mid-beat, my next breath vanished from my lungs, and I felt all the blood drain from my face. It only lasted a second—a moment of complete, undisguised horror—before it all came back at once. Panic assaulted me. Heart beating erratically, lungs filling up and emptying out too fast. I tried shoving against him, but he saw it coming and pushed me down onto the couch.
My eyes darted to the door. Only a few feet away, only a few—My lips parted on a scream but before it could get out, his large hand wrapped around my throat, cutting off my scream for help back into my throat.
“Show me what’s underneath,” he said, voice thick and raspy. His fingers violently tore at my dress shirt, buttons flying off as he exposed my breasts. I clawed at his arms, but he didn’t stop, only shoved me harder, gripping my throat until I wheezed in pain and panic.
His mouth attacked mine, brutally, his teeth biting into my bottom lip in a vicious grip. Metallic tang filled my mouth, my own blood.
I thrashed against him, beating my hands on his chest, but he only squeezed my throat tighter, suffocating me, a desperate noise escaping only as a sigh from my mouth.
“Shh, darling. Don’t fuss, it’s too much trouble for what it’s worth. I can give you more than some rich kid.” His other hand was pushing down on my shoulder, I felt suffocated, trapped. I didn’t know what to do. “It can be our little secret.” He went to unzip his pants and my body reacted on its own. My foot shot up and hit between his parted legs. A painful groan left his mouth and he bent over, gasping. I didn’t wait a second longer and ran out the door, as far away from him as I could.
I didn’t stop, I didn’t look back even when I heard his footsteps thundering after me.
“You fucking—”
I turned a corner and slammed into someone, their hands gripping my arms before I could fall.
Gabe Easton stood in front of me, his brows furrowed in confusion. He scanned me, my torn lopsided clothes, my harsh, quick breaths, and the panic I knew was still very much obvious in my eyes.
Shame washed over me, and I hated myself for feeling it.
I had nothing to be ashamed of, the senator had been the one pouncing on me. Trapping me, touching me—
Something caught Gabe’s vision behind me and I looked back to see the senator, wiping at his bottom lip with a look of fury.
When Senator Scott saw I was no longer alone, he gulped visibly and walked away fast. Gabe Easton’s attention returned fully to me, and the weight of it made me feel uncomfortable. He was looking at me like he could see everything, everything that had happened in the study with the senator, and my throat seemed to close in on itself.
He didn’t need to speak; his hands curling into fists and eyes full of fury that wasn’t directed at me said enough. It was a look well known in the media. They nicknamed it the Easton glare.
“Juliette,” a voice called to me and Gabe stepped away, revealing Nathaniel walking toward us.
His features warped into concern at my appearance and he quickened his steps. His eyes traveling from me to Gabe quickly. “What happened?”
I tried to close my shirt, but without the buttons, it left gaping holes showing my skin and white bra.
My bottom lip wobbled, eyes filling up with tears. I blinked back rapidly, trying to chase them away. I didn’t want to cry. Not now, not here, not ever if I could help it. I hadn’t known a voice alone could offer such comfort but hearing it now, it made me feel safe. The adrenaline was starting to leave my body and I shook violently. I glanced at Gabe, imploring him with my eyes not to say anything. Senator Scott had more power than me, more power than probably all of us. He would ruin me. It was his word against mine and I would never win.
“I’m fine,” I said and my voice cracked despite myself.
Gabe’s jaw ticked, he ignored my pleading. “Senator Scott.”
Nathaniel’s eyes snapped back to mine, understanding brewing in them. I could see a thousand thoughts running through his mind.
“Get the others, Gabe,” Nathaniel said, his voice cool and calm, his gaze never leaving my watery one.
My eyes must’ve been filling up with more traitorous tears because everything was starting to get blurry, I blinked harder as my nose itched with restraint.
Gabe glanced at me and then back at Nathaniel, nodding once.
Once he’d walked off to get the others, I shook my head, staring at Nathaniel as he paced back and forth. I had never seen him so unnerved, so agitated. His muscles seemed to be pulled tight enough to snap.
“Fucking bastard,” he said, his voice thick with a rage I had never seen in him before. The tendons in his throat strained and each breath came out fast and hard. “Fucking scum.”
“Nathaniel,” I whispered. “Leave it be, please.”
He laughed darkly, lifting his head. “Leave it be?” His gaze found me and it was dark and deadly, no trace of warmth. “He assaulted you, Juliette.”
“I don’t have the power or the money to fight him,” I said. I knew how these things went. He would either say I was lying or pay me off.
His eyes moved down to my mouth and his eyes flared, rage building shockingly fast. It was then I felt the ache in my bottom lip and my fingers touched the edge of the raw bite, a tiny bit of blood coating it.
Nathaniel caught my wrist and stepped closer, pulling me into the safety of his strong arms. He shrugged out of his blue designer jacket and placed it over my shoulders, trying to hide my torn dress shirt.
He stared at me like I was precious, like I was the stars he had searched for and I couldn’t breathe, his fingers tracing my cheeks delicately. I hadn’t realized the tears had started to spill until I felt how wet my cheeks were. “We have more power than you think.”
A shiver ran through my body at his words, and he wrapped his powerful arms around me in a comforting embrace. I exhaled a shaky breath into his chest.
Two of his fingers brushed my sore bottom lip and wiped away the blood and then he pressed his mouth gently to mine, his tongue touching delicately over the wound.
He stroked my cheek. “Are you okay?”
I wanted to say I was fine, but I knew he would know from my eyes. “Just shaky.”
His jaw ticked, his eyes scanning me, his fingers still tracing my skin for any wounds he wanted to heal. Emotion so raw filled his features and then when he spoke, I heard it like a downpour. “No one hurts what’s mine, Juliette.”
His eyes shone so fiercely, so viciously.
I had never expected someone saying that to me would make my knees weak, but I wanted to be Nathaniel’s and I wanted him to be mine. Completely mine. I was at a loss for words, my mouth shaking as I stared back at him.
“You’re okay now, sweetheart. We’ll take care of this. He’ll pay for it, I promise.” His arms tightened around me, and I felt him kiss my forehead. His every touch was infinitely gentle, but I knew inside him a dark, furious storm was brewing. And it was only getting stronger. “Excuse yourself from work, Juliette. Tell them you feel sick and go back to our cottage. Wait there for me.”
I shook my head, stunned, but he moved away and walked back outside, following the steps Gabe had taken minutes before.
It was after midnight when I heard footsteps enter the cottage. I stayed still, lying on my side. When the footsteps grew closer and stopped by my feet, I glanced up.
Nathaniel shrugged out of his suit jacket, rubbing at his furrowed brow.
“What did you do?”
He shook his head.
“Nathaniel.” I sat up, glaring at him. “Don’t you dare go silent on me. I deserve to know.”
“We dealt with him,” he hissed out and I caught his harsh features in the moonlight from the moon shining in.
“How?”
He removed his dress shirt and pants, revealing his lithe, muscular body and settled down beside me, wrapping an arm around my shaking body. I hadn’t stopped shaking since I had left the study and I hated it.
I eyed his hands, noticing the bruised, bloody knuckles. My breath caught. I had never seen him so vicious, so violent, and so angry.
“What if he presses charges?” I asked, fear bubbling up inside of me.
Nathaniel laughed darkly. “He won’t be.” He flexed his hands, staring at the damage, his teeth clenched. “The bastard’s lucky to still have his two fucking hands.”
I shivered at his cold, cruel tone, feeling his body shake against mine. I couldn’t speak. Emotion filled me to the brim and suffocated me.
“Nathaniel,” I whispered, unwept tears filling my voice. “I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
When he touched my wet cheeks and kissed my neck, I relaxed, burying my face into his chest.
“You’re forgetting, sweetheart, who we are,” he whispered into my damp hair. His fingers played with my strands and he breathed me in. “We’re bastards with too much power.”
I didn’t laugh. I had thought the four boys were powerful at Yale, but I hadn’t thought of how much of that power existed in the real world.
“Arsen made a call. It didn’t take long to find some information on him that would ruin his life if it got out. He’s making a public announcement tomorrow that he will be resigning now,” he stated. “He’s banned from associating with any of us. He’s been cut off.”
I sniffled, glancing up at him through wet lashes. “You’d do that?”
He simply hummed.
And in Nathaniel’s arms, I started feeling safe again.