“Then I’ll need to call Matt.”
Fern’s one open eye widened. “Why?”
I held out my hand, waiting to see if she wanted to be touched. She pressed her palm to mine and held on tightly. “That twat tried to rape you.”
My words made her physically recoil.
“Hey, you’re safe. I won’t let him near you. Do you hear me?”
She nodded, a single tear rolling down her cheek.
“We’re in the back end of nowhere. Your family is already certifiably crazy. I don’t have security with me because not even Neo thought I could get into trouble out here and I need someone with some power to help us get somewhere safe. Matt heads up security for the entire label. He can take care of us without anyone else needing to know… not until you’re ready to tell them, because you’re going to have to tell them. You know that, right? This is too much to keep to yourself. Your friends are going to want to help you.”
“I don’t—” She didn’t finish, a sob stealing her words.
“You did nothing wrong, Fern. Nothing. You’re not a whore, you weren’t asking for anything. Don’t let his lies get to you. This is all on him, not you.”
“Can you hold me, just for a second? I don’t feel great.”
I shifted closer, wrapping my arm around her, feeling her body shake as the adrenaline wore off.
“Better,” I asked as she leaned her head on my shoulder.
“Better. Give me a minute and I’m going to take a shower. I want to wash every trace of that fucker off me.”
“Okay. And I’ll call Matt. Honestly, you can trust him not to tell anyone, but I need someone to know what’s going on and what we’re doing. What do you want to do? Go back to your house?”
“No, Luci, my housemate, is having her family stay at our place, so I don’t want to go back there until the New Year. Just ask him to find me a hotel. I’ll be fine.”
I stared at her, looking more vulnerable than I’d ever seen her, and I knew I couldn’t just leave. I would keep my promise to Neo and stay with her for the week, at least until I could get her to talk to someone about what happened. Preferably the police.
“Fern, I’m not leaving you alone to overthink what happened. No way. I promised to look after you for the week, and that’s what I’m going to do.”
She shook her head, making me pull her tighter, ghosting my fingers over her bruised jaw, which was now a dark shade of purple. “Fern, you can only see out of one eye. I’m not going to just up and leave you.”
“Fine,” she sighed. “We could go back to yours, I guess.”
“Archer and Fox are checking in on the place while I’m away, so if you don’t want anyone to know, that’s probably not the best idea.”
“Ask Matt if he has any ideas. I’m going to go shower.”
“Thanks, Matt. Sorry for disturbing your Christmas and for waking you in the middle of the night. Apologize to Frankie for me, too. And you won’t tell anyone, will you? Give us until New Year and I’ll get her back to London. I just think she needs a few days to get over the shock… I really appreciate this. We’ll leave as soon as the car arrives, and I’ll text you when we get there.”
I hung up and turned around to find Fern standing in the doorway. Her wet hair hung down her back, dripping onto her black hoodie, framing her face that was now a ghostly white instead of the healthy glow she normally wore. Her eye and her cheek were swollen, covered in angry looking bruises. She walked toward the bed, sighing loudly as she pulled back the covers and climbed under them. Sitting on the edge, I reached out and rubbed her bicep, the action making her whimper.
“Princess?” I questioned.
She slowly unzipped her top and let it slip from her shoulder, exposing the Alchemy Myth t-shirt she wore underneath. Pulling up the sleeve, she turned slightly showing me her forearm. Shewas covered in finger size bruises where he’d obviously held on to her.
“Are you hurt anywhere else?” I asked quietly, not wanting to make this any worse for her by showing her how fucking angry I was.
Her eyes dropped to the bed. “I think my lower back is bruised. I’ve got some on my thighs, from where he tried to force them apart and my head hurts from him pulling my hair and slamming it down onto the bench. My eye and cheek are the worst though. My eye feels like it might explode.”
“You need ice. I can go look for—”
“No,” she whimpered. “I can’t be alone here. Not for a second. Stay with me until we get out of here. Please.”
“Course. I spoke to Matt. He wasn’t happy about me being here without security and he couldn’t get us a plane without someone getting suspicious, so he has a car coming for us. They have some friends who live just south of the Scottish border. They have a place we can stay. Near the beach. It’s secluded and has a cottage close by, so we can keep the security he’s sending near us, and we can be there in about four hours. The car should be here by 8 am. It’s 2.30 now, so not long to hang on. Why don’t you get some sleep and I’ll pack? Security will come into the house to help us leave, so you’re not in any danger. You don’t have to speak to that monster again.”