“Yeah, it was. I’m healing, though, and I just want to move on with my life, Sir. Or, uh, Master.”
“Call me Quinten, Simone. We’re not at the club.”
“Yes, Sir.” I can’t quite bring myself to use his first name.
He smiles warmly. “It’s understandable that you’d like to put your attack behind you. Sometimes survivors really want to move on, but they find themselves stuck.”
“Yes. That’s what’s happening. I want to forget.”
“Forgetting isn’t likely to ever happen. Instead, you’re better off facing what happened, working through it, and processing it. If you feel angry or scared, you’ll heal faster emotionally if you talk about your feelings instead of stuffing them down and trying to ignore them.”
I nod. I’m sitting ramrod straight, and I’ve tucked my fingers under my thighs.
“Camden tells me a man jumped out of nowhere, grabbed you, and tried to take you with him. You fought hard, kneed him in the balls, and managed to scratch his face. Then he tackled you to the ground and got in a few good punches before someone showed up, and your assailant took off.”
“Yeah.”
“Have the police found him?”
“Not yet.”
“Does that scare you?”
I shrug. “I guess. I try not to think about it.”
“I bet you have mixed feelings about the police finding him.”
My eyes widen. “How do you know that?”
“It’s common. It’s a catch twenty-two. On the one hand, you want him caught and punished for what he did. That same part of you doesn’t want anything like this to happen to anyone else. But, on the other hand, the thought of him being arrested is scary because what if he gets released and comes after you?”
I smile. “Exactly.” I guess Quinten deals with shit like this sometimes. This isn’t his first rodeo. That makes me feel confident in his ability to help me.
“Are you sleeping okay?”
“Usually. But only because Camden holds me in the night.”
“That’s good. I bet that makes you feel safe.”
“That and the fact that this is a gated community, the house is a fortress, and my attacker has no idea where I am.”
“Does he know who you are?”
“I don’t think so, but I can’t be sure. I don’t know if he picked me at random, if he stalked my apartment building, or if he followed me home from Surrender.”
“Ah. You were at Surrender that night?”
“Yes.”
“I see. Has anyone spoken with Roman?”
“Yes. The police showed him the sketch. He didn’t recognize the man. I didn’t either, but I mostly go to the daycare room. I don’t pay attention to the other people in the rest of the club.”
“Makes sense.”
“You know nothing can happen to you inside this house, right?”
“Yes, intellectually. It’s not so much that I’m worried about my safety. Normally, when I zone out, it’s because I’m reliving those moments and trying to figure out a way to go back in time and do things differently so it never happens.”
