No Safeword: Matte - Happily Ever After (Safewords) (43 page)

Sam and Ethan lay in bed the next morning, her head nestled between his arm and body, and her legs thrown over his. Neither in a hurry to get up, though Sam had to pee something awful. Moving would hurt, and she’d rather not try it just yet.

“You know I’m going to need to reclaim you when we get home,” his voice rumbled. 

Sam’s heart skipped a beat and she had to let it catch up before she could respond. “Yeah. I was actually a little surprised you didn’t do anything last night or this morning, though I have to admit I’m grateful you haven’t yet.”

“Remember when we watched Rocky and you said you wanted to feel like a walking wound the morning after a fight? I assume this did it for you?”

“
God
, I hurt all over, and I know you have to be hurting, too. Jameson said your hands are worse than mine, and your face…” Sam grimaced as she looked at it closer. “Your darker skin hid most of the damage last night, but not so much this morning.”

“Jameson and Tara asked us to let them know when we were up.”

“I’m still in bed. Not up. Don’t have to call them.” Sam rolled away from him and pulled the sheet over her head. The movement hurt her ribs, but she ignored the pain and left her arm where it was.

“Your face doesn’t look so good, either.” He rolled until he was spooned behind her, and put his hand on her hip, careful of her ribs. “We should probably let them in, and then maybe get in the hot tub if they say it’s okay?”

“I have to pee, but I’m afraid to know how bad it’ll hurt to get up.”

Ethan laughed. “Right there with you. Aren’t we a pair?” He rubbed her hip. “I always worry before you step into the cage, and I’m glad you’re okay. I mean, we aren’t sure what you’ve done to your knee, but assuming you just wrenched it, you’ll heal in a couple of days, probably.”

“Same here, I was so afraid for you.” Sam thought about it and laughed, again ignoring her ribs. “Looks like we were both worried for the other and putting on a brave face.” She patted his hand. “Thanks for supporting me and not doubting me. I know it was hard for you to watch.”

He sighed. “As I said before your last fight — I have a new appreciation for what I put you through when I step into the cage. So, thank you, too.”

“I’m going to see if I can make it to the bathroom now.”

Her knee hurt like a bitch, but she could walk on it and didn’t think it was too bad. It didn’t feel as if anything were torn, so she hoped it was just wrenched or sprained.

As for her ribs, she thought it was the attachments between the bones, and they’d just need some time to heal.

She’d baby both until they were home and she could see her regular doctor. Jameson didn’t have the equipment to look inside, and she had no desire to go to a clinic or emergency room in Vegas.

* * * *

The couple took it easy most of the morning, took a nap together, and then dressed to catch a show with their friends.

“Where are Tyler and Viv?” Ethan asked as they all met in the hallway.

“Oh, that’s right, you were napping when they left.” He looked at her in question and she explained. “Tyler managed to keep his face mostly shielded from the cameras with my hair when he pulled me back, and then his hand when he talked into your ear. He faded into the crowd as soon as he handed me off to you, so there are no good shots of him. He wants to keep it that way, so he and Viv went home. Nathan will be my shadow until we leave tomorrow.”

Sam looked to Frisco and said, “However, we don’t know where Cassie is. Has anyone seen her?”

“Why are you looking at me?” Frisco asked.

“Because something has been going on between the two of you for months, though you’ve tried to keep it hidden,” Tom answered.

Frisco looked flustered, but only said, “I don’t know where she is. Whatever may or may not have happened between us is long past. She doesn’t tell me where she’s going.”

Sam frowned. “It isn’t like her to just not meet us when she says she will, though.” She tried calling her friend, but the call went to voice mail. She left a message asking Cassie to check in as soon as she could.

“Nathan? Did she check in with any of your people?” Ethan asked.

Nathan punched his cell phone a few times and shook his head. “No. Looks like she left the floor about two hours ago, and said she had some shopping to do before tonight.” He turned away from them, walked a few steps, and looked back. “Give me a few minutes and we’ll go. I want to get someone in the control room to look through the hotel and casino video feeds and see if we can figure out where she went and what happened.”

Sam was worried about Cassie, and relieved they had security people looking for her. With nothing the group could do to find her, they went to the show.

The friends stopped on the sidewalk outside after the performance and asked Nathan if his people had found anything.

“She used her credit card at a boutique a few blocks away and, according to the cashier, she was alone and purchased a corset and matching underwear like these.” He turned his phone and showed a picture of the two garments arranged on a table.

Frisco swore under his breath and Sam pulled him away from the group. “Would she have gone to a BDSM club alone?”

“Not when she planned to go to the show with us, but she may have intended to go after the show.”

Nathan stepped to them and said, “I overheard. There aren’t any official BDSM clubs with a play area in the city, but there are a few unofficial spots within a short cab drive. If she researched before coming she may have made arrangements for admittance.” He touched through a few screens on his smartphone, said, “I’ll have someone check it out.” He lifted the phone to his ear, and stepped away so no one could hear what he said.

Nathan left the group with two security people to watch over Sam and Ethan, saying he wanted to run something down personally.

An hour later, the group was eating in a restaurant close to the hotel, just in case there was news, when one of the security guys approached them.

“Nathan found Cassie. She’s in rough shape and he called for an ambulance. I have the address of the hospital they’re taking her.”

Sam stood and Ethan touched her arm. “We have to pay before we can leave. Give me a minute and I’ll take care of it.”

“Why don’t some of us get a cab and go, and the rest of you can follow?” Sam asked. “We can’t all fit in one cab, anyway.”

After a brief discussion, Sam, Tom, Frisco, and one of the security guys took a cab, and everyone else would follow once Ethan had taken care of the check.

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Information was sketchy, but the doctors were willing to talk to Nathan, as his computer guys had apparently supplied him with her birthday, address, allergies, and insurance information.

The police tried to keep Sam out, but when she started talking like an attorney they let her in the room while they talked to Cassie.

Sam had to school her face to keep from showing shock — her friend’s face was black and blue, and horribly swollen.

She already knew Cassie’s right shoulder was dislocated, so she went to her left side and gently placed her hand under her friend’s fingers.

“I’m going to interrupt the officers, but I’ll let them stay in the room while I ask you what happened. Are you okay with that? We can ask the male officer to leave if you’d rather, but if this goes to court it’ll be better if they’re both in here. Two officers testifying is always better than one.”

“Are you her lawyer, ma’am?” the female officer asked.

“I’m her friend and I happen to be an attorney, but this isn’t my specialty, so no, I’m not acting as her attorney. I want what you do — whoever did this in jail. Let’s work together to get you the information you need in the least traumatic way for the victim, shall we?”

She turned to Cassie. “Nathan found you upstairs in a private room of a BDSM club, and I’m told it’s an underground club. Do you know how you ended up there?” Cassie nodded and Sam said, “Okay, can you tell us how? It’s okay to begin wherever you’re most comfortable starting.”

Cassie looked at the police officers and then back to Sam. “I was supposed to go there later tonight. I’d talked to some people online, and told them I would get there between eleven and twelve o’clock. I wanted to see the place in the daylight though, so I took a cab to the address.”

She looked as if breathing hurt, and she took a few shallow breaths before adding, “There was this cool park across the street, and after the craziness of the past couple of days I thought I’d walk around the park and just chill out before meeting ya’ll for the show.” She sighed. “The cab driver called his dispatcher, and they said they’d have someone come pick me up in thirty minutes. I should have been okay.”

Sam caressed Cassie’s hand to give her some moral support, and Cassie shook her head and continued. “I walked around and took in the sunshine and fresh air, and then went out on the sidewalk to wait for the cab. It wasn’t there, so I thought I’d walk by the house to get a closer look.” She took a shaky breath. “Jose Clemente and the guy that’s always with him came out and grabbed me.”

Sam stayed relaxed, though she wanted to jump up and hit something. She didn’t interrupt and ask questions, but let Cassie continue.

“From what I gathered, he’d been allowed in early so no one would see him coming and going once it opened.” She shook her head and grimaced. “His assistant is his submissive or slave or…I don’t know. He does whatever Clemente says, and calls him Sir and seems terrified of displeasing him. The two of them carried me in. I tried to fight them, but they overpowered me.”

One of the officers asked, “Was there anyone else in the building?”

She shook her head. “I didn’t see anyone.”

Sam knew the officers needed to hear every detail while it was fresh on Cassie’s mind, but she hated that her friend had to go through the evening minute by minute.

The two men had raped her in just about every way possible, and had used a variety of implements on most of her body.

Apparently, Clemente had made his assistant leave before he whaled on Cassie with his fists, but the assistant had been involved in everything else.

“He said he’d hurt me again if I told anyone it was him.”

She was quiet, as if she wasn’t sure what else to say, so Sam prompted, “You were still tied up when Nathan found you.”

Cassie nodded. “They went downstairs to play, and told me they had the room for the evening and no one would look in on me until they returned. I guess the rooms are sound-proof? I screamed a lot, but no one came to help.”

Sam looked at the officers. “Is this enough for ya’ll to pick up Clemente?”

The man left the room and the woman said, “Not our call, but I certainly hope so.” She handed Sam a card. “I know you took him in the cage, and I’m guessing between you and your husband he won’t have a chance to get close to your friend here, but we’d rather it didn’t come to that so we’ll leave an officer on her door. If Clemente arrives, please let the professionals deal with him.”

“Thank you. I’ll stay with her, but it’s nice to know someone else will take care of Clemente if he shows up.”

Frisco came in when the officers left, but Cassie looked away from him and said, “Please leave.”

“I need to make sure you’re okay.”

“You don’t care. Go away.”

“Frisco?” Sam said. He looked at her and she continued. “Cassie’s been through a lot. She’s not okay, but she will be. Maybe you can talk to her later?”

He looked to Cassie with grief in his eyes and said, “I’ll be outside. If there’s anything you need, let me know?”

Cassie kept looking at the wall until he left.

“What do you need from me?” Sam asked. “It’ll be best if you can close your eyes and drift off, but if you can’t handle the silence I’ll talk about whatever you want.”

“Frisco and Cam and I? It was perfect.” She thought about it and said, “Well, except he wouldn’t give me what I needed. But, the three of us together? Magic.” She sighed. “I guess I screwed it up by trying to push him to give me more of what I wanted, and then…well, when he started bringing in other Doms for Cam, because their contract said he’d help Cam find someone once he was trained...” She sighed again, talking in bits and pieces without linking it together, but Sam let her talk.

“Frisco didn’t lead me on. He told me from the beginning he’d just show me the ropes, but then I had to go and fall in love with him.”

“Frisco says Cam moved in with you?”

Cassie nodded. “It doesn’t work with just the two of us. I mean, we’re friends and we cuddle, but sex doesn’t work without a Dom directing us.” She sighed. “I should’ve been safe tonight. I took all the precautions and thought I was being even safer by checking out the neighborhood in daylight, but…”

“Don’t beat yourself up. Clemente is an asshole and a bully, and you aren’t the first woman he’s put in the hospital. He fucked up this time, though. In the past he’s done it to low-end prostitutes and street girls — people without the resources to make him pay. He offered them fifty thousand dollars and they thought they were set for life. You’ll laugh at that kind of payoff.”

Sam still desperately hurt from the fight the night before. Cassie noticed her babying her knee and asked the nurses to bring her something to prop her knee on. The nurses found her a reclining chair, and even brought her an ice pack.

Ethan stayed in the waiting room, and Tom joined Sam in the ER patient room. It took the doctors and nurses nearly five hours to do whatever tests needed to be done before moving her into a regular patient room, where she could have more than two people with her.

When Sam was sure her friend was settled, she let Ethan take her back to the hotel as the sun was breaking over the horizon. Tom, Tara, and Kirsten stayed in the room, and Frisco stood in the hall with the police officer and the Drake security guy.

Sam and Ethan slept a good part of the day, and when they made it back to the hospital later in the evening, Frisco was in the room and Cassie seemed to be okay with his presence. He stayed on the other side of the room, but she included in him the conversation as if there wasn’t a problem.

“Dave says Clemente didn’t take the flight he was supposed to take home,” Sam told them. “The police believe he’s driving a rental car, and the assumption is he’s headed home to California. There’s an arrest warrant for him; it’s just a matter of finding him.” She sighed and looked at Cassie. “Once the media pick up on it, they’ll descend on you. I’m paying the Drake security people to make sure no reporters get close to you.”

Cassie shook her head, resigned. “I’ve already figured out this is going to be a big deal. Once they put me together with the YouTube video of Kirsten and I taking him down? It’s like a made-for-TV drama. Everyone on the planet will know I’ve been sexually assaulted, and some of them will say I had it coming because of that video.”

Frisco’s eyes caressed her from across the room. “They’ll be wrong. No one deserves this, Sweetness.”

She glared at him. “Don’t push it.”

Sam looked to Kirsten in question, but Kirsten only shook her head and said under her breath, “No idea.”

Deciding to ignore whatever was going on with Frisco, Sam said, “You didn’t deserve this. You didn’t ask for it. I’ll do everything I can to protect you from the media. I’m also making arrangements for a civil attorney to represent you. Whether you want to sue the asshole in civil court will be up to you, but the sooner I get an attorney involved, the more options you’ll have.”

“How much is all of this costing? It may take me years to pay you back.”

“I don’t want you to pay me a penny. This is my drama. Jose Clemente is
my
fault, so I’ll take care of you.”

Kirsten tilted her head. “This isn’t your fault, either. It’s Jose Clemente’s fault.”

“True, but, if she wasn’t my friend, or if I hadn’t decided to fight a man in the cage, then she wouldn’t be in that bed. It might not be my fault, but I have an obligation to take care of her and keep her safe.”

* * * *

Sam and Ethan were scheduled to be interviewed live on a major sports program, and Dave made excuses for them for the other interviews they missed, but felt strongly they shouldn’t back out of this one. He assured Sam there would be no questions about Cassie, so she and Ethan went back to their suite, put dressy clothes on, and made their way to the local affiliate.

They sat on a sofa and held hands as they answered questions, and Jose Clemente was only brought up once when the reporter asked, “With Clemente’s win, you can now say you’ve beat both the male and female Bantam titleholders. Do you feel cheated that you can only hold one title?”

She only smiled and said, “Karen Johansen hugged me after our fight, and called me the next day to see if we might have dinner the next time I’m in California. Ethan’s opponent had nice things to say to him, both to his face and to the media. There’s a lot to say about good sportsmanship, and about being good ambassadors for our sport. I’ve been in one title fight, which I won, and I’m thrilled with my belt.”

Surprisingly, the reporter let her get away with her answer, and asked Ethan what he intended to do with the very large payments he would receive from his fight.

“I’m going to pay off the mortgage on our house and take Sam somewhere romantic. Maybe Paris, or the Caribbean, or perhaps a trip back to Hawaii where we went for our honeymoon.”

“And what do you have to say to that, Sam?”

“My payoff wasn’t too shabby, but I think I’ll let him pay if he wants.” She smiled up at him. “Sometimes it’s best to indulge his caveman side.”

Sam breathed a sigh of relief as she realized she’d no longer have to worry he was spending more than he could afford, and she could chill out and let him pay for whatever he wanted.

* * * *

Sam asked Dave’s assistant to arrange for the remaining group to fly back on first class tickets, together. No one knew where Clemente was, and she gladly footed the cost to keep everyone together and comfortable so she could be sure no more of her friends were hurt.

Cassie was released the next day, though the doctors recommended they arrange for a wheelchair for any long walks through an airport terminal.

Sam, Ethan, and Frisco drove her home from the airport, where Cam was waiting for her at the front door. They got her in and put to bed, and when Sam and Ethan left, Cam and Frisco were standing in the living room, looking at each other.

“Frisco has some issues to work through,” Ethan said as he pulled out of the driveway.

“Yep, but I don’t think I can help.”