Which means he’s desperate to find other ways of forcing Vander and Diana to toe the line. Namely, me and Yale. Vander is scared shitless Greg is going to fuck up his place because he made that threat when he turned up at the boxing club, confirming he knows about his acceptance in the art program. I phoned Della and the financial aid advisor I spoke with at Yale and explained the situation. They tried to reassure me his place is secure, but none of us are naive. We know the way these things work. Greg Henley is a respected alumnus and a big donor to the university. Neither woman could guarantee Greg couldn’t pull strings to mess things up for his son.
Vander once said in order to beat Greg you have to play him at his own game, so that’s what I’m going to do. If I do nothing, Greg will come at me again, only this time it won’t be subtle gropes and sleazy innuendos. He intends to use me to hurt his son, and I wouldn’t put it past him to rape me. I’m not going to sit back and wait for him to attack me.
I’m taking control, and it needs to happen now.
Tonight.
I’m going to lure him into action and capture it on camera because I need irrefutable evidence to get him fired and disgraced. I’ll ensure the news is plastered all over the media and the internet so he loses whatever clout he has with senior-level personnel at Yale.
Vander will be safe.
And more importantly, free.
41
KENDALL
My palms are sweaty, and my heart rate is elevated as I watch the last employee walk out the doors of Bentley Law. It’s almost nine p.m., and the only two people left in the building are me and Gregory Henley.
I have everything set up.
My cell is fully charged and sitting on my phone holder on the desk to the side of my filing tray, where it’s not immediately noticeable but still at the perfect angle to video the scene how I expect it to go down. It’s ready to record with an automatic backup to the cloud every ten seconds, in case anything goes awry. My desk is clutter-free with all files and paperwork safely locked away. A can of pepper spray and my keys are in the bottom of my filing tray should I need them. I changed out of my skirt suit into a short, tight, lowcut, red dress, and I have styled my hair and makeup as if I’m heading out for the night.
Nerves fire at me as I sip from a vodka cranberry can and attempt to calm down. I run over my newly learned self-defense techniques in my head while I wait for Vander’s father to make an appearance. I know he will. I made a point of walking the hallways outside his office so he knows I’m still here. He won’t pass up this opportunity.
A few minutes later, footsteps approach, and I know it’s showtime. My hands shake as I press record on my cell and lean over my desk, hiking my ass in the air as I pretend to reach for something in the drawer. A cool breeze wafts over the backs of my exposed thighs as he enters my office, distorting the air. Hands grip my hips, and I shriek as he presses his body up against me. Blood pounds in my skull, and I’m trembling all over when he pushes his groin into my ass.
Reminding myself I’m in control and this is how I wanted it to go down, I swallow over the ball of nerves in my throat and play my part. My hands move back, and I angle my head, turning to glare at him as I attempt to pry his hands from my hips. “Get your hands off me, and step away.”
Digging his nails into my hips, he thrusts the beginning of an erection into my ass, and I almost vomit. “Or what?” He leans his entire body down over me, nuzzling his nose into my neck.
“I’ll scream!”
He chuckles before tugging on my earlobe with his teeth. “We’re all alone here, darling, so go for it. All it’ll do is turn me the fuck on.” He pivots his hips against my ass and begins dry humping me. His body cages me against the desk, leaving me helpless to invoke any of the moves Vander taught me, and I can’t access the pepper spray or my keys to attack him from this position either.
Panic crawls up my throat as I writhe underneath him, trying to buck him off, but he’s too heavy, and he’s crushing me. “I’ll report you to Leland. You can’t do this! I don’t want this! Get off me!” I shout as he grips the hem of my dress with one hand, and his fingers inch up my thigh. Oh my God! What was I thinking?! It wasn’t supposed to go down like this, and now I’m genuinely terrified he’s going to rape me.
“Leland doesn’t give a fuck. All he cares about is money. Ask Leona Wallace and Janine Rindell. They tried going over my head, and they ended up without jobs and letters of recommendation.”
All the blood drains from my face. I had no idea he’d tried this crap on anyone besides Tania. Maybe we need to partner up and go after him as a group.
“You broadcast your thoughts so loudly.” He chuckles as his fingers move farther up my thigh, while he continues thrusting, and I continue trying to buck him off. “They both signed NDAs in exchange for a small cash lump sum. Neither will talk to you.” In an unexpected move, he jerks back and flips me over so my spine is flat to the desk and I’m facing him. Before I can fight him, he pushes the muzzle of a gun into my thigh under my dress, and I turn rigidly still. “This is the way things are going down.” Keeping the gun pressed to my flesh, he forces my legs apart and steps in between them. He bends down and presses his lips to my ear while a full-body shudder works its way through me. “You are going to do exactly as I say, or I will kill you.”
“You won’t get away with murder.” I project my voice, wanting the recording to clearly hear me.
“I already have,” he says, nibbling along my neck as I shiver and shake. “Several times.”
I want to believe it’s a lie, but I hear the truth in his tone. Lifting my arms over my head, he quickly secures my wrists with leather cuffs, hooking them to the edge of my desk so I can’t move them. He straightens up and pulls my body to the edge of the desk, stretching my arms painfully and causing my skirt to ruck up a few inches. The hem barely covers my crotch, but it’s enough to conceal what he’s doing with the firearm under my dress.
I stifle a sob as he drags the muzzle of the gun up and down my lace-covered pussy while he unzips his pants and shoves them and his boxer briefs down his legs, and I contemplate the danger I’m in. Right now, being raped is the least of my concerns. He’s holding me at gunpoint, and I already know he’s a sick, psychotic bastard with little regard for women or human life.
He could kill me.
I was stupid to think I could pull one over on a man like Gregory Henley. It’s clear he anticipated this, and I’m feeding his agenda. I need to extract myself from this mess I’ve made. I’m all out of threats, and the only thing I can do is appeal to any sliver of humanity that may be buried deep inside him. Ignoring how he is tugging on his disgusting dick and eyeing me like I’m his next meal, I fix a pleading expression on my face as I eyeball him. “Please don’t kill me. My kids need me. You don’t need to do this. Please remove the gun from under my dress.” I want it noted on the video there is a gun because it’s presently hidden from sight.
He lifts one of my legs over his shoulder while transferring the gun to the outside of my other thigh. Moving his hips, he begins thrusting in earnest, throwing back his head and moaning. When his eyes lower to mine, I swear I’m looking into the eyes of pure evil. “What about my son, Kendall? Doesn’t he need you too?”