And stopped dead; everything within him instantly on high alert. Because this wasn’t the same woman who’d gone to her bedroom not half an hour earlier.
Instead of changing into lounge pants and one of the camisole tops that she liked to wear at home, she was still dressed in the gray skirt and pink top she’d worn to work. More telling, her feet weren’t bare; they were clad in the mile-high silver pumps she’d donned for the office.
She was wearing her business armor.
With her shoulders back, chin held high, and absolutely no emotion showing on her face, she made her way to the end of the table farthest away from them all, holding an envelope in her hand. Suddenly, the table was as much of a barrier between Harvard and Rachel as the distant expression on her face.
Slowly, Ryan and Elle realized that the atmosphere in the dining room had changed. Become tense and expectant. They lowered their chopsticks and gave their attention to Rachel.
She didn’t even glance at them. Instead, she focused on Harvard. “I’m being blackmailed.”
As Ryan froze and Elle gasped, a jolt of shock shot through Harvard’s body, ensuring that every inch of him was focused fully on Rachel. “Go on,” he said without any sign of the inner turmoil he felt.
“Before I tell you all this, I must insist that none of you get emotional. It really isn’t worth it. And I would appreciate it if you’d wait with questions until I’m finished talking. Am I clear?”
Ryan and Elle murmured their agreement, sounding worried. The tension in the room shot up by about a million degrees. Nothing good could follow a warning like that. Nothing. Fighting the urge to walk around the table and hold her while she talked, Harvard said instead, “We’ll be professional.”
It must have been enough of a reassurance for her, because she nodded and took a visible breath. “Ten years ago, I spent my summer break from university living at home and interning at TayFor. While out one evening at a nightclub, I was drugged and raped by several men.”
What the fuck?
Ryan shot to his feet and started pacing. Elle covered her mouth with her hands.
As for Harvard, the world as he knew it exploded around him. Years of training in tamping down his emotions kept him from reacting to the flying shrapnel and out-of-control blazes that only he could see.
When he didn’t move a muscle, but instead kept his eyes glued to hers, Rachel let out a long, very controlled breath that he wouldn’t have noticed if he hadn’t been studying her so intently. “I don’t actually know how many men were involved.” Her voice was flat, as though she were reciting London’s underground schedule. “Thanks to the drug they used, I have no memory of the actual assault. Sometimes, I have the faintest of flashbacks. Usually when I dream, more recently, when I’m awake.”
For a split second, the tip of her tongue peeked out to wet her lips. “After the incident, I woke up in a strange hotel with photos of the assault lying beside me, and a message demanding I never return to TayFor, or the images would be made public.”
Ryan cursed under his breath, and a muffled sob came from Elle. But Harvard remained outwardly calm and strong—for Rachel. He didn’t dare break eye contact with her, as he suspected that focusing on him was giving her the strength she needed to tell her story.
“I destroyed the photos and took myself to the hospital. I didn’t file charges, as there was no one to file them against. Even in the photos, the only recognizable face was mine.” Her throat bobbed as she swallowed, and he could only imagine how dry it must be.
“Ryan,” Harvard said in a calm, steady voice, “get Rachel a bottle of water.”
Rachel kept her eyes fixed on Harvard as Ryan stalked to the kitchen, grabbed a bottle of water, opened it and gently handed it to her—all without saying a word.
After she drank, she continued, “The drug used on me that night was from TayFor. I know this because it was in the note my attackers left behind. Clearly, if that information came out, along with the photos, the resulting media attention would destroy the company. And my parents.” She took another drink without taking her eyes off him. “I didn’t tell anyone in my family what happened. When I got out of the hospital, I went straight back to university in Glasgow. I asked Harry to hack the hospital and the police to remove any records concerning me or the attack. And then I made him promise never to tell a soul.”
Elle made a little moaning sound, filled with agony, while Ryan continued to pace, fury emanating from his every step.
Harvard buried his emotions deep. The rage and pain he felt weren’t what Rachel needed from him. She needed his usual steady, even approach to life. She needed an anchor. And even if every muscle in his body snapped from being held so damn tight, he would give her what she needed.
She cleared her throat. “I had intended to work for TayFor once I graduated, but as that was no longer possible, I went to work for Harry’s tech start-up instead, and I heard nothing more about the attack.” The water bottle shook slightly as she took another drink. “Until last Monday, when I found this in my desk drawer.”
She reached into the envelope she’d placed in front of her and took out an old Polaroid photo, which she slid across the table to Harvard. He didn’t look at it but focused instead on the woman who was ripping him up inside. The photo could wait until she was done telling her story.
His teammates did look. Elle let out a gasping sob, and Ryan slapped a hand down hard onto the table, the sound echoing through the room.
Rachel didn’t even seem to notice their reactions. “Tonight,” she said, “I found a second photo tucked into the pocket of my handbag.” Another photo joined the first.
Now Elle was sobbing hard and had given up trying to hide it.
“For fuck’s sake, Rachel,” Ryan exploded, agony lacing his voice far more than rage. “Why didn’t you let us go after these bastards years ago?”
She didn’t answer him, but Harvard suspected Ryan hadn’t expected her to.
“I had intended to ignore all of this,” Rachel said to Harvard. “Mainly because it occurred to me that the person doing this must work at TayFor. And one would assume they wouldn’t want to ruin the company that employs them. Also, we’re in the middle of an investigation, and if this and the thefts were to be made public, it would be the end of TayFor. A pharmaceutical company is only as good as the trust their customers have in them.”
It sounded like the measured, responsible response a politician would give after a crisis, and Harvard couldn’t keep quiet any longer. Gentling his voice, he asked, “Why tell us about it, then?”
“Because this latest warning gives me three days before something else happens. I don’t know what that will be.”
“No.” Harvard leaned forward, closing the distance between them. “Why tell us about it now?”
She blinked several times, her bottom lip trembling for a split second before she got it under control. “I emptied my handbag onto my bed,” was all she said.
And having the photos of her assault in the place where she felt most secure, the place where she’d been able to let down her guard, had been the last straw. Damn it to hell, he couldn’t take any more of this distance she’d put between them.