Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 123579 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 618(@200wpm)___ 494(@250wpm)___ 412(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 123579 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 618(@200wpm)___ 494(@250wpm)___ 412(@300wpm)
“Trevor, you are going?” Halima asks, her smile warm and familiar. “I saw you about to leave and made my way over here quickly. It has been too long, my friend.”
Trevor reaches down to hug her, his hands on her shoulders and a smile on his face.
“I was planning to call so we could see each other before you leave,” he says.
“Where is Fleur? I’ve been meaning to call you both.” Halima’s eyes drift to me, standing close to Trevor. “Oh. I’m sorry. I…”
Who the hell is Fleur?
Confusion clouds her features for a moment, but she recovers, extending her hand to me.
“I’m sorry. How rude.” She takes my hand, pressing it between hers. “I’m Halima.”
“Hi, I’m—”
“Oh, Ms. Baston, I know who you are.” Her smile somehow sets my rattled nerves a little more at ease. “One of the most beautiful women in the world. Even I know that.”
“Thank you.” I squeeze her hand back, looking directly into her dark, kind eyes. “What you said, your words, they…they moved me deeply.”
“I could tell this.” Halima’s smile melts until her mouth is just a gentle curve. “When you speak as much as I do, you always know who’s with you, and you, Ms. Baston, were with me.”
I want to ask how she knew that. I want to ask her how she learned to fight. I want to ask her if telling her story, making it a weapon, is truly worth what it costs her, because I have a story I think I have to tell.
And it could cost me everything.
Before I can unload any of those questions on her, Lisa, the young woman who introduced Halima, appears.
“Halima, so sorry, but we need to go.” She gives Trevor a smile. “Mr. Bishop, always good to see you. Thank you for your continued support.”
“Of course. I wouldn’t miss Halima for the world.” He bends to kiss Halima’s cheek. “But now we have to go, too.”
“I leave for Los Angeles tomorrow,” Halima says. “But I am back in New York in a few weeks before I return to London.”
“Maybe breakfast?” Trevor hands me my things and rests his hand at my back, a reassuring pressure that draws Halima’s eyes and smile.
“Yes, I can see we have much to catch up on. Much has changed since we last spoke.”
Trevor grins, pulling me an inch closer.
“Yes, much has changed.” He nods to Lisa, who is beginning to look impatient. “I think you have to go, and so do we. We’ll talk when you’re back in the city.”
Trevor leads me out of the crowded ballroom and down the hall until we’re in the corridor for the bathrooms. He sets me against the wall, facing me and clasping our hands together between us, taking my eyes hostage. I can’t help but think back to the first night we met. He found me hiding from Kyle Manchester in a corridor similar to this one. I don’t think I can hide anymore.
“Kyle Manchester raped me fifteen years ago.” The words come out with no aplomb. No drama. I say them as matter-of-factly as if Kyle had stolen a parking space at the grocery store instead of what he actually took. My virginity. My dignity. My voice.
I don’t know what I expected to find on Trevor’s face—shock, anger, outrage. His face is stone—emotionless, prepared.
“I know.” He cups my face with one large hand, his touch so tender I can’t resist leaning into it. “Or at least I suspected.”
I nod, not surprised that he’s not surprised.
“Is that why you brought me here?” My bitter laugh joins us in the quiet corridor. “To convince me I should tell my story?”
“I brought you here so you would see that it’s okay to tell your story. So you could see what it looks like to tell the truth when it’s dangerous and hard.”
“I don’t want to do this.” I shake my head, the air rushing up my chest in jagged puffs. “I’m stepping into the middle of a huge scandal. They’ll eat me alive, Bishop. Who’re they going to believe? The political favorite of the moment, with his sweet wife and two kids, or me? The woman who had an affair with a married man and posed for Playboy? And more. So much more.”
I can’t even meet his eyes when I think of all the things Kyle’s camp will trot out about me. Not lies. The truth. The ugly truth of my reckless behavior and decisions over the years. Trevor tips my chin until I can’t look anywhere but at him.
“I believe you. Shaunti Miller will believe you. People will listen. Halima said your story is a weapon, and you’re going after Kyle Manchester with guns blazing.”
He slips both arms around my waist, pulling me into him until my head rests on his shoulder.
“And I’ll be right there with you.”