TW: Sexual assault

George hung up on her. She didn't even get to ask if there was a live streaming option so she could see Virginie getting tortured in real time.

She shoved her phone back in her purse and headed back into the dining room where Alex was sitting by himself, deep in thought. The other woman was nowhere to be seen. This was the perfect time to talk.

Alex's eyes brightened when he saw her, and her heart was filled with guilt. What could he have done to make anyone want to kill him? He's so precious. "Where were you? You've been gone for so long. I wanted to talk to you about something."

"I wanted to talk to you about something too. Could we go somewhere more private?"

Alex raised an eyebrow. "Sounds serious."

"Yeah, it kind of is."

Alex put his hands up and rose from his chair. "Lead the way."

Stephanie led him into another private dining room except this one was empty and dark. The only light in the room was coming from the windows, spilling into the space in strands. She pulled up two chairs for them. "Please, Alex, sit."

He looked confused but complied with her demands. "All of this seems so formal...what's going on here, Stephanie?"

She sat down in the chair across from him without responding. She stared deep into his eyes and asked, "What's the real deal with Virginie?"

Alex threw up his hands and got up from the chair with a groan. "Not this again, please." They argued a couple of weeks ago about Virginie. I know that those idiots from the Players told her that there was nothing wrong, but I don't believe them. If there's nothing wrong, why is he kissing me less and less? Why does he not want me coming to the office to bring him dinner anymore? Why does he seem so distracted all the time? Something changes but I don't know what. Had he finally given into that stupid bitch? "I told you that nothing is going on between us. Is that all? If so, I'm going to leave." He began to walk out, but Stephanie caught his arm with furious eyes.

"You're not leaving. We're going to sit here and talk about this."

Alex ripped his arm from her grasp. "Talk about what? Talk about how you're obsessed with a woman who has done nothing but be nice to you no matter how much you try to piss her off?" Stephanie looked back at him in shock. "Yes, your methods are that transparent. You continue to try to drag Virginie down because you have this stupid theory that we're sleeping together when we're not!"

"Tell me the truth for once, Alex. What is Virginie really here for? Why do the kidnappers see her as more valuable than you?"

He looked bewildered at the accusation. "Tell you the truth for..." He took a deep breath before speaking again. "So they can use her as a prostitute, duh. Do you not know anything about the huge human trafficking epidemic going on right now? Women like her are what they're looking for."

She hated how he had an answer for everything. She hated even more how he actually made sense. "But why did she sacrifice herself instead of you? How did she know that they would take the bait?"

Alex let out a breathless laugh. "Are you serious? Is it that wild to you that someone else could possibly care about me enough to sacrifice themselves for me without having to fuck me? Glad to know that's how you feel."

She blanched, not sure how to reply. "Alex...that's not what I meant and you know it."

"Then what are you trying to say, Stephanie? Because all you seem to do is blame me for things out of my control and accuse me of sleeping with my intern."

This wasn't working. She had to try a different tactic. They hadn't had sex in a while so maybe that was why he was so distant and angry? She knew that intern girl couldn't give it to him the way that she could. She pulled him close and buried her face in his neck. She inhaled his masculine musk and forgot why they were arguing.

She didn't get to enjoy it because he shoved her off of him with a disgusted look on his face. "What the hell is wrong with you? Were you about to try to seduce me? Wow. I can't believe this." She started to open her mouth, but Alex stopped her. "And if the next thing out of your mouth has to do with me fucking Virginie, please do not say it because I will break up with you right now."

"Alex..." She trailed off because she didn't know what to say. That girl made her irrational and angry. "I lo-care about you so much that I get jealous. Is that so wrong?"

"Yes, it is. Because if you care about me so much, you would know that I wouldn't do anything like that. Now, if you have nothing else to say to me, I'm going to talk to Jabari and find out what's going on with locating Virginie. If you don't want to help, then go home."

He stormed out of the room. Stephanie fell into one of the chairs that she had pulled out for them to sit on. She felt like crying. I didn't even get to ask the question I really wanted to ask, but I have to figure out what that question is.

She didn't understand why Alex was trying to make it sound like she was crazy for thinking the way that she did. Virginie's hiring was mysterious. She had gone on the firm's website, and it said that they weren't taking on any new interns right now so why did they hire her? Why would said intern be assigned to one person and one case? She didn't know much about law, but that seemed strange to her.

She was going to find out the truth about that bitch even if it killed her.

❦

"So you're the cunt that everyone has been obsessed with, huh?" One of her captors asked, sizing her up by looking her up and down. He licked his lips. "I can see why. You're so fucking sexy. I want to take you back to my place instead of the boss'. But I can't disobey orders so we'll just have some fun along the way."

Virginie was trying to register as few facial details as possible about the men who were taking her. The less she could remember, the better. She had enough bad memories to haunt her for a lifetime. She didn't need anymore.

She hated how she had been trained to see in the dark so that even in the pitch black darkness, she was able to make out the man's face. She looked down at the floor of the vehicle, studying the splotchy carpet. She didn't understand why they would put this down in a car used for kidnapping. Blood and skin would be so hard to clean off. Metal would be better.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you!" The man roughly pulled her up by her chin, forcing their eyes to meet. She had been trying to tune his voice out and had successfully done so, but his rough touches rudely brought her back to her nightmarish reality. Virginie spat in his face, causing him to let go of her.

She didn't know if it was because she was dizzy, but she hadn't noticed the presence behind her. By the time she did, it was too late. His coarse, calloused hands pinned her down, putting her hands above her head. She wanted to struggle, but she promised that she wouldn't. She was a woman of her word. She had to remember who she was doing this all for.

She sucked in her breath deeply as she felt one of them hike up her dress, exposing her toned stomach to the stale and smoky air of the vehicle. As he ran his hands up and down, she had to bite down on her lip to keep herself from making any noises. The simple touches felt like cheese graters against her skin, reminding her of a life that she had left behind long ago. She hadn't realized that her intense biting had broken the skin on her lip, but her blood was an unfortunate taste that she had learned to ignore.

She could feel his fingers dipping the near the delicate fabric of her panties, so she instinctively kicked him in the face, realizing her mistake soon after seeing the lethal look he gave her.

"I wanted to get us both off, but I guess you don't seem to be interested in that," he hissed. "I thought you said you wouldn't struggle, Miss Femme Fatale."

When Virginie didn't answer, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a holographic knife with a keen blade. She could hear the man who was holding her gasp with fear.

"Ne faites pas cela," he pleaded. "Vous savez comment le patron déteste que ses marchandises soient dérangées. Il aura votre tête." (Please don't do this. You know how the boss hates to have his merchandise messed with. He will have your head.)

The man who held the knife threw his head back and laughed. "Vous pensez avoir peur de lui? Vous devez être plus bête que vous ne le regardez. Rien ne peut me faire savoir qu'il n'a pas encore. Je vais avoir mon amusement et enseigner à cette fille une leçon en même temps." (You think I'm afraid of him? You must be dumber than you look. There is nothing he can do to me that he hasn't already. I will have my fun and teach this girl a lesson at the same time.) He turned back to Virginie with an evil smirk. "Now, let's play a game. For every one of my brothers that was slaughtered or hurt because of you, directly or indirectly, I will cut your stomach. The more pain they endured, the deeper the cut. Let's see if we can spell out my agency's name in French and English." He pursed his lips a little bit, smiling. "It's going to be a bumpy ride so no telling how deep it's going to go.

"Let's start with the two men that were killed because of you last December. They were treated particularly badly, don't you think? Perhaps three cuts for each of them. It's only fair."

The air in the car suddenly became so thick and heavy that Virginie couldn't even breathe it in. She had pushed the deaths of the two men out of her mind not out of disrespect or aloofness but for her sanity. The memory flashed through her mind like lightning, quick and blinding. The image of the two men, burned beyond repair, linked together in the end that the boss had chosen for them. The idea of it made her sick to her stomach.

"Please," she pleaded, "I didn't want him to do that."

"But he did it for you, no? It doesn't matter whether you condone it or not. It was still done for you."

Virginie's mouth opened in a silent scream as she squeezed her eyes shut, hoping to disappear somewhere deeper than the darkness of her mind. She could feel the knife carving deep into her skin, excruciatingly slow and painful. Her flesh was almost sizzling as the metal cut through the soft tissue. She could feel her warm blood leaking out of her skin and dripping onto the carpet below. The droplets seemed to be moving at a snail's pace, letting their remnants stick to the surface they once inhabited like a memory.

"Did I mention that I dipped the knife in cayenne beforehand?" She heard the man giggle. "My bad."