“No offense, Sir? But if she calls in the middle of the night asking for help, she deserves to get chewed out by me. This is exactly the kind of bullshit I’ve warned her about. I’m owed an ‘I told you so’ moment with her.”
“All right. Let’s hurry. She’s at a convenience store near the guy’s place.”
They finished dressing and climbed into Walt’s truck. She noticed he made sure to grab his pocketknife.
But when they pulled up outside the store, before they could get out, Joyce came racing out the door and jumped into the back seat.
They both turned. “Are you all right?” Walt asked.
“Thank you for coming,” she said, keeping her head down and refusing to look at either of them. “If you’d just take me home, I’ll give you gas money.”
“Joyce, answer him,” Holly said, concerned.
She glanced up, and Holly spotted where her hair partially covered her left eye, which looked decidedly swollen.
“Did he hit you?” Holly asked.
“I’m okay,” she mumbled, looking back down at her lap. “I just want to go home.”
Walt threw the truck into park, unfastened his seat belt, and turned. “Did he rape you?”
Joyce wouldn’t answer.
Holly already knew the answer deep in the pit of her gut. “Joyce—”
“I deserved it, okay? I was stupid. I never should have gone with him. What you always told me could happen did. Please, just take me home.”
“If we take you anywhere, it’s going to be to the ER,” Walt said. “And you need to file a police report.”
“I can’t. Who’s going to believe me?”
“This isn’t negotiable,” Holly said. “We’ll stay with you.” She glanced at Walt after she’d said it, but he nodded.
Joyce broke down crying. “He seemed so nice when we talked on the phone! I thought he was a nice guy!”
“That’s why we have to go, now, and do this,” Walt said. “Otherwise, he could do it to someone else.”
Finally, Joyce nodded.
* * * *
It was nearly seven in the morning by the time Walt and Holly returned to Walt’s and crawled back into bed. After staying with Joyce through the exam at the hospital, and while she talked with a detective, they’d then driven her home and made sure she safely got inside.
“I’m proud of you, sweetheart,” Walt said as he snuggled Holly in his arms.
“Thank you, Sir, but what’d I do?”
“You didn’t tell her see, I told you so. You were kind and compassionate.”
“I couldn’t. I thought she’d just met a jerk. I didn’t know…” She shuddered.
That could have been her in different circumstances.
The guy had been arrested and booked. It turned out he wouldn’t be getting out on bond, either.
He had three outstanding warrants for sexual assault.
“Thank you for trusting me, sweetheart. If you decide you want to back things up after tonight, I’d understand.”
She lifted her head. “Why would I want to do that?”
“Because…” He stared at her for a long moment, then sighed. “Because I’m an idiot.”
“What?”
“Never mind.” He coaxed her back into snuggling with him. “Sorry. I know that I came on kind of strong when we first started playing, and I never downshifted out of Sir mode.”
“Sir, I know that at any time if I say stop, you will. You’ve never given me a reason to not trust you. Other people trust you. This would never have happened between us if I’d just met you and didn’t know anyone else who knew you in real life. We’d still be getting to know each other.”
“Even more reason for me to appreciate the trust you’ve placed in me and more reason for me to not want to fuck it up.”
She closed her eyes. “Just keep doing what you’re doing, then, Sir. Because I do trust you.”
She just wasn’t yet ready to admit out loud that she loved him.
No reason to jinx things.
Chapter Twenty
It’d been nearly two months since the Saturday night Walt first drove Holly home, and he couldn’t imagine her not being in his life.
Not that he’d admit that to her just yet, because he didn’t want to panic her and scare her off.
How could he admit to her this soon that he knew they were perfect for each other? That he was in love with her?
At least between the weekly trips to see Nate, and the TENS unit, and what Walt could do for her through play and the techniques Nate had shown him, they’d managed to help drive her pain levels down to a far more tolerable level than she’d had in a while. She moved easier, more freely, winced less.
Smiled a lot more.
While he hadn’t formally collared her as his submissive—and literally doing that would be difficult because of Holly’s pain issues—when they were alone together, or with their kinky friends, a label was only a technicality. She acted like he was her Dominant, and he cherished and protected her as if she were his submissive. They played, sometimes through trial and error, to see what she could tolerate and enjoy, and they loved.
Boy, how they loved.
Holly might not have had much faith in her abilities, but Walt had zero desire to reach out to Tory to play, even though Holly had said she was fine with that if he wanted to. Maybe Holly wasn’t a heavy bottom, but she was like the world’s most fascinating puzzle box that kept changing. Even the trigger points on her feet weren’t a guaranteed thing. Sometimes, he could playfully cause her the brief bursts of agony that would send her spiraling into subspace while simultaneously making his inner sadist giggle, and sometimes she barely reacted.
It was fun for both of them for him to keep trying, though. The last descriptor he’d ever use in regards to their dynamic was “boring.”
Kimbra was still slogging through the mountain of case information, but the more she found, the more certain she was of getting Louis a new trial. Walt understood she couldn’t drop everything to devote all her energies to the case, but he’d be lying if he said he didn’t wish he’d hit the lottery so he could pay her to do nothing but work on obtaining Louis’ freedom.
Especially since, two weeks ago, Kimbra had discovered four key pieces of evidence still locked up, never tested for DNA. Three rings and a watch Jason Davids had been wearing during the attack, which were covered in blood.
Kimbra had already called around to several labs, and found out that yes, they could test them, but the least expensive quote she’d found so far to test all three was still nearly twenty thousand dollars to put a rush on it.
Walt had already started thinking about refinancing his house, yet knew he couldn’t do that just yet.
They hadn’t told Holly or Louis about the evidence because Kimbra still had a few legal hoops to jump through to get them tested. She didn’t want to tip her hand to the prosecution yet and risk the evidence disappearing before they were ready to test it.
Kimbra told Walt she thought the rings and watch would be the cornerstone of their battle to win Louis his freedom, but she needed to make sure everything else was in place first.
Then they had to figure out how to pay for it. Meanwhile, Walt did his best to distract Holly and keep her busy, keep her mind off the case as much as possible.
Just a little on the selfish side, he enjoyed every minute of his time with her and wanted whatever this was that they had to keep going. They were boyfriend and girlfriend, yes, and play partners, but he hadn’t broached officially collaring her as his submissive. He didn’t want to pressure her and was happy to maintain the status quo for now.
That Friday night, they were going over to dinner at Terrie and Mark’s house, joining a few friends from the Suncoast Society. Not even a play party, just dinner and socializing. Saturday, Walt was driving Holly over to Hardee to visit with Louis, so she likely wouldn’t feel up to dinner at Sigalo’s or a trip to the club later.
Emotionally
or physically.
In fact, that was one reason they were having dinner at Terrie and Mark’s house. Lynn had found herself less willing to go to the club in recent weeks now that her lottery win was common knowledge. So Terrie and Mark frequently hosted dinners at their place, inviting close and trusted friends so they could all see each other and relax.
Paul appeared to be back for good, and Lynn seemed far happier for it, Walt was happy to see.
Walt had left Holly in the living room, chatting with Lynn and some others while he went to the kitchen in search of a plain glass of water for her to take her evening meds with.
“Whatcha need?” Terrie asked from behind him.
“Just a small cup for her, and tap water. She can’t take her meds with cold water.”
“Ah. Here.” She moved past him to a cabinet and got him a plastic cup. “You going to be at Sigalo’s tomorrow night? Tilly and the gang will be there.”
“No, we can’t. It’s our day to go visit Louis.” He winced as he said it, mentally smacking himself in the forehead as he filled the cup.
“Louis? Who’s that?”
“I—” He groaned and turned, dropping his voice. “Please, don’t mention to Holly I said anything. She tries to keep it a secret.”
“Keep what a secret?”
He quickly told her the basics about Louis and his case, Terrie’s frown of confusion softening and becoming sympathetic. “I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, it’s really hard on her. Nate knows, but please don’t tell anyone.”
“How much does the testing cost?”
He let out a sigh. “Too much. I’ll probably take out a second mortgage or refinance or something, and then Holly will probably kill me for doing that and absorbing that kind of debt. But I can’t let the kid sit in jail for the rest of his life. I’ll figure it out somehow. Please, don’t say anything.”
“I won’t.”
“Thanks.” He headed back into the living room with Holly’s water. “Here you go, sweetheart.”
“Thank you, Sir.” He noticed that when she could call him that, she seemed more relaxed, at ease.
Then again, so was he.
Able to just be themselves. She could finally let go of life for a little while and let him take charge.
And, for a little while, there was a part of his life he could be completely in charge of and make a positive impact in.
It was a win-win.
As they drove home later, Holly sat curled up in the passenger seat, the back reclined, her eyes closed.
“Are you all right, sweetheart?”
“Tired, Sir. Nervous about tomorrow.”
“Why?”
“I don’t want to lie to him, but I don’t want to tell him too much if Kimbra doesn’t have any luck with his case.”
He hated keeping back his knowledge of the evidence from her, but even Kimbra had agreed that maybe it was for the best, until they had better answers. Holly’s pain levels were finally leveling out, and additional stress would only cause them to skyrocket again.
Tomorrow would be stressful enough on her as it was.
When they returned to his place, sure enough, she curled up in his arms and fell asleep almost immediately. He’d set his alarm to wake them early enough that she’d have time to get up and get ready without rushing. With him driving, at least she could maybe nap on the way over or something.
Anything he could do to make her life easier, he would.
* * * *
As Walt had predicted, Holly was in a lot of pain the next morning. He helped her into the shower while he went to get their coffee started. The stress over everything was wearing on her, that was obvious.
At least now that Walt was an approved visitor, he could go inside with her. Today would be the second time he’d be seeing Louis in person. Even had he not known Holly or knew the facts behind the case, Walt would have believed the kid didn’t belong there.
Although “kid” wasn’t the best descriptor. Even though Louis was twenty-five and five years younger than Holly, he stood at least two inches taller than Walt’s own six three. But it was his soft, gentle voice, the way he talked to his sister—heck, the way he asked Walt to please thank Kimbra for him for taking on his case—that all told Walt this kid had been wronged.
He was thin, lean, lanky, a runner’s body, not a beefed-up weight-lifter.
They didn’t have to wait long to see him after they checked in. Today Louis had a greyhound with him, which calmly lay on the floor at his feet, a beautiful merle female who calmly watched the activities around her but didn’t pull or bark.
It didn’t escape Walt’s notice though that an extra guard stood not too far away, as if to keep people away from them. In the case of kids, to keep them from approaching the dog. And Walt didn’t miss that they’d been put at a table in a corner. Between the guard’s close proximity and Kimbra’s warning that anything they discussed might be monitored during the visit if she wasn’t there, Walt knew he couldn’t say anything to Louis about the evidence. Not even hint about it. The last thing he wanted to do was blow the element of surprise Kimbra was counting on to be a factor in springing the evidence on the prosecution.
They chatted for a few minutes, mostly Louis asking Holly questions about how the case was coming, and Holly getting him up to speed, before there was a brief lull.
“How’s Sasha doing?” Holly asked.
Walt knew it was killing her that she couldn’t just pull her brother into her arms and hold him, hug him, take him home with her, without worrying about what anyone else would do.
“She’s doing real good. Ms. Marta’s pleased with how she came around for me. Right now we’re working on her retrieve. Sometimes she will, sometimes she won’t.”
“That’s good.”
Louis clasped his hands together on the table and stared at them. “Hol, I don’t want you to get upset if Ms. Kimbra can’t get me out, okay? I’m worried about you.”
“Me? Sweetie, don’t worry about me. I’m fi—”
“Louis,” Walt interrupted, “don’t count Kimbra out. She’s good, and she’s stubborn, and she’s probably ten times as smart as the average attorney. I should know, I was married to her.”
That finally pulled a smile from the kid. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. If she has faith in you, all you need to do is keep having faith and try to hang in there.”
“I don’t get my hopes up,” Louis said. “I can’t. This place will eat you up if you do. I guess it’s not as bad here as it is some places. And I’m lucky, ’cuz I’m in one of the special wings because of the dogs. Everybody in the program is low-risk and has a good record in here. We look out after each other and the dogs. It’s not home though.”
The boy nodded, indicating his sister. “Promise me you’ll take care of her, okay?”
“I promise, but pretty soon, you’ll be out to help me.” He stroked Holly’s hair. “Momma and Papi can’t wait to throw you a coming home party.”
Holly shot him a glare he knew he’d have to explain away later.
“Ms. Kimbra told me. I’m looking forward to meeting them.”
When their time was up, Holly waited to let Walt turn her around until after the guard had led Louis and Sasha out of the secured visitor’s area.
As he’d anticipated, once they were at the car, she turned on him. “What the hell was that about?”
Finally, her anger. He’d been beginning to seriously wonder about her, that while she said the right things, she never got it out of her system.
She cried, but she never got mad. She held it in in an unhealthy way, contributing to her physical pain.
Hoping to provoke her, he verbally poked. “What?”
“Trying to get his hopes up! You can’t fucking do that! It’ll crush him if something happens!”
He pulled her in, like he was going to hug her. But he reached up and fisted her hair, forcing her head back. “Watch it, sweetheart,” he warned.
&nb
sp; She faltered a little but came back strong.
Good.
“Watch it, my ass! You listen to me, Wa—”
He kissed her, long and hard, until he felt her respond. Only then did he lift his lips from hers. “Who’s in charge, sweetheart?”
It took her a moment to respond. “You are, Sir.”
“Good girl. Do you trust me?”
After a few heart-stopping seconds, she nodded. “Yes, Sir.”
“Good girl. I want his hopes up, because he is coming home.” He thought about the evidence he—ironically—didn’t dare tell her about yet for fear of it crushing her in case he was wrong. “I have faith in Kimbra.”
“I’ve had faith in a lot of attorneys.”
“None of them were Kimbra.” He let go of her hair and opened the door for her. “You’re beautiful when you’re angry, sweetheart.”
“Why did you cut me off in there? When I was trying to tell him not to worry about me?”
“Because he’s your brother, and he loves you, and telling him not to worry about you is about as worthless and insulting as me telling you not to worry about him.”
She started to respond, then her mouth snapped shut. “Oh,” she softly said.
“Yeah, oh. Don’t insult his intelligence. I know he’s always going to be your little brother, and you’re always going to see that sad baby you begged your parents to adopt so you could make him happy, but he’s twenty-five. He’s a man. Unfortunately, the tail end of his childhood was spent locked up in that damn place, but it’s not too late for him to have a good life. You bottling up your anger isn’t healthy. We should probably look at you maybe trying to get some of that out during a scene. I can take it. I don’t mind being your punching bag.”
She finally let him help her into the truck. They were nearly halfway back to Sarasota when she finally admitted it.
“I never had anyone I could be angry with before. Not…with. You know what I mean.”
“I do.”
“I was too busy trying to help him. I couldn’t afford to show anger to anyone, especially someone who might be in a position to look at his case or help him.”