Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Jasmine

Tony catches me and forces me back to the house kicking and screaming. He drags me down into the cellar—where he punishes the girls who defy him—and tears off my clothes. I cower in the corner, shaking, cold, terrified of what I know is coming next.

“You damn fucking whore!” he spits in my face. “You think you can run out on me? Think again, bitch. You’re mine. My property. You’re my money-maker, you fucking whore.”

When he tries to grab me, I fight back, just like Lia showed me. But Tony swats me away like I’m a fly and laughs in my face.

He drags me to the metal cot, throws me down, and climbs on top of me, pinning me down with his weight. He grabs my wrists with one hand as he opens his trousers with the other.

I struggle. I fight with everything I have. This can’t be happening. It just can’t! I’d rather die than let him do this to me.

“No!” I buck my hips in an attempt to throw him off me, but I fail.

Once he has his cock free, he slaps me so hard my ears ring.

“No!” I wail.

I wake with a start and jump out of bed, turning in dazed circles as I scan the room. But there’s no one here. No Tony. I’m in Liam’s bedroom, dressed in my red plaid flannel PJs.

It was just a dream. A nightmare.

But it felt so damn real.

The dam breaks and loud, ugly, racking sobs pour out of me. I hear a frantic knock at the door, but I’m too far gone to respond. I don’t want Liam to see me like this, a pathetic mess.

The door flies open, and Liam stands there in a pair of boxers, no shirt. His chest is heaving as he tries to catch his breath. “What’s wrong?” He steps into the bedroom and skims me from head to toe. “What’s wrong?”

He’s so beautiful it shocks my system.

My cheeks burn with shame as I stand there facing him. “I had a nightmare.”

Liam swallows, his throat muscles working hard. He steps closer, his hands outstretched, but he stops short of touching me. “Do you need anything, sweetheart? Something to drink?”

Sweetheart.

He’s the only person who’s ever called me that. I don’t even remember my mom calling me such nice names when I was little.

I nod. “Cold water sounds good.”

He disappears for a minute and returns with a glass of ice water.

I drink it all, letting the cold water soothe my burning throat.

He takes the glass from me and sets it on the nightstand. “Do you think you can go back to sleep?”

“Will you stay with me?”

“Jasmine,” he says, my name a long, drawn-out sigh.

I recognize no when I hear it. “Please? Just until I fall asleep? I don’t want to be alone right now.”

His shoulders drop. “All right.”

He motions to the bed, and I crawl back on it and slip beneath the covers. He lies down beside me. When I can’t stop shaking, he pulls me to him, into his arms, and I sink into his warmth. I latch onto his arm and am comforted by the firmness of his muscles.

His hand comes up to rub my back. “It’s okay, Jasmine,” he says quietly. “I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

I’m lulled back to sleep by the soothing pitch of his deep voice.

* * *

I wake up sometime later. It’s still pitch black outside. Liam’s lying on his back. I’m lying on my belly, my head on his shoulder, my arm stretched out across his chest. I freeze, not sure if he’s awake or not.

He must sense I’m awake because he strokes my back. “It’s still early. Go back to sleep.”

I lift my head to look at him. “Do you think I’m a whore?” I ask him quietly.

“No, Jasmine,” he says with such sincerity. “I don’t.”

“But I used to be.”

He’s quiet for a moment, and then he says, “No, you weren’t. You were a victim. Now you’re a survivor.”

“In my dream, Tony grabbed me. I tried to fight back, but he laughed at me. He swatted me like I was a bug.”

“Your psyche hasn’t caught up with your new reality yet. That’s normal. I promise you, you’re not a bug to be swatted. If you faced Tony right now, I think you could take him, and he wouldn’t even see it coming. The next time you have a bad dream, remember that.”

I lay my head back on his shoulder. “Okay.”

With a sigh, I melt into him. Liam, I think I’m falling in love with you.

I’m not sure because I don’t know what love is. But of course I don’t say that out loud. I would never want to put him on the spot because if he couldn’t say it back, I think I’d shatter.

* * *

On Friday, I train as hard as I can, both with Liam in the morning during his downtime between classes, and with his sister in the afternoon.

“Damn, girl,” Lia says as she sits on the mat beside me, panting. “You’re on fire today.”

“Do you think I could defend myself against someone?”

She meets my gaze. “I guess that depends on who it is.”

“Say it was just a regular guy, and not someone trained in martial arts.”

She laughs. “Then hell yes, you could.”

“Good. I hope you’re right.”

“What’s on your mind, grasshopper?”

“It’s nothing. I had a bad dream last night about my former pimp. I tried to fight him off, and he just laughed at me.”

“No way.” Lia shakes her head. “If you went up against a civilian opponent, you could kick his ass. Just remember your training.”

“Would you teach me how I could stop someone from raping me?”

She frowns. “Is this about your dream?”

I shrug. “I just—can you work with me on that? Please?”

“Of course.” She takes a deep breath. “Lie down on the mat, on your back.”

I do as she says.

“Let’s assume he’s already on top of you,” she says, as she moves closer. “Spread your legs and bend your knees.” She says it very matter-of-factly, but I can’t help my reaction. My heart starts pounding, my pulse racing.

Lia moves between my legs, on her knees. Her hips are pressed against mine. If she were a man, her dick would be knocking on my door.

“Now,” she says. “I’ll show you a few options. Ready?”

I suck in a breath and nod. “Go ahead.”

“Assuming the guy’s on top, you need to throw him off. If you can, roll him so that you’re on top. But you have to move fast. Once he realizes what you’re doing, he’s going to counter your moves. And if he’s bigger and stronger than you are, you’re likely to lose the upper hand.” She grasps my elbows and brings them together, right over my chest. “Tuck your elbows in close. Try not to let him spread them or pin them to the ground. If he spreads your arms apart, you lose momentum and strength.”

“Okay.”

“Option two. If you can, ball your hands into fists and slam them into his junk. If you hurt him badly enough, he’ll roll off you, hopefully writhing in excruciating pain, giving you a few precious seconds to escape.” She wraps her fingers around my fists and mimes me slamming them into my attacker’s hypothetical junk.

“Option three. Raise your legs, like this, and wrap them around your assailant’s neck. Squeeze as hard as you can to cut off his blood flow. He’ll be out in seconds. Then, bam! You run. Your best bet is a choke hold, and you knock him out. Just remember one thing—you have to remain in control at all times, or you can’t help yourself or anyone else. Got it?”

I nod.

“Good.Now, let’s try it.”

She teaches me a series of movements, from planting my feet solidly on the floor, trapping my assailant’s right foot with my left, then bucking my hips to tip him off balance and roll us to my right. She teaches me how to get my legs around my opponent’s neck and squeeze hard.

We try a variety of techniques designed to get a woman out from underneath an attacker intent on raping her. After more than an hour of practice, we both lie on our backs to catch our breaths.

“I think you’re ready for a real test,” Lia says.

“How?”

“I can set up a sparring session for you with one of the guys at work. Someone objective to spar with you. Someone who won’t take it easy on you. You’ll know for sure where you stand.”

“Do you take it easy on me?” I ask her.

She shrugs. “A little. Liam would kick my ass if I so much as bruised you.”

“Does Liam take it easy on me?”

She chuckles. “You bet he does. Heaven forbid anyone put a bruise on his precious Jasmine.”

That makes me laugh. “Don’t be silly. I’m not his precious anything.”

She turns to me and rolls her eyes. “Girl, you are so clueless. If anyone laid a finger on you, he’d massacre them.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

Lia hauls herself up onto her feet and offers me her hand.

“Can I ask you a question?” I say as she hauls me to my feet.

“Sure,” Lia says. “Shoot.”

“Has Liam ever had a serious girlfriend?”

“Not really. He’s dated a few girls, but he never got serious with anyone. Why?”

“Do you think he would’ve liked me if we’d met under different circumstances? You know, if I’d been a nice girl. The kind he might want to go out with?”

Lia shakes her head. “You’re asking the wrong question.”

“What does that mean?”

“Hey, guys,” Liam says as he jogs down the stairs to join us. “How did the workout go?”

“She kicked ass,” Lia says. “I think she’s ready for a real test.”

Liam frowns. “I don’t know about that.”

“Sure, she is. I’m going to arrange for her to spar with someone on Monday,” Lia says. “I want to see how she does when she’s going up against someone who isn’t afraid to bruise her.”

“I think it’s a little premature for that,” Liam argues.

“Oh, just a tiny match, that’s all,” Lia says as she winks at me. “I won’t let it go too far. Maybe Mateo or Philip. Or how about Miguel?”

“No way—Phil’s too big. And not Mateo, either.”

“Why not?”

“Because I said no.”

“Then how about Miguel? He’d be the most gentle of them all.”

“I said no, Lia. She’s not ready.”

“You can’t coddle her forever, you know,” Lia says to her brother. Then she looks at me. “I told you, you’re asking the wrong question.”

On the drive back to Liam’s apartment, I keep replaying Lia’s words in my head. If I’m asking the wrong question, then what’s the right question? I turn in my seat to face Liam. “Do you think I can’t cut it sparring with another person?”

“No, it’s not that.”

“But you said I wasn’t ready.”

“Your skills are coming along really well. What I meant was that I don’t think you’re ready to be sparring. Accidents do happen, you know. You could get hurt.”

“Lia said Miguel wouldn’t hurt me.”

Liam frowns, his brow furrowing. “I said no, Jasmine.”

I turn back to face forward and stare at the road ahead of us. It’s Friday night. “Are we going out tonight with your friends? Like we did last week?”

“No. I thought we’d stay in tonight and order out. We could watch a movie. Your pick.”

“I want to go out again,” I say.

He winces. “Have you forgotten what happened last week? The incident with Kat?”

“No, I haven’t. And that’s why I want to go. If she grabs me again, I’ll know what to do. This will be a good test.”

When he doesn’t say anything, I add, “Please? Besides, I haven’t seen Layla and Erin all week. I want to see them again.”

“I’ll think about it,” he says grudgingly.

Lia’s words come back to me. You’re asking the wrong question.

Then what’s the right question?