Rip
When Naomi climbed out of bed the next morning, I pretended like I was asleep. I knew she would be embarrassed by what happened the night before. She always was when she clung to me like that, except this time it was worse. Every time I even changed position, she cried out in her sleep as she moved closer to me. And for as much as she would hate what happened, I did too. The entire night, she tossed and turned, whimpering in her sleep. I hated hearing the way she begged her mother for mercy. Except her mother wasn’t the only she was begging not to hurt her. Some asshole named Bob had terrified her too.
I knew that the conversation we had over the weekend hadn’t even come close to disclosing what happened to her, and last night had made it clear that I was right. What she told me hadn’t even come close to what had happened to her. I had bee
RipAfter getting ready for work, I met Jon in the kitchen of the main house so we could walk back to the cottage, chatting about the day’s scheduled meetings. As soon as we rounded the last corner of the small path and saw a newly arrived familiar car, I took off sprinting toward the smaller building, my heart racing like a gazelle being hunted by a pride of lions. Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! What in the hell was Ryan doing there? And why hadn’t anyone told me that he was coming over? I wouldn’t have left to get ready. Fuck!As much as I liked the boy and knew he would be an amazing partner for some woman, I didn’t want him to even have a chance at being the man for Naomi. I barrelled inside, immediately drawing up short when I found Naomi sitting on the couch with Jenny and Becky playing in her hair, while Ryan sat close to them, talking animatedly with the younger girls about Naomi’s hair. My heart sank lower than my feet, and I was absolutely crushed to see how amused they all were wi
NaomiWhen I woke up alone in bed, I immediately panicked before taking a deep breath and reminding myself that they were probably just with Rip. Every time I had woken up during the night, I had been next to Jenny and Becky. At some point, I had left the room in search of Rip, only to find him sleeping on a cot outside the door to the bedroom that I was sleeping in. I could tell that he was completely uncomfortable, but when I crawled onto it next to him for a moment, he had instantly wrapped me up in his arms, holding me tightly before asking me if the girls were okay. They had been, but I wasn’t.I hadn’t realized how much my mother had affected me and how I thought about myself. I hated that she had made me feel so small, degraded, and just simply worthless. When I saw how Rip had immediately jumped into protective mode over Jenny the moment he saw her, I knew that he was the same man that I had always thought he had been. I leaned against the counter in the bathroom, closing my e
An hour later we were walking out of the precinct with Jon, Caroline, and Jenny by our sides. The police had kept Candice in custody, not that I was surprised in the slightest. She had been busted trying to sell Jenny to me, and that poor girl was very obviously traumatised. Between that and what Jenny told the police, I had no doubt that Candice wouldn’t be seeing the light of day any time soon. Nor did she deserve to. We stopped beside my car, and Naomi immediately pulled away from me to wrap her arms around Jenny when she burst into tears. I swallowed hard as she clung to Naomi, who gave me a worried look, silently begging me to do something.“Jenny?” I called softly. “Would it help if you stayed with Naomi tonight?”Jenny turned her attention to me, and I instantly wanted to go back inside to throttle the bitch that had the nerve to hurt her in such a way. “Y-yes,” Jenny sniffled.I nodded. “Caroline and Jon will take you to our house. We can spend the night in the cottage behind
As we drove to the precinct, I texted Raj and Caroline to request their presence. I knew Raj would make sure that Naomi got the best representation she could have, while Caroline was a foster mom, and considering this girl no longer had a place to go now, I wanted to make sure that the county wouldn’t have to scramble to find her somewhere to go. I had already spoken to Caroline before we left work, and she had been completely thrilled at the prospect of having another foster child in her home, especially since her last one aged out a few months before.She had been absolutely devastated, but since she was one of my favorite people, and I had been blessed to be in Ryan’s life, I had paid for an apartment for a year from him, and given him money to go to college. It was literally the least I could do for her. She always came running when I needed her to. Besides, I liked the kid. He was the kind of kid I had always dreamed that Naomi would end up with, but not now. I wanted her.When w
RipThe minute the doorknob started to turn, I felt the change in Naomi. Her body stiffened and I could feel the little angry vibrations that shook her body. I wasn’t sure about what was going to happen but the moment the door opened, I could see the trembling knees that peaked out from behind the lower half of it and I instantly knew that it was the girl that Candice had told me was in her custody. As Naomi backed Candice away from the door, I stepped inside, causing my heart to immediately break when I saw the young girl on her knees beside the door with her nudity on complete display. I yanked my suit jacket off, immediately wrapping it around the girl’s shoulders before helping her up and leading her out of the house, while Naomi started yelling at Candice.Brian jumped out of his car with his partner by his side and after reassuring the girl that she was safe with the officers, I spun around to rush back into the house. I needed to get back to Noami before she killed Candice. I
Naomi“Naomi, please come down here. I would like to speak with you,” Professor Demetri called out, immediately causing whispers to start.I bit back a groan as I finished packing up my things before heading down the stairs to her lectern. “Yes, Professor Demetri?”“Are you alright, Naomi? You seemed distracted today,” she told me.I sighed as I shook my head. “Not really.”“Do you want to talk about what’s going on?” she asked.“Have you spoken to Rip today?” I inquired. “No. Do I need to?”I shook my head. “No. This is something I have to do by myself.”She tilted her head as she studied my face. “Alright, just be safe, okay? Also, if you need to speak about anything, don’t hesitate to contact me.” She reached into her pocket before holding out a business card to me. “My cell phone number is on the back.”I smiled softly as I took it from her. “You already gave me your phone number.”“I know, but I’m hoping the more I reiterate that you can contact me that you will actually contact