Luna’s POV
It’s been seven weeks since I finally plucked up the courage to leave, seven weeks after the horrifying attack I faced at the hands of that monster. I can’t even bring myself to say his name, everything about him makes my skin crawl.
Seven weeks ago I was subjected to the most brutal attack which left me traumatised, waking up every night due to constant nightmares and reminders of what I had faced that night, yet somehow that same night I saw the light. After the monster finished with me, he went straight to bed and slept like a baby as if nothing had happened. While he slept I forced myself up, grabbed my car keys and left with no hesitation. Of course I was a mess, my face was bruised and swollen, I was covered in blood and the most intimate part of me had been completely violated which left me struggling to walk while causing me pain.
Unfortunately due to me moving over 200 miles from home when I got my nursing degree, I don’t have many people I can turn to for help. All except one person, Carrie.
I met Carrie when I booked in to get a manicure at the local beauticians. It was Carrie’s own business and after a few visits there we became friends. Carrie knew I was alone in the city and decided to meet up with me one day and show me around properly. She has the most beautiful personality, never judging anyone and she can make a boring conversation seem extremely interesting. I guess that makes her perfect in her line of work, we have been the best of friends since.
I slowly drove up the drive to Carrie’s home, she lived in a detached two bedroom house. Carrie had no children not even a partner but did often have her niece and nephew over. I didn’t get out of the car, instead I decided to text Carrie
'hey sorry to txt so late, are you awake?'
I didn’t wait long when my phone pinged
'I am now, what’s up?' she replied.
'I’m outside, can I come in?'
Within a minute Carrie was at the door staring with a confused look on her face, I didn’t want to step out of the car and let her see me like this but I didn’t know what else to do or where else to go so I slowly got out of the car. I walked towards Carrie, thankfully she didn’t have her security light on so it was pretty dark.
“Luna, what’s wrong? Why are you here so late?” she held concern in her voice and I knew this wasn’t going to be easy.
“Can we please just go inside and I’ll tell you” I said.
Carrie walked in first, I walked in behind her and turned my back to close the door, I froze. I didn’t have the courage to turn around and face her, I didn’t want her to see me like this.
“Luna, What’s wrong?”
I turned to face her and that’s when I see all the colour drain from her face, I couldn’t hold it in any more. My knees gave way as I fell to the floor, my eyes flooded with tears and my cry became hysterical.
Carrie fell to the floor and pulled me in to her, she didn’t even say anything it was like she already knew. Maybe it was because I told her how Ethan had been with me over the past few weeks, she even threatened to go round and have it out with him but I convinced her not to. We sat in silence on the floor of the hallway for about five minutes until Carrie spoke
“did he do this?” I nodded.
“you need to report him Luna, look what he has done to you, he can’t get away with this”
I shook my head, I didn’t want to face all the questions, I didn’t want to have to go through the whole process of having someone take photographs of my injuries and even worse examine my intimate areas, I just couldn’t face it.
“Luna, if you don’t report him for this then I will” Carrie spoke.
My eyes shot up to meet with hers, I could see the rage burning in her eyes.
“I can’t” I spoke”
“Why not? What if he does this again?”
Those words were enough to make my heart race, I can’t go through this again, I just can’t, what if next time he kills me I thought.
“Ok” I said quietly, I was about to suggest that we call the police tomorrow so I can prepare myself for the whole thing but before I could speak Carrie had her phone to her ear “police please”
A policeman and policewoman were talking to me in the living room, Carrie walked in with cups of tea for us all then took a seat beside me
“We will need you to have a full examination, I understand this may be extremely traumatising for you however due to the significance of your injuries and your allegation of rape, we will need to ensure you have no internal injuries and also we will need to collect evidence” said the policewoman.
I could feel Carrie’s eyes burning a hole in the side of my head, I turned to her.
"Rape?” she questioned. I hadn’t told her about that part.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked.
“I’m sorry” I replied, Carrie pulled me in for a hug and once again the tears began to flow.
Carrie came with me for the examination, I asked for her to stay with me the whole time although I knew she would never leave me anyway. Let’s get this over with I thought to myself.
By six in the morning we were finally back at Carrie’s house, she got me some fresh clothes and a towel so I could get cleaned up, I spent at least an hour in the shower trying to wash every bit of that monster off of me. I only stepped out because I heard Carrie shouting.
I couldn’t make out who she was shouting at or why, I quickly got dressed in the leggings and long oversized t-shirt Carrie gave me, I stepped out of the bathroom and walked to the top of the stairs when I heard it.
“Just fucking get her Carrie, I know she’s here”
“You know nothing you evil twisted assehole” Carrie shouted.
“I just want to talk to her” he said.
“Is that before or after you knock fuck out of her then rape her” Carrie spat.
My body was frozen on the spot, Carrie continued,
“She’s already spoken to the police, they’re out looking for you, that’s probably why you fucked off before they could find you, because you knew they would be coming and you wouldn’t get away with it this time”.
For a minute everything was quiet, then I heard the engine of a car start-up and it drove off.
Carrie walked upstairs and noticed me stood frozen on the spot.
“It’s ok, I’m never letting him get his hands on you ever again”.
Luna’s POV “Hey, why don’t we go shopping today? we can go into the travel agents and look for a holiday, call it a celebration for getting your book published” Carrie spoke with so much enthusiasm, she has been trying her best to cheer me up over these past seven weeks. I began writing a year ago, it’s always been my true passion although I never shared this with anyone other than Carrie, she was the only one who knew about my writing and the one who sent my novel out for publishing without my knowledge so I guess I have her to thank for my publishing offer. This morning I received an email from a publishing company who agreed to publish my novel. I have to go to London this weekend for a meeting with the publisher, I’m not sure how everything happens but I’m sure they will explain it to me when I get there. “Carrie, I cannot afford a holiday, I’ve quit my job and I’ve got this London trip to think about, if I decide to go I will need to save my money” I told Carrie. “what do yo
Luna’s POVI was woken by my 5am morning alarm, it was Friday morning and we had decided to drive to London rather than get the train. As the drive was six hours long we decided that I would drive for the first three hours and Carrie would drive for the rest.I slowly dragged myself out of bed and searched through my belongings for something comfy to wear, I decided to settle with a pair of black leggings a black vest top and a nude oversized shirt, it was the kind of outfit you could dress up with a pair of heels or dress down with a pair of boots, obviously I chose the latter due to travelling all day. The hotel we were staying in was five star, I wanted to look at least somewhat presentable, Carrie on the other hand always went to the extreme. When she found out we were staying in a five star hotel she went and bought a whole new outfit just for our arrival, High wasted jeans a white shirt and blazer and a pair of high heeled stilettos, however, she did decide to drive in her train
Romano’s POV“So what’s our next move” Santos asked.“Arrange a meeting for tonight, they can come to us. If they want this deal to go ahead they need to accept our offer” I replied.Santos is my cousin, although he’s more like my brother, we’ve been through so much together and I trust him with my life. This is why I have him running most of my business, he deals with the clients and all the gritty stuff that goes with it, of course I oversee everything to make sure it’s exactly how it should be but most of the time I trust Santos enough to deal with it.Santos is speaking on the phone with the client while I stand in-front of the floor length window, the view from the hotel is spectacular, even better from the penthouse.I’m deep in thought, I can’t get that woman out of my head, who is she, I need to know. Just those few minutes of watching her in the lobby had me mesmerized, when her eyes met mine I was completely hooked. It’s strange I’ve never looked at a woman and been so taken
Luna’s POVI woke from my sleep by the banging on my hotel door, I took a look at my phone and see it is 7.10pm, “SHIT” I say as I jump off the bed. I’m meant to be ready for 7.00pm, Carrie had booked us a table in the restaurant downstairs. I scurry to the door as I wipe the sleep from my eyes, I open it to find Carrie looking as stunning as ever. This girl never fails to amaze me, she always looks so glamourous.“What the hell are you doing, our table is booked for 7pm and you’re not even ready” she says looking annoyed.“I laid down for 5 minutes, I must have fell asleep, the next thing I know is it’s 7.10, I’m sorry I’ll quickly get ready now” I say.“Ok but be quick, I’ll go down to the table and get the drinks in while you get ready, don’t be long” she replied as she walked out of the room.I quickly showered and returned to the bedroom pulling all my clothes from my suitcase, I hadn’t even unpacked yet. I decided to go with a black strapless jumpsuit with slightly flared legs
Romano’s POVThank fuck this meeting is over, Santos and I stood from our seats with everyone else following suit. We shook hands with the three men, telling Stefan I’d call him next week to arrange a start date, before he turned to leave. Just then I noticed Luna walking this way, she looked incredible.“Roman, sit back down we need to celebrate” I heard Kate say.I looked at everyone who had already taken their seats once again. I could see them looking from me to Luna, I knew they had seen me staring at her but I didn't care. Kate however had a face like thunder, what the hell was her problem.Just as Luna got close to where I was seated she was suddenly pulled back, some asshole with a scar down his face had grabbed her arm and pulled her close to him. I could see Luna trying to pull away from him but now he had his arms around her waist.“Get the fuck off me” I heard her shout, I could see her struggling to get out of his grip.“I’ll show you a good time” he slurred while another
Luna’s POVI was stood staring at myself in the mirror of the ladies room, what the fuck just happened I thought to myself. My hands were trembling, I swore to myself I would never let another man put his hands on me again and there I was with some asshole holding onto me like I was a piece of meat, the same asshole I met a short time earlier in the elevator.I can’t believe I did nothing I should have punched him right in his face, instead I ran off.Mr Callaso, why did he help me? I thought to myself although I was actually grateful for his help. My mind wondered to that accent of his, He wasn’t from the UK, he had an American accent, New York if I’m not mistaken but his name sounds Italian or Greek, his voice was so deep it sent shivers down my spine.“Luna” I was snapped out of my thoughts by Carrie, she looked worried. Shit I completely forgot about Carrie and ran off leaving her with the friend of Mr Callaso.“Are you ok?” she asked with concern in her voice as she ran over to
Luna’s POV“I’m glad to see you’re ok”.That voice, something about it gives me butterflies, I turned to my right and there he was stood beside me, towering over me and staring me right in the eyes. I’m almost certain time stood still for a moment.“I’m fine” I said, breaking the silence between us. Just at that moment I noticed Kate walking passed furiously heading back into Olive’s, I also didn’t miss the dirty look she thew my way as she walked by and I know Roman noticed it too.How can he just stand here talking to me while his wife is clearly upset with him. seriously she may be as bad as Jenny makes out but she doesn’t deserve to be treated this way, especially not by her own husband.“shouldn’t you go after her?” I asked Roman. His brows creased and he looked surprised by my question.“No, she’s fine” he replied with no remorse.How on earth could he be so cruel, she was clearly upset with him and rightly so. He had a beautiful wife and he was treating her like she meant not
Luna’s POVI was woken by my 6.30am alarm. I rolled over to the bedside table, grabbed my phone and noticed I didn’t have any messages or calls off Carrie. I hope she’s ok. I messaged her when I got back to my room last night and told her to enjoy her night and not to worry about me before putting my phone on silent.I’ll check up on her on my way to my meeting I thought.I dragged myself out of bed and headed straight towards the kettle, I desperately needed my morning coffee.I rummaged through my wardrobe to find an appropriate outfit for today’s meeting.When I got in last night I couldn’t think straight, my encounter with Roman was playing on my mind so I decided to go through my suitcase and hang all my clothes in the wardrobe. It didn’t really work he was on my mind all night long, it’s fair to say I didn’t get a good night sleep either.I pulled out my grey tailored trouser suit with a white camisole top, pairing it with a some black stilettoes. This will work, it screams prof