Hannah felt Connor wiggling so he could look at the big scary man holding his hands out. She could feel him relaxing slowly. "It's okay. Can you go with Derek and show him your toys over at Mama Rosa's?"
She moved closer and Derek reached in to take Connor from her arms. He may not have kids of his own yet, but she suspected he was going to be a good father.
Lukus waited until Derek, Connor and Rosa had returned next door, closing the connecting door behind them before he spoke. "Let's sit down at the table. We have a lot to talk about."
Hannah let herself be led to the small round table where she and Connor ate their meals. Dylan was a gentleman and pulled her chair out for her, taking the one closest to her for himself as his boss sat across the table.
They sat in an awkward silence before Lukus took charge. "I know this will be hard for you, but I need you to tell me all you can about Jake Davenport. Have you been inside the warehouse? Do you have any evidence of illegal activity?"
You mean like how he rapes the women who work for him?
She couldn't get the words out. "I've never been inside the warehouse, no. I've only gone out with him once. On the way to the restaurant, we stopped by there and I waited in the car while he went inside for about fifteen minutes. I watched a lot of shady looking people going in and out. When I asked him about it, he said he'd be happy to share the details of what happens in there as soon as I agreed to work for him."
Dylan interrupted. "And did you? Agree to work for him?"
The memories from a few nights before were still fresh. Rage warred with fear, keeping her silent. The men waited patiently until she spoke quietly. "Jake doesn't take no for an answer."
"What does that mean?" Dylan's voice was soft, but she could tell he wasn't going to settle for vague answers.
Vulnerability had her lashing out at him. "What do you think it means? I knew I shouldn't have gone to his house, but like an idiot, he wooed me into thinking he had this lucrative job for me. He gave me gifts. Promised me a job in accounting like I've worked so hard to get."
Lukus interjected next. "Only, he didn't explain the small print of what he expected from his employees until it was too late, did he?"
She looked away from the two dominant men. Talking about what had happened to her was hard enough. With two men she barely knew, it felt impossible. The feel of Dylan taking her hand under the table made her jump. He squeezed her hand supportively, twining their fingers together in a way that felt comforting.
She closed her eyes, unable to look at them as she told her story. "His house is a fortress. Once he gets you inside, you are trapped there until he decides to let you out." She hesitated, letting the tears seep between her closed lids to streak down her cheeks. "He forced me to get naked first before he..." She stopped to gulp for a breath, "Before he tied me down across his desk and whipped me with his belt and a wooden paddle until I was screaming. Nothing I said or did would make him stop. In fact, the more I struggled, the more he seemed to like it."
Dylan's hand was squeezing hers so hard it had begun to hurt. She didn't miss his whispered, "I'm gonna kill the motherfucker dead." She didn't doubt him for a second, and that made her strangely happy.
She continued her story. "He wasn't done. The sicko then led me to a desk across the office and made me..." She couldn't describe the humiliation of sitting on the dildo stool. "He tied me to the desk and made me work on entering data into an encrypted program from a leather journal. It was coded and I couldn't figure out what the data meant, but I'm sure it had sales and customer information that he wanted to keep secret."
"How long did that go on?"
"An hour or two. He made a bunch of phone calls while I worked. Some people he schmoozed as if he was trying to sell them something, but they spoke in code words. Others he yelled at. Like they had screwed something up."
Lukus had to keep prodding her to continue. "Then what happened?"
She finally opened her eyes, somehow needing to watch Dylan's reaction. "Then he pinned me over the desk and raped me." She watched his eyes cloud over with rage.
Dylan was on his feet. "God damn it! I fucking told you, Mitchell! I was sitting outside in my car like a damn moron while he was inside raping her! I should have broken in. I should have called the police. I should have—"
"Sit down, Dylan." His boss's voice was calm... too calm.
"Fuck you. I quit. I'm packing up Hannah and Connor and I'm taking them away from here, and you can't stop me."
The vehemence of his rage on her behalf surprised Hannah. Instead of being scared, she felt comforted to know he was so committed to protecting her and Connor. She reached out to take his hand again. When he looked down at her, she saw his anguish that he'd failed her.
"It's okay, Dylan. I was an idiot to go there with him. You'd tried to warn me."
"Are you kidding me? Don't you dare act like any part of this was your fault. I know what happens in that warehouse. I know what he's capable of."
Curiosity prompted her to press them. "What does go
