Chapter 150

Terry slowly trailed his hand up the length of my thigh. He stopped at the meatiest point, just beneath my hip and squeezed.

I wanted to bolt from the table. I wanted to elbow him in the ribs or kick at his shins.

All I could actually do was sit very still and try not to draw attention from the cameras or the guests, while simultaneously trying to only get Julian to notice.

However, every time Julian glanced at me, his attention was immediately claimed again by Joyce sitting beside me. It was strange to hear him talk so much, especially when the topics seemed to be entirely superfluous.

“Did you watch that television show the other night?” Joyce asked.

“I don’t watch a lot of TV,” Julian replied.

“It was such a good episode.”

Julian nodded, and glanced back at me.

I widened my eyes.

“Did you hear what happened to Aunt Ruby?” Joyce said.

Julian’s eyes went to Joyce again. “No, what?”

“She bought another dog.”

Julian huffed a laugh. “Don’t word it like that, then, Joyce. You made it sound like it was something serious.”

“A new dog is a serious commitment,” Joyce said.

“Yeah, but…”

Their argument progressed, Julian totally focused on proving Joyce wrong, that he did not look at me again for a long moment. When he did, it was only for a second, before returning his gaze to Joyce, as he brought up yet another point of contention.

Meanwhile Terry was rubbing his hand on my thigh, back and forth. His fingers were moving gradually toward the inside.

I tried to shift away from him, but he simply moved his hand right along with me, keeping it affixed to my leg like he had glued it there.

Before long, he had coaxed his hand between my thighs, undoubtedly wrinkling my dress. Though my dress was the very last of my worries at the moment, because ever so slowly, he began to trace his fingers upwards, toward the apex of my legs.

I tried pushing him away by his wrist, but that only made him grab me tighter. His fingers bit into my skin, likely leaving bruises.

I felt trapped, a cornered animal with nowhere to go. No one was coming for the rescue.

Julian continued to argue with Joyce. Nicholas hadn’t returned from the bathroom. The other candidates occasionally gave me pitying glances, like they knew what was happening under the table, but none made a move against it.

I didn’t blame them. Terry held all the power here. To speak against him would very well cost them their spots in the competition. Just like if I spoke up, I too might lose my spot.

I turned toward him. “Please stop,” I whispered so no one but Terry could hear me.

“Request denied,” he replied, smirking.

I wanted to scream.

When his bold pinky finger pressed against my core, I jumped from the chair as if it had been lit on fire. His hand subtly fell away. He looked up at me with fake innocence and surprise.

“Is something the matter, Piper?” he asked. He knew very well what he had done and that I hadn’t liked it. And that didn’t seem to matter to him in the slightest.

I wanted to throw my drink in his face, or to cuss him out like he deserved. Everyone should know what a cad he is.

But then I thought of Elva, of her sickness, of what being cast into the street would mean for her.

I huffed a breath, trying to control my anger and fear.

“Someone should check on Nicholas. He’s been gone a while,” I said.

“The servants can,” Terry said.

“I’m worried about him,” I admitted. I didn’t think there was any harm in it.

The cameras moved closer, catching this moment on film.

Julian finally came to my rescue. “Better to let her check, uncle. It won’t do any harm, but if you keep her here, worried, she might not eat at all.”

Terry narrowed his eyes a small margin. Julian had put him in a corner now. It would seem almost cruel to deny Piper, especially with Julian himself defending her.

“Hurry back,” Terry said, voice silky smooth for the watching cameras.

“I will,” I promised, a blatant lie, and hurried away from the table.

Outside the dining room, I turned to a lingering servant.

“Excuse me, can you direct me to the bathroom?”

But the servant, eyes downcast, gave no indication that he even heard me. This place was a hell-scape. God knew what these poor people endured on the regular.

I left the servant without a word and sought out the bathroom on my own.

After a few minutes, I easily found Nicholas. All I really had to do was follow the sound of his cursing.

The bathroom door was halfway open. He sat on top of the closed toilet lid with a small waste bin between his knees, as he callously plucked the shards of glass from his hand and dropped them into the trash.

As I neared, I felt a sudden tapping on my shoulder. I turned, and it had been a servant. They held out a basket for me. Inside was cleaning wipes and bandages.

I accepted the gift quickly. “Thank you,” I said, heartfelt. With the way they had obviously been trained to be obedient only to Terry, I knew this offering came with a risk to them.

They nodded. Not once in the entire encounter did they look at me. Instead, they turned and scurried away.

Approaching the door, I knocked on the wood and pushed it open.

Nicholas was on his feet in a second, body suddenly tense. When he saw it was me, he exhaled long and slow, and his whole body relaxed again.

“Sit,” I said, coming into the room.

He plopped back down on the closed toilet lid. I dropped my gift basket onto the edge of the sink and came near him.

“Let me see,” I said.

He lifted his bloody hand toward me. “I got most of the glass out, but I can’t see the underside as well. There’s one piece stuck in there, I can feel it.”

“I’ll get it.” I set to work. The shard was clearly visible.

He clenched his teeth but didn’t otherwise react as I quickly removed the glass and dropped it into the wastebasket.

“Better?”

He sighed in relief. “Yes. Thank you.”

“Come over to the sink. We’ll clean you up.”

He smirked at me a little. “Yes, ma’am.”

I blushed, realizing how demanding I had sounded. “I didn’t mean…”

“It’s fine.” He rose to his feet and followed my instruction, moving to the sink. “I like when you tell me what you want. It saves time.”

My blush burned hotter. “Nick!” I scolded lightly.

He smiled wider. He’d been purposefully teasing me, of course.

“I wanted to see you smile,” he said. “I know this evening has been… unpleasant.”

“That’s putting it mildly.” I turned on the facet, and touching Nicholas’s wrist, guided his hand under the water. Red filled the sink basin. “After you left, he was pawing at me like I was some kind of sex doll or something."

Nicholas stilled. His whole body went tense again.

I realized my mistake too late. It wasn’t that I didn’t think Nicholas should know what happened after he left, but I certainly hadn’t intended on telling him in such a blasé way, when he was already upset at our being here!

I should have waited until we were somewhere safe, like back in the palace, where Nicholas could lose his cool without endangering his reputation.

As it was, he was a well of barely-contained rage, nearly shaking from it.

“He did what?”