“No,” I said. “Why don’t you enlighten me?”
“Eh,” she said, waving her hand in the air as she leaned back in her chair. “He’s just a hard man to pin down, that’s all. Going through his backlist is going to take considerable effort.” She sighed, like it was going to be a herculean task. She bit her bottom lip and then pushed a strand of her perfectly highlighted hair behind her ear.
As she did, her bracelet slid down her arm. The sunlight streaming through the window bounced off the stones, sending tiny glittering rainbows scattering onto the desk. She saw me looking at it, and she quickly turned back to her questions.
“Did you find the things Noah did to you pleasurable?”
“What?”
“Did you like the things Noah did to you? Sexually, did you find them pleasurable?”
I bit the inside of my cheek. It wasn’t any of her business if I’d found the things Noah had done to me pleasurable.
She placed her pen down on the pad and looked at me. “Charlotte, I know these questions can feel intrusive, but it’s better to be prepared. The prosecution is going to ask you if you found these things exciting, if you liked what Noah was doing to you, if you enjoyed him tying you up and spanking you.”
I gripped the arms of my chair. I hated that Noah had told Clementine the intimate details of our relationship. Or had he? Maybe she was just assuming, maybe she knew because Noah had done those things to her as well. Either way, I didn’t want to be here anymore, sitting here answering these kinds of questions.
But even more than that, I didn’t want to give Clementine the satisfaction of thinking she’d upset me or made me embarrassed about the things I’d done with Noah. There was nothing embarrassing about my relationship with Noah. The things we’d done had been exciting and thrilling and wonderful.
“I loved it,” I said evenly, raising my chin in the air. “I loved the feeling of him tying me up, loved how he fucked me in his office until I came over and over.” I averted my eyes and giggled in what I hoped was a clueless manner. “Sorry,” I said. “I’m not… I mean, I don’t know how graphic I’m supposed to get.”
I met her gaze again. Her face was a blank mask, but I saw her right temple twitch slightly.
Gotcha.
She opened her mouth to say something else, but before she could, the door to her office flew open and Noah came storming in.
The blonde receptionist trailed behind him, looking quite flustered.
“I’m sorry, ma’am,” she said to Clementine. “I tried to tell him no one was allowed back here, but he… ” She trailed off and gestured at Noah, like he was a wild animal who couldn’t be controlled.
“What the hell,” he growled, “were you thinking?”
“What?” I shook my head, confused and thrown by his presence.
“Noah,” Clementine said, standing up and coming out from behind her desk. She placed her hand on Noah’s arm the same way she’d done that night on the terrace. “Why don’t you sit down? I’ll get you a coffee and we can discuss whatever it is that’s come up.”
He ignored her. “What is this?” he demanded, pushing his phone at me.
I took it and looked down at the screen.
Dear Ryan Ramos,
I’m writing to let you know that my name is Charlotte Holloway…
I frowned. Why did Noah have an email I’d written? And who was Ryan Ramos? A second later, it all came rushing back to me in one horrible flashback.
“Oh my God,” I breathed. I looked up at Noah, who was staring down at me, his eyes seething with fury. “How did you get this?” I asked.
“It was sent to me by a contact I have at the New York Crown. They ran it on their website this morning.”
“Ran what?” Clementine asked. She reached down and took Noah’s phone out of my hand and skimmed the email. She took in a deep breath through her nose, and I saw the look of panic that flashed across her face. But then it was gone and she was suddenly all business. I could almost see her mind moving, her brain forming connections as she tried to scrape together a plan. She pushed her shoulders back. “We’ll get it thrown out. They won’t be able to ask her about it, we’ll say it’s – ”
“Charlotte,” Noah said. “You’re coming with me.”
“What?” Clementine frowned. “No, we’re in the middle of briefing her for her deposition.”
“I’ll brief her.”
“That’s not really your place,” Clementine said.
She was rewarded with a look of scorn from Noah, who then turned his attention back to me.