Unexpected (Winchester Wyverns #1)

Chapter 31

Finley

"Wilson! You need to get your arse up to Christina's office." Dex said on the weight room's phone.

His heart plunged, and ice ran through his veins. "What's wrong?"

"Cops." Finley dropped the phone running out of the room.

Not bothering to change out of his sweat soaked clothes, he ran to the elevator. When it took too long, he ran to the stairwell. Running up seven flights wasn't what he wanted to do but he couldn't just wait for the elevator. Cops at her office meant only mean one thing. Garrett Reeve.

Crashing through the door to the seventh floor he continued to run to her office. He skidded to a stop when he saw James, Dex and Liam Scott standing outside her office. Finley heaved in gulping breaths to calm his beating heart.

"What's going on?"

James shook his head.

Pushing through the crowd, he charged into her office. Christina looked white as a ghost. She saw him with unseeing eyes. "What is going on? Christina are you ok?" he squatted in front of her taking her hands in his.

"Sir, we need you to leave. We are talking to Ms. Scott."

Standing to his full height he towered over the detective by at least half a foot. "I'm not going anywhere unless she tells me to leave."

The detective eyed him then looked at Christina. "I want him here."

Finley sat in the chair next to her, linking their hands.

"Ok, then. What I was telling Ms. Scott was that Garrett Reeve's attorney managed to get him out of jail and on a plane back to America. There are a few options. We could continue to pursue prosecution, but its honestly going to be an uphill battle."

Christina looked down at their hands.

"Well, we go with that." Finley said.

"It's not that easy. He has some very powerful friends. Even if he got prosecuted he wouldn't serve a day in jail."

"Why is that? Her cousins and I are witnesses."

The detective sighed. "I know. Everything will come down to he said/she said. His attorneys could twist everything and just make it look like it was just rough foreplay leading up to rough sex that just got out of hand."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" He yelled.

"What is our other option?" Christina said softly.

The detective knelt in front of her. "I wish I didn't have to give you another option. I wish I could put this tosser where he belonged." He said sincerely. Finley looked at the pained expression on the detective's face and knew he was telling the truth. "You could go public."

"What do you mean, go public."

"She could come out to the media and tell her story. Reeve's powerful friends have been keeping things very quiet. If you notice, nothing has been said in the papers. No paparazzi following Ms. Scott. No phone calls asking for an interview. Garrett Reeve isn't exactly unknown."

Finley stared at Christina. The detective was right. Nothing had been said. They had been focused on moving on so much that none of that occurred to them.

"What do you think?" Christina asked.

His heart hurt. "It's up to you, dove. Whatever you decide, I will be at your side."

She nodded. "The easy choice is to give up. To crawl in a hole and just forget everything. It would make my life so much easier." Finley squeezed her hand. Giving her that lifeline she desperately needed. "Telling my story will turn my life upside down. I could lose my job. I will get angry calls and mail. But, I don't think I'm the only one this has happened to. He could do this again." She took a deep shuddering breath and rubbed the spot on her head that was covered by a scarf. "I want to tell my story. He won't do this again without the world knowing what a monster he is."

Finley gazed at the strong woman in front of him. Movement at the door drew his attention. Her family stood with looks of pride, anger and fear. Magda, Christina's assistant, dabbed her eyes with a hanky. The pain emanating from Christina was palpable.

"You won't lose your job." Came a voice from the back.

Simon strode into the doorway standing amongst her family. "You do what you need to do, Christina. Don't you worry about your job."

"Thank you, Simon." She sighed again. "Magda, let's get started."

Detective Valient stayed another hour to discuss the plan for them. He knew that once her story was out there the police were going to get push back for not prosecuting him. It was a gamble for him too. He wanted that push though. If enough people came forward, then it would become indisputable and they could throw the book at him.

Christina was silent most of the time. Still pale with dried tear marks on her face she looked determined. Finley knew they had a long road ahead of them. Life was going to get a lot rougher before it got easy again.