Gary begins to laugh. My mother looks nervous, and I can't read my stepfather's face.

"Ah, is this the little boyfriend Luke." Gary says with a snicker.

I refuse to answer. I just stare him down. Gary in all his boldness texts back: I will keep this in mind.

I know Luke must be fuming. Gary looks so full of himself right now. I can see the challenge in his eyes. He wants to take Luke on. My mother snaps him out of it.

"We need to put our plan together." She says.

"Okay, I told him the drop site is the main train station at 7 am tomorrow. It is right in the middle of rush hour. You will stay here with her, and at 7 you will leave here. You will drop this vehicle off, and pick up the other one. Then you will pick him up and then me." Gary says. I notice he is being very vague on his description of everything which means there is hope for me. If he was planning on killing me, why would he care if I know anything. His plan sounds solid, but that is if he wasn't dealing with Christian. Christian is one enemy that you shouldn't make. I am pretty sure he has a solid plan in place.

"So, how much am I worth these days?"

Gary turns off my cell phone as he answers. "Well sweetheart, 6 million. We didn't want to ask him for too much." He says with a smirk.

I notice that it is midnight. Six hours until they plan to leave. My mother and stepfather go to their room. I look at my mother pleading with her not to leave. Gary lays back on the bed. I am sitting on the edge of the one he put me on. If I thought I could run, I would. I keeping looking at the door waiting for Luke to come through the door.

"Ah like old times, here we are alone." Gary states.

"Except your aren't drunk." I state. Why do I dare him?

"Somethings do change."

"The more they do, the more they don't," I answer.

"Do you want me to turn down the bed for you?" He asks.

I know what he is getting at. I can feel him looking at me. The fear just rises in me. I am not worried about me I have been here before. I am worried about Luke. I don't think we could get past this. Then suddenly he is upon me pushing me down. He has his hand over my mouth. I am still trying to struggle, but my hands are still tied behind my back. I am trying to wiggle away from him on this disgusting comforter. He is trying to remove my pants, but I moving. He smacks me across the face again. He is trying to gag me, but before he can I start screaming. I am screaming with all my might. He punches me in the stomach to get me to stop. The blow takes the air out of me, and I can no longer scream. He undoes his pants. I fear that he is going to get his way. He is beginning to work on my pants. I try to scream again in a last ditch attempt for a savior. He has his pants around his ankles and is coming toward me. I lower my eyes because I don't think I can bare to see this. I begin to cry and shake my head. This cannot be happening to me. Where is Luke? Where is my mother? I scream again. I put as much energy in it. His dick is inches away.

My mother finally comes through the door and stops him. She yells at him that this wasn't a part of the deal. For a minute, I see a look in his eyes like he is going to push her aside or worse. Somehow he stops himself, and she sends Gary into the other room. I am shaking. I just want to go home. My lip is swelling again, and I am pretty sure he broke a rib. The pain is intense every time I breathe. I close my eyes hoping that it will all stop. My mother comes over to pull my pants back on. She adjusts my shirt. I have no words to say to her. Technically, she saved me so I should be happy, but I am angry she helped me to be in this situation. She sees the redness on my rib cage and rubs her hand over it.

"I am so sorry." She says.

"I really don't want to talk to you right now. Thank you for coming to my rescue."

"See how it is always about you."

"You are right mom. It is always about me."

"Should I bring Gary back here?"

I glare at her because it is all I can do. Just like always it has to be about her. I have to be over the top happy about what she has done with me while we ignore the rest. She has to be the center. I try to stay awake out of fear, but my eyes finally give over to sleep. I am awoken by all there noise. They are getting ready to leave. My mother and stepfather leave Gary and I alone. I know he doesn't have enough time to finish what he wanted. He gets up close to me.

"It would have been so nice to take you one last time, but I guess I will just have to live without that. The money from Mr. Grey will buy me better. I will see ya sometime." He says with a dark laugh.

"I hope not."

"Cruel bitch to the end. See ya."

Gary and my stepfather leave. Again, it is just my mother and I. I sit up. She brings me a cup of watered down hotel coffee.

"Why mom?"

"Why what?"

"Why kidnap me and steal money from an innocent man?"

"Innocent, he is a freaking billionaire. Do you think he will miss 6 million?"

"That isn't the point mom. He is a good man. It is his goodness that has him paying it for an employee. I don't understand why you would have done all of this to me though."

"To you? Why is it always about you? How about my slice of happiness? You have robbed me repeatedly of my happiness. The stress of you killed my first love and probably only love. You seduced and imprisoned my second relationship. The third relationship you took all his time and energy with your academic pursuits. Now you have a career, money, and someone you love. What do I have? Nothing. I have given it all to you. Now I am going to get something. I will have money, and I won't need anyone."

I am stunned. I always knew she felt this way, but it was shocking for her to actually say it. She finally speaks again.

"Since this will be the last time we speak, I just want you to know I didn't always hate everything about our time together. I did enjoy being your mom. You just sucked the life out of me. Take care. In an hour, we will let Luke know where to find you. I do love you dear. Take care."

'I love you too I say because I know this is good bye."

She walks out the door but before she does she ties me to the chair. I can't be getting free before the plan is complete. I watch as she leaves in utter shock of the confession and the fact that this is probably the last time I will see my mom. I start to doze off in the chair because I feel safe even though I am tied to a chair.

I wake up to the sound of the door opening and a police offer walks in first. He is followed by Luke. His face is such a welcome sight. At first, I see relief, but then quickly I see anger. I suddenly remember that my face is a mess. He asks the officer if he can untie me. The officer gives him the okay. He quickly unties me and takes me into his arms. I grimace as he squeezes me. He looks in my eye and lifts my shirt to see the bruising around my ribs. A tear forms in his eyes.

"The last 12 hours have been the worst in my life."

"Oh now really..you were worried about me?" I ask trying to lighten this heavy moment. I can't bare to see the pain in his eyes.

"I have actually known were you were since midnight last night, but Christian told me that I could not come save you. He wanted this to play out."

"Oh God, Christian must be so angry at me."

"He is concerned. He understands."

"He understands?"

"When you first started hanging around Ana, he ran a background check on you. He knows, we know, everything."

"We?"

"I was there when they ran the check. I knew about you before our first date."

I am stunned into silence. I am not sure what to say. I am angry, embarrassed and upset all at the same time. How could Christian invade my privacy. How could Luke have known all that and still wanted to go out with me. Luke's phone rings so he excuses himself. The officer comes up to me.

"I am Officer Murphy. Mind if I ask some questions?"

"That is fine."

Officer Murphy spends about 35 minutes asking me questions. Luke is standing next to me. Finally the officer is done and tells Luke he can take me. We head to the Jeep.

"Mr. Sawyer." Officer Murphy calls out to him.

"We have all three in custody."

"I will let Mr. Grey know. Thank you."

"Mr. Grey wants me to take you to Dr. Flynn. He has him on call for you."

I know I shouldn't be mad. I would expect Christian to be protective of Ana's friends, but the fact that he ran a check on me and Luke knew. I am actually relieved that Christian arranged for Flynn. I really need to talk to him between my mother's ultimate betrayal and this information. My head is swimming. Luke has a death grip on my hand. He offers to carry me to Flynn's office, but I say I can walk. When we get into his waiting room, Grace sent over a medical student to check me out. She is in Portland with Ana's father, or she would be here herself the student explains. Oh God, my head is really starting to hurt again. Christian is a saint. He pays to free me, but of course set a trap at the same time. He has our therapist on call for me. He gets his mother to send a doctor to check me out. I am about to cry from all that has happened and the knowledge that knowing all of this that Christian has done. As the med student finishes looking over me and bandaging my ribs, I receive a text from Christian saying that he is glad I am okay. That is it the water works begin. The pain from crying and trying to breath is horrible but I can't stop. Luke comes to me and Flynn rushes out of his office. He wraps his arms gently around me and brings me in with the young doctor.

They close the door leaving Luke outside. Flynn takes a deep breathe and then asks, "Were you raped?"

It makes sense given our history that he would ask this question. They brought me in here so if the question was yes I didn't have to answer in front of Luke, but they could do the swab. Thankfully I get to say no. I see Flynn exhale. I hadn't realized he was holding his breathe. The student leaves and now Flynn and I can talk.

"How are you? I know dumb question, but I had to ask?"

"Surprisingly okay. I know I shouldn't be. I know the idea of being kidnapped by your mother should be horrible. Or the fact that they asked your boss for the money on the day his new father-in-law is almost killed should make you want to end it all. Or the fact that your ex was seconds from raping you, when your mom who handed you over on a silver platter, stopped him. That should also put you in a mental hospital. For me, the cherry on this shit sundae is that my boss ran a background check on me 3 days before my first date with my now boyfriend and he saw the whole sorted thing before he ever took me out. That is the one that right now is killing me. I expect my family to do this shit, but I feel completely betrayed by Luke. He should have told me! I mean I know technically he couldn't. I know he shouldn't have told me today, but he did and damn it I am pissed."

"I understand your anger, but why?"

"Because now I don't trust it. Is he really all that he seems or is he feeling sorry for the little girl who had a rough life story. Is this all a tissue of lies?"

"Do you want me to bring him in here?"

"Truthfully, I can't take the truth because if he tells me that he hasn't cared that he has only felt sorry for me I will dissolve into this floor. Right now, I need the illusion."

"You understand that these are your negative feelings, your lack of faith. It is Christian's lack of faith in people that leads him to do background checks, and that is purely an observation not a therapist answer. Your lack of faith leads to any reason to doubt someone you care about. In reality, he could have bolted. He could have made a 1000 reasons to cancel your date after he got that information. He didn't. He showed up. Even if he felt sorry for you and that is why he came, he has stayed. He continues to stay. You have to give people a chance. I know after tonight we are going to have to rebuild your trust, but try not to handle the trust of Luke or even Christian for that matter. They were there for you. Give them a chance. I owe you an apology about telling you the man in the streetlight was a figment of your imagination. Obviously I was wrong. The idea of my error and what happened to you have nearly driven me crazy. Christian wanted me to tell you that he doesn't blame you and that your job is safe. He also said that you are completely welcome at Ana's party tonight. His helicopter is making trips to Portland starting at 5."

"That is a whole other issue that I can't seem to face down. How do I ever look at Christian again. I mean thankfully he got his money back, but the low lifes from my past bothered him during a horrible personal crisis for him. I cringe every time I think of it."

"Christian is so used to people using other people to get to him. This is one of the reasons he does background checks. You are being pulled into his problems just for knowing him. He knows that people in his life are always going to be pawns. It is the danger of being a powerful man. He knows that this has nothing to do with the type of person you are. You weren't born into this mess, but put into it. On that note, you know you are going to have to testify against your mother. How does that feel?"

"It was so weird while it was happening. One minute she was the co-conspirator, and the next my mother. If she hadn't stopped Gary, he was going to rape me. She brought me ice for my lip after 3 slaps across the face. She grimaced when she saw my broken ribs, but her own selfish hate drove her to all of this. She actually admitted that she blamed me for her first husbands death, the breakup with #2, and #3 she said he was too busy with me to care about her. That she gave me everything and now I have it and she wants it. Not an ounce of happiness, but instead disdain. It actually will make testifying easier because she truly doesn't deserve to be in my life. It does hurt though. I am not sure how to move on from this. Part of me wants to run from Luke because what kind of future can I offer him."

"You are stronger than your past. You prove that over and over. You have to keep believing that you are entitled to happiness. This seems like a big set back, but you will get through this. I think it would be best for you to rest now. I want you to let your doubt of Luke go for now. I want you to trust what you to have had before this all occurred. If you need me, I will be around all weekend. Do you think you will go to Ana's party?"

"No I don't think so. I look a little beat up and I don't think Ana needs to think about anything else. Do you think I should go?"

"I think right now you should actually surround yourself with the good people in your life. You could explain away your injuries. Christian knows, his mother knows, and Ana will know in time anyway. Just don't shut yourself away, but also if you are too tired from everything it is okay to rest."

"Thank you for today. Thank you for having the student ask if I was raped away from Luke."

"You are welcome on both counts. Now take care and know that I am only a phone call away."

Flynn helps me up and to the door. Luke has his head in his hands like the weight of the world is upon him. He looks up and the storm subsides a little. He comes to take me from Flynn. I thank him again. We walk to the door and head to the car.

"Your place or mine?" He asks.

"Mine please. Oh my God, were you able to get to Max?"

"I called Harland knowing he had a key or knew how to get one. He has been pacing the floor and driving me crazy to be honest. I completely understood how he felt. It killed me not to go rushing in there at midnight when I figured out where you were. Ryan literally had to hold me back. I just worried so much about you. Christian said I could get you the minute the drop was made. I was actually sitting down the street with the police just waiting. It was like time was standing still from 12 to 8. I just don't know what I would have done." As he finishes the last statement, he takes my hand in his and kisses my knuckles."

"Gary read your text to him, so I figured you knew or at least hoped you did. I couldn't figure out why you weren't coming, but now it all makes sense."

"I was so afraid you would think bad of me for not coming."

"In that moment, it wasn't that I wasn't thinking of you. It was I was trying to survive and couldn't give much thought to why you weren't."

He slams his hands against the steering wheel and says, "I hate hearing that because I hated that you were there caught, and I was powerless to save you. I knew Christian's plan made sense, but it was against every thought in my head. I wanted you with me safe. Just to warn you, Harland is in your apartment. I tried to get him to go home, but he is really stubborn."

As we pull up to my building I say to Luke, "Oh not worry, I figured he was there the minute you said he assisted you with Max. Just do me one favor, just keep him from hugging me. One of his hugs could kill me."

Luke begins to laugh, but just like with me and the medical student, he begins to cry. I sit there holding his hand to my face, and telling him I am okay.