Page 56 of Never Let Go (Forbidden #1)

Chapter Fifty-Six

LAUREN

A s I start to come to, I hear grunts and yelling. “Mother fucking bastard cunt.”

Caleb?

“Wake up, asshole.”

What’s he doing here?

I groan as pain blooms across my cheek and I move my hand up to touch the skin there, wincing at the soreness.

“Lauren,” I hear someone gasp. I open my eyes and see Sydney sitting next to me on… the bed?

What the hell happened?

Suddenly it all comes tumbling back to me and I frantically sit up—the hotel room, Brad. I look over to see Caleb leaning over Brad, punching him, I quickly scramble off the bed and move toward him.

Placing my hand on his arm I gently whisper, “It’s okay, handsome. I’m okay. You need to stop now.” He stills instantly, turning around to face me. The look of relief evident on his face. He doesn’t say anything, just drags me into his body and holds me.

The tears start falling and I clutch onto him tighter, burying my face into his chest as the sobs wrack my body.

It’s over.

There’s a commotion behind me but I’m too exhausted to move and look at who it is. I hear the echoes of words spoken around me but I don’t take them in, too busy breathing in the comforting scent of Caleb.

I pull away from him and he cups my cheeks, the fury clear as day in his eyes. I gaze up at him, taking in his handsome features knowing that this man has become so important to me in the short time that I’ve known him.

They say time isn’t a measure, that when a soul meets another soul that it intrinsically knows , time means nothing—my soul knows Caleb’s.

He drops his hands and takes a step back. At first I’m confused, wanting to chase him and his comforting embrace, but I quickly realize the voices I heard can’t see us like this, so I tilt my head in acknowledgment.

Sydney comes over and puts her arms around me, offering me the comfort that I’m missing from Caleb. A detective asks for a statement, and I nod, allowing Sydney to guide me into the next room, giving Caleb one last glance.

I sit down on one of the sofas with Sydney next to me, her hand clutching mine, as a stern looking detective sits on the sofa opposite us.

“Lauren, I’m Detective Hernandez. Can you tell me what happened here? ”

I nod and recount everything that happened, starting from the constant feeling of being watched, to the night of the dean's party and to now, with Brad. If it wasn’t for Sydney’s quiet strength, I don’t think I would’ve gotten through it.

“Unfortunately, because this hasn’t been called in before, and we have no evidence, this is going to be a tough one. It’s your word against h?—”

“We do have evidence,” Sydney cuts her off. She looks at me, nodding towards my chest and says, “The tape.”

Letting go of Sydney’s hand I grab the wire and box from beneath my dress, ripping it from my skin, the pain lessening the brain fog, and hand it to the detective.

Detective Hernandez takes it from me, rewinding the tape and listening to it.

She raises her eyebrows at certain points but otherwise keeps a stoic expression.

“I’ll take this, but because Mr. Moore wasn’t aware he was being recorded, this might be inadmissible evidence.

” She gives me a pitying look before adding, “But I will do everything I can to make sure that doesn’t happen. ”

I give her a small smile, grateful that going through all of this might lead to getting him convicted.

Someone walks into the living room, and my eyes dart up—Caleb’s in cuffs and being led away by an officer.

I jump out of my chair as I exclaim, “What the hell? Why is he being arrested?”

All thoughts regarding me and what happened have fled. The only thing I’m concerned about right now is Caleb.

Putting out an arm to stop me, the officer says, “Ma’am, please step back. ”

I stop, eyes wide at Caleb. He gives me a small grin as he says, “It’s all good. I’ll be out in time to grade your next paper.” With that he winks and lets the officer lead him away.

Gaping after him, I try to understand what just happened. I glance at Sydney, who’s now stood next to me, but she just shrugs.

“Professor Anderson has been arrested for assault against Mr. Moore,” Detective Hernandez says from behind us.

“What? Why?” I protest, spinning around to face the detective. “He was protecting me.”

“Whether that is the case or not, he was seen assaulting another person by a member of law enforcement. He needed taking in for questioning.”

At least she has the nerve to look slightly contrite.

“Can we leave now?” Sydney snaps. “Or are we being arrested as well?”

“You can leave,” the detective nods, “but we might need to ask some more questions later.”

After grabbing my clutch from the side, Sydney and I make our way out of the hotel as quickly as our feet will allow us without flat out running. We make it back to her car and get in.

I hit the dashboard in front of me as I shout, “Fuck.”

I’ve been on a rollercoaster of emotions for the last twelve hours, caught between wanting to curl up into a ball and cry my eyes out or go on a murdering spree. I’m still in disbelief at the fact that it was Brad who was the mastermind behind all of this and not the dean.

Sydney pats my leg. “Let’s get you home, babe. You’ll feel better once you’ve had a shower and a large glass of wine.”

I lean back against the seat and close my eyes. “A glass of wine sounds really good right about now,” I agree.

After taking the world’s longest shower and washing away the grubby feeling of Brad’s hands on me, I settle on the couch with my drink, an ice pack attached to my cheek, while Sydney paces around tidying stuff away that she doesn’t need to.

“What the fuck was that all about with Brad? I thought it was the dean?” Sydney suddenly says, looking up from her rage cleaning. “How the hell did that happen?”

“Honestly, Syd? I don’t know. According to Brad, it was him who had been watching me, not his dad.

” It still feels weird knowing that the dean is Brad’s father.

“From what I could gather, this isn’t the first time they’ve done this.

I’m just glad it's over with now,” I sigh, placing my head against the sofa and closing my eyes as Sydney goes back to her cleaning, silence settling around us.

I’m worried about Caleb and what’ll happen to him. Voicing my concerns out loud, I mumble, “He’s gonna be okay, right? They’ll let him go?”

Sydney stops what she’s doing, and braces her arms on the counter, glancing over at me. “Honestly? I have no idea. We can only hope that with our statements, they’ll let him go.”

I sigh, knowing that what she’s saying makes sense, but it doesn’t make me feel any better. I take a sip of wine, allowing the alcohol to relax me, lord knows I won’t be able to sleep without being knocked out.

“Wait!” I sit up, a thought popping into my head causing the panic to rise again. “What did you tell the police about why Caleb was there with you?”

“That Caleb was in the hotel, saw me and how upset I looked and came over to check on me and I asked for his help.”

“You’re not one of his students though,” I point out. “Didn’t they think that was a bit off?”

“Apparently not.” Sydney shrugs. “I guess the fact that they had a guy pretty badly beaten lying on the floor, and a woman who had been attacked, took precedence.”

“Fair point,” I agree as I sit back on the couch and place the ice pack back on my cheek. “Ow,” I mutter and wince.

Pushing herself away from the counter, Sydney walks to the side table and starts fussing with it. “Have you heard from Caleb?”

I sigh. “No. I keep checking my phone but nothing.”

Sydney nods, walking over and throwing herself down next to me. “Wanna watch a movie? I’m too wired to sleep.”

“Sure.”

She puts on the latest rom-com and I get as comfortable as possible, trying not to dwell on the shit storm of the night and what happened to Caleb.