Page 59 of Sacred Vow

All eyes snap toward me, and I see the relief in Tilly’s expression. The man holding the whip looks pissed to be interrupted. Rape fetish dude immediately steps back, not wanting the drama, while Liam’s hands instantly fly into the air. “What the fuck is going on?”

Izaac barges in behind me with a few of his security guards, and as I dive for the man with the whip, he races toward Tilly. “What’s going on,” I roar, taking the fucker to the ground and slamming my fist into his jaw, “is that she didn’t consent to this bullshit.”

I’m distantly aware of Izaac tearing the shirt off his own fucking back and covering Tilly as his guards detain the other men in the room. Others begin to free her from the cuffs around her wrists, all while my fists pummel into this asshole’s face.

“Whoa. No. No, no, no,” Liam says from across the room, his tone frantic. “You’ve got it wrong. This is what she asked for. No safeword. Rape fetish. She wanted to be degraded.”

My head snaps up just in time for two of Izaac’s men to grab the backs of my arms and pull me away from the unconscious asshole on the ground.

“You really think that is what she wanted?” I demand, shrugging the guards off as I race to Tilly, just in time to catch her as the cuffs are freed from around her wrists.

“Baby, are you okay?” I rush out, checking over her body, panic tearing at my chest.

She clutches me as if trying to tell me something, and I frantically try to unknot the strip of fabric around her mouth as I look back at Liam. “Look at her. She’s fucking terrified. She’s crying. How the hell could you think this is what she wants?”

“I . . . I didn’t know. Lots of women react differently to this kind of stuff. I just assumed . . . Annie said—”

Getting frustrated with the fabric, I grab the ends and tear it down the center, watching as she claws at it to get it off her face. “Annie,” she rushes the second her mouth is freed. “She’s here. That’s who—”

“I know, hellcat. We got her. You don’t have to worry about her again. She’s detained and will spend the rest of her life behind bars for what she did to you. I promise you that. I won’t let her get away with this.”

Tilly collapses in my arms, and I hold her tight as Liam continues to shake his head. “But—”

“Annie is a fucking psychopath who tried to kill her two weeks ago,” I say, barely able to look up at him as I focus solely on my girl, desperately needing to get her home as guilt slams down on my shoulders for even asking her to come here. “Annie just used you to have her raped.”

Liam shakes his head as I cradle Tilly in my arms, holding her tighter than ever before, my hand clutching the back of her head against my chest.

“No. That can’t. But . . . fuck,” Liam grunts, his face turning white as he drops to his knees, his gaze locked on Tilly as her soft cries echo through the room. “Is . . . Is that true?” he asks her.

Tilly clutches onto me as though terrified of letting go, her chest heaving with heavy sobs, and when she lifts her head, I let her have the room, knowing she’s about to deliver the final blow.

“Not one of you even attempted to get my consent,” she growls, a ferociousness in her tone that demands every fucking ear in the room pay attention.

“You didn’t bother to ask if what she had said was true.

You didn’t ask me if it was okay to whip me.

You didn’t ask if I was comfortable. If I wanted any of this.

You just put your hands all over me and took while tears streamed down my face. How could you think that was okay?”

“I’m sorry, I . . . I didn’t know. I—”

“She might have lured you all into this room under false pretenses, but as far as I’m concerned, each one of you had a responsibility to check with me if any of this was okay, and it wasn’t.

Not even a little bit. As far as I’m concerned, had Caesar not come bursting in here when he did, every one of you would have been guilty of rape by the end of the night. ”

Tilly scoffs with disgust, her gaze sailing over the unconscious man on the floor before focusing on the third guy who was trying to tear her thong off her body. “You better put in a call to your lawyer. You should be expecting sexual assault charges by morning.”

The guy just clenches his jaw, shaking his head with regret heavy in his eyes. He knows he fucked up. “Shit.”

Izaac orders his team to start dragging the men out of the room, but Liam simply drops to his knees, unable to come to terms with what he’s done. “I’m so sorry,” he says, his whole world crumbling to ashes. “I’m so fucking sorry.”

Tilly shakes her head and holds his haunted stare. “Do you have a daughter?”

“Yes,” he says. “She’s seven.”

“And what would you do if she were in my position?”

“I’d fucking kill any man who put his hands on her without her consent.”

“Yeah,” she says, blowing out a heavy breath.

“You good, Tilly?” Izaac asks as he approaches us, her favorite strapless dress in his hands. Though something tells me that she’ll never wear that dress again. If she wants to burn it, then so be it. I’ll buy her a million new dresses if that’s what she wants.

She shrugs and awkwardly clutches his shirt that’s barely held together around her body as she takes her dress from him. “I don’t know,” she tells him. “To be honest, I just want to go home and never think about it again.”

“I understand,” he says. “I get that you’ll want to bring charges against the men who touched you, and please know that I’ll happily supply you with all the information you need to do that.

Video surveillance as well. But I also understand if you want to bring charges against me as well. I won’t hold it against you—”

“What?” Tilly rushes out. “Why the hell would I do that?”

He gives her a sad smile, and it doesn’t go unnoticed how much distance he puts between them.

“I appreciate your reluctance, but you were assaulted in my club. This should never have happened, and I’m so sorry for that.

I’ve always prided myself on the high standard we have for the safety of my members, and they pay the astronomical fees for the peace of mind that they can do what they like within the walls of my club, knowing that they’re free to explore their desires without the risk of being harmed or lines being crossed.

What happened here is not okay, and I won’t blame you if you need to seek damages. ”

Tilly steps into Izaac and throws her arms around him, holding him tight.

“You’re family, Izaac. I would never do that to you.

I’m reluctant to file charges against these other guys simply because they didn’t know that I hadn’t consented, but they also had a responsibility to check that for themselves, which is why I think I need to do this.

But not you, and certainly not this club.

You wouldn’t know, but Vixen has given me so much.

It’s allowed me to explore things I never would have been able to do out in the real world, and it brought me to Caesar.

I don’t blame you or the club for what happened here tonight.

It was a one-off attack orchestrated by a woman with a vendetta and a hard-on for my boyfriend.

All that matters to me is that she is dealt with, and that the three men who came in here pay for their part in this. ”

“They will,” I vow to her.

Tilly nods, glancing up and meeting my eyes. “I know.”

“Okay,” Izaac says a moment later. “In that case, why don’t we head into my office while we wait for the police to arrive? I’ve got some sweats you can change into if you’ll be more comfortable in that, and I’ll get you all the details and whatever video surveillance you need to make a solid case.”

Izaac turns on his heel and stalks out of the room, and as Tilly follows, I pull back on her hand, bringing her back to me. “Are you really okay, hellcat?”

Her lips press into a hard line, trying to keep her tears at bay, but they break through the surface and roll down her cheeks. “No,” she finally says. “I thought—”

“I know,” I say, pulling her in tighter against my chest, not able to bear hearing the end of that sentence. “I’ve got you now. You’re safe with me.”

“It’s my fault,” she says with a whimper.

“I should have waited for you at the bar like I always do, but I thought you were in here. I just walked in without even checking, and when she turned out the lights and closed the door, I just waited. I didn’t even turn around.

I was so certain that it was you that I didn’t even think about the possibility of it being anyone else. ”

“Don’t blame yourself, Tilly. This is not on you.”

“I know, I just . . . I can’t help but go through all the what-ifs.”

“That’s fine. We’ll go through every what-if question you have, and I’ll knock every single one of them out of the way until you’re satisfied,” I tell her, hoping like fuck she truly hears me.

“This is on Annie’s shoulders. It’s just like you said; she orchestrated every inch of this, set you up to be brutally gang raped, and tried to steal your light.

I will personally ensure that she suffers the most horrific fate for that. ”

Her gaze lifts to mine, those tears still staining her cheeks, and I sweep them away with my thumbs, hoping like fuck that she’s going to be alright. Then a small smile pulls at the corners of her lips, getting wider by the second. “You called me your wife.”

Well, fuck.

“You caught that, huh?” I ask, realizing that this little she-devil is going to be more than alright.