I’d offered to help her when needed. The way we left it was it wouldn’t be a regular occurrence, but I was there if she needed me. Rita pushed back a bit so she could look me in the eyes. I gave her a sexy smirk.
“You’re so full of yourself,” she said and tilted her head.
I leaned down and kissed her. Both our desires ramped up quickly, and the kiss became much deeper. Rita suddenly stiffened and pushed me away.
“We can’t,” she said breathlessly, then caught herself. “I’m sorry, it’s up to you.”
I decided we needed to talk because I could tell Rita was on the verge of going too far. God only knew I wanted her. She was Rita James, after all. She was smart, sexy, and on my list. What stopped me was, so was her daughter. Halle was every bit as intelligent and sexy as her mom. Plus, I had feelings for Halle. I wouldn’t quite call it love, but it was dang close. She’d told me to help her mom out. But no matter how much I wanted to, I couldn’t take advantage of the situation, regardless of what the evidence from the last few minutes showed.
“You’re right, we can’t. I care very much for your daughter. I’m sorry we rubbed our relationship in your face. That wasn’t right, and it was all my fault. That doesn’t mean that she and I won’t be together again, though,” I said.
I wasn’t sure if Rita was relieved or disappointed. She gave me a tight-lipped smile.
“That was what your mom said. She told me I could spank your bare bottom, but that didn’t mean that you and Halle wouldn’t get together. She advised that if I were to forbid Halle from seeing you, it would be a mistake, because of the whole forbidden-fruit aspect. Your mom explained that teenagers had been sneaking around having sex forever, that you and Halle were good kids and were responsible about it.”
I turned to the desk, leaned over it, and gave Rita a smoldering look.
“You want to spank my bare bottom?” I asked.
That made her laugh, and she swatted me. I let out a playful moan, then turned serious.
“I’ll always be there for Halle. You don’t need to worry about the two of us together,” I said.
“I know, I was being silly,” Rita admitted.
“I’ll be there for you, too. Not in the same way as Halle, but when you need another treatment, let me know.”
“God, it’s just so embarrassing.”
“Hey, look at me,” I ordered.
Rita looked into my eyes and then knelt down before me and folded her hands in her lap. I could see her relax. She’d never said she needed a treatment, so I stopped her right there.
“Come on. Let’s go eat,” I said.
When I got back to the kitchen, I walked straight to Halle, hugged her, and whispered in her ear.
“Your mom spanked me.”
Halle wasn’t fazed. She whispered back that I probably deserved it. Bandit came bouncing up. I picked him up and gave him some loving. At least
◊◊◊
After dinner, Fritz and I went to his quarters to talk about Brandon.
“My friends got back to me. They’ve collected some preliminary information about Brandon and his fraternity. From a public records search, they’ve identified eight women who reported being assaulted at their parties over the last five years. I had them dig a little deeper, and according to police records, ten women made initial complaints. Of those ten, seven had rape kits done on them.
“The allegations never went very far. There were no signs of a struggle. The way they explained it to me was that police look for bruising, chipped teeth, and the like. The girls all had similar stories. They’d willingly gone to a fraternity-sponsored party. They’d gotten drunk, and three admitted to taking drugs. None of the women could identify who all had sex with them. When I say ‘all,’ they suspected more than one person was with them.
“The fraternity brothers all circled the wagons. They claimed it was consensual. It became a big ‘he said/she said’ thing, as far as the police were concerned. Two of the women never followed through after the initial complaint. Like I said, seven had rape kits done, but the investigations all stopped once it looked like a woman with buyer’s remorse.
“Where Brandon screwed up was with who the last two victims were. The police started to drag their feet, but the families of the girls had some serious pull at Harvard. Brandon and another boy were given the choice of leaving or facing expulsion. Brandon’s dad brokered the deal and sent him off to Europe. Apparently, he’s pretty influential with the Wall Street higher-ups,” Fritz said.
“How could the police just let it go if there were so many complaints over the last few years?” I asked.
“I don’t know. What I did notice, though, was that different detectives were working the individual cases. I don’t think anyone put together that they might be related.”
“What did the rape kits show?” I asked.
Fritz flipped through the file and then his eyebrows knitted together.
“I don’t know. You want me to ask them to keep digging?”
“Yes. Also, have them find out where the ten women are now.”
“Do you want to have them do their own interviews?” Fritz asked.
