“Yes?”
I walked over and took her hands in mine. “Mila,” I repeated. Finally, she looked into my eyes. “Come with me.” I led her over to the sofa and pulled her close to me when we sat down. “Tell me what happened that night.”
She shook her head. “It was a long time ago.”
“Who have you talked to about it?”
“No one.”
19
Mila
No one. That’s who I’d told. Absolutely no one. Other than my therapist, but I didn’t even tell her the whole story, because my father told me not to.
“Let me handle this, Mila,” he’d said after he pulled Marshall away from me and slammed him into the wall. I hadn’t known his name when he ripped my blouse, scattering the buttons on the floor. I hadn’t seen his face when he put his hand on me, tore my bra, and grabbed my breast so hard that I’d had bruises that lingered for days.
It wasn’t until my father lunged at the man in the ski mask and called him by name, that I realized what happened wasn’t a random act of violence. It wasn’t me being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The man who attacked me had planned it.
But how? How had he known I would visit my father that night for the first time in ten years? How had my attacker known I’d beg the man who had abandoned my sister, our mother, and me to please help me pay for college, only to walk back out into the dark night with nothing?
I looked into Decker’s green eyes and saw the kindness I always found in them. He said I could trust him, and I knew I could.
“It happened when I was seventeen…”
I told Decker about calling my father and asking if I could meet with him, and him insisting I come after business hours. “It wasn’t long after my mother passed away. Maybe a week. I planned to ask him to help me pay for college.”
I’d driven into Austin and parked in the lot he’d told me to; it had been empty save for one other vehicle.
“I was anxious the whole way into the city that night, as though I knew something bad was going to happen. I remember thinking that it was because I expected my father to turn me down.”
“Did he?”
I nodded. “He said that my mother should have left me more than enough money to go to college.”
“Did she?”
“If I had gone to a local college, maybe. But I wanted Sybil to be able to use that money so she could go to college too.”
“What happened next?”
“I was waiting…”
Decker brushed away my tears. “Take your time, sweetheart. If this is too much, we can do it tomorrow.”
“No. I want to tell you now, Decker.” I rested my head on his chest, and he tightened his hold on me.
I sat up and began again. “I was waiting for the elevator, but it seemed like it was stuck on another floor. It didn’t move. I was embarrassed that I was crying, and didn’t want my father to come out of his office and find me. After waiting for another few minutes, I decided to take the stairs.”
“Is that where it happened?”
I nodded. “Between the second and third floors. It all happened so fast; the man came out of nowhere. He slammed me up against the wall and told me not to scream. He covered my mouth with one hand while he ripped my blouse with the other.”
“Were you able to see his face?”
“No. He was wearing a ski mask.”
“Go on when you’re ready, sweetheart.”