Page 84 of Cruel Shame

Professor Adewale placed a napkin to his lips and groaned. “We agreed not to bring up these subjects at the table.”

“Miss Hancock is here to answer for the headmaster,” Dr. Adewale said with a sniff.

The conversation continued like this, with Gideon’s mother firing question after question, and everyone else at the table telling her to back down. My heart sank. Normally, I’d come out swinging at a time like this, but I was here for Gideon, and couldn’t wreck things by telling his mother to shove her accusations up her ass.

A man took one of the seats nearby and turned his face toward our conversation. I glanced over to his table and met the eyes of Lachlan. Gideon’s phone buzzed, and I gave him a sharp nudge. He glanced across the dining room and inhaled a sharp breath through his teeth.

“Mother,” his stern voice cut through the argument. “Would you like to know why a supposedly well-bred young woman would act in such an unseemly manner?”

She tilted her head and raised her brows.

“Some of them crack under parental pressure to conform to unobtainable expectations.” He laced his fingers with mine. “Lilah is a friend who came to support me during your stay, but our relationship is strictly platonic.”

Dr. Adewale’s gaze darted from my face to Gideon’s and them down to our joined hands. “What about all the purchases of women’s clothes and makeup?”

I bit down on my lip, finally understanding why the woman was so hostile. Gideon spent a lot on luxuries, and she probably thought I was draining him dry.

“They’re for me. I’m…” He gulped a mouthful of water, and I squeezed his hand. “I wear those things, and that man over there is my boyfriend.”

Dr. Adewale’s gaze darted to where Lachlan sat with a hand raised. She placed a hand on her chest and exhaled a long sigh. “Thank almighty God. I thought we would be stuck with an unsuitable daughter-in-law.”

“Mother!” Gideon snarled.

I placed a hand on his shoulder. There was no need to upset the woman on my account. “Now that the truth is out, I’ll give you the chance to meet Lachlan. I hope you enjoy the lunch.”

Gideon’s father stared at me with his lips parted. I got the impression he would prefer a daughter-in-law like me over a son-in-law, but I didn’t stick around to listen to the fall out. After folding my napkin on the table and saying my nice-to-meet-yous, I thanked him for lunch and strode toward the hallway.

Footsteps hurried after me. I turned to find Gideon a few feet away, his features stricken.

“Lilah, I’m so sorry.” Gideon’s voice was hoarse with emotion. “Please let me take you back to the academy.”

I placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled. “Thanks, but I’ll be fine. It took a lot of guts to come out like that. You’ve got to stay and for the conversation with Lachlan.”

Gideon’s brows drew together, and his gaze darted toward the restaurant, where Mr. Adewale stood eye to eye with Lachlan.

“Go.” I turned him around. “It looks like he needs your help.”

His throat bobbed up and down. “Sorry.”

I hurried down the hallway, and didn’t look back in case he was thinking of chasing after me. As far as meet-the-parents went, this was tame compared to what Kendrick had to endure at Billy Hancock’s house.

At the reception, I refused the women’s offers for a cab, saying that I would call an Uber. Right now, I needed a brisk walk and some fresh air.

The hotel’s grounds were lush, even for a winter’s afternoon, and I walked along a gravel path lined with tall conifers packed so tightly that I could only catch glimpses of someone moving behind them.

Every hair on the back of my neck stood to attention. Someone was following me. Just as I turned back toward the hotel’s reception, a large hand wrapped around my mouth, muffling my yelp.

A needle pierced my neck, filling my veins with freezing liquid.

My heart thundered, and sweat broke out across my brow. I struggled against my attacker with every ounce of my fading strength, but he held me in place until I lost consciousness.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Stale air tickled my nostrils, making me sneeze, and cool air swirled around my bare skin, which prickled into goosebumps.

I awoke lying on my front with my shoulders wrenched back, my tied wrists resting on my bare ass, and the heels of my bent legs resting on my hands. Whoever had snatched me from the hotel’s grounds and also stuffed a ball gag in my mouth attached by leather straps that wrapped around my head.

My eyes snapped up, and light streaming in from an arched window ahead illuminated the diagonal beams of an attic made of dark wood. Loose planks ran beneath my body, stretching over raised floor joists. I turned onto my side and groaned.