**TRIGGER WARNING**

*Sexual Assault 

Misha

"Ah, Duke Letten. Of course, I have time for you." I say. 

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. What am I supposed to do? I have been giving half-assed reports this whole time. I was hoping he wouldn't suspect anything as long as I wasn't ignoring him. 

"Get in." He commands. 

"Yes sir," I say. 

I don't know what to say. I hope he just wants to give me instructions. I don't want to know what that first injection feels like. I get into the back seat and sit next to the Duke. 

"I see you are doing better. You are back at the palace. Back at Jay's side. That's good. However, you seem to be slacking on your reports. You didn't inform me that you hired new security staff and a new personal bodyguard for Jay." Duke Letten says as he places his hand on my thigh. 

UGH! Why must he touch me? 

"You can't possibly be trying to undermine me, would you?" Duke Letten asks as he grips my thigh tighter. 

Ouch, what is with his strength? I thought he was supposed to be an old man. What the heck? 

"Haha, am I undermining you? No way. I just have been busy. I didn't get the chance to inform you. That's all." I tried to explain. 

I should have guessed that he would have someone watching. This just proves that there are still people inside the palace who are under Duke Letten's influence. I have to be more careful. 

"That's good. Now, tell me more about this new man you hired to be a bodyguard. Is he someone I need to be concerned about?" The Duke asks. 

He loosened his grip slightly but kept his hand on my thigh. 

"No, he is just a regular bodyguard. He is under my control. You don't need to worry about him." I say confidently. 

Duke Letten moves his hand up my thigh caressing it gently. The fuck? Is everyone in this city a damn perv? 

"Good. Keep it that way. I want your reports to be more thorough from now on, understand? Don't make me give you your first warning. I don't like repeating myself. Mr. Grace, you wouldn't want to be on my bad side. Now, how are you going to make up for inconveniencing me?" He says as his finger brushes against the edge of my crotch. 

Ugh, a shiver ran down my spine. I don't know how to get out of this. Is he seriously suggesting I have sex with him? 

"I can… can buy you lunch. How about that?" I say hoping he would take my offer. 

He abruptly moves his hand into the waistband of my pants. His fingertips force their way into my underwear. 

"Ugh." I groan.

Shit, I haven't been touched like this since I died. I don't like this. 

"I am not hungry for food Mr. Grace. I would much rather eat something else." The Duke pushes his hand further in and begins stroking my dick. 

Fuck, no. I don't want this. Please stop. I grab his arm with both my hands and try to pull it out. My body is reacting. I feel weak. Why won't he budge? 

"Enough stalling. Take off your pants." He commands. 

NO! NO! I don't like this. Someone, please. Anyone. Help me. He grabs one of my hands with his free hand and pins me down to the seat. He releases my dick and begins unbuttoning my pants. 

"STOP!" I shout. 

I begin flailing my legs and arms. Just as he was about to pull my pants down. He looks up out the window. 

-knock- -knock- -knock- 

"Is everything alright? I heard shouting." A familiar voice says from the other side of the door. 

"Yup. Everything is fine. Be on your way." Duke Letten says to the man outside. 

"Huh, that's funny because I swear I just heard my cousin shout for someone to stop. Rin, come out. Now." Parker says sternly. 

I glance up at the duke who is glaring at Parker through the tinted window. Duke Letten lets go of me and sits back in his seat. 

"What a pain. Go on. You can make it up to me another time." He says as he fixes his tie. 

Fuck, that was close. I exit the car but before I can close the door Parker stops me by grabbing the door. 

"I just wanted to see the man who is trying to force himself on my family. Now that I have, it makes sense. Someone like you probably can only get someone by forcing them. Alright, have a nice day pervert." Parker says as he slams the door. 

The car takes off leaving Parker and I standing on the sidewalk.

"Misha, your pants," Parker says. 

I look down and see that my pants are still undone. I quickly zip them up and adjust myself. 

"Are you alright?" Parker asks. 

I can see the concern written all over his face. Don't. Please don't look at me like that. 

"Yeah, of course. Thanks, I wasn't sure how I was going to handle that situation without making things worse. You saved my butt." I say with a forced smile. 

Of course, it's a lie. I'm not ok. I forgot this feeling. The feeling of helplessness. The feeling of disgust. Disgust in yourself. For not being able to stand up for yourself and letting those stronger than you walk all over you. I hate it. I hate this feeling. Being here, in a place where the memories that haunt me don't exist. I forgot the pain and suffering that waits around every corner. Time and time again I find myself in one awful situation or another. This is my penance. I am paying for all of my sins. I know I deserve this. I know I am not worthy of the peace I have been enjoying all this time. I know it, but it still hurts. It hurts like hell. That comfort I get from being with people who care about me is starting to feel like a knife in my heart. To have them depend on someone like me. To have them pity me. It's all too much. I much prefer being alone. Then I don't disappoint anyone. Then I don't have to see the faces of those I care about in anguish. 

"...ah…isha….MISHA!" Parker yells. 

I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't even hear Parker calling for me. 

"Uh, I'm sorry. I was zoning out. What did you say?" I say. 

I hope he doesn't pry further. Honestly, if he does I might break down. 

"I asked if you wanted to grab something to eat while we talked. Are you sure you are alright?" He asks. 

"Yeah, I'm fine. I have to be back at the palace soon so I shouldn't take too long. What was it that you wanted to talk to me about anyway?" I say. 

Time to change the subject. 

"Alright, come in for a second. I found something about Chris Terrane. It's on my laptop." He says as he pulls my arm.

He drags me inside the gym and goes towards the break room. Josie notices me and waves from across the gym. I wave back and force a smile. Parker finally lets go of my arm once we sit down at the table. He pulls his laptop out of his bag and opens up a file labeled "Sponsorship". 

"I have a couple of exes who were in the entertainment industry. I reached out to them when you mentioned that Chris Terrane might have ties with Duke Letten. That fucking pervert. I remembered one of them talking about Chris Terrane sponsoring an actress or something. When I mentioned it, one of them had a lot to say about it. Turns out she was sponsored by him herself. She sent me all the paperwork and contracts that he forced her to sign. She also sent the scripts and contracts from the jobs she was offered. She has been trying to get out of the contract with Chris but is struggling to find someone to help her. The Terranes have influence everywhere. She can't move an inch without them finding out. She has been working with a couple of other people who have been in the same situation as her. She said she would contact them and ask if they would be willing to send the information to me. However, the thing I wanted to show you the most was some of the photos she sent me." Parker rambles on. 

He opens another file and clicks on a photo. The photo is of an actor who is drugged or drunk and being taken advantage of. You can see Chris is one of the men forcing himself into the man's mouth. On further inspection, I see why Parker found this to be important. Duke Letten is sitting in the background. He is holding a phone, taking pictures, and laughing. A picture does say a thousand words. Wait, who is that other man? I feel like I have seen him before. 

"Who is this?" I ask Parker as I point at the familiar-looking man. 

"That is the Royal Council's Attorney Lance Regrow," Parker states. 

Parker looks serious. Wow, this is getting worse by the minute. This isn't just some small plot for the crown. If this is what I think it is, this is a full-on coup. Jay was saying that Prosecutor Langcaster thinks someone is blocking her efforts to find the corruption in the Royal Council. This is big. I gotta get this to Jay quickly. 

"This is beyond anything I was expecting. Thanks, Parker. This is a huge find." I say while smacking Parker on the back. 

"Ow! Here. I put everything on this external drive. It's best if we don't send this information through email. We can use this to pass information back and forth." Parker says. 

He has a good point. I think we need to be careful from now on. 

"True. Hey, are you available right now?" I ask. 

Parker looks at me with a puzzled look on his face. 

"Yeah, why?" He asks. 

I just smile. 

"Let's go on a trip," I say with a big grin.