to let them try. I’d try anything at this point.
“Vanessa, now that you’ve had a little time to settle in, I think it’s best to start with you telling us everything you know about Randolph. After that, I can fill you in a little more with what we do and what kind of help we can offer you. Are you comfortable with that?”
“Yes,” I replied, my voice sounding weaker than I wanted it to. I took a long, slow, deep breath, summoning the courage to form the words and sentences that had been spinning in my head for years. “First of all, I just want to say thank you so much for helping me. I never could have gotten away on my own. Receiving your number from Diana that day at the news station changed everything. Up until then, I wasn’t sure how I’d ever get away from Royce.” I stared around the table at them, their eyes all turned to me and filled with such kindness and compassion. I hadn’t been looked at like that since my father was alive and it moved me to tears. I blinked hard, biting my lip, trying to figure out where to begin.
“Royce Randolph killed my father. After he killed him, he kidnapped me and forced me to marry him. He was a monster, from the very beginning. I was still a kid, almost eighteen, but I soon figured out that even I was too old for him. He married me because he needed a cover, a wife to legitimize his image, an alibi when he didn’t have one. But he underestimated me. He thought I was weak. He thought I was stupid. But I’m not. I paid attention from the very beginning, figuring out that something was very wrong very quickly. At first, maybe I was weak, I was naive, I was scared - so I went along with him, I believed him when he told me that my father had given me to him before Royce killed him.”
I swallowed hard before continuing, images of my father flooding my mind. Dad, laughing and dancing with me in the kitchen. Dad, teaching me to scuba dive in Hawaii, a snorkel attached to his face as he dove in the water, pretending to be a shark. Dad and Mom, kissing each other in the rose garden outside of our house, long before she was diagnosed. I shook my head, refusing to get lost in those memories.
“Over the years, the truth became crystal clear. I guess because he thought I was so stupid and weak, he allowed himself to be open around me. He wasn’t discreet at all - he’d make phone calls in the same room as me - planning orgies and sex parties with his friends all within earshot. He made no pretense of being faithful to our fake marriage - in fact, he never touched me, thank God. But I quickly learned the reason why. I was way too old for him. The girls he uses are the youngest he can find. Twelve to sixteen or so. It’s disgusting.”
“What a fucking pig,” Ryder muttered under his breath. I nodded in agreement.
“He’s heartless. Cold, calculating, manipulative. He has a knack for finding rich, powerful men that share his sick perverted fetishes and he gives them access to these girls in exchange for favors. They come from all walks of life. Politicians, prosecutors, judges even. Real estate developers, CEO’s, doctors. Royce built a network of these people, collecting them, if you will, along with their secrets, so that if they didn’t provide the favors he needed, he had such damning evidence against them, they’d give him anything he wanted in the end. He’s a snake of the lowest kind. He has no regard for anyone in his life but himself. He’s greedy and relentless. But he’s also arrogant and cocky. And it’s this arrogance that allowed me to easily collect all the information that I did. He didn’t think I’d dig. But I did.”
I paused, taking another deep breath before quickly continuing.
“Most of the parties take place in hotels or Royce’s houses all around the country. He has sex parties, orgies, and arranges one-on-one encounters for the men as well. There’s also his island.”
“He has an island?” Riot asked, raising a bushy
“Vanessa, now that you’ve had a little time to settle in, I think it’s best to start with you telling us everything you know about Randolph. After that, I can fill you in a little more with what we do and what kind of help we can offer you. Are you comfortable with that?”
“Yes,” I replied, my voice sounding weaker than I wanted it to. I took a long, slow, deep breath, summoning the courage to form the words and sentences that had been spinning in my head for years. “First of all, I just want to say thank you so much for helping me. I never could have gotten away on my own. Receiving your number from Diana that day at the news station changed everything. Up until then, I wasn’t sure how I’d ever get away from Royce.” I stared around the table at them, their eyes all turned to me and filled with such kindness and compassion. I hadn’t been looked at like that since my father was alive and it moved me to tears. I blinked hard, biting my lip, trying to figure out where to begin.
“Royce Randolph killed my father. After he killed him, he kidnapped me and forced me to marry him. He was a monster, from the very beginning. I was still a kid, almost eighteen, but I soon figured out that even I was too old for him. He married me because he needed a cover, a wife to legitimize his image, an alibi when he didn’t have one. But he underestimated me. He thought I was weak. He thought I was stupid. But I’m not. I paid attention from the very beginning, figuring out that something was very wrong very quickly. At first, maybe I was weak, I was naive, I was scared - so I went along with him, I believed him when he told me that my father had given me to him before Royce killed him.”
I swallowed hard before continuing, images of my father flooding my mind. Dad, laughing and dancing with me in the kitchen. Dad, teaching me to scuba dive in Hawaii, a snorkel attached to his face as he dove in the water, pretending to be a shark. Dad and Mom, kissing each other in the rose garden outside of our house, long before she was diagnosed. I shook my head, refusing to get lost in those memories.
“Over the years, the truth became crystal clear. I guess because he thought I was so stupid and weak, he allowed himself to be open around me. He wasn’t discreet at all - he’d make phone calls in the same room as me - planning orgies and sex parties with his friends all within earshot. He made no pretense of being faithful to our fake marriage - in fact, he never touched me, thank God. But I quickly learned the reason why. I was way too old for him. The girls he uses are the youngest he can find. Twelve to sixteen or so. It’s disgusting.”
“What a fucking pig,” Ryder muttered under his breath. I nodded in agreement.
“He’s heartless. Cold, calculating, manipulative. He has a knack for finding rich, powerful men that share his sick perverted fetishes and he gives them access to these girls in exchange for favors. They come from all walks of life. Politicians, prosecutors, judges even. Real estate developers, CEO’s, doctors. Royce built a network of these people, collecting them, if you will, along with their secrets, so that if they didn’t provide the favors he needed, he had such damning evidence against them, they’d give him anything he wanted in the end. He’s a snake of the lowest kind. He has no regard for anyone in his life but himself. He’s greedy and relentless. But he’s also arrogant and cocky. And it’s this arrogance that allowed me to easily collect all the information that I did. He didn’t think I’d dig. But I did.”
I paused, taking another deep breath before quickly continuing.
“Most of the parties take place in hotels or Royce’s houses all around the country. He has sex parties, orgies, and arranges one-on-one encounters for the men as well. There’s also his island.”
“He has an island?” Riot asked, raising a bushy
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