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had clearly developed feelings for her, but the guy certainly wasn’t dangerous. They had closed many fundraisers before and nothing had ever happened. Rhee silenced the little warning bells going off in her head. Her feet hurt in the heels she was unused to wearing, and the long evening gown was itchy and uncomfortable. She could not wait to rip the offending items of clothing off and trade them for an old tee shirt and sweats. Her mind on her fuzzy, pink slippers, Rhee made a beeline for her car, leaving her boss trailing behind.
    “Gotta go, Darren. Thanks!”
    Rhee took off as fast as her heels would allow her to move. Her heart rate accelerated as footsteps paced quickly after her. She jammed her key into the lock and turned it. Rhee decided to close this interaction right now and beat a hasty retreat.
    “Look, Darren. I really appreciate all you’ve done for me, but I have no interest in anything other than…”
    Darren’s hand came up and his fingers gripped her chin. He pressed her bodily into the car and Rhee shrieked as an obvious hardness nudged her belly. From the determined look in his eyes, she knew he was going to try to kiss her.
    Why do these kinds of men always find me?!
    “Sabrina, I’ve waited too long for this moment.”
    “Darren—!” His mouth came down on hers, and Rhee felt a wave of revulsion run through her entire body. She turned her head to the side and jammed the palm of her hand into the man’s chest, pushing hard into his sternum. Although he let out a whoosh of air, her reaction only seemed to piss her boss right off.
    “What are you doing?” she yelled irately. “I told you, I’m not interested!”
    “You little tease,” he responded, in a menacing tone she had never heard from him before. His fingers bit into her cheek as he tried to force her face towards him.
    Rhee reacted instinctively, her knee coming up to catch Darren in the groin. She connected, but not hard enough, and succeeded only in angering him further. It’s a bad combination, lust and rage, she thought, as a part of her seemed to disconnect from what was happening.
    Darren shoved her, hard. “Whore!” he hissed.
    Rhee’s head cracked against the driver’s side window and for a second, she saw stars. Blurrily, she registered Darren’s enraged words as he accused her of teasing him since the day she had started working for him. She was just a knocked-up whore and she owed him. His ramblings made no sense, and fear flooded her as she took stock of the situation. There was no one here—no one to witness her assault. And it was now painfully obvious that Darren wasn’t playing with a full deck. The bleak nature of the situation sank in and Rhee was surprised to feel some of the fight seep out of her. She had been fighting for so long, and in so many ways.
    I give up.
    Rhee was both physically and emotionally exhausted, and if she was honest with herself, maybe there was a reason that she was being treated like this. It was a nasty pattern—one she could no longer ignore. In fact, part of her was starting to wonder if she deserved the abuse. It just kept happening, so often that it seemed nonsensical.
    I wasn’t there for Mickey. Maybe it’s a just punishment that the same thing happens to me…
    She sagged against the car, a part of her separating from her conscious mind as Darren’s sweaty hands went to the neckline of her dress. His hands on her made her skin quiver with revulsion. Sickened, Rhee registered his voice changing now. He was apologizing. He couldn’t help himself, he said. He…loved her?! Oh, God, the man was deranged. Darren’s mouth descended to her breasts, half-exposed in the low cut neckline, and all of a sudden, her body kicked into high gear. Rhee elbowed him, succeeding in getting a few precious inches of space between her own tender flesh and his nausea-inducing mouth. Rhee grunted as she tried to bring her knee up once more, the contrast between now and the last time she had