Escort

Chapter Thirteen

"So, tell me, is all these rumors true? Is your girlfriend really an escort?" the reporter asked in live television and Kate felt her heart beat harder in her chest.

Rick only smiled through his small irritation, and he looked past the cameras to catch the eye of the love of his life. He nodded to her and she took a deep breath as she quickly stepped into the camera's vision, a camera immediately landing on her but she tried her hardest to only focus on the man giving her as much courage as he could through his eyes. He held out his hand towards her and she took it as soon as she was in reach. He helped her get closer to him squeezed her hand as she sat down beside him in the couch. Once she was seated she looked at the reporter who looked shocked to have her sit right in front of her.

"This is Kate, and yes, some might know her as Nikki Heat, but the story behind it all isn't as simple as black and white," Rick said with a serious voice and she felt a shudder go down her spine.

Kate knew that whatever happened now Rick would continue to protect her, she just hoped this could bring some peace to the both of them. Rick gave her the two times squeeze they had agreed on that he'd give her when she could start on her story, she'd told him earlier she didn't want to happen to say something too soon, didn't want to embarrass herself or him by speaking too soon.

"My parents got killed in an accident when I was sixteen," she started, biting her lower lip as she drew strength from Rick.  "I went into foster care and was soon placed with a family. The man and the woman had a business and they-uh... they forced me into it, I had to do things I wasn't really ready for and after a while of trying to fight it, I just gave up. I didn't care anymore and since I didn't get the opportunity to go to college my hope to break free from them was so far gone I didn't know what else to do than to stay in the business."

Kate took a pause, because she could sure feel the sting in her eyes, thinking back on the exact moment she stopped caring. When she was so far gone she didn't know what to do.

"When you say business you mean as an escort?" the reporter, who seemed to have assembled himself again, asked.

Biting her lip she nodded, "Yes, that's what they called it, when I found out I called them out saying it was prostitution and that there was nothing they could say to change my mind. Only... they did things... locked me up without food was one thing, a teenager can only take as much." She paused for a second, glancing at Rick and giving him a smile through her pain, "He saved me. When Rick and I first met I had absolutely no intention of letting him close to me, but in the end he was the one who gave me reason to believe I could get out of there. Thanks to his connections in law enforcement we could stop the same thing that happened to me to happen to another girl they had just taken in to become a part of the foster family."

The reporter looked at her with wide eyes, apparently not at all expecting the kind of story Kate was telling him.

"Where is the man and the woman now?" he questioned and for the first time she felt relieved of what she could answer.

"They're in prison, and will never bother another girl ever again," she said proudly.

"And the girl you're saying you saved, where is she now?"

"She's safe, we've made sure the family she's in now is 't taking advantage of her," Rick said and Kate squeezed his hand.

The reporter had a couple of more questions, which Rick and Kate took turns answering depending on who the question was directed to. The reporter tried to get information if they had found each other because of Rick calling her as an escort and that's the only thing they had decided to lie about earlier, Kate had insisted on it, not wanting his fans to look at him any differently. Therefore she was the one to tell that story, saying they had met because he had clumsily bumped into her one day on the streets and he had insisted on buying her dinner in order to apologize for his lack of watching where he was going. When the reporter asked why Rick only shrugged and said something in line with 'have you seen her? She's the most beautiful woman I'd seen and of course I needed a reason to ask her out'. That had made Kate blush, hard, and then the reporter informed them the time was up, told the audience who their next guest would be once they came back after commercial break.