I pursed my lips at the mention of his name, my fingers curling against the stem of my glass.
These women were my family. My ride or dies. There were no secrets between us. That I knew of, at least. This was the first time I hadn’t told them about a man in my life. It didn’t sit right with me that I was keeping Karson a secret. Then again, from the disdain in Yasmin’s voice, it probably served me well to keep this discreet until the flame between us petered out.
Maybe it had already. Maybe everything he said about me being ‘his’ was just bullshit he used to get into women’s pants.
But I didn’t think so.
He was playing games, even though he’d declared his intention to do the exact opposite at my house almost a month ago.
Punishing me for disappearing with another man, maybe.
“Yeah, Karson,” Zoe nodded, bringing me back into the present.
“He was having her followed,” Yasmin said with her eyes dark. “After she told him no.”
“Okay yes, that’s fucked up,” I chimed in. “But that’s also why our friend is bruised, rattled by that experience, but not permanently shattered. And she chose to get in the car with Karson after it happened instead of going to her apartment and calling one of us.”
I remembered the text Stella sent me that night, the night that she had been attacked on the street and saved by Karson. The night that he took her to Jay’s house, where she spent the night recovering from the attack, only texting me the location because she was a single woman in LA and knew the protocol for going to a man’s house—send your girlfriend the location followed by hourly updates to make sure she knew you were still safe.
Of course, at the time, I’d merely thought she was having wild sex with Jay, and I’d been proud.
Until the next morning when she’d called us all and told us the truth.
“It doesn’t make what’s happening okay,” Yasmin retorted. “He was having her followed. We know the rumors about Jay Helmick. I couldn’t find any history of him being convicted of anything, and every business he’s the CEO of is legit, but … he has a violent goon ready to beat the life out of people following Stella.”
I gritted my teeth. Yasmin was my oldest friend, yet I felt an unreasonable fury toward her for calling Karson a goon.
“We can’t do anything about this,” I interjected, suddenly anxious to get off the subject, even though I did worry about my sweet friend and what would become of her.
“I could open an investigation into Jay’s businesses until I find something illegal then prosecute him to the full extent of the law,” Yasmin said thoughtfully.
An uneasy feeling settled over me.
Yasmin could and would do such a thing if she put her mind to it. She was currently working on a high-profile human trafficking case that many attorneys before her had tried to work but got scared off of by people in power.
I’d worried about her immensely, but once she sets her mind to something, she’s there until the end.
Which was why the comment about Jay scared me. She would go after him and wouldn’t stop until he was behind bars. And if she did that, then Karson would be in trouble too. The thought of him in jail had my skin itching with panic.
That was insane, though. Wasn’t it?
“Let’s table that plan, but not abandon it completely,” Zoe suggested.
My blood chilled, even as I drained the last of my drink, the liquid burning my throat. With Zoe on board, Jay had no chance, no matter how powerful and dangerous he was. Those two could bring down regimes.
“This is dark shit, but like Wren said, she’s a grown woman, and she is exploring parts of her sexuality. I’m not going to be one to shame her for that,” Zoe looked at each of us. “But if he hurts her…”
“Then I will make sure that we ruin his life, irreparably,” I finished for her, meaning every word I said.
They said hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, but they didn’t know about three women who would burn the world down for their sister.
The waiter put down a new round of drinks that were sorely needed. I held up mine. “A toast,” I declared. “To Stella’s sexual awakening and Jay’s destruction if he doesn’t treat her like the queen she is.”
Our glasses clinked together.
A pact.
ONE WEEK LATER