Ah, yes. She remembered that.
“Killing rapists is my coping mechanism,” I laughed. “You probably think I’m nuts.”
“Not at all. I can’t even tell you how grateful I am that you were at the club that night. That you were brave enough to help me. If you hadn’t–”
“I know. I’m glad I was there too. And I’m glad we met–even under shitty circumstances.”
“I want to do this again. Well, maybe less crying,” she giggled. “But I want to hang out again. It’s convenient that our guys are related.”
“You meanyour guyis related to my…neighbor. Nemesis.”
“Oh, please. It’s obvious you two like each other. I knew it the night I met you. I called you out on it and you vehemently denied it, remember? He’s been keeping an eye on you all night.”
“He has?” I hadn’t noticed. I was too busy biting my nails and trying not to puke.
Ashtyn nodded and smiled. “Something happened, didn’t it?”
“God, I must be an open book. Not a good trait in my profession,” I lamented as I fell back on the couch.
“West did the same thing to me before we weretogether. We went to a party and he wouldn’t stop staring at me the entire time,” Ash smiled, her eyes sparkling with what I assumed was love.
“You’re good for him. He doesn’t seem so…grumpy. And scowly.”
“He has his moods, but the good outweighs the bad. I think Kane and him have a lot of similarities. I know you didn’t ask for my advice but…”
“Spit it out,” I grinned.
“Don’t pay attention to the bullshit façade he puts on. If he’s anything like West, he’s trying to convince himself that he doesn’t have feelings for you. Sometimes that comes out in undesirable ways.”
“You’re speaking from experience.”
“Yep. And if that doesn’t work, you can always go the jealousy route. I bet he’d fume if you were with another guy.” She waggled her eyebrows and I smacked her arm with a throw pillow.
“I don’t want to get anyonekilled.” The thought made me laugh. Kane Moretti didn’t get jealous–just possessive over his playthings. I might be dickmatized by him, but I still had some common sense.
Ashtyn’s face turned somber and she hugged me again. “Thank you for telling me your story. Someday I’ll tell you mine.”
I understood her hesitancy. I feared other people finding out, not because of shame or anything like that.
No one could find out the whole truth about that night.
Because it wasn’t justsomeonewho drugged me at that party.
It was my father.
He drugged me and handed me over to the men who defiled me for twelve hours.
And if he ever found out that I talked to someone about it, he would do it again.
Only this time, I wouldn’t be returned the next morning.
Chapter 24
Kane
ShehadtoknowI would watch the footage of them in the library, right?
Dani was always making comments about how I was a voyeur who watched too much security footage, so I didn’t think her conversation with Ashtyn would be anything important. I thought they would talk about girl shit, maybe chat about that night at Ethereal.