“Where did those bastards go?”
“Well, after they took that picture to send to your man and touched you a bit—”
“What?” I screech, unable to stop myself.
“Shh, don’t start freaking out now!” Kristine rushes, looking around nervously like she feels eyes on her already.
“Kristine, you have to tell me,” I croak. “What did they do to me?”
She eyes me through that one eye, and my stomach rolls, the meaning of that look making me want to throw up.
“Oh, God, no,” I whisper, shaking my head, the smell of blood now strong. I start feeling woozy again, but I can’t lose consciousness now.
“No, no he didn’t go all the way. I’m so sorry, Mia,” she says softly in a voice I haven’t heard from her since we first became friends. “They drugged you and you were out of it, so Sean, he arranged you in a certain way on this bed and then his brother…”
“I know all that. They took pictures. I was still awake.”
“And a video.”
“What?”
“Sean was touching you and they took a video…” she trails off, but I’ve already got the mental picture of what happened.
The sudden silence is almost deafening, but the horror that slams into me at the thought of what Julian might’ve seen.
Me, like this? Jesus Holy Christ.
When I look down at my arms and wrists, I can see my self-inflicted cuts, both fresh and old.
The two weeks without Julian were the hardest to me. Emotionally, mentally, I was a mess but now this? And all thanks to my father?
“What-t,” I stutter. Clearing my throat, I decide to put that aside and focus on the now and what I can potentially change in my immediate future. I don’t want to be that bitch who’s found dead in some abandoned warehouse/slaughterhouse with a funky stench of death hovering in it. I wouldn’t even be surprised if this place also saw swine flu by the looks of it. “What happened the night of that race, Kristine? Did you know those bastards were going to attempt to kill Julian?”
I see the fear in her eyes, but she bravely swallows and nods mutely.
“They’d been talking about it for weeks before that, but I never thought they were actually serious,” she rushes to say. “I mean, it’s been public knowledge how much Clintwood and St. Jude High clash but the rival between the Fitz brothers and these pathetic third rate, asshole Matthews, is largely personal.”
It’s personal all right.
“Did they know about me? That I was living with the Fitz brothers?”
“I’m not sure, but it was the way Julian handled you at the Devil’s Track, the way he was looking at you at a gathering with all those fucking people. It was like he was stripping you bare at the same time, bend you over for defying him. Honestly, it was so hot, and it made the rest of us feel inadequate.”
I remember it all. Hell, I remember every sweet, chaotic, cruel moment I’ve ever had with Julian but now that might never happen ever again.
“After that night though, I know those assholes directed all their attention on you. Then it’s the way the Fitz brothers and Cole Perry protected you and blocked the police from investigating you for the explosion. That surprised even me because fuck, we all know the Fitz brothers can get any girl they want. Liam basically has his own personal Tinder stash of girls he actually swipes right or left with a nod of his head. Cole is freaking exclusive, but I heard one night with him has changed lives and turned church girls into stalkers and then Julian, well, everyone knows he doesn’t just touch anyone. There was Casey of course, but everyone knows she’s a pathetic desperado, delusional in thinking she could have more, but Julian considered her as nothing more than—”
“Kristine!” I snap. “You’re rambling.”
“Oh sorry, I just, well, I’m jumpy and hormonal and I—”
“Just breathe and focus on what happened that night and what you know.”
She takes in deep breathes, but the alarm in her eyes and the stiff posture of her shoulders indicates a girl too accustomed to things going wrong and always not in her favor. In that regard, I can relate completely. “I want to know about the bomb.”
“Well, after everything went sideways when Liam drove Julian’s car instead of Julian himself, I saw Sean panic, but his fucking evil brother was calm and didn’t bat an eye. He’s the one that came to you and gave you that detonator, right?”
“Yes.”
“That’s because he actually wanted Liam dead.”
“Wait, what?”
“Shh! They might be right outside.”
“What do you mean? I thought you said they wanted Julian.”
“No, they want both brothers, but everyone knows Shane loathes Liam with an animosity that rivals anything.”
My God. I didn’t know this.
“But why?”
“Come on, Ice Queen, don’t tell me you weren’t in the loop with this one,” she mocks, but quickly grows serious. “To be honest, no one really knows but I promise you, there’s history between the Fitz brothers and the Matthews.”
“So, Shane wanted Liam dead. But the detonator he gave me…”
“Was some sort of timer thingy, Mia. You didn’t blow him up but of questions were asked, they pointed to you. At least on the surface. To them one thing was clear. Sean hates Julian while Shane lividly loathes Liam, but one thing was crystal clear for anyone with eyes. Both Julian and Liam, plus Cole, cared for you, and thus you were the key.”
I feel sick, hearing confirmation of what I already knew.
“And how did my…” I trail off, as anger, fast, hot and furious swooshing in my blood.
“You mean how did your father factor into all of this?” she whispers sadly. I look away from her knowing gaze.
“Yes.”
“To be honest, I have no idea, all I know is the call came in so suddenly. I overheard the way your father was cursing and talking about you broke an agreement or something.”
“Me?”
“Yes, you.”
I broke an agreement?
Fuck, Courtney was right. Nathan was watching me and because of fucking Courtney, he found out I had a plan to get Julian’s case thrown out and for that he… gave me up to monsters.
“Well, how jealous of my life are you now?” I mock, feeling the loss of what could’ve been between Julian and I, so heavily on my chest.
“At least you are not pregnant, a drug addict and broken beyond repair. You were never roped in through lust and lies and then kept constantly strung-up on meth and coke as you get abused over and over again, once in front of their father.”
“Oh God.”
Kristine looks away, brushing her tears away. “Anyway, Ice Queen, from the moment that beady-eyed snake saw you, you were done for to be honest. Shane was using me like fucking rag doll, fucking me anyway he wanted, had me constantly high and out of my mind, and because of that, I was the perfect rat to do their bidding. I was the one who went to the cops and named you the suspect.”
Fuck. I knew it was bad, but I didn’t know it was this twisted, this messed up.
“But it all went to shit at that party you held at your old house,” Kristine goes on, her voice low, almost as whisper. After what she just said about doing drugs, I now see that the wild look in her eyes is not just fear, it’s withdrawal. Shit.