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Willa is already bopping to the music, so I stop worrying about whether Willa noticed my bruises and move my body.

Pretty soon the solid beat and deep bass turn my fake smile and enthusiasm back into the real deal. We dance for a few songs and then Willa drags us to a reserved area where we get fresh drinks.

“Did Riot set this up?” I sit on one of the love seats.

“He wanted to make sure you had a space where you could relax.” Dizzy sits down next to me. She’s stuck with the same pink drink. It’s the exact color of the tiny dress she’s wearing.

I’ve moved on to a Skittles martini. “I suppose that was nice of him.”

Rook, who we lost the moment we walked into the club, stands in the shadows. He’s been close by since we left the hotel. Through dinner and in the club. He stays at a distance. Knowing he’s watching over me makes it possible to let my guard down enough to enjoy myself.

Willa takes a chair across from us. She’s switched to Sambuca. Brave woman. “It’s the least he can do.”

My phone vibrates in my boot. I peel the top down enough to retrieve the device. Enough that it displays the top of one very dark bruise.

Thanks, alcohol, for letting me forget about what I was trying to hide. I light up my screen and check the notification. There’s no way I’m leaving a read receipt for any of the guys tonight. They can suck it. This night is only for us women.

Riot: Tell me you’re safe and that you’re having fun.

He has no right to ask me to check in. He can ask Rook if he’s that worried. I’m sure he’ll fill him in.

There’s one from Kodiak too.

Kodiak: Hope my Scary Girl is having fun. When you get back feel free to wake me up by sitting on my face.

Whoa. I press my thighs together. I might have to do just that. Still, in the spirit of girls’ night I don’t respond.

“Holy shit.” Dizzy pounces on the bruise. “How did you get that?”

“Yes, how did you end up with multiple contusions?” Willa studies me. She must have seen them earlier to know it’s more than just the one.

“Tell me that wasn’t Sonatina,” Dizzy demands. “I can kill her now, can’t I?”

“It wasn’t Sonatina.”

“It better not have been Riot.” Dizzy looks like she’s ready to add her own brother-in-law to her hit list.

Willa tenses up, her glass half raised.

I chew my lip. How much am I willing to share with these women? How much has Riot told them about the way he’s acted these last few weeks? Did he admit he left bruises around my throat the first night I officially joined the tour? Did he feel that guilty? Is that why her first reaction is to assume he made these too?

“Someone from my past tried to kidnap me. He didn’t manage obviously. I’m still here.” But... he almost did. “It could have been a lot worse. I was super lucky.”

“That’s why...” Willa goes quiet.

“Oh my God.” Dizzy’s face blocks my view of anything else. She hugs me. “I’m so glad you’re safe.”

“I don’t want to talk about him.” The atmosphere between the three of us has gotten heavy.

“I really think the best way to dispose of a body is to chop it up into tiny little pieces,” Dizzy says. “Feed it to some pigs. But then you need to collect the teeth, hair, and fragments of large bones. It’s messy.”

“Nitrogen,” Willa says. “Freeze it. Smash it into a fine powder. Scatter it somewhere you usually would never go.”

Dizzy wrinkles her nose. “Either way, there’s some evidence left.”

“Yes, but you want the minimum amount of evidence. Cutting up a body leaves blood at the murder and disposal site. Then you still have the fragments, hair, and teeth. There’s less left with nitrogen. You can keep the evidence contained.”

“Sure. But it’s too clinical. If you’re going to kill a monster you want to know that you did it. Get your hands dirty.”