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He shakes his head. “What are you talking about?”
“Answer me. What has she told you?”
He crosses his arms, glaring like he’s about to take it out on me that I know her secrets and he doesn’t.
“Not enough, apparently,” he mutters. “She came to me upset, and wouldn’t tell me why, just that you did something.”
I laugh, wanting to roll my eyes at her even though she’s not here. “Yeah. I did.”
And I’d fuckin’ do it again.
Rhys squares his shoulders.
I rub my hands over my face. The exhaustion settles in, making my lids feel dry and gritty. Leaning against the wall, I try to place my words carefully. This is Anna’s story to tell him, but he needs to know that I didn’t hurt her. No, you only showed her what a monster you are and scared her so much she literally ran away. My thoughts are entirely unhelpful.
Swinging my gaze to him, I sigh. “She was being blackmailed.”
Rhys’s posture stiffens. He waits for me to continue, so I do. There’s no point in stopping now.
I clear my throat, but the words still come out raw. “I saw a video.”
His shoulders fall.
“A video of men hurting her. It’s bad.” My voice breaks halfway through the sentence and I hate it so fucking much. “It’s really fucking bad.”
Rhys takes a step back and his jaw goes slack. “What?”
“I wiped it from everywhere I could find it—”
“It was online?”
I nod. “I removed every link, every paste bin link, every backup and shadow account I could trace. I also tracked down the men . . . Every single one of them was still out there. Still walking around free after what they did. These men never met a consequence for what they did to her.”
His jaw clenches. I know what he’s feeling—I’ve been there.
“The idea that they could go on living was not something I could live with.”
“What do you mean ‘couldn’t live with’?”
“For your sake, I’m not answering that question.”
He knows, or at least he knows enough.
We stand there in silence. The ice maker in my fridge kicks on in the background, making the silence even more obvious.
“You said she didn’t relapse. When?”
“Do you remember when she got back from rehab the first time, and later you found your car in a grocery store parking lot?”
He nods.
“She was snatched up by one of these men—those drugs were pushed into her. She had every intention of maintaining her sobriety.”
“Why didn’t she tell me?”
“Because she would have had to tell you about everything else and she loves you and Micky too much. She didn’t want you to try and protect her and wreck your career and marriage in the process.”
His face goes pale. Rhys looks through me; he’s not mentally here. He’s trying to fit pieces of the past together.
