“Sorry. What happened?” I say hoarsely.
“You don’t remember?” Pip says sharply.
I shake my head.
Pip glances at Reuben in what he probably thinks is an unobtrusive way, but Pip Simmonds is incapable of being understated.
“Nothing happened,” Jonas says. “It’s all fine.”
He means it to be comforting, but I can’t be doing with that bullshit. I ignore him and look to the one man whom I alwaystrust. Reuben leans close again and pushes my hair back from my face, his eyes busily scanning my features.
He answers me like I knew he would. “We were at a club. Do you remember?”
I search my mind and get a flash of strobe lights and the heavy beat of music, but I’m not sure if that was now or a time before. I’m suddenly scared. “I can’t remember,” I say in a small voice, and he makes an abrupt gesture towards me that’s quickly cut off.
“Don’t worry,” he says. “The doctor says you’ll remember. You were dancing with Robbie.” Something darkens in his face, but his voice stays even.
I rack my brains and then gasp. “He gave me something. Slipped it in my mouth when he kissed me.” His hand tightens on my leg. “What was it?”
“MDMA,” he says. There’s a world of fury in his voice. “But it was spiked with something else.”
“He gave me Molly that wasspiked?That fucker.”
“You didn’t ask for it.”
I stare at Reuben. “Well, of course I didn’t.” I look around the room. “You all know that, right?”
“Iknow,” Reuben says, his tone banked with barely suppressed anger.
Pip puts a hand on his arm.
Reuben continues more calmly. “He was staying in the hotel next to the club. He took you to his room.”
“Did he—?” I swallow hard, terrified by the images slamming through my aching head. “Did he?—?”
“No, he fuckingdidn’t,” Reuben snaps.
Some of my fear eases its hold on my chest. I take a deep breath and ask, “What did you do?”
“What do you mean?” he says, eyes widening innocently.
I roll my eyes and immediately regret it when I feel an ice pick stab my brain. “Shit,” I gasp, pressing my hand to my eyes.
“Xavier?” Reuben’s voice has a note of horror, and I fumble for his hand. He squeezes it tightly.
I wait for the pain to ebb and then pull my hand away. “I’m okay,” I say to their anxious faces. I look at Reuben. “My memories might currently be a bit hazy, but I still know you did something to Robbie.”
“How?” Pip asks.
“I know Reuben. His personality alone is a lethal weapon.”
Reuben’s mouth twists at that statement. “I dealt with him,” he says calmly.
“Oh, dear. Is he sleeping with the fishes?” Everyone apart from Reuben looks slightly scandalised which makes me laugh and then I have to hold my head again. “Oh, come on,” I mutter. “That was funny.”
“You should take it on the road,” Reuben says, his hand gentle as he pushes my hair away from my face again. “Anyway, Robbie has been dealt with.”
“I notice that you didn’t answer my question.”
