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“Why?” Suspicion smothered Eli’s voice. He caught my wrist when I tried pushing his arm off me. After everything happened five years ago, I hadn’t even gotten a chance to confront River about any of it. William had me shipped off hours after I tried betraying him. And now that it was out, I wanted fucking answers.
“Get off me,” I snarled, trying to tug out of his grip. “I’m so tired of you three acting like you can treat me—”
“If you don’t stop trying to get away from me, we’re going to have a fucking problem,” Eli threatened, pushing me back against the tree. “I’m done with the secrets. So whatever River needs to say to you, he can say it here.”
“Secrets? You know as much as I do now.”
That wasn’t exactly true. But I had no intention of ever spilling what else River had done. This would be enough to get them all off my back for a while. Eli studied me as my eyes darted behind him to where River was creeping forward. In two quick steps, River was behind Eli, wrapping his arm around Eli’s neck. Eli released me as he tried to get out of River’s hold, but River backed up, making it hard for Eli to get his footing.
“You should know not to turn your back on people you don’t trust,” River murmured as he tightened his grip. My blood ran cold as I watched. River had always been the least violent of the three of them. Right now, he looked as menacing as both Eli and West.
With a grunt, Eli got a hold of River’s arm that was around his neck. He bent over and flipped River over him. The second River’s back hit the grass, Eli was on top of him. I stayed pressed up against the tree, not sure what to do. It wasn’t like I could get in the middle of them. As they rolled around, they were throwing punches, not caring where they were hitting. If our parents heard about this, they were going to be pissed.
My head snapped to the side when I heard laughing. A group of girls were walking this way, and I was almost positive some of them were on my team. I began backing up, not ready for anyone to see me with River again. He’d brought enough attention to me at the bar. Plus, when our families found out about this, I didn’t want to be connected with it. That would give William an excuse to get me alone again.
“You two are going to regret this when they find out you fought,” I said loudly, knowing I didn’t need to tell them exactly who I was talking about. Fighting in public was never supposed to happen. Eli’s dad would flip his shit when he found out.
They both ignored me as River slammed his knee into Eli’s gut. I glanced behind me, seeing the group of girls getting close. Biting my lip, I looked at the guys fighting one last time before racing toward my house. I wasn’t worried about them killing each other. They were both rational enough not to go that far. At least, I thought so. I never figured they were dumb enough to fight where our parents could find out.
Pushing open the front door, I kicked it shut behind me before going upstairs. Throwing my purse on my bed, I moved toward the window and pushed the curtains to the side. The girls were nearly at the house, and I frowned when I looked farther down the sidewalk and only saw Eli. He walked under a streetlight, and I could see his rage, even from here. He spit blood out of his mouth as he pulled his phone out and put it to his ear.
“You shouldn’t have told him.”
I whirled around to see River leaning against my doorframe. One of his eyelids was nearly swollen shut and his lip was busted. I straightened my spine when he stepped into my room and shut the door behind him. I hadn’t been expecting either of them to follow me. They must have stopped fighting the second I ran to the house for River to get here this fast.
“Why? Wanted to keep your betrayal a secret?” I bit out, my anger rising all over again. “They already hate you for whatever you did to them. It doesn’t make a difference.”
“I’m sorry, Kat.” He moved across the room toward me. “I didn’t have a choice.”
“You didn’t have a choice?” My voice raised with each word. “You could have chosen to back up your friend instead of ratting me out to the person who despises me.”
“There was more to it,” he ground out, pain flashing in his eyes. “You have no idea how bad I felt—”
“How bad you felt?” I screamed, shoving him back as he reached me. “Do you know where William sent me after it happened?”
He frowned in confusion. “Your mom said they were sending you to a school in Europe.”
“A fucking reform school,” I yelled, not caring how loud I was being. “A place where parents signed a form giving the school free will to do whatever the fuck they want. My senior year was hell.”
“Kat, I didn’t know,” River choked out, looking pained.
“It was William,” I spat out. “Did you really think he’d do anything less after finding out what I was trying to do?”
“I didn’t do it for him,” River muttered, making me freeze.
“Then who did you do it for?”
His jaw clenched as he kept his mouth shut. My eyes narrowed as I tried to put the pieces together. I was right about not being the only one coming home with secrets.
“The only other people involved were part of the gang,” I said slowly, watching as he went rigid. “Were you protecting them?”
“Drop it,” he snapped, backing away.
“What were you doing in Detroit, River?” I pressed. “Did you leave Braidwood just to join a gang? Is that why you have that gun?”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said coldly, his face going blank.
“Enlighten me. Tell me why you threw me to the devil,” I screamed, my mind going back to that night. I had been fucking terrified when William walked through my door. “It’s been five years. And I let myself block it out. Then you come back into my life, acting like nothing happened. Stop trying to act like you care. I can’t deal with it.”
