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“Business school friends?” he guessed. “Adam?”
“Yes. He was one of them. There were four that hung out like a pack. They did everything together.” By now, Ivy had fidgeted with her shirt so much it was wrapped tightly around her fingers, probably cutting off circulation. “That night at the party, one of them, Ethan, he got friendly with me. Had a few drinks with me. Complimented me. Paid me real attention. It was unusual, because no one ever noticed me, and I… liked the attention. So, when he invited me up to one of the rooms, I—” Ivy swallowed so hard he could see her throat work with the effort. “I went along gladly.”
“Oh shit.” Suddenly, he could see the end of this story. And by the dread, agony, and remnants of terror visible in every angle of Ivy’s face, he knew it was killing her to relive it. “Ivy, you don’t have to say more.”
She nodded. A flicker of relief passed over her features before they fell into a loaded silence. Finally, she looked over at him resolutely.
“What you really need to know is that Hope saved me that night. When I was in that room, Adam was at the door, making sure no one could get in.” She wrapped her arms tightly around herself, as if trying to hold herself together. “He got the brunt of Hope’s rampage. I mean, he got some shots in. He shoved her against the door, I think. I remember hearing Hope cry out, I think he slapped her. She was holding an ice pack to her cheek when we got back to her place. I don’t—I don’t remember all the details.” Staring at the floor, Ivy rubbed the spot between her brows that had been etched in a frown. Then she looked up at him, the blue of her eyes were haunting in their clarity. “She fought him so hard, Gabe. Once she got her knee up between Adam’s legs she busted through that door screaming like a banshee, throwing anything she could find. She ripped a lamp out of the wall and threw it at the mirror. It was enough of a distraction that I could get out from under Ethan, the one who was—” She rolled her lips, silencing the memory.
Gabe said nothing. Hope had lied to him. That assholehadhurt her—in more ways than one.
The thought of someone laying hands on Hope… He clenched his fists at the visual. So much rage was coursing through his system in that moment he was sure he was going to explode. And what good would that do now? Ivy had been through enough, she didn’t need him flipping his lid in front of her.
“Adam always had it out for Hope after that. I think he was embarrassed that she got the best of him. She clawed him pretty good, you know? Left a scar on his face.” A small smile twitched against her mouth. “There was nothing good that happened that night, but I didn’t mind seeing the blood dripping off his face when we left.”
He remembered seeing that fucking scar. He hadn’t known Hope had put it there while she tried to save her friend. Pride filled his chest at her bravery.Thatwas the Hope he knew. The one who went to battle for the people she loved. “Why didn’t she just tell me the truth?”
“Because of me,” Ivy said, her voice small. Fragile. “Hope busted through that door that night, like something out of a movie. Shrieking, throwing things, cursing, hitting, punching. You name it. She pulled me out, brought me home, showered me, wrapped me up in her arms, and held me as I cried.”
He let the image paint itself in his mind. Hope, the caregiver, sheltering her friend, soothing her, supporting her after she survived an unimaginable horror.
“I made her promise to never tell anyone,” Ivy said weakly. “She wanted me to go to the police, but I—I didn’t.”
It was hard to keep the emotions out of his features, to keep his inside voice inside. He didn’t know much about the thought process of a person who survived what Ivy had, and he was certainly in no position to be advising anyone on the topic. But he did know how his own thought process worked. It was simple: actions must have consequences. Crimes needed to be punished. Asshole touches someone against their will, violates their body, asshole hangs until his eyes bug out of his head. Justice served.
Knowing that Ivy kept silent meant that justice was not served in this case, at least not Gabe’s brand of justice, and that picked at something in the very core of him that took every ounce of his focus not to project onto Ivy. Because above all else, above justice, above retribution, above consequence—there was free will. That had been taken away from Ivy once. It wasn’t his place, or anyone else’s, to take it a second time.
“That’s why they almost got away with accusing her of cheating. She could never really defend herself because they knew she’d never go against my wishes.” Ivy sighed, her breath fluttering her bangs. “The whole cheating thing was so stupid. I’ll let her tell you that story in her own words if she wants to, but you’ve got to know she’d never cheat. I mean, honestly, we’re talking about Hope. Anyone who believes that is an idiot.”
He was. He was the idiot. He hadn’t believed she would cheat—that had sounded so wrong the moment she’d said it. But he hadn’t believed in her. Hadn’t believed in them. Not enough, certainly not the way she deserved, andthatmade him the worst kind of idiot.
She’d been carrying these burdens completely alone, thinking they would keep her from having a future with him. And he’d gone ahead and proved her right by walking out on her. If she ever looked his way again, it would be a miracle. Still, he had to try. He had to get to her.
But first there was something he needed to say to Ivy.
“It’s not your fault, Ivy,” he whispered, looking directly at her until she met his eyes. “Not one part of what happened, or will happen between Hope and I, is your fault.”
Instead of looking reassured, she looked wary—and a little apprehensive.
“There’s… one more… thing,” Ivy said hesitantly.
Christ,he thought.What more could there possibly be?He was afraid to know.
“It might not be my place to say anything, but I really think you need to know. Last night, Hope got a message on her phone. It was an offer for a job she interviewed for a while back, for the position of manager of an art gallery in Detroit.”
Blood rushed to his head, then pounded there mercilessly.
It was Ivy’s turn to consider him carefully. “I’m guessing by the fact that you don’t seem to be breathing, you didn’t know about it.”
With great effort, he forced his mouth to move. “I did not.”
“I don’t think she had any plans to take it, but then last night happened and, well…”
“Well, what?” he asked, through teeth clenched so hard he was pretty sure they were cracking.
Ivy studied her feet for a moment before meeting his gaze. Her expression said it all.
“I have to get to her.” He just hoped he wasn’t too late.
