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“You did what?” I roared, stepping forward, fully intending to wring Zara’s neck. “Fuck, how could you?”
How could Neri not tell me that? I’d just assumed Zara had said the typical bitchy things, not such vile, abhorrent slurs.
Zara scrambled backward, raising her hands. “I did. I won’t deny it. I said those awful things, but even as I said them, I didn’t mean them. I’m so sorry. You have to believe me, Neri. I was heartbroken. I missed you so damn much. And Joel, he told me if I ever talked to you again, he’d disown me as his sister. I said those things so I never had the chance to be your friend again. I knew you’d never forgive me.”
“Ethan overheard you,” Neri breathed. “He took it as an invitation to see just how much of a whore I was.”
A tortured groan escaped me as Zara sucked in a sob and wedged both hands into her lower belly. “Did...did he hurt you? Is what the detective said true? That you were—”
“When you went upstairs with Cooper, Ethan grabbed me and wouldn’t let me go. He drugged me in your kitchen, tied me to Joel’s bed, and raped me.” Every muscle in Neri’s body snapped to stone. “I screamed for you, Zara. Fuck, I screamed. And even though you were only a room away, you never came. You never heard me. But Aslan...” She looked up at me with blue fire in her stare. “He heard me. He wasn’t anywhere near that party, but he heard me because he loves me. Because he cares for me. He came for me and—” She pursed her lips, cutting herself off and sighing heavily. “I’ll always be sorry for lying to you about how I felt about Joel. And I accept your apology for how you acted toward me, but...I’d like you to go away now.”
Zara nodded repeatedly, tears plopping off her chin. “I’m so, so sorry, Nerida.”
“It’s over. We’re over. Just—”
“I hope Ethan is dead,” Zara blurted, shooting me a look. “I hope his guts were ripped out, and he’s crab bait somewhere. I never liked him. He scared me. Something in his stare was empty and cold. Cooper warned me to stay clear of him if he wasn’t with me. He didn’t invite Ethan to visit him. I need you to know that. Cooper’s been trying to shake Ethan for years—”
“Why are you saying this?” I growled. “You heard Neri. Leave.”
“Let me....Please let me finish.” Sucking in a breath and swiping at her tears, Zara lowered her voice. “The detective asked Cooper if he’d heard from Ethan since the night of the party. I know he hasn’t. He was worried the first few days because when Ethan goes missing, bad shit happens. It’s not the first-time allegations of assault have swirled around him. As the weeks passed and he didn’t show up, Cooper confessed he hoped he’d messed with the wrong person and had finally been dealt with. He hoped he was gone so he couldn’t hurt anyone else.”
Stepping closer to us, she braved my wrath and removed her sunglasses, revealing bloodshot eyes. “Cooper knows how much I love you, Nee. He’s had front-row seats to my mourning over you, so when the cop asked him again if he’d heard from Ethan, I dashed outside and went to his side. He hugged me like Aslan is hugging you now and, in that moment, I knew Cooper chose me. He might’ve tolerated that sociopath, but he chose me over him. And you know what he did?”
Neri began shaking in my hold.
I squeezed her closer, sticking us together with pool water and skin.
“What?” she whispered. “What did he do?”
“He lied,” Zara breathed ever so quietly. “He lied to the police and said he’d heard from Ethan the day after the party. That Ethan hopped on a plane for Borneo, ready to disappear into the jungles of Malaysia before starting his O.E.”
“But that’s not tru—”
I pinched Neri. Hard.
She wasn’t supposed to know what wasn’t true. She wasn’t supposed to know a damn thing.
Zara glanced at me, her eyebrows drawn, her eyes hiding secrets I didn’t like.
Why is she looking at me like that?
Neri licked her lips, anxiety rippling down her spine, infecting me. “I mean...how is that lying? Ethan could very well be overseas—”
“I think he’s under the sea,” Zara whispered.
I turned ice cold. “H-How would you know that?”
“Because a few days after he went missing, when he didn’t return to grab his stuff to catch his flight back to Adelaide, Cooper managed to get his service provider to tell him where Ethan’s last phone location was.”
“Jesus fucking Christ,” I hissed under my breath, borrowing a well-used Australian curse. No other words were vicious enough for the rip-roaring terror inside me.
I was going to jail.
