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“Wow,” Trey says, with a whistle. “The guy is an even bigger tool than I thought.”
“That’s an understatement,” Seb mutters. “He obviously got it from his dad. I always knew that the guy had a temper, but he put Matt in the hospital after I confronted him—almost beat him to death.”
“I had no idea since I stopped talking to him after that night.” I frown.
Seb nods. “And in the end, Ellen took the threat seriously—I couldn’t make her turn him in.”
“And then my mom killed herself,” I say as I start to shake again. “Do you think it was because of the rape? Was it Matt’s fault?”
Seb reaches across the counter and takes my hand, squeezing it. “Maybe. Maybe not. She’d also lost John and then her family. A lot of things might have been the tipping point,” he says gently. “I wish we knew the answer. I know you miss her. I miss her too.”
I rub my eyes, holding my fingers there as I breathe. I’m so tired of crying, of looking at my life through a distorted lens of tears. It’s exhausting.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I ask, staring into Seb’s crystal-blue eyes. He shrugs, looking away as if my gaze overwhelms him. “I wanted to tell you, but I was processing it too. And I was so frustrated with Ellen for not coming forward. And then when she committed suicide, it just seemed cruel to mention it. I thought it would just make a bad situation worse.” His expression darkens. “But if I had known he’d be back in your life, I would have told you. I feel like it’s my fault—I knew he was apredator, but I never said anything, and then you were the next victim.”
“That we know of,” Trey says quietly, and I shiver.
Seb straightens up. “How long has this been going on?”
Trey grimaces and glances at me, and I nod, giving him permission to explain. “A few girls accused him of rape in the last couple months, but the guy is a hockey prodigy at Whitmore, so the accusations were dismissed.”
“Fuck,” Seb mutters.
“He started hanging around me and acting strange, and then he blackmailed me with photos of us doing…stuff.” I flush because I am talking to my brother, after all. “He said he’d send the pictures to Rosewood if I didn’t stop seeing them. I just thought he was trying to ruin my chances at that internship. I didn’t really know he was dangerous until he choked me in the closet just before the winter break though.”
“He did what?!” Link growls at the same time that Trey says, “Are you kidding me, Bennett?”
I wince. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to worry you, and I handled it…”
They both look seriously pissed.
Seb pinches the bridge of nose before dropping his hand to the counter and looking at me apologetically. “I almost said something when you talked to your friend about him that day at the hockey arena, but I didn’t want to worry you, and at that point, we didn’t even know that you guys would cross paths. This was my fault.”
“No, it wasn’t,” I say firmly. “He’s a sociopath, and I was naïve about the whole situation.”
“Regardless, where’s the asshole now?” Seb growls, looking between Trey and Link.
“We don’t know,” Trey says with a frustrated sigh. “Link contacted his dad’s private investigator this morning, hoping tofind him, but Matt hasn’t been back home or to campus since it happened.” Seb frowns.
“You guys contacted a PI?” I ask uneasily.
“I know you think he’s dangerous, Sunshine,” Link says through gritted teeth, “but you’re not safe until we locate the fucker and put him in his place. He can’t hurt you like that and get away with it.”
“I don’t want to bring Marcus into this yet because I’m not sure adding more overprotective males to the situation is wise, but I may see if I can make an excuse to use some of our security guys to give you some extra protection. I assume at least one of you will be with her at all times?” Seb adds pointedly, talking over my head.
“Whoa, whoa, c’mon,” I protest. “Do I really need an escortandsecurity?”
“Yes,” they all say in unison.
I roll my eyes.
“Fine, but I want someone watching Fi, too. I wouldn’t put it past Matt to target her to get back at me.”
We leavethe house and head back to campus. Link has been acting a little off ever since we talked to Seb, so I opted to ride with him to try to talk while Trey drives my car, but he’s been tight-lipped.
“You’re overthinking something.”
He side-eyes me and shrugs. “It’s what I do,” he says, his voice flat.
