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“I’ve thought about it, but… I’m afraid he could hurt her, too. Aubrey believes him when he says he’d never hurt her, but I don’t. I think he lies to her. She doesn’t believe he does, but I don’t trust him. You’ve never encountered him. You don’t understand how scary he can be, howremorselesshe is. He isn’t a normal guy, Parker. He does not have the limits a typical person has.”
This all makes me feel sick. The idea of anyone hurting Hannah literally makes me nauseous. “There has to be something we can do. He has done so much illegal shit. Isn’t there something we can nail him for?”
Hannah shakes her head sadly. “Aubrey would have to testify against him, and she’d never do it.”
“Maybe I could talk to Hayden and get some ideas.” I frown. “Oh. Never mind. Hayden is Dare’s lawyer, he can’t help.”
“Anae could testify, but she wouldn’t do it, either. He inspires this weird, boundless loyalty in his lovers even though I don’t believe he has any to them. It’s wild, but he’s very persuasive. It’s like he substitutes their reality with his own doctored version of it. He made a comment once about how he makes people sick. I don’t know, maybe it was more than his ego talking. Maybe hedoescorrupt people, but that just makes me even more scared for Aubrey. I love her to death, but she doesn’t have a strong enough mind to keep him out without help. Even with my help, I couldn’t get her to turn on him. Maybe I could have if I could have gotten her away from him for a while, but any clarity I give her, he fogs right back up as soon as he sees her again, and now they live together. There’s no way I can get a good enough grip on her, and there’s no way anyone else will, either. He won’t let her have any other friends. He keeps her isolated so no one else can get close enough to see what I saw and try to help her.”
I shake my head. “He is so toxic. I know you care about Aubrey, but youhaveto stay out of it, Hannah. I loveyou, and if this bastard murders you, I’ll have to go all Veronica Mars on his ass. It will really disrupt my future plans.”
She cracks a little smile. “I’m so sorry to be such an inconvenience.”
I nod with playful solemnity. “I appreciate that.”
Hannah sighs. “I guess we should try to get some sleep.”
“I’m sure we’ll both have amazing dreams now,” I say sarcastically.
“Sorry,” she says sheepishly.
Chapter Thirteen
Parker
As soon as I step through the front door of the Atwater mansion, I can tell something is wrong.
My mind goes to all the worst places, but I tell myself Mom would have reached out to me if something truly catastrophic had happened.
I look for Mom and Hayden out by the pool and in all the communal areas, but I don’t find them. I’m hesitant to check their bedroom, but since the door is closed, I knock to see if anyone answers.
Hayden’s voice calls back, “Who is it?”
“It’s Parker,” I answer uncertainly.
A moment later, the door opens.
Mom’s eyes are puffy, confirming the bad vibes in the house.
My stomach sinks. “What’s wrong?”
Mom hugs me, her tone wobbly when she asks, “Why didn’t you come home last night?”
I’m confused because I texted her to tell her I was staying over at Hannah’s to help her clean up after the party. Since it would be late, I told her it made the most sense to just sleep there and come home in the morning.
My story was airtight. There’s no way she should have suspected it wasn’t true.
She looks me over like she doesn’t believe me, and she needs to take stock of my well-being herself.
“I’m fine,” I assure her.
Hayden approaches us, putting a grounding hand on Mom’s shoulder. “I told you she was fine.”
Mom shakes her head, her nose red. “You don’t have maternal instincts. Men don’t know anything.”
I barely manage to bite back a burst of laughter.
Then Mom says, “I think we should go stay at the old house for a week or two. Moving in was too much all at once. We should have taken this slower.”
