Total pages in book: 19
Estimated words: 18216 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 91(@200wpm)___ 73(@250wpm)___ 61(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 18216 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 91(@200wpm)___ 73(@250wpm)___ 61(@300wpm)
She also got shoved into one of these fundraiser auctions. A year ago, actually. And she also didn’t want to go on a real date. She also said no. But, they didn’t listen to her.
They didn’t…well, not that. Almost, but not. There were four of them—four frat boys including Thad, Melissa’s boyfriend. They bundled Ellen off to a room, feeding her drinks. They took her clothes off, and they took fucking pictures of her. And it would have been worse, except by that point, Evan found out what was happening and barged in. He got some good hits in, but, four on one is no match for anyone. Thad and his asshole pals beat the ever loving shit out of our friend.
Evan, who was like a brother to me, to Roarke, to Jensen.
The fight stopped the assault, though. Too many witness after that kind of scene, I guess. But after that, they were done at Anderson University. And things got dark.
Evan spent months in the hospital, recuperating. And Ellen? Well, there’d been a spark there before, and it went out that night. She just got quieter. Darker. She curled up somewhere inside of herself.
They robbed her of that. They took that light from her, and from Evan.
…And a year later, they’re about to pay for that.
Big time.
It’s taken a year. A year of planning, plotting, and working our asses off. It took me busting my butt and getting into school, here at Anderson. It took me swallowing my hatred for them all and joining the same sorority.
Because it wasn’t just the boys. Oh no. Melissa was part of the whole damn thing. In fact, she filmed it. Well, I know she did, but the authorities who were finally pressured into looking into the whole thing apparently never found them.
But I know where they are.
Why tonight? Why pick this night of all nights to get back at the scumbags who hurt two people we love? No, it's not symbolic. It’s not that we picked the anniversary of the horrible attack on Ellen and Evan like some sort of bookend. It’s that tonight, taking what we’re going to take is going to hurt them more.
You see, tonight’s been a banner year for the auctions. I ran the numbers from the side of the stage while Laurel was reading about fake convicts escaping from the mental wing. Melissa pulled in two-hundred-thousand dollars tonight. Let that sink in. Like I said, this school and the pampered assholes who go here are loaded. But, that’s not all.
See, Melissa and Thad have also been hosting poker night at both the sorority and at Thad’s fraternity. And I know from snooping that they haven’t made a bank run in two months.
Low end, that’s another four-hundred-thousand dollars.
Oh, and it gets better.
So, Melissa likes cocaine. A lot. And so does Thad, of course. They like it so much, in fact, that they buy in bulk and sell it at parties. All of that money, plus the hard drives with the video Melissa took of Ellen’s assault and Evan’s beating that never got found—it’s all in a little safe under the floorboards beneath Melissa’s fucking bed. The bed in that little queen-of-the-castle bedroom of hers directly above the “honeymoon suite” we’re in now. The one that’s only accessible by a single staircase.
By now, word has spread. By now, I’m sure everyone thinks I’ve just been savaged by two crazy maniacs. And, I kind of have. But quite willingly, I promise you. It’s been too long, and we…well, we get a little into it. See, I couldn’t see my two men while I was at school. So it’s been three long months without them.
Until tonight, when it all came rushing out.
We could have just robbed the sorority. That was actually the first plan—to just smash in, steal their money and those tapes for evidence and get out. But, where’s the fun in that? The whole thing with the deranged maniacs, and then kicking Kelly out? Well, that’ll bring Melissa. I think I heard her once or twice outside the door, actually. And by now, she’s brought Thad, too.
Good.
They can be here. They can watch when we take what we take that will destroy their lives. Evan and Ellen are survivors. But, this is going to make sure of it.
Jensen and Roarke spring from the bed, pulling clothes on, and I regretfully start to do the same.
“You know, I liked those panties,” I grumble.
Jensen chuckles. “I think we’ll be able to afford new panties, baby.”
“Yeah, well, you better.”
She laughs, pulling me close and kissing me.
“I’ll buy you all the panties you want, angel.”
“Or,” Roarke growls, coming up behind me. “We just don’t, and you go without them? Always?”
Jensen nods. “I’m in favor of that.”
“You would be,” I grin.
“Damn right.”
Roarke sighs. “Okay, we doing this?”