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I knew that all too well.
I narrowed my eyes as I turned the photo sideways in my hand, analyzing every angle of Laney’s face. How could someone so beautiful and innocent-looking on the outside be so twisted and ugly on the inside? It honestly blew my fucking mind. Monsters were supposed to be hideous, hulking creatures shrouded in darkness. Not sweet, petite girls with smooth skin and bright eyes who waltzed around in the sun with a shy smile on their face for anyone who passed them by.
I dropped the picture and squeezed my hands into tight fists as I pictured Laney in my mind again. This time she was tied to the imaginary stone column in her underwear, the rope lashed around her so tightly that it dug into her soft, warm flesh, leaving raw red marks all over her. She proclaimed her innocence and ignorance as long as she could, but when I leaned down and whispered in her ear, she finally knew how pointless it was to keep pretending. I know what you did, little whore, and soon, everyone else will know too.
That was when she broke in all of my fantasies about her. She stopped crying and trying to break free, knowing it was useless, and then she went limp and gave herself over to me. She knew she had no choice. She wasn’t a person anymore. Just an object for me to manipulate at my will until I was finally done with her. Exposed, ruined, and discarded.
“What’s that?”
I whipped my head around to see my brother Adam frowning at me from my now-open door. He was a year younger than me, smart as hell, and perpetually nosy.
“How many fucking times have I told you to knock?” I said, nostrils flaring as I hastily gathered up the papers and photographs and shoved them back in the file.
He trudged over to me. “Sorry. I forgot.” His head tipped to one side as he looked down at my bed. “Who’s that?”
I followed the direction of his gaze. Three of the Laney photos had slipped out of the pile and dropped back onto the bed. One of them had a view of her jogging down the path behind her house, fine round ass popping in tight gray leggings, and the other two showed her at work in the diner.
“Just some girl.”
He laughed and snatched up the photos before I could grab them. “What the fuck is this shit? Are you stalking her?”
“No. I just asked David Burgin to find her for me, that’s all. He went a little overboard.”
Adam raised a brow and hit me with a barrage of questions. “Why did you ask him? Who is she? And why couldn’t you find her yourself?”
I pressed my lips into a thin line. It was none of his fucking business—at least not yet—but I had to come up with something to allay his suspicions, because having these photos of her didn’t exactly make me look good.
“She was at the RFA alumni party we hosted last month. I was gonna ask her out, but she disappeared. Must’ve left early.”
Adam’s brows stayed high. “Why not just look on the online yearbook to find her?”
“She wasn’t an RFA student. She was one of the waitresses Dad hired.”
“Well, you could’ve just asked him to tell you who she is,” he said, pointing out the blindingly-obvious. Smart-ass.
“Yeah, I know, but I didn’t want to bother him on his business trip over some girl. You know how he gets when he’s caught up with stuff.”
“True.” Adam nodded slowly and twisted his lips into a smirk. “Well, good luck. I’m sure she’ll be thrilled to know you hired a private investigator to track her down for you. It’s not creepy at all.”
“Ha-fucking-ha. What do you want, anyway?”
“I came to ask if I could borrow your car.”
I blinked. “What’s wrong with yours?”
“It won’t start.”
“So fix it. You’re good at that shit, aren’t you?” I said.
“Yeah, usually, but I can’t figure this one out,” he replied. “I asked one of the maids to call someone to take a look at it, but they aren’t here yet, and I have to go.”
“Take an Uber.”
He frowned. “I don’t want to. I hate sitting in a car with a total stranger.”
“Right. And you say I’m the weird one,” I said, rolling my eyes as I leaned over to my nightstand. “Where are you going?”
“Having lunch with Trina at the Boathouse Café.”
