Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 82534 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 413(@200wpm)___ 330(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82534 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 413(@200wpm)___ 330(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
She didn’t know why he let her go, only that he did, and she kept herself upright. She listened as the door opened and the lock clicked back into place.
Rushing to the toilet, she wiped the spittle from her face and threw everything up. There had to be a way to escape.
There had to be.
****
Logan had all the pictures of Luke splayed out across his bed.
Some of them were from the past and Ava could have easily taken, but he recalled some as recently as six months ago. He picked up one of them all in a nightclub. A couple of women were sitting in their laps, and Luke had told someone passing by to take a photo and handed the stranger the cell phone.
The snap had been instant. Staring at it now, Logan knew there was no getting away from it. Something had gone on between Luke and Ava.
Why would one of his best friends send pictures like this?
More importantly, why would Ava scribble out Luke’s face or deface them in any way?
The answer had to be right in front of him, but there was no way to see it.
There was a knock on the door.
“Come in,” he said, gathering up the pictures and putting them back into the box.
“It’s nice to see you up and all,” Luke said. “What happened to the nights you were passed out cold?”
“I’m not a teenager anymore. I can handle my liquor. What do you want?”
“What? A friend can’t come and see an old friend?”
“I know you, Luke. You have the pick of maids, and rather than getting your dick wet, you’re here talking to me. Are you wanting to suck my dick?”
“Hardly. You should get your resident whore to do it.”
“I don’t have one.”
“Please, you’re still pining after Ava when she did what she did. Reporting you for sexual assault, when let’s face it, the girl was probably begging for you to touch her.”
Logan thought about the time in the classroom. It was the last time before he’d been arrested. He’d done a jail term for the accusations thrown at him, and he’d been put on the offenders’ register, and for five years after leaving prison, he had to report to his case worker. That hadn’t been too hard, not after he’d earned his way to the top of the food chain. He’d still been kicked out of town he’d grown up in, and asked not to have any contact with Ava Marshall.
His father had the best lawyers at the time.
Everything he and Ava had done, she’d been a willing participant. Knowing what she had said, it had driven him to have power, wealth, and people afraid of him.
Luke liked to think he ran the show, but he couldn’t wave his hand and have a man kill at his whim.
Logan could.
The money was all his.
People didn’t fear Luke. He was a small fish in an ocean full of sharks.
“Do you still have the hots for this girl?” Luke asked. “I mean, I figured your tastes would have improved.”
“Ava is exactly where I want and need her to be. Why are you in my room?” he asked.
“I was wondering if your sharing spirit was high on your list today.”
“Sharing?”
“You know, I could have Ava for the day. You could pass her around. I’m sure Riley and Marvin would love to have a turn with her.”
“You want to fuck her.”
“I want to hear her beg. I know what she did to you, remember? What she did to all of us.”
“None of you had your life taken away. You all had your lives. You left town, but you could have stayed.”
“We’re your friends.”
“I’ve already got plans with Ava today. It’s time the town saw how afraid she is of me, or how not afraid, depending on your point of view. You can amuse yourself with whatever and whomever you see fit.”
“You think you can just boss me around now, is that it?”
“I don’t think I can do anything, Luke. This is my house. This is my call. I told you that. You got a problem with how I handle things, I can have you back in your cozy little apartment within the hour.” He stepped up close to Luke. He was taller, stronger, and bigger than Luke. “Do not interfere with my plans.”
“I do have another question,” Luke said, as Logan went to the door.
“What?”
“How far did you want Grant to go?”
“What do you know about Grant?”
“I know a great deal. Everything you’ve done to manipulate this point in time is not very hard to see.”
“Grant was used for leverage.”
“Did you want him to fuck her?” Luke asked.
“I told Grant to get me what I needed. Ava, she wouldn’t want her sex life on camera. Not after what she accused me of. I knew it would be the only way I’d get leverage over her. Your point?”