Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 120176 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 601(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 120176 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 601(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
I jumped, grabbing what I could in a mad dash. Books. Bags. Phones. Keys. Wallets. Then I heard myself repeating, my heart now pounding in the bottom of my throat, “Truck. Get to your truck. Now.”
“Styles!” Flynn shouted from farther down the beach. His friends had moved him in the opposite direction, which was smart of them. “I’m going to fuck you up, Styles! You are done. You hear me? DONE!”
Thoughts flashed through me. College. Flynn. His frat. His power. His father. And Cruz. His mother. Titi. What he told me about his other sister. He was the hockey star, but careers could be sidelined before the spotlight found them.
Flynn would do that. I had no doubt in my mind. He would do everything he was now saying he was going to do.
No.
I couldn’t let that happen.
I dropped everything. They landed back on the sand with a thud. “Cruz, go to the truck.” I tossed the keys his way.
He caught them. “What are you doing?”
“Go to the truck.” I was watching Carrington now, not fully knowing what I was going to do, but knowing I had to do something. “Go. Please. Just, go.”
“I’m not leaving you here. No–”
“Cruz!”
“No,” he repeated it, but he said it quietly.
He was more under control, but not me. I was starting to lose it.
“STYLES!”
My heart contracted, once. How Flynn was screaming, if he got loose, he would try to murder him. He was straining against his friends, trying to get free. They were holding him, all three of them, but Flynn wasn’t feeling anything. He wasn’t getting tired. Whatever was in him, was making him merciless.
Angela had both of her fists pressed to her mouth, tears sliding down her face. Her entire body was shaking. And then I went back to Cruz, who was still only watching me. His jaw clenched, and his eyes narrowed. “What are you thinking?”
“He’ll get away with it.” I spared Angela another look. “They always get away with it.”
I looked back at Cruz, who frowned. “What are you thinking?”
“I have no idea.” But I was reaching for my phone, pulling it out of my pocket. I just knew that this would be covered up. He had three friends. Four to our two? I wasn’t counting Angela because who knew what headspace she was in.
“Mara.” Cruz moved toward me.
I moved back, switching to video, and I hit record.
A part of me hated myself, that I was doing this, but the other part–he couldn’t get away with it. He just couldn’t.
“Angela,” I spoke up, quietly.
Flynn was still screaming in the background.
“Wha–what?” She hiccupped, focusing on me.
I motioned to my phone. “Can I record you?”
She frowned, blanching. “Why?”
“So there’s proof.”
She held my gaze, thinking.
She knew what I said was true. She knew it, but I waited, holding my breath.
Her head jerked forward. “Yeah.”
I knelt beside her, and hit the light on so I could really see her. “Who did this to you tonight?”
The question burst a dam. Her tears tripled and she folded over.
I swung the camera around, spotlighting Flynn, who was still screaming before I moved it back to her. I sat down, crossed my legs. “You have to say it. Say it once.”
She was nodding, but she couldn’t talk. She was gasping around the sobbing.
“Mara, maybe–”
“No.” I seared him with a look, keeping my camera on Angela. He didn’t get it. He just didn’t. She was still in it. She wasn’t out of it. Right now. Her words were the most powerful right now. And maybe, just maybe, she could use this later.
Maybe.
“Angela–” I started to prompt her, but she cut me off.
She bent over, but her words came out. She told her story.
39
CRUZ
My hand was hurting, but it was worth it. We were at a local police station. Angela was talking to a detective. It hadn’t been what I’d initially thought. I was thinking the worst, but as Mara recorded, Angela told a story about how Flynn had been aggressive, though he stopped when she said no. He just hadn’t stopped soon enough. They’d been at a party at someone’s nearby house, another Alpha Mu brother, and she lost her phone. She went with Flynn because he’d been charming and she thought he was sweet, despite his reputation.
They were making out, and he got too rough. She said no, he pushed. She said no again, he pushed again. He hit her. That’s when she began screaming no, and then he yielded. After that, she didn’t know what to do and they met up with his friends. She thought she’d be safe since his friends were there, but instead of going back to Grant West, they went to the beach.
She said, “We were leaving, but he got a text from someone. Then he said we were going to the beach. I didn’t know what to do. I don’t know this area.”