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His biceps were stiff, tight with corded muscle, ready to be unleashed in the form of punches.
But he seemed to understand my silent plea for him to let me handle this.
Leonn held up the flyer I’d made with his photo and the accusation he was one of the men responsible for my attack. I waited for his anger. For the denials that would surely come. For the threats of suing or going to the cops.
I’d planned responses for all of them, knowing that this moment would arise eventually.
“I’m going to the cops,” Leonn said quietly.
I nodded. “Good. I have the recordings from Caleb’s house that night. I really think the cops will be interested to see those, don’t you?” I was bluffing, but after Caleb’s party, and being forced to sign a waiver that expressly said there were cameras recording everything, I was fairly sure there was a good chance I was right. Of course he was recording everything. He probably played those tapes over and over, getting off on forcing women.
Leonn shook his head.
The rage inside me swirled. “Try me.”
“No, you don’t understand. You don’t need the tapes. Give them to the cops. Whatever. I don’t think it matters anyway; they’ll just conveniently lose the evidence. Caleb has made sure of that.”
Maybe I was brave because I wasn’t alone. Vaughn was right there at my side.
But maybe I was brave because I’d just had enough. “I’ve already sent copies to my lawyer. They can lose evidence all they want, but it’ll still exist.”
Leonn took a step closer.
Vaughn practically snarled at my side. I put a hand on his arm, but Leonn had his hands up, his expression weirdly sorrowful.
“You misunderstand me. I’m not reporting you to the cops. I’m turning myself in.”
I blinked. “For what?”
He swallowed hard. “I’ll tell them everything I did. To you. To the other women. I want you to know I’m sorry.”
Oh, that made me freaking mad. “Excuse me if I don’t accept your weak-ass apologies.” I dug my fingers into Vaughn’s arm. “I never wanted that. How do I even know you’re going to go through with it? Talk is cheap.”
Leonn nodded. “My wife found the photos you left in my car. I confessed everything.”
“Good,” I practically spat at him. “She should know what sort of scum she’s sleeping next to every night.”
“I’ll tell the cops everything I did.”
“And everything Caleb and Hugh did too.”
Leonn paused. “Everything I did.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “So you won’t tell them your scumbag friends are as bad as you are?”
He wrung his fingers and glanced over his shoulder at the brightly lit hospital behind him. “I can’t. Please. Understand that I want to. I’ve wanted to for a long time. But I can’t. The things Caleb would do to my family would be worse than anything you can dish out.”
I was sure I was digging a hole in Vaughn’s skin. “I could threaten your wife. Your kids.”
Leonn nodded. “You could. But I don’t think you will. I think you know they’re innocent bystanders in all of this. They knew nothing about what I was doing. The sins I’ve committed are entirely mine. Please don’t punish them.”
I sighed. He was right. There was no way I would go after his wife and children. “You’re right,” I admitted. “I’m not a monster like you are.”
He didn’t look like much of a monster in that moment. He looked fucking pathetic. I couldn’t even stand watching him anymore.
I turned around and got into my car.
But it did little to muffle Vaughn’s voice, dark and deadly, when he said, “This doesn’t absolve you of your sins, you piece of shit. I’m embarrassed to have ever called you a friend. Get the fuck out of my sight.”