Page 113 of Brutal Little Secrets

“She’ll be okay.” It seems like the right thing to say, but I don’t know if it’s true. Had it been anyone else in that room waiting for Olivia, would they have even questioned it? Would they have raped Keira?

This isn’t something that can be swept under the rug. We won’t let it. Someone like Olivia won’t ever stop if she doesn’t get punished at some point.

But right now, I need to take care of our girl. “How’s the hand?”

Evan blinks and turns to me. “Hand?”

I smirk and reach for her hand. “You smacked the shit out of Olivia Carmichael.”

“Oh.” Evan glances down at it. “I guess I did.”

I take it and check it over before threading my fingers through hers and holding it on my lap. “I’m sorry about your friend.”

She blows out a breath. “I thought I was used to this school.” Her blue-gray eyes lift to mine. “I thought I knew everything they could do to us, but this…”

She gestures toward the hospital doors and shakes her head.

“Won’t go unpunished,” I say with conviction.

Evan meets my gaze. “There’s not much you can do to her. She’s untouchable. Fucking rich bitch.”

That makes me smile.

She cocks an eyebrow at me. “What?”

“You amaze me.” I bring her hand to my lips and press a kiss to her knuckles. “The shit you put up with. From us, from Olivia, from Chase.” I shake my head. “Most girls would have given up at some point, but not you.”

“I’m not giving up on my dream just because of a few roadblocks.” She scoffs.

“Someday this will all be a memory of a really sucky night.” I bump her gently with my shoulder.

“Tell me Olivia’s going to pay for this.” She looks up at me with so much hope.

I brush my thumb along her jaw. “We have a plan, but we need to work fast. First thing that needs to happen is we need to clean up the recording. No one needs to know about us. At least not yet. Especially not your mom or Damon’s dad.”

She nods and processes what I’m saying. “Then what?”

I smirk. “Then we send a copy to the authorities, Olivia’s father, the DA, and post it online tagging our school.”

Her mouth opens and closes. “Will that be enough?”

“Depends on what they find in there.” I gesture to the doors. “Usually drugs can be hard to find after the fact, but Olivia just gave this one to Keira. It should show up on her workup. That plus Olivia basically walking Keira into the room.” I shrug. “It will definitely get everyone’s attention, but there’s no guaranteeshe’ll do time for it. But she’ll be tried in the court of public opinion. And probably be asked to leave Deimos Academy.”

Evan gives me a look. “Asked to leave? Not expelled?”

“Unfortunately, that’s the world we live in.” I rub my thumb on the back of her hand. “Our parents will do anything to make us who they want us to be. My dad wants me to go to Yale. He’s going to be disappointed to find out I can’t get in, but maybe he’ll figure out that’s not really what I want or need.”

She rests her head against my arm and squeezes my hand.

“Olivia’s dad will do what’s necessary to keep his daughter from doing jail time. But he’ll also make her life unpleasant enough that she wishes she was in jail instead. And that’s what will punish her. Will it make Keira’s life better? Probably not. But I bet she walks away with something more than trauma from being drugged.”

“You mean Olivia’s father will pay her off.” Evan sounds sad, like the world isn’t living up to her expectations. I wish I could change it for her. Make the world exactly how it should be. Everyone gets exactly what they deserve.

“Why do you think we didn’t go after Chase directly?” I turn and press my lips against her hair. “Because he would have gotten away with it. Yes, there would have been a little punishment, but not nearly as much as Damon was owed.”

She sighs. “If I did any of this shit, I’d be in prison.”

“Nah, goody.” I tip her chin up so I can search her eyes. “First, you wouldn’t pull any of this shit because you’re way too smart for any of us. Second, if you did, you’d be smart enough not to get caught. And third, we wouldn’t let anyone take you away from us.”