Page 64 of Kneeling for Them

“Ella, baby,” I say, taking her hand.“Come here.”

“He just…he left,” she says, turning to look at the elevator over her shoulder as I lead her to one of the sofas.“He’s gone?”

“For now,” I say.

“But he’ll come back.”She says this in a wobbly voice.She’s trying to convince herself.

“I think so,” I say.

Last time Bash left like this, I didn’t see him for two months.He’d taken himself to a rehab center outside of Los Angeles, one that insisted on no contact with anyone from the outside world.I’d been happy he was getting the help he thought he needed, but furious he’d disappeared on me.

But he won’t be gone for two months, not this time.He has Ella.He’ll come back for her because he won’t be able to stay away.I know him, and I know her.

In the meantime, I have to be strong for her and help her see that everything’s going to be okay.

“You knew he did that, to that woman,” Ella says, her brown eyes filling with tears.

“Yes,” I say.

“And you’re still his friend.”

“Yes.”I sigh and sit down, tugging her to the cushion next to mine.“I’ve known Sebastian for years.Enthusiastic consent has been the number one rule of every hook-up.Every time.Whatever happened that night, it had never happened before and it hasn’t happened since.”

“And you don’t think it’ll happen again,” she says.

“Exactly.Or I’d never let him be alone with a woman.Not you, not anyone.”

She’s quiet for so long, I wonder if she’s going to respond at all.

“Tell me what you’re thinking,” I say.

“I’m angry,” she says, taking a deep breath.“I’m angry at Trina, I’m angry at you, and I’m angry at Sebastian.Mostly, I’m angry with myself because despite learning that Sebastian assaulted someone, I’m more worried about how he’s feeling than I am about the woman he hurt.Have you spoken to her?Is she okay?”

I stroke the side of Ella’s face.Her skin is soft as a butterfly’s wing.“I haven’t talked to her.I wouldn’t know where to find her.”

A long moment passes.She takes my hand and begins fidgeting with my fingers, bending them, pressing her fingertips over my knuckles like they’re keys on a piano.

“So, Trina found you at work,” I say.

“It should’ve been a dream come true.”Ella keeps pressing on my fingers.“Rescued at my dead-end serving job by an agent who can help me become a star.She had the contract ready to go.”

“She had a contract for you?”I lean back to better look at Ella.“Tell me you didn’t sign anything, baby girl.If you did, I’m calling a lawyer for you right now.”

“What?No, I didn’t sign anything.You distrust Trina that much?”

“I wouldn’t trust that woman to take care of a goldfish,” I say.“I didn’t like how she handled things for Sebastian or how she’s managed him since.”

“Well, I didn’t sign anything,” Ella says.“I was too emotional, too upset about hearing what Sebastian did.If he even did it.”

“If he even did it?”I ask.

She makes ahmmsound and leans her head on my shoulder.“He doesn’t even remember doing it.But if the woman says he did, I’ll believe her.Did the victim, Alyssa, ever say?”

I frown.“Not that I know of.I never even knew the woman’s name.Trina said she did.”

My own words echo in my mind: Trina said.Not ‘the victim said.’Trina.

Ella