Page 169 of Trapped With You

“I met with the girl from thatnight. Her name is Mabel. Josh found her and arranged for us to meet.” Cade handed me the joint. “We talked. She was very friendly and kind. Sorry too, although she had nothing to apologize for, considering she was a victim in this situation.”

“I’m sensing like there’s something more.” I placed my hand on his naked chest. “What is it, Cade?”

Anger flashed in his eyes and his jaw clenched. “I know who the masked guy is.”

Every line in my body froze, the joint halfway to my mouth. “Who?”

“Gavino Ricci.”

Profound shock tunneled through my system, robbing me of any sound.

Cade saw all the questions swimming in my wide eyes. “It’s been him all along, Ella.”

Gavino Ricci, Callie’s so-called crush, was the masked guy?

Why the fuck would he do this?

Moreover, I didn’t see a single diary entry from Callie statingthat Gavino was the masked guy, or that she was sleeping with him.

The puzzle was almost complete, but I needed a few more answers. “You need to elaborate. Help me better understand. Please.”

“Mabel said she was talking to a blond hockey player at Josh’s party. He pressured her into drinking until she was basically drunk. Then he asked her to meet him upstairs. In my room specifically. When I showed her the Rangers’ team picture from last year, she recognized Gavino.”

“Taking advantage of a girl like that—forcing her to drink—and then letting her be humiliated is fucking despicable,” I spat. “Why would he do that? Why would he hurt you and me? It doesn’t make sense.” I shook my head. “What motive could Gavino have for all of this?”

“I texted Josh and Uncle Vance the minute I found out about Gavino. By the time I got home, they did some more digging and found out that…he used to be Kian Wilson’s foster brother.”

I closed my eyes on a bone-deep sigh.

The final puzzle piece fell into place.

“He was Kian Wilson’s foster brother and he wanted to avenge him,” I concluded. “And somehow he knew we were the ones responsible for killing him.”

“Exactly.” Cade exhaled more smoke. “How he figured out that part is yet to be known, but one thing’s for certain…”

He trailed off but I knew what he meant.

In the Remingtons’ world, there was only one way to deliver justice.

Gavino Ricci had to pay for his actions and suffer the consequences.

He had to die.

“Callie must have given him my passcode.” She’d seen me type it in a million times—my boyfriend’s birthday. “I bet youhe’s the one who bumped into me the night of the party, stole my phone, and sent you those text messages.”

Cade nodded. “I think that’s what happened too.”

With that settled, I crawled into Cade’s lap. He held my hips, thumb brushing over theKtattoo on my hip bone. “How are we taking him down?”

Cade’s smirk was packed with dark mischief. “I thought you’d never ask.”

C H A P T E R3 4

Clown Shit

Ella

The Present