Page 165 of The Dixon Rule

“Shane, hey.”

She reaches for my hand.

I shrug it off.

“Seriously, what’s wrong?” Deep concern lines her voice. “You’re freaking me out.”

“Dixon.” I drag another burst of oxygen into my aching lungs. “I am trying really hard right now not to explode and do something I’m going to regret.”

“Regret?” Alarm widens her eyes. “What are you talking about?”

“I need you to be honest with me. I’m going to ask you a question and all I want from you is honesty. It’s a yes or no. And I mean it. Don’t lie.”

She visibly gulps. “What is it?”

“Did your ex-boyfriend hit you?”

The car goes deadly silent. Diana’s face pales, her expression stricken. I already know the answer before she even responds.

“Why are you asking me that?”

“Don’t,” I snap. “I asked for a yes or no. Did Percy hit you?”

After a long, tension-ridden silence, she says, “Yes.”

Rage slams into me.

I grip the steering wheel with both hands, squeezing it until my knuckles turn white. I can’t even think about putting the car in drive right now. Can’t risk leaving this parking lot. Because if I do, I’ll be tracking down Percy whatever the fuck his last name is and mowing him down with this car until he’s a bloody pulp beneath my tires. And I don’t give a shit if that makes me a psychopath. The knowledge that he laid his hands on Diana has dissolved my vision into a red haze. At this moment, I’m capable of murder.

“How did you…” She trails off.

“The folder on your phone,” I bite out. “You should have moved it to one of your hidden folders.”

“I didn’t expect anyone to ever go through my phone,” she says tightly.

“I didn’t purposely go through it. I accidentally clicked it. And then what? I’m supposed to pretend I didn’t see a picture of your beaten face?”

“It…it was just a black eye.”

“Just a—!” I stop, taking a calming breath. I squeeze the steering wheel again before slowly lowering my hands. “Let me see it again.”

“Why?”

“Because I only skimmed the messages. And I think it’ll be easier to read rather than have you tell me, because I’m goddamn volatile right now and—”

“No, I get it,” she cuts in. Hands shaking, she passes me her phone.

My heart batters against my ribs as I read through everything. Diana kept it all. From what I can gather, it happened after work. Percy showed up after her shift. Walked her home.

And fucking hit her.

He put his filthy, pathetic hands on her and—

I hiss out another breath. Calm down.

In his messages, Percy keeps insisting it was a reflex. Instinctual. But I saw the photo of her face. I saw her black eye in person. That was not instinctual. That was a sick asshole who hurt a defenseless woman.

Diana documented every text where he admits that he assaulted her. But he continues to blame her for it, saying she shoved him.

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