Page 119 of Before I Loved You

“Ray, if you don’t tell me what the fuck is—”

“He has a whole folder of videos.”

I drop the laptop on the bed. “What do you mean a whole folder.”

My brother clears his throat. “Apparently, Sarah isn’t the only one he has done this to, which might explain why he’s so paranoid about people getting into his computer.” He pauses before saying, “He’s labeled all his folders by their names: Jessica, Christina, Kristen, Alison…”

My heart rate accelerates. “He’s done this to others. He’s filmed them all?”

My brother hesitates before saying, “Yes.”

I pace in the room; the anger I feel at this moment is unfathomable. There’s a beast inside me, clawing at the walls of my skin, itching for release from its confines.

“Listen,” Ray starts, “I know we told Sarah we wouldn’t, but I’m starting to think we need to inform—”

“No,” I cut him off, my voice authoritative. “I’m not putting her through that. You know as well as I do that a guy in his financial status will get off without so much as a scratch on his record.” I pull at the silver chain around my neck, my fingers tightening around the cold metal. “I will take care of him myself.”

Ray sighs. “I get it, I do. I would be losing my mind if this was Tina. But don’t you want the authorities to—”

“I said I will take care of him,” I grit out. I won’t make Sarah go through that horrible process or let anyone else see this video. She’s trusting me to take care of this for her. To take care of her. And that’s exactly what I’m going to do. “Did you find Sarah’s video?”

“Yes. There’s a file here labeled ‘Sarah.’ I’m assuming this is it. When I asked you to confirm her video for me, I didn’t think he would be stupid enough to label the video with her name, so you no longer need to confirm. I’m deleting it—”

“Send it to me.”

“What?”

“Fucking send me the video! I need to see what he fucking did to my Sarah!” My fingers dig into the back of my neck. “I need to confirm it’s the right one. I promised her I would!”

“Paul. I don’t think—”

“Ray.” The pure venom in my voice doesn’t go unnoticed by either of us.

“All right. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

A ping on my phone alerts me to the message from my brother.

“Delete every single fucking video, Ray. Delete them all.”

“I’m almost done,” he says assertively. “The system is just processing the request.”

I press play on the video, watching a timid Sarah enter the room, unknowingly being taped from a camera, most likely sitting on his computer, appearing like any ordinary gaming system.

No wonder she fucking ran out of my room that day.

Pure, unfiltered rage fills me.

She looks so frightened as he towers over her, shutting the door behind him. She sways a little on her feet, losing her balance and appearing way too drunk to be having sex.

But the motherfucker doesn’t care.

He throws her on the bed like a monster who has just caught its prey.

But this monster is no match for me.

I delete the video, knowing I’ve seen all I can handle.

“Paul, are you—”

---